If the lyrics escape your memory, weren’t born yet, or too young to have comprehended Hip-Hop at the time, the phrase in question goes something like this, “Industry rule #4,080/record company people are shady.”
That little tid-bit of information stills rings loud and clear almost 19 years later. For those trying to secure the life of champagne wishes and caviar dreams, not all that glitters is gold.
In this edition of Six Degrees Of Separation [Click for other editions], Sheek Louch from The LOX, Houston MC Chamillionaire, platinum producer Jazze Pha, the New York trio of Brooklyn Academy, and Mr. Moore from the MobillionaireZ all talk a little about the imperfect world of entertainment… So after reading this, make sure you take a second and third look at the fine print before signing your name away on the dotted line… [Click on names for individual interviews]
iHipHop.com: What would you say has been the toughest part of this game for you so far?
There are a lot of people that deal with this, and the fans don’t actually get to see what’s going on behind the scenes.
They might have no idea why Roc-A-Fella split up, or why Lil Jon disappeared for a little bit. A lot of the time, business can effect the direction of an artist, from songs on their album to everything.
When you first get into it, you think that you’re just going to be making music, but you get a reality real quick when you get into this industry…
I’m still doing music, but truthfully I’ve been doing a lot of TV, and that’s more time consuming… Also I’ve been creating my own situation, instead of just producing a whole lot of other people; I’m just doing my own stuff…
Pumpkinhead: This damn recession, and people are not buying music like they used to…
Block McCloud: Unfortunately we finally get a chance to drop something when people are losing their jobs, and struggling to pay their bills. Beside that though, we can’t really complain…
We are very thankful and bless to be able to work with Wendy Day; someone who has been around this game for a while so we can learn first hand from her who to mess with and who not to mess with…