S. Samuel
Rap newcomer Mac Miller recently discussed his indie dreams and what impact a non-major album release reaching over a million sold copies could have on the music industry.
While he does not expect his upcoming Blue Slide Park album to top a milli, Miller speculated on possibly hitting platinum status independently.
“Right now, we’re doing things that no independent artist has ever done before,” Miller shared. “It’s wild that I even said that sentence but, I want to see how far we can take it, man. What if? What if we build it to a point where we sell a platinum record? Not this album, but what if one of my albums goes platinum independently? That would be ridiculous and I would be hella cakin’ off of that (Laughs).” (Semtex TV)
In June, rap veteran Tech N9ne talked about his non-interest in going major.
“They’ve already been calling, since last year or the year before. They’ve already been calling and asking us questions and stuff,” Tech said referring to the majors. “I think Strange Music will be the major this year or next year. It’s looking that way…You might wanna ask [my business partner] Travis this question [of joining a major]. He’ll probably say it’ll have to be around $900 million or something [to sign a deal]. We’re good.” (MTV)
Prior to signing with Universal Motown imprint Young Money, rapper Drake contemplated remaining an independent artist in summer 2009.
“I think if I did put out an album with no label, I think I could really prove a point which is the changing of a generation,” he said. “I feel like if I sign to a label and go platinum the first week, they’ll be like ‘Oh, it was the label push,’ but if I did it without, people might say this is really changing, the Internet is a powerful tool. And when you use it the right way, you can make magic happen. I really think it would be legendary, I don’t know how possible it is, because there’s different things you have to consider like distribution, marketing budget and what not. But we have a pretty strong team so I’ma see if we can make it happen.” (Semtex TV)
Miller’s profile has continued gaining popularity since the late 2000’s.
Before his solo career, he was part of a rap group, The Ill Spoken with fellow Pittsburgh rapper, Beedie. Prior to signing with Rostrum, in his mid-teen years, Mac Miller went by the alias “Easy Mac”. Upon turning 18, he signed with Rostrum Records and released his mixtape debut, titled K.I.D.S. with the label in August 2010. On March 29, Miller released an EP calledOn And On And Beyond. The six-track work was produced by Rostrum Records. (Lets Sing It)
Check out Mac Miller’s interview below:
MAC MILLER | THE BEST DAYS EVER from DJ SEMTEX on Vimeo.
