Would you turn down a record deal??

[youngjordan23]

After reading this post http://niketalk.com/topic/64110
I had to ask this question?

Your an aspiring rapper who talks about mostly positive subjects(Common, Mos, Talib) but live in a bad situation where you and your family members arefinancially struggling. You have a chance to sign a multi million dollar record deal and live out your dreams of being a rapper, but you must begin talkingabout drugs, money, violence, disrespecting women.

Do you sign the contract or not?

 

[jakecuevas]

YES!!!...edit......i mean no dont turn it down

family will love you...what ever you need to do for the fam is ok...

 

[nealraj006]

Whats the point of rapping if your voice can't be heard? You'll just be another "bad rapper" then.

 

[young dr0]

[color= rgb(204, 204, 51)]so be a respectable rapper and have my family down bad ... hungry ... no thank you ...[/color]

[color= rgb(204, 204, 51)]i care more about my family than what image i portray ... majority of music is fake nowanyway.[/color]

 

[ajchick23]

Hahah

I swear I was about to make a thread similar to this. "Wouldyou sell out?"
Asking if you guys would sell out and be an "artist" like lil wayne or soulja boy and make millions, or settle for an average life with a good joband all that.

But to answer the question, honestly I don't know.

It's kind ofhard to say in less the money is actually in your face and you have to make a decision right then and there.

 

[nycknicks105]

as long as I'm happy at the end, I wouldn't complain.

 

[vintagefits]

I'd talk to a lawyer (have 2 in the family)

make w/e money and relationships, but never drop an album thats social poison. at worst I'll just drop mixtapes under an alias.

I would only use the opportunity to learn a craft thats very important to me ( I love hip hop)

 

[D Fly]

In that case I would probably just turn it down and go underground and do mixtapes.

But if I didn't have to talk about drugs/money etc then I would sign it in a heartbeat.

 

[blackmagnus514]

Indie Labels FTW....shout out to Red Distribution...

i wouldnt sign with a major in this climate....*looks @ Bad Boy Roster*

i'd do enough shows to get enough bread to start my own business venture...unless you got a established fanbase you aint going plat. also, R&B actsalways seem to go plat nowadays provided they got a good push from their label (ie C. Brown, Alicia, Keyshia)

 

[mangudai954]

I would never sell out for dollars, I have too much integrity for that.

 

[tootthatthang]

Damn multi-million is a hell of alot more then anyone has now but if im an aspiring artist i doubt i would
be able to sell out and not do me

 

[everysingletime]

I'd sell out in a heartbeat.

 

[methedy24]

- I don't know what I would do, personally...!

- However, I feel that most would "sell out." Especially if you're poor to begin with and staring a lucrative deal in the face.




- It's all a big joke/front game anyway, so

 

[youngjordan23]

My response to this is broken down by Jay-Z perfectly in "Moment Of Clarity"

The music business hate me
Cause the industry ain't make me
Hustlers and boosters embrace me
And the music i be makin
I dumb down for my audience
And double my dollars
They criticize me for it
Yet they all yell "Holla"
If skills sold
Truth be told
I'd probably be
Lyricly
Talib Kweli
Truthfully
I wanna rhyme like Common Sense
(But i did five Mil)
I ain't been rhymin like Common since
When your sense got that much in common
And you been hustlin since
Your inception
++%@ perception
Go with what makes sense
Since
I know what i'm up against
We as rappers must decide what's most impor-tant
And i can't help the poor if i'm one of them
So i got rich and gave back
To me that's the win, win
The next time you see the homie and his rims spin
Just know my mind is workin just like them
(The rims that is)

Why turn down something that going to make you successful and put you in a role to help other people all to say you didn't sell out. If jay"sold out" then it's looking like that's the right thing to do. He's now an icon, one of the most important people in the music buisness,has taken hundreds of young black men and given them a legal way to provide for themselves, has worked his way into the business world and is worth half abilly all before 40. Now had he decided he wasn't going to rap about drugs or violence he wouldn't have accomplished none of this and would haveprobably been in jail.

So 450 million, plus being looked at as one of the most successful black men on the earth> supposedly keeping your "dignity" and being in a statewhere you can't help anybody.

I never understood that about indie acts. Why wouldn't you want to go to the mainstream where you could actually have a chance of showing people the lightand making a change. The mainstream audience only likes what is forced upon them, so if you decide your not going to expose them to music with substance howare they ever gonna dismiss the bull that they currentyl here.

 

[getmoneyforever]

Sometimes you have to take an L and get that money for your family

 

[7mikevick7]

Yes. I would get my family and I financially straight, and save money for a few years. Then 4 years later, make a comeback like Mase.

 

[tha sun child]

Originally Posted by young dr0

[color= rgb(204, 204, 51)]so be a respectable rapper and have my family down bad ... hungry ... no thank you ...[/color]

[color= rgb(204, 204, 51)]i care more about my family than what image i portray ... majority of music is fake now anyway.[/color]

.......Cosign.

 

[renkxedik]

Originally Posted by youngjordan23

My response to this is broken down by Jay-Z perfectly in "Moment Of Clarity"

The music business hate me
Cause the industry ain't make me
Hustlers and boosters embrace me
And the music i be makin
I dumb down for my audience
And double my dollars
They criticize me for it
Yet they all yell "Holla"
If skills sold
Truth be told
I'd probably be
Lyricly
Talib Kweli
Truthfully
I wanna rhyme like Common Sense
(But i did five Mil)
I ain't been rhymin like Common since
When your sense got that much in common
And you been hustlin since
Your inception
++%@ perception
Go with what makes sense
Since
I know what i'm up against
We as rappers must decide what's most impor-tant
And i can't help the poor if i'm one of them
So i got rich and gave back
To me that's the win, win
The next time you see the homie and his rims spin
Just know my mind is workin just like them
(The rims that is)

Why turn down something that going to make you successful and put you in a role to help other people all to say you didn't sell out. If jay "sold out" then it's looking like that's the right thing to do. He's now an icon, one of the most important people in the music buisness, has taken hundreds of young black men and given them a legal way to provide for themselves, has worked his way into the business world and is worth half a billy all before 40. Now had he decided he wasn't going to rap about drugs or violence he wouldn't have accomplished none of this and would have probably been in jail.

So 450 million, plus being looked at as one of the most successful black men on the earth> supposedly keeping your "dignity" and being in a state where you can't help anybody.

I never understood that about indie acts. Why wouldn't you want to go to the mainstream where you could actually have a chance of showing people the light and making a change. The mainstream audience only likes what is forced upon them, so if you decide your not going to expose them to music with substance how are they ever gonna dismiss the bull that they currentyl here.


you know what i've never looked at it that way .... but at the same time you gotta look at all the rappers today that come with that southern flo havea hot single yet, their album isn't selling .. so on the spectrum with Jay-Z you could say that talent eventually overcomes but not all cats are astalented, for some all they got is that image of who they are ......

but as far as a band goes can't see myself going that route i'd rather either become the mainstream or keep pushin (not drugs) until I do

 

[qpitfighter]

Right now, I'm doing alright. But just 2 years ago, I was struggling bad. I probably would have sold out, but I dunno for sure.

 

[allwhitenikes]

money is money!!! i wouldnt turn down no record deal...they could make me do country music..aslong as i sell and make money thats all that i want =)

 

[jfktv]

I would try to alter the contract as much as possible in my favor....but if no budge, nope. Simple.

 

[roback1991]

Originally Posted by allwhitenikes

money is money!!! i wouldnt turn down no record deal...they could make me do country music..aslong as i sell and make money thats all that i want =)

Ladies and Gentlemen, the current state of hip-hop.