A lot of rappers enter the rap game with minimal understanding of the business side of things. Oftentimes, this leads to complications down the line. Some of our favorite rappers of all time have been stuck in bad contracts (i.e. Lil Wayne & Kanye). There are far more resources now than ever before. Still, there are many artists who find themselves trapped in terrible contracts. According to Styles P, this is an unfortunate cycle that’s bound to repeat in the future with younger generations of artists.
During a recent interview with I Never Knew TV, Styles P explained that artists often face few other options. When asked about why he thinks young artists continue to ink these types of deals, he responded, “What are they going to do? Not sign a deal?” In his opinion, there are two avenues for a rapper to go. “It’s really simple, you’re going to sign a deal or you’re not going to sign a deal. You’re going to take your shot or not take your shot,” he explained. Though he acknowledged the number of changes in the industry, such as the value of going independent, he related the issues with signing contracts to the early days of The LOX.
Styles P Details Bad Contracts
Ghost said that The LOX would’ve been “idiots” had they not signed a deal at the beginning of their career. “The time we came up, we would’ve been f*cking idiots to not sign a deal. You take the deal, you do what you gotta do and you move on. You know, you make the best of it,” he explained. He compared signing a contract with a label to landing a new job. “Everyone doesn’t start at a high level,” he explained.
Regardless, Styles P said that taking the risk can be worth it down the line. He explained that The LOX already had better money coming in from their advance compared to the annual salary of a police officer or the average citizen. “Do you not do that and just say, ‘Nah, it’s not good enough,’ and then wait for another window of opportunity to come when you may have seen 20 windows of opportunities already? Now, that bad deal’s there but you have a chance to get in front of things. You just gotta take the bad deal,” he said.