SOHH Atlanta

Hey Caff, did you read the press release??? :-(

Crime Mob forked over ALL of their publishing (not sure who would want it, did you hear "Stilettos" ROFL) - so what are these 6 idiots going to live off royalties split a half dozen ways...for Christ sakes they signed a production deal which reduces their points significantly and they don't get much shows. Dumb kids!!!

The guy that's compaining now purposely sought out high school dropout wanna be rappers that are dead broke with no damn sense. As far as I'm concerned, this is good for his ass.

As soon as these artists got in the game and realize how they got played, they hire lawyers to try to swindle their way out of what they signed.

Dumb fucks thats why u go to SCHOOL to learn the business instead of not goin and then cryin when u get played or should I say when u play yaself?...a lot of these rappers are assin themselves out.Be surprised how many are selling madd albums and still broke cuz they played themselves not knowin the business

Rappers should at the minimum take business and finance classes for fuck's sake I'm tired of these retarded niggas coming out empty fuckin handed! It is gonna be mad funny when vh1's "where are they now" comes on in 10-20 years and we see where a lot of these losers are.

Man..alot of times, them cats is so hungry to get on..and it happens so fast, what you expect them to do. Especially when there are hundreds of other hot ones out there wantin to be signed to. What you gonna do..put the signing on hold and tell them "hold up, let me take a business class real quick". I ain' sayin it's the right thing to do, but as soon as that deal comes up...the game changes so much..that soon as it pops off, they ready to run with it while they feel they on fire. Definetly, definetly have a lawyer read your contract, but comin straight out the hood...how you gonna pay to have a lawyer read yo papers, and then what if they aint right? Then you assed out of that money for the lawyer. So me..I think that's what alot of these cats do. They want to get on while the opportunity presents itself...make as much a name of themself as they can early on, then try and clean up whatever mess may have occured on the way there. Now for any fool that signs anything more than a one album deal on their first signin...they idiots. At least one album gives you an idea of what you workin with. If it's straight, then you renegotiate your piece. If they ain't straight with it, well then...you can take it back to the table, or step the "f" off to another place. That's if you got your grind on in the first deal and anybody even care bout you in the first place. Now the whole publishing things...that's just dumb to me. How somebody else gonna get paid off what you write? I don't get it. I'll give you some points, but you ain't getting my publishing. PERIOD.

Caff= jock rider

All of you are some dumb fucks. You can have a lawyer look over your contract without paying them. Lawyers will negotiate your deal for 10-20% of your advance. By advance I mean pocket money because your budget & advance are 2 different things. If your advance is $100,000 then the lawyer will get $10-20,000. The more they negotiate for you the more they get. So they look out for you as well as themselves. They will make your contract correct if you go this route. You dont need to put shit on hold or take a business class.

Johnny Barz, do you think that route is best, seriously??? Unless that lawyer got you the deal there is no way they should take 10-20% of your advance, just to review and negotiate - THAT is crookish robbery. All of these fake ass hustlers and bling blinging ass niggas picking up a mic should have that couple hours (x$350) on reserve. Them getting a percentage doesn't equate them negotiating the BEST deal.

they know damn well that if they dont take the record deal somebody else will.

i aint say theu should put they shit on hold to take a class, they should have that shit done already b4 the deal. johnny barz uz ignorant too. u act like lawyers dont fuck over they damn clients even if they do get paid in advance. dont nobody really give a fuck about some dumb rapping nigga trynna get on, they trynna to fatten they pockets too!

you gotta have management out here. All that trying to save a few pennies by doing everthing yourself will bite you in the azz. An artist should be an artist and leave the bizness to mgmt. You just have to be able to fully trust your manager.

Hold it down T!

Lol the floor telling the wall that it's flat!!! You guys kill me. Is this really so importanT?? Even with these lopsided deals these cats are eating and not from a 9-5. Hey i'll take a wack solo deal make something of it and then go do my own thing and get money from that. Ppl forget that you saying nah let's renogiate a contract means "time to see the next tyron,jose,marshall". If you are getting a solo deal that sucks and you think you can live off your talent then go for it, and use it as a stepping stone. Hell why arent we talking about becoming lawyers so we can get some of that 10% advance money??

