S. Samuel
With the hip-hop community still blown away by 50 Cent ditching Interscope Records for an independent gamble, SOHH reached out to fellow New York rap veteran Pharoache Monch for his take on the situation.
In Monch’s perspective, going indie may not necessarily be the best option for every musician.
“The music sets the tone for the career that you want as well. It’s maybe talking about less exposure but a more loyal fan base,” Monche told SOHH’s Nikita Rathod. “To what degree if you are already a multi-millionaire do you need the middle man? What does 50 Cent need with them? What do they do? What relationship does he have that he doesn’t already have with contacts of his own? If you got your manager and your agent, at that level, you can make it work like a label.” (SOHH)
Pharoahe also offered up some suggestions for aspiring artists looking to plan out their careers.
“So as for the young up and coming artists, who are trying to find fans and trying to find a place for themselves in the industry, it’s a much different course than when you have a fan base,” Monch added. “I was fortunate that I had that fan base already, a niche fan base. At least I had that already, so it made the transition a little easier and I was fortunate enough to keep the fans along the way. If you are an upcoming artist, the marketing is much more different because you are trying to break into the industry.” (SOHH)
A few days ago, 50 revealed Interscope hit him with various restrictions after the launch of his SMS Audio headphones line a few years ago.
“Interscope is Beats Records,” 50 Cent told FORBES. “There’s no artist that has a marketing budget supporting what they’re actually doing that doesn’t have Beats headphones in the actual visual to support that brand, that company. So when I invested in SMS Audio, it kind of made people afraid.” In particular, 50 Cent recalls not being allowed to display his own SMS headphones shooting the video for “My Life.” At one point, he wore a hat with the SMS logo on it; the letters were blurred out in the final edit. (Forbes)
In February, Curtis Jackson raised eyebrows after announcing his Interscope exit.
50 Cent is leaving Interscope, the Universal-backed label that launched him into superstardom, and will take his G-Unit Records independent. The Queens-born rapper has signed a worldwide distribution agreement with Caroline/Capitol/UMG, paving the way for the release of new album Animal Ambition on June 3rd. (Forbes)
