There are times when a rapper will come out and make complaints about their record label. It happens frequently and doesn’t seem to be ending anytime soon. On Monday (October 25), Meek Mill became the latest rapper to join the club as he vented his frustrations with his label.
The Philly rapper took to Twitter to air out his issues with his current deal in front of his 10.9 million followers. According to Meek, he hasn’t received a single penny and doesn’t know how much money his label takes off his earnings.
“I haven’t get [sic] paid from music and i don’t know how much money labels make off me,” Meek wrote in a since-deleted tweet. “I need lawyers asap!!!”
He added, “Ask the record label? how much have you spent on me as a artist? then you ask how much have you made off me as a artist? i’m about to make my record deal public by monday just to let the world see what these people on!!!”
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Meek Mill is currently signed to Atlantic Records and Maybach Music Group while also being under management with Roc Nation. It’s unclear who Meek is talking about, but fans will have to wait until he discloses more details as promised to find out.
N.O.R.E. might have been the source of inspiration for Meek Mill to go to Twitter and vent his frustrations with his label. During a recent visit to the I Am Athlete podcast, the Drink Champs host spoke about his first-hand experience of the ugly side of the music industry.
“When you sign to a major label, that money that they give you, let’s say they give you $800,000, alright? That’s a loan,” N.O.R.E. said. “You have to pay back that loan with interest. So, if you don’t make back that $800,000, what they do is, they put you in the red.
“You can still be hot and you didn’t make back that $800,000. So, they’ll give you another album, and instead of $800,000, they’ll give you $1.2 [million] this time.”
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He continued, “But you still in the hole for that $800[K] you understand? But you got another $1.2 [million] and if you don’t make that, then you’re just in the red for both. And this is a loan with interest that you don’t get nothing out of.
“Hip Hop is not meant for the artist to win. It’s never been meant for the artist to win and the more and more you learn, the more and more you read your contracts, the more and more it’s disturbing.”
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N.O.R.E. went on to shout out Quality Control Music for the way they put their artists on game with the business side of things. He also shouted out JAY-Z for reportedly giving Rihanna back her masters.
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“And that’s why labels like QC is winning because they own it and they’re trying to put their artists on to game,” N.O.R.E. added. “Like when you hear that JAY-Z gave Rihanna back her masters, that’s a real move, ’cause that’s sayin’, ‘I don’t only want my own shit back, but I want something, I want other people to have it back as well.'”
(Full disclosure: Atlantic Records is owned by Warner Music Group; HipHopDX is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.)