Regina & Rappers-is-ignorant. I am an entertainment lawyer. I graduated last year and negotiated my first deal. There's an artist signed to So So Def/Virgin from Baltimore, MD named Bossman. I negotiated his 7 figure deal. Trust me he aint hurtin. The reason lawyers get 10-20% of a deal is because they cant pay a lawyer $500 & up a hour. Do you know on day to day basis it could take a total of 2 weeks to negotiate a deal. Every hour and every long distance phone call you pay for. Multiply $500 times 12 hrs out of each day for 2 weeks and see what the total is. Thats why the 10-20% is offered. For you people that dont know a contract in music contains up to 75 pages. A good lawyer who looks out for you can get it down to 5 pages. If you get a cheap $75/hr lawyer then your shit might be 30 pages and thats when you start getting fucked. Plus lawyers like managers get 10-15% of your yearly income which is best because if you give them 10-20% on every deal or advance you will lose out. Take whats called a retainer agreement and give the lawyer 10-15% of your yearly income and trust me you wont get robbed.

CONGRATS JOHNNY BARZ BUT UR JUST 1 MAN WHO OBVIOUSLY AINT CROOKED. BIG UPS TO YOU BUT EVERYBODY AINT LIKE THAT. ITS MAD ARTISTS OUT THERE WHO HAD ALL THE SHIT YOU TALKING BOUT AND STILL GOT FUCKED. LIKE WHAT WAS ALREADY SAID, NOBODY CARES ABOUT STREET TRASH, ESPECIALLY IGNORANT AND DAMN NEAR ILLITERATE STREET TRASH. YOU CAN'T PUT ALL YOUR FUCKING TRUST IN SOMEBODY YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW. LOOK AT ALL THE WHITE ARTISTS WHO AINT HAD A HIT IN DECADES VS. THE NUMBER OF BLACK ARTISTS IN THE SAME BOAT. WHITE PEOPLE GET INVOLVED AND LEARN HOW TO HANDLE MONEY WHEREAS BLACKS DON'T AND THE MAJORITY OF THEM END UP FILING FOR BANKRUPTCY OR SOME SHIT CUZ THEY DON'T KNOW SHIT AND LOOK STUPID WHEN THEY FIND OUT THEIR LAWYER DIDN'T DO SHIT FOR HIM. YOU GOTTA LEARN HOW TO HANDLE YOUR OWN MONEY MAN. I GUARANTEE A LOT OF THESE RAPPERS WON'T BE RICH BY THE TIME WE REACH SENIOR CITIZEN STATUS.

K9s its hella artists out there who aint eatin no better than some common folk and they got great albums but signed fucked up ass deals. Just look at how many of em keep switchin labels, with a lawyer and/or management. If you don't know what you're doing people will take advantage of you and leave you broke and shit outta luck. Them lawyers and management muthafuckas don't care about them dummies. They just suck you dry and toss ya ass to the side when the next comes along. Moral is=stay in school so you can at least have some knowledge. I know a lot of em are hungry and would do anything for a deal but aint no point in puttin in all the effort and coming out with nothing. People prey on the weak and feable minded, which is what a lot of artists, rappers especially, are.

4 real johnny everybody aint like you. Lawyers is crooked and so is management. Its a lot of white artists getting ripped off but not nearly as many as rappers and its all bcuz these fools are not educated and chase the 1st thing coming. And dude below him, its a shit load of artists who got albums out and aint eating. What the fuck are u talking about?

johnny barz is it? this guy is a dumb dumb, because if anyone would pay bossman 7 figures they must be dumb, like you. even if bossman got a deal of that magnitude, he can't sustain that monetary stature with no record sales.

in one year, we have not heard anything from "bossdog," so he is obviously shelved goods! stop lying mr. barz. Where's the hot single or album from him?

i highly doubt that you negrotiated a seven-figure deal for a nobody. plus, after paying agent, manager, lawyer, irs, jacob the jeweler, etc., a seven-fig deal will be reduced significantly to about 5 figs. all lawyers are scoundrels, and agents too.

if these dum rap folz would just avoid snatching the first crumb thrown at them, then they would make some cash. read over their own contract, research some things if you have to, and dont' depend on lawyers and accoutants and agents to handle your best interest. Then and only then will you rap folz make some cheese.

lawyers and agents don't know everything, and they don't always have their client's best interest at heart. lawyers get their knowledge the way anyone else does: by studying the law. so i advise artists to do the same -- study contract and copyright law.

Johnny frontin hard.
I bet he got his law degree from Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizzardry. Or Maybe Kathine Gibbs.

Johnny, u sure blabbin alot. Did they not teach CONFIDENTUALITY and CLIENT / ATTORNEY PRIVILEDGE second semester in school, right after contracts?
Im sure Bossman dont want his financial business out there on the streets, you Apex Tech nicca.

Yea son. Columbia Law, C/O 2004

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER. no matter what field your in this capitalistic society has it set up that somebody is going to get paid off you. Unfortunatly niggas never want to pick up a book and learn some shit that you need to know and it just doesnt happen in the rap game, look at mike tyson. these executives in the record industry are just doing the same thing everyone else dose, which is taking advantage of ones lack of knowledge and the reason it happens so often in the rap game today is because its so many dumb niggas rapping!!!!I guess Chris Rock was right when he said books are like kryptonite to a nigga!!!
Who has time to go try to learn some shit when we have to go pimp at the club with our icy while we sippin and smoking on 20somethings. BOY WEEZA JUST LAZY!!!

honestly being an aspiring artits slash broke ass negro, u gotta understand the system before u jump in it. Me like every other rapper WILL GET JERKED ! Most likely early on in your career. but, IT WILL HAPPEN! its the bidness. all u can do is hope its not to damaging and move on. The music bidness is like a bad marriage that both people want to work out. u have to sacrafice on both ends right out of the gate. (if u not a independent mogul... and they get jerked too) you as the artists on one hand want all the money u deserve because u are the creator. The label wants all the money they deserve because they are the financial sponsor. So what happens is that you (the artist) feel like since i put in countless hours of hard work to perfect my craft and so much time in the studio i am entitled to at least my fair share. But the label will say we paid for the tours, the publishing, the liscencings, the advertisements, the print cost for cd's, cases, and album covers, the photoshoots, etc. So what u have to do is compromise and take your lost somewhere in the midst of the huge contract. SO, u loose some percentage on your albums sold to gain percentage on your master copies. So, you gain a bigger advance for less promotion. Nigga dont think about that part. They just think i write a hook on a dope ass track and im all good. Nah this is a BIDNESS FIRST and it will destroy u. Keep that in mind because u will get jerked. U just need to know the ropes.
-- ASCAP_Iz_A_must in this game. ONE

P.S.and if u dont know what ascap is then do not sign a deal because that is where a huge percentage of that money comes from.

i dont think niggaz have to get jerked for the sake of capitalism. niggaz need to stop being so thirsty -- whenever you rush to do something, you will falter (lessons from the titanic).

rap iz the hottest music on the planet right now, so how come these artists cant get loot? itz because the execs know these niggaz are dum dums off the block and are so desperate to get a deal so they can stop gettin arrested, pay child support and lawyer fees, buy some rimz and jewelry, and get a car.

that is the model we have set up for a rapper. there is a clear cut way not to get all the way robbed by the execs, it is to prove your market value. however, you also have to have education of something...anything, and prove you are not stoopid.

yes, the label puts forth a lot a money on the artists, that goes without question; but the artists' creations the record label will not be profitable at all. so arm with that knowledge, the artist with value can sway the business to give them more than they would normally get -- a pittance.

i know these rappers are dum, and y'a;; muffuckerz dum for singing they dum shit, cuz they dissin yo azz! talkin about they killin somethin and yappin about u broke, and they azz iz gettin raped and jerked by tommy matola!!

One album deal...don't give up no publishin, and do the damn thang!

The labels out to make money..and if they believe in you enough, and think you gonna sell...they'll sign on at that, and they'll have to support you cuz they got one shot. Anybody that signs they first deal for anything more than 2 records is a dum dum. Don't be a tax write off, and end up on the streets and can't even make no more music cuz you tied to a bum label. That's just stupid. And honestly, RAP should NEVA be your first hustle cuz there's about an 85% chance you ain't goin no where, no matter how nice you are. Make music because you love makin music, and if it pops off like it should...and you get the deal you been seekin (1 album, no pub)..then that means it's meant to be. If not, still make your music...but make your money with a legit J.O.B. You know..the kind that pays insurance and offers retirement. And if you ain' got one of those now, then get in school. It will only help you on both sides of the music fence, and may lead to you doin the music thing..but if not, you still set cuz YOU put your foot forward and handled you BI on the education tip.

Cuz neva forget..half these cats that do blow up, if you ain't damn near legend status...even when you rap you got to branch off into other ventures to maintain that financial that is going to be required to maintain you for the rest of your life. Not to mention supporting your kids and putting them through college. And to branch off, and to keep leeches out your pockets you gotsta have that education.

PZ

Johnny Barz really sold himself out spilling information here, you sound like one of those $75/hr lawyers. A retainer is one thing, but any artist that has a percentage of his income in perpetuity paid to an attorney is a jackass. The work of an entertainment lawyer becomes somewhat repetitive, if you work on recording contracts for years upon years, you know what to look for!!! I doubt any of them will sit up 12 hours a damn day for 2 weeks reviewing it unless they are a new freshly minted lawyer which is completely unless. Even if I followed you calculations $500 x 12 hours a day x 2 weeks (10 business days) - it totals $60,000 (tell me what lawyer charges this to review a contract they didn't assist in obtaining). Nonethesless even if they charge 60K, how does that equal 10-20% of a 7 figure advance. The lowest 7 figure amount is 1 million!!! 10-20% of that is 1-200,000 (not 60,000) and you are telling me you are a good lawyer and that isn't robbery. Screw a law degree, that's 3rd grade math and any rapper that can't notice a difference of up to $140,000 deserved to be ripped off. Everyone talks about pulling these huge advance, an advance is just that - AN ADVANCE - you gotta pay that shit back plus interest through your petty recording artist royalty.

Artists need to stop focusing as much on the advance and giving Tom, Dick and Harry (greedy lawyers, managers and production companies) a big payout. They need to pay attention to bigger payouts on the back-end, guarantee of release (so you can leave freely if they shelf it without buyout), exit clauses and so forth. I know a little sweetie, your law degree is from CUNY at most (and they don't have an entertainment law program FYI)

Imma make it plain and simple for yall: the reason niggaz always get jerked is becuz niggaz always wanna be "DAT NIGGA."

DAT NIGGA on the b-ball court, DAT NIGGA ON STAGE, DAT NIGGA on the record!!

istead of trying to be "DAT NIGGA" makin no money, be the "quiet unseen man" behind the scenes gettin all the paper off "DAT NIGGA"!

regina, thank for that breakdown, i did that off jump and saw j barz was full of it, thatz why i called him a dum dum. U right on point with the 10 business days, that is exactly how i calculated it!!

good job!

Rgina and 1 thug. You did the math but you forgot about one thing. Lawyers have lunch and they travel to meet the labels. If the label is in L.A. & the lawyer and artist is from NY then that artist will be charged for the long distance calls and the flights to and from NY to LA. If the lawyer is going to be crooked than he will also charge the artist to pay for his hotel and lunch meeting. Take that $60,000 and add about another $15,000 for the bullshit things I mentioned. Thats $75,000. If your advance is $100,000 and they take 20% then you win cause the lawyer will only be paid $20,000. Plus the higher the advance the less they will take. So from a 7 figure deal they might be willing to take it down to 10 or 5%. There is a saying in the industry. Take alot of a little and a little of alot, because 10% of a mulit million income is more than 20% of a couple hundred grand income. And yes lawyers who shopped the deal for the artist are the ones who usually get 10%-20% of advance money. They dont get it for just negotiations unless you truly cant pay for a lawyer. Always get your own. Dont be like the LOX and have the label appoint your lawyer for you. Now Diddy owns 50% of their publishing and he owns 100% of Biggie's. He fucked his main man over for money. Your better of trusting a lawyer than the label or execs theirselves. Not everybodies a crook. Look at Rockwilders website (Rocbeats.com) and he proves it. Him & his lawyers are helping people to get rich and stay rich, releasing cd's and books on the industry including film, tv and post production (Commercials)

