Thursday, June 24, 2010

Labels

Which artist has formed the perfect label?
There are only a few record labels really making noise these days. Kanye's Good Music, Wayne's Young Money, Jay's Roc Nation, and T.I.'s Grand Hustle are at the top. It's not a coincidence that the founders are all in the top 5 still rapping today.  Kanye has a very well rounded label: Mainstream (Big Sean), Alternative (Common, Kid Cudi), R & B (John Legend, Mr. Hudson), and of course some artists that aren't as popular. Jay-Z has a bad history with record labels though he has had the budget to make several branches. JCole will hold it down though. We'll see if Lil Kim can still have an impact. T.I.'s Grand Hustle is my least favorite of the one I mentioned but they are doing their thing. Somehow B.o.B. keeps making these record breaking singles. Young Dro and L.A. come up with a super hit everynow and then as well. Not to mention he signed probably the most renown DJ today, DJ Drama. But my favorite and so far, the most successful is Young Money: Drake (nuff said) and Nicki Minaj got a lil Biggie and Kim thing goin. Twist and Chuckee got a hold of the early teens audience. I mean, Remember how nice u thought Bow Wow was when you were 12 or 13. And the rest of the artists just collaborated to make a certified Gold album. So yea, Young Money wins. Since money equals success these days, Wayne's label will be the most successful. Kanye's and T.I.'s will finish at a close second and third respectively, and ironically, Jay's label will come in last on my list. What do you think? Am I missing any labels?

3 comments:

  1. Young Money's main bread winners right now are Drake and Nicki (not counting Wayne because it's his label). At some point Drake will outgrow the label and eventually part ways with them. As for Nicki she has had very little success with her own music and by the time her album actually comes out i don't think she'll be doing crazy numbers. If Drake can't go gold first week with the entire industry backing him I see little hope for her debut album doing much.

    -R

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  2. @Royce, I agree. I think Drake will at some point (in the near future) leave Young Money because he can't continue to be on a label where he's (damn near) bigger than the biggest star on it (also the owner). Aside from being able to get more money elsewhere, he isn't going to want to be rapping with Lil' Twist and Chuckee and Tyga Tyga for much longer. Lol. I think Young Money is the hottest of the labels at the present time, but I like G.O.O.D. Music more. G.O.O.D. Music has a lot of talent that isn't just popular for now, but artists like Common who have maintained a popular image for years. Another thing that makes G.O.O.D. Music so successful to me is the labels versatility. Common makes frequent movie appearances, Kanye can direct and produce, Mr. Hudson is international artist (bringing a bigger fan base to the label), John Legend can perform in ANY venue and appeal to ANY fan base and Kid Cudi who also has an acting role on an HBO TV series. G.O.O.D. Music is nicknamed "The Grammy Family" (between Common, Kanye West and John Legend they have 22 Grammys). I don't see Nicki Minaj, Lil Twist, Chuckee, Tyga Tyga, Gudda Gudda, Drake and Lil' Wayne winning 22 Grammys...EVER.

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  3. LOL the 22 grammys is invalid. its like Royce said, u gotta exclude wayne and kanye cuz its their labels. so the "grammy family" has 8 grammys. John Legend has been in the game for like 6-7 years, and Common, like 20. 25+ years between the 2 of them = 8 grammys. Thats very respectable, don't get me wrong but Nikki hasn't debuted yet and she has 2 lol. And even you Drake haters have to know that Drake's grammys are going to come.
    @Royce nobody but eminem is going gold in the first week, maybe kanye, i doubt it tho. Even JayZ didnt. So yea I'd say 462,000 in a week or what ever is a very nice DEBUT album lol.
    Tyga, Gudda, and whoever else arent much worse than artists like Consequence and Fonzwoth Bentley lol.
    Yea its YOUNG MULA BAAAAABY

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