Wale's Perfect Plan

In today’s technology driven age - when the music [and the industry that's pimped it for so long] - are facing hard times, fans have more power than ever to steer the culture back in the right direction. The question is, are we using that power for good or evil?!

Wale - The Perfect Plan

Let me get straight to the point. Hip-Hop fans are fickle. There is no other artform or culture where the mass of their followers not only don’t due the knowledge and pay homage to the past but also don’t support their own future. The effects of this disloyalty are clear in the hip hop community today, where fickle beef and microwavable talent dominate the airwaves. Most folks believe that hip hop is dying when the fact is we’re simply not supporting our favorite artists and culture the way we should. Hip-Hop as we knew it can be revived, but we’ve got to change our collective mentality and put our money where our mouths are. With that said, I’ve devised a “perfect plan” to get hip hop back on track. Like to hear it, here it go…

FANS

Go to live shows: With contracts being what they are and downloading being so prevalent these days, there’s really only one true way to make sure that your favorite artist is gettin paid, go to their live shows. This is how most of your favorite artists like the Roots, earn their living. Although some brands of hip hop don’t always translate well on stage, live shows always help an artist out. Think about it, if their material is wack, they’re surely finna find out at a live show. Anywhere outside of hatin-ass New York, where there’s a crowd full of cross-armed rappers glaring at performers enviously, artists can get a real feel what the people like to hear. So on their next effort they’re more likely to step their game up. Besides, there’s nothing like the sound of crickets to make an artist second guess the “yessum baws” accolades they get from their yes-man entourage at the studio.

On Koch? then cop it! : Most artists on Koch have “fair” contracts, meaning they might actually get paid eventually if you buy their album. Most labels give you a huge advance which you have to recoup (pay back) first before you can make a dime. And you still only get a small fraction of that profit. I truly believe that Koch has the smartest business model of all of the labels out there. Cut out the big budgets and focus on distribution. It keeps artists grounded and makes good biz sense in terms of ROI (Return On Investment). Any biz savvy, B-level artist is a fool if they haven’t considered taking their work to Koch yet.

ARTISTS

Learn the biz : It pains me to hear aspiring acts clamoring to “get signed.” As if that is or has ever been a one way ticket out the hood. Seriously, that’s like a free man signing himself up for slavery. Little do most cats know that MOST artists never see the light of day once their signed and what’s worse is that its hell to get out of a contract and you’re pretty much guaranteed not to get your masters back. So think twice before signing on that dotted line.

LABELS

Develop your damn artists : First and foremost, let me state that I understand that we’re talking about the Business of music here. So I’m not naive enough not to acknowledge that downloads have severely cripled your ability to give talent time to develop. So again, fans, just realize the part you’re playing in being served wack music. HOWEVER, I still don’t feel like labels do enough to develop the talent they have. Contrary to popular belief, labels do actually sign talented artists. In fact, there are tons of great acts stuck on the shelf at major labels. I think that labels need to make a commitment to stepping up the quality of music they feed to the public. They maybe people will consider purchasing music again.

So there you have it, the somewhat perfect plan. Really all in all, this is just my wake up call to the industry and its fans. I think fans do want to support their favorite artists but until we start hearing some better music, bootleg blogging is here to stay. Big up to the homie Wale for the inspiration. Unoooooo

Wale - The Perfect Plan