Starting your own label, clothing line and acting? SLOW DOWN SON. Get that rap career going first.
It amuses me whenever the latest rapper with a hit single gets interviewed and he lays out the LL Cool J (formerly Will Smith) career plan or the Diddy (formerly Russell Simmons) play book of transitioning into a businessman beyond the rap game.
Peep this interview done by EXPO’s top hip hip journalist Manny Caballaro with current chart topping rapper GRIMEY:
Manny:
So what’s your plan for the future?
GRIMEY:
Dog, I gots my own label, Grimey Muthafuckas, INC.
We got artists like DUMB FUCK, ALLABOUTAZZ, TRIGGAFINGA, and AROUNDAWAYBITCH on our roster.
I gots my CASH IN clothing line in the works.
I gots my production company BOOTLEG films.
We shoot all my street videos (currently on Youtube and MYSPACE) so we takin’ meetings with Hollywood execs about doin’ movies. I’m trying to act in films, cop a television show and do it all baby!!
SIGH, Slow down GRIMEY and get that rap career going first.
Right now, you have a hit single, maybe even two, Hell, your first album might have sold 100,000 units out the box. However, chill with expanding the brand and focus on the foundation, which is building YOURSELF up as an artist first.
Look at older cats like WILL SMITH and LL COOL J. These artists each have at least twenty albums under their belt combined. Let’s look at newer heads like JAY-Z, KANYE and WAYNE these guys had multiple albums before they started diversifying within and beyond the music industry.
Let me just say, being the head of a record label takes more than just wanting to hook up your boys from off the street with a deal and put some cash in their pockets.
It’s more than just signing someone who sounds just like you or signing someone who is clearly not good enough so that they can’t offer you any competition on your own label.
Lastly, there’s definitely more to building a successful label than just running around with a CEO title and an expense account (no offense Jermaine Dupri). Diddy, you’re my boy but these days can you get any of your artists beyond the first album or single?
What happened to that “Bad Boy for Life” roster?? It was like the “BIV 10” crew all over again.
In these seriously uncertain times, brothers are entering the music industry with the escape plan already laid out. This kind of short term thinking shows how shallow and empty many of these “artists” truly are and it certainly won’t build a fan base beyond a few ring tone sales.
Looking back at those classic TRIBE CALLED QUEST, PUBLIC ENEMY, and DE LA SOUL albums and hit or miss, each one had a different theme. They had a …hmmmm, what do you call that again? A CONCEPT. That’s why these artists can make nice money touring around the world today. They actually have a fan base.
And let’s be clear, if you’re looking to cash out of the music industry as soon as you get in it, be smart. Unless your name is Snoop Dogg, the big corporations with the real money are not going to offer you endorsements if you’re associated with talk of bitches and hoes and up on misdemeanor/felony charges. Notice how it finally dawned on Irv Gotti that the name “MURDER, INC.” might not play in the board rooms outside of the music industry?
So, slow down with working on the new clothing line, new cologne or any other grab at the fast money you might get offered.
Get smart, become a real artist and get your rap career going first.
Jamal.
.
Nice to see Manny finally get some love on the site.