Young Money Young Money Young Money...
So the downfall of Young Money begins before the label even really begins. That's right I am going to be the first to say Young Money is done. See I was going to just drop some laughs about Bow wow signing to Cash Money/Young Money or whichever of the two he is signing to but then I thought about it. This is the same thing that happens again and again with rap labels.
You have a lot of labels that are built around one artist who is the face. The problem is that none of the secondary artists is ever allowed to shine brighter or even as bright as that artist and thus the label is a "one trick pony" as the phrase goes. Look at Murda Inc. They had every opportunity to build and promote other artists outside of the shadow of the main artist yet failed to do so. Cadillac Tah had POV City Anthem that was hot but no album followed the single. Charli Bmore and Vita both got shelved when they had some semblance of popularity.
Roc-a-fella had some secondary artists established with Beanie Sigel, Cam'ron, Memphis Bleek, and Freeway yet still couldn't manage to create sustainability and now the only artist left under the banner is Kanye West. M.O.P., the entore State Property (who incidently are the only rappers from Philly worth an actual cd from what I have heard) was left to blow in the wind.
The same thing happened with G-unit and the empire of 50 Cent who signed M.O.P., Mobb Deep, Freeway (in a management deal), Lil' Scrappy (in some weird split deal), Hot Rod, The Game, Young Buck, Tony yayo and some assorted other guys who you can find regularly on Worldstarhiphop making more videos than actual records.
Fact of the matter is, trying to expand and incorporate all of these different artists under a banner because it seems "hot" at the time is a recipe for failure. Even No Limit went down during the time Snoop was there. The resources are spread too thin and office talent not enough to overcome and do more than build off of the hype of the various main artists, especially when the public perceives that artist as having a hand in the daily operations of the company. Defjam works because Russel Simmons wasn't a rapper and his brother who was, didn't call any shots. You cannot truthfully count on your boss to look out for your best interests when he is competing against you. Just look at Bad Boy, no one will be bigger than Puffy.
That leads me back to the current situation over at Cash Money/ Young Money records. The number one artist on CMR is Wayne point blank. The only other artist is Baby, I don't care what their website says. Young Money has a large roster of artists but guess what, none has put out anything other than mixtapes in at least two years of existence. True, we know who the core artists are, but we knew that with the aforementioned examples and having an idea that some dude named "Gudda Gudda" raps with Lil wayne isn't going to sell much of anything.
At this rate, Drake is going to come out, but anyone else is a crap shoot. Nicki Minaj probably has the best shot but Jae Millz-nah, Gudda-nah, Mack Maine-nah, freaking Omarion- do not make me laugh. Now Bow wow signs to join this conglomerate like he forgot what happened last time he tried to let someone other than Jermaine Dupri make decisions for him.
Lil Bow Wow Ft. Baby - Lets Get Down
Uploaded by seb_971. - Music videos, artist interviews, concerts and more.
The point I'm trying to make here is that the mass signing of these "hood" rap labels never really bodes well for the people attempting to use the label and it's star to find success. Inevitably before you get your career started, the public gets tired of the artist and they lose credibility and you lose your shot...and yes Freeway is actually thinking of signing to Young Money which would probably make him the equivalent of the rap version of the number 13.
You have a lot of labels that are built around one artist who is the face. The problem is that none of the secondary artists is ever allowed to shine brighter or even as bright as that artist and thus the label is a "one trick pony" as the phrase goes. Look at Murda Inc. They had every opportunity to build and promote other artists outside of the shadow of the main artist yet failed to do so. Cadillac Tah had POV City Anthem that was hot but no album followed the single. Charli Bmore and Vita both got shelved when they had some semblance of popularity.
Roc-a-fella had some secondary artists established with Beanie Sigel, Cam'ron, Memphis Bleek, and Freeway yet still couldn't manage to create sustainability and now the only artist left under the banner is Kanye West. M.O.P., the entore State Property (who incidently are the only rappers from Philly worth an actual cd from what I have heard) was left to blow in the wind.
The same thing happened with G-unit and the empire of 50 Cent who signed M.O.P., Mobb Deep, Freeway (in a management deal), Lil' Scrappy (in some weird split deal), Hot Rod, The Game, Young Buck, Tony yayo and some assorted other guys who you can find regularly on Worldstarhiphop making more videos than actual records.
Fact of the matter is, trying to expand and incorporate all of these different artists under a banner because it seems "hot" at the time is a recipe for failure. Even No Limit went down during the time Snoop was there. The resources are spread too thin and office talent not enough to overcome and do more than build off of the hype of the various main artists, especially when the public perceives that artist as having a hand in the daily operations of the company. Defjam works because Russel Simmons wasn't a rapper and his brother who was, didn't call any shots. You cannot truthfully count on your boss to look out for your best interests when he is competing against you. Just look at Bad Boy, no one will be bigger than Puffy.
That leads me back to the current situation over at Cash Money/ Young Money records. The number one artist on CMR is Wayne point blank. The only other artist is Baby, I don't care what their website says. Young Money has a large roster of artists but guess what, none has put out anything other than mixtapes in at least two years of existence. True, we know who the core artists are, but we knew that with the aforementioned examples and having an idea that some dude named "Gudda Gudda" raps with Lil wayne isn't going to sell much of anything.
remember us?
At this rate, Drake is going to come out, but anyone else is a crap shoot. Nicki Minaj probably has the best shot but Jae Millz-nah, Gudda-nah, Mack Maine-nah, freaking Omarion- do not make me laugh. Now Bow wow signs to join this conglomerate like he forgot what happened last time he tried to let someone other than Jermaine Dupri make decisions for him.
Lil Bow Wow Ft. Baby - Lets Get Down
Uploaded by seb_971. - Music videos, artist interviews, concerts and more.
At least I think he was writing his own raps
The point I'm trying to make here is that the mass signing of these "hood" rap labels never really bodes well for the people attempting to use the label and it's star to find success. Inevitably before you get your career started, the public gets tired of the artist and they lose credibility and you lose your shot...and yes Freeway is actually thinking of signing to Young Money which would probably make him the equivalent of the rap version of the number 13.
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