S. Samuel
Music mogul Steve Stoute recently shared his take on what hip-hop artists have reached global influential status and why G-Unit head 50 Cent has to fight his way back to the top.
In Stoute’s opinion, Dr. Dre, Jay Z, Diddy and Kanye West are running the entertainment biz.
“Financially? [Influentially?] It’s clear. It’s Dre, Jay, Puff, Kanye, hmm, really influential, really changing the culture, yeah, probably that. I mean, there’s guys that are coming up. There’s Rick Ross, Pharrell, if you would have said that, definitely Pharrell. There’s guys coming up, Drake’s, Rick Ross’ who are getting there. When you talk about being able to shift tides globally, I mean bigger than just making hit songs. Drake has a lot of hit songs but as far as changing things, making people change the way they dress, that kind of thing and finding ways to capitalize off of changing markets and stuff like that, those are the guys. It’s really four guys – probably Pharrell. I would say Pharrell.” (“The Angie Martinez Show”)
Stoute also shared a few words on 50 Cent in light of his recent Shady Records departure.
“Are you going to have 50 Cent up here soon? You got to. He got out of his record deal,” Stoute added. “He’s not [in my top five influential rapper list]. He hasn’t had a hit in a really long time. He has not made anything musically that’s changed anything in a very long time. I feel like he’s always gearing up for something that never happens. Hopefully, now that he’s independent, and there’s no record company to blame, his aggressive content, [laughs], can get onto the air. I don’t know. I think he’s trying to get back.” (“The Angie Martinez Show”)
A few years ago, Stoute talked about wanting to bring rap mogul Nas into the mainstream spotlight.
“I had a vision for him. I felt like it was my job to make him the biggest guy in the world. I wanted the world to hear his music. I didn’t want him to become a great lyricist but end up like Kool G Rap, a lyricist the world doesn’t get to hear. I felt like I could take the responsibility and make the Nas movement bigger and not keep it confined to the Tri-State area, so to speak. He allowed me to do that. When we were together, we made a lot of noise and I made him an international star.” (Complex)
Buzz behind 50’s independent move surfaced across the Internet late last week.
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. The deal, announced through a press release from the label, marks the end of a period of uncertainty over when and where 50 Cent would drop his follow-up to 2009?s Before I Self Destruct, his most recent studio album. Despite clashes over the composition and timing of the new record over the past few years, Interscope had only kind words for him today. (Forbes)
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Check out Steve Stoute’s interview:
