Business moves quick, and that's no exception for the rap world. From the hottest new signings, to movie deals, to album pushbacks, the industry is constantly in motion. It can be hard to keep up with at times, so we've consolidated all of the must-hear information from the past month, all in one place. Be on the look out for this monthly recap of news-worthy items you may have missed, to stay afloat with the industry.
Jermaine Dupri says labels have gotten lazier.
In a conversation with VladTV, Jermaine Dupri had some choice words for record labels. The industry veteran, who has worked with everyone from Mariah Carey to Bow Wow, said, "They want the same results, but they want to do less work. That's what's going on at all these record companies. The record companies are doing less work."
He went on to say, "The people that are running the music business are no longer the people that are making the music. That's not how the music business was built."
Despite this, Dupri was optimistic about the business in general, saying, "I actually feel like you can make more money as an artist and a label nowadays than you could back then." However, he thinks the labels have been slacking since Dupri made Kriss Kross huge back in the early 90s. "What I see is record labels not doing half the work that they did in the 90s."
Street teams and artist development are marked as two things that "cost too much money" now, along with pure laziness from people in the music business. Peep the full interview below.
Big Sean joins Jay Z's Roc Nation management roster.
In a tweet from Roc Nation earlier this month, Big Sean was announced as the latest addition to the management roster founded by Jay Z. Big Sean joins dozens of artists including Kanye West, Meek Mill and Rihanna, along with athletes like Kevin Durant, CC Sabathia and Ndamukong Suh.
The signing doesn't come as an absolute shock due to the connection Big Sean already has with Kanye West and Jay Z.
"It’s really more than management I feel like. It’s like an umbrella. It’s like a family over there. I’ve had management before but it’s just on a whole other level. And people are really personally involved, Hov is really personally involved and ‘Ye of course, that’s the bro right there," said Sean. "It’s just kind of more like the business side of things, Roc Nation, that’s my umbrella...It’s just like a family and I’m still with ‘Ye. ‘Ye was the one that was like, ‘I think you should incorporate them and use these guys.’ He uses them too. It was a family thing.”
Big Sean is currently hard at work on his new album, which is expected to be more tense and passionate than his previous works. There is no date slated for the new album.
Sway Calloway launches a new label.
Shade 45 radio host, former MTV News anchor, and all-around hip-hop icon Sway Calloway has just added a hot new line to his resume: record label executive. Along with Kelly Jackson, Sway has launched OverDeliver Entertainment, a new project aimed to create buzz around up-and-coming, hand-picked MCs that the founders are interested in.
G.L.A.M., a female MC from the Bay Area, is the first signee to the new label. “G.L.A.M. is definitely a new artist that people need to know and watch. Kelly and I are excited about working with her and this project. This project means a lot to me because it’s from the Bay Area," said Calloway.
Check out a recent G.L.A.M. track below. Do you think Sway is spot-on with this signing? Let us know in the comments.
Frank Ocean signs a new management company.
After leaving his former management, Frank Ocean announced a deal with Three Six Zero, a partner of the Roc Nation team. “Frank is an incredibly intelligent and creatively brilliant individual. We’re proud that he felt Three Six Zero was the right home for him," says Mark Gillespie, co-founder of Three Six Zero.
Three Six Zero has been partnered up with Roc Nation since a deal was penned between the two companies in 2010. While Three Six Zero represents a few of the biggest names in the EDM game, Frank will still be close to the hip-hop world through that partnership. Good news for us!
Apparently, Urban Outfitters sells more vinyl records than anywhere else.
“Music is very, very important to the Urban customer … in fact, we are the world’s number one vinyl seller.” These are the words from Urban Outfitters' Calvin Hollinger. It's a bold claim that further proves vinyl's resurgence amongst millennials who dig the rich sound and big artwork of the once-revolutionary format.
Urban Outfitters has a decent new hip-hop collection, and if you're ever in the store you can expect to see some Jay Z, Kanye West, Clipse, Kid Cudi and many more.
Pornhub launches a new record label.
Adult website Pornhub made waves when they made a sort of odd choice to launch a record label. This news comes on the heels of a video collaboration they did with Coolio. “We’ve always seen a strong music presence from the beginning of Pornhub,” said the company’s head of PR and marketing Matt Blake.
So what does this mean for the hip-hop world? The explicit videos would certainly crossover in appeal, as Coolio's video showed us when he dropped in on Pornhub earlier this summer. We definitely expect some hip-hop flavor out of Pornhub Records.
ILoveMakonnen signs to Drake's OVO Sound.
Earlier in September, buzz worthy artist ILoveMakonnen officially inked his deal with Drake's OVO Sound. The hype between the two parties came to a boil when Drake hopped on the hit "Tuesday," making it a certified club banger ever since, and the go-to song for clubs to play on a Tuesday night, where things are usually a little less than turnt up.
Lots of new material from the up-and-comer is expected in the coming months.
Jay Rock & Kutt Calhoun announce their departure from Strange Music.
This news didn't come as too much of a surprise, as both artists had brief appearances on the Strange compilation Strangeulation from earlier this year. In a recent interview, Tech N9ne officially announced that TDE-affiliated Jay Rock and Kutt Calhoun had both left his independent label.
"Kutt's always been different," Tech Ninna explained in an interview with Mr. Wavy. "Me and [Krizz Kaliko] are weirdos and we're proud of it... Kutty is a lot cooler, you know, a lot more hip -- a lot more stylish. He didn't really like the scrubs on stage, you know? And eventually he wanted to be off stage with us and do his own show... He wanted to be his own man and not in the shadow of Tech N9ne."
Vince Staples announces release date for "Hell Can Wait" EP
After having his Hell Can Wait EP pushed back from its original September 27th release date, Vince Staples announced that the project would arrive on October 7th. He also shared the artwork, which you can view here.
A$AP Mob's "L.O.R.D." album is scrapped.
One of the A$AP Mob leaders, A$AP Yams, took to Twitter to let fans know that the long-delayed collaborative Mob album L.O.R.D. ended up being scrapped. Instead, the crew is focusing on solo albums from A$AP Rocky, A$AP Twelvvy, A$AP Nast and Ferg.
Upcoming Release Dates
Cozz - Cozz & Effect (October 3, 2014)
Jesse Ware - Tough Love (October 6, 2014)
Bishop Nehru & MF DOOM - NehruvianDOOM (October 7, 2014)
Flying Lotus - You're Dead (October 7, 2014)
Tinashe - Aquarius (October 7, 2014)
Keyshia Cole - Point Of No Return (October 7, 2014)
Jahzel - The Wake Up (October 7, 2014)
Eric Biddines - Planet Coffeebean2 (October 7, 2014)
Pastor Troy - Welcome to the Rap Game (October 7, 2014)
Game - Year Of The Wolf (October 14, 2014)
Nico & Vinz - Black Star Elephant (October 14, 2014)
DJ Quik - Midnight Life (October 14, 2014)
Diamond District - March On Washington (October 14, 2014)
Logic - Under Pressure (October21, 2014)
T.I. - Paperwork (October 21, 2014)
Ice Cube - Everythangs Corrupt (October 21, 2014)
Lil' Mo - The Scarlet Letter (October 27, 2014)
Mike Mictlan - Hella Frreal (October 27, 2014)
Chris Webby - Chemically Imbalanced (October 28, 2014)
Stalley - Ohio (October 28, 2014)
Theophilus London - Vibes (October 28, 2014)
Lil Wayne - Tha Carter V (October 28, 2014)
Black Milk - If There's A Hell Below (October 28, 2014)
Apollo Brown & Ras Kass - Blasphemy (October 28, 2014)
Run The Jewels - RTJ2 (October 28, 2014)