SOHH Squad
Mass Appeal Records' Fashawn recently talked about his run in the music industry and said an insider at Def Jam previously told him to avoid signing to the iconic label.
According to Fashawn, the secret conversation went down around 2009.
“I was at the Def Jam offices, they invited me up to the Def Jam office. I’m walking through, I’m just looking at the history of Def Jam: LL Cool J, DMX, [Jay Z], Nas, you name it. They invited me just to tell me that I shouldn’t sign with them, that I should not sign with Def Jam. I’m not gonna name any names specifically of who told me that but they invited me and said like, ‘You’re an artist of quality and you’re like a really innovative artist. We’re all big fans of you in the office, but don’t come over here,’ basically. That was just the weirdest thing ever to me. I don’t know.” (HHDX)
Recently, Fashawn revealed Nasir’s interest in having him join his roster completely changed his career outlook.
“Before this whole Nas thing happened, I was really discouraged with rap. I was not excited about the future of hip-hop. I was doing other things. But, getting the call from Nas just lit the fire again. Really just got me ready to kill everything in my path.” (VLAD TV)
Nasty Nas announced the official signing last month and called the rapper one of hip-hop’s most underrated emcees.
“Fashawn is one of the most underrated in the game. The world is gonna know soon. We’re excited to have him as a part of the family.” Fashawn’s prepping The Ecology for his Mass Appeal debut, a project that follows a series of past efforts from the emcee, including his Ode To Illmatic piece and his critically acclaimed Exile-produced album, Boy Meets World. (Statement)
In June, Nas talked about his admiration for fellow Mass Appeal signee Boldy James.
“All day, yes sir,” Nas said when asked if he was signing Boldy James. “He spit. He just spit straight raw straight outta the D. Everybody know what it is in the D, and my man right there, he’s flowing. It’s just easy. It’s just easy to see the talent right there and I just wanted to be associated with that. … I’ve been hearing what he’s been doing and found out he didn’t have a deal. When I found out he was still free, I was just trying to see if he was ready to get down with this thing and go all the way with Mass Appeal and I think it’s a perfect connection.” (Hot 107.5)
