M.O.P.’s Billy Danze say that his distribution deal with Sony has enabled him to develop his We Build Hits company and its roster of artists. When speaking about his acts, whom the Brooklyn, New York rapper describes as having “no single sound,” Danze espouses the difference between a label and what he’s trying to build.
“I went and grabbed all these different sounds, and I figured I could not get that all from one spot,” Billy Danze says during an exclusive interview with HipHopDX. “So I have artists from six different cities and states in America, and I have one artist from Canada. In Toronto, we have Tona, who’s amazing. Tona has the ability to do everything, and that’s what I like about him. We have Lucci Loner, who in my opinion, has that young-boy kind of bop. He’s from Philadelphia. Then we have Ronve, who’s from Atlanta. In my opinion, he’s a cross between B.o.B, J.Cole and what Talib Kweli would be if he came out today. There’s also Reign Major, from California. They’re a group of K.O. and Crunch, and I would compare them to an [upstart] Young Money. We’ve got an artist from North Carolina named Caktuz, who does Trap/Rock. Then we have DDub from Queens, who does [more] traditional Hip Hop. Also reppin’ Queens is MoneyMark. And from Florida we’ve got Eyeznpowa. He raps so weird, but so amazing. Every two weeks we have this thing where we release ‘A word from Eyeznpowa.’ He’s a very sharp dude.”
In February, M.O.P. released its “Street Certified” single with Mobb Deep and followed that up with “187,” which it released in July. M.O.P. has also turned to IndieGoGo to fund its projects.
“We’re on social media, but I can only do so much,” Billy Danze says. “I have to record M.O.P. albums, do shows, so I can only do so much. That’s why I’m trying to raise the money through this IndieGoGo program so I can have the funds I need without being on the ground myself all the time. I’m trying to build a crew around, and of course, you have to pay your staff and everything. But I’m trying to build a crew around that can help us move forward. I did take the deal with Sony, but Sony’s actually too big for this… Maybe this IndieGoGo program will work out for us. Either way, I’m not stopping.”
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