Fool...Diddy don't own 50% of the Lox's publishin. Where you been at???

Like I been sayin...one album deal, no publishing rights. Johnny Barz, break it down for me why this ain't most sensible for a brand new artist. Other than it cuts out the need for a lawyer, cuz the lawyer ain't gonna make rip.

PZ

Fool...Diddy don't own 50% of the Lox's publishin. Where you been at???

Like I been sayin...one album deal, no publishing rights. Johnny Barz, break it down for me why this ain't most sensible for a brand new artist. Other than it cuts out the need for a lawyer, cuz the lawyer ain't gonna make rip.

PZ

yeah. diddy does own the publishing to money, power, respect. Why do u think they where argueing on angie martinez for ? where u been dawg ?

Alright..let me clear that up. They ain't arguein over that no mo..it's cleared up.

http://www.allhiphop.com/hiphopnews/?ID=5148

And it wasn't over just that MPR song. Check that Angie Martinez audio again....DAWG.

http://www.hot97.com/multimedia/audio.aspx?origin=nav

PZ

I hope they send this out b4 them crackers kill me. LEARN THE BIDNESS,LIL NIGGAS,BEFORE YOU ENTER THE GAME.secondly,i must promote this new artist i heard while in the bing. his name is G VEGA,and he is the truth. fo real,this kid has it all.all i have to say is watch out for this kid,and keep the lord jesus christ in your heart.god bless.

First and foremost, I must acknowledge the talent of Scrappy, Crime Mob all their lawyers. Not to mention, with enough practice we all can be talented at something, right? These cats are no where near gifted or geniuses, including whoever their desperate lawyers are. These people are just puppets in the puppet show. However, lets not forget Serious Lord of Crunk for his gift of keeping the game real - big ups nigga!!

Hello? According to previous press releases without Serious who would they be? Some lost souls....

All of of you made great keypoints in light of the situation included in the article.

However, if you don't know the game and know how to SURVIVE in all you do then you a straight out LAME.

Stop cryin Lord ~ I think not - I just think a nigga keeping it real to the whole nine. Forever General type nigga ~ the music business need many people like him. While the other people (Scrappy, Crime Mob & all the wanna be Johnny Cochran lawyers) just caught up in the limelight. To put it out there I think they are caught in the music game ~ the glamour~ and so far from the truth. As someone mentioned earlier everybody wanna be dat nigga or dat bitch.

Lets keep it real - KNOW THYSELF first and you'll maintain the game through whatever! Reatining your composure and rising to greater heights is far more than just being Dat Nigga or whatever.

Its sad how we as people, as a culture get so caught up in the dollar bill and fame. In essence of that being the ultimate motive you'll end up making history as being the broke nigga, foeva in debt nigga.

I mean, no one is perfect, but come on people; Where is our dignity? Why do we continue to keep ourselves IGNORANT to our greatest investment which is ourself?

You can only do crooked shit for so long then it come to light because thats TRUTH.

So to the anti-realist who wrote the story, just watch the truth. Ain't nobody crying bout shit. Sometimes the truth just hurts.

Elevate yourselves to stay on top! Hopefully, allthese upcoming new artist will retain more knowledge and learn from their mistakes and keep greedy people afar.

DATS REAL... I AGREE THE LAST COMMENT.

I GOT TO SAY THAT SERIOUS CAT JUST LOOKING OUT.

GOOD LOOKING KID

Is it just me or do Lil Scrappy looks like Nas.