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Q-Tip Drops Knowledge for These Sucka A&Rs
Posted on January 8, 2009 4:45 PM
Easy bake oven rappers come in all different forms and come from all different regions of the country, but they all share one characteristic: They all sell more ringtones than albums. One by one, they all got signed, got one little hit that they made in five little minutes, and pushed out one little album. And then after they can't make another hit and the support from the label slowly begans to descend into the maelstrom, they struggle with the little bit of money they have to their little names. Why? Because they have no f*ckin talent. And these corny A&Rs haven't a CLUE as to what they're doing, so they keep pushing artists who they feel will bring in the most cash instead of helping to develop an artist that will actually last.
But Q-Tip is far from that common practice, which increased at alarming levels sometime around or in 2005.
Via Newsweek:
"I'm not a radio dude; I'm about the long-term. It was like that with Tribe, and it's like that now," Q-Tip says, expressing some surprise that the honchos at Universal have been willing to work with him on "The Renaissance."
What's changed since Tribe's day, the rapper believes, is that "record-company people" have gone from simply being shady to out-and-out scared. "Their model for getting numbers is broken," Q says. "They realize it, but they don't have any solutions. They all seem shook."
Q-Tip has his own prescription: "A&R departments need people who really know music. That way, they can make records that last a long time, because eventually it's going to be about the whole catalog selling again. Especially in these hard times, people want to make sure that their dollar is going to something that's worth something."
And that's what's happened to a lot of these cornball ass rappers from the South. People got sick of thinking that just because "The Whisper Song" was "hot," that the rest of the songs on the album were gonna match or surpass. Soon they were trashing their CDs because it pissed them off that they had just trashed their hard-earned $14.99. And then they stopped buying.
In 2005, the entire Southern region seemed to be upstoppable. Now? Only the same four artists are selling major records. And the rest have fallen into Nasir's black hole, where they belong: dead. With piss all over their graves.
I wonder what Soulja Boy's A&R is thinking right now. "But we had him all over the net!"
Idiot. I told you clowns this internet sh*t doesn't work. But you don't listen. Now you're scratching your head trying to figure out how to make your artist move a decent amount of units. But it's so simple. Go back and study the art, start pushing for some artists with some actual TALENT, and leave these instant microwaveable packaged rappers alone!
Q-Tip's The Renaissance in stores now.
Yo Son, tell em why you mad!!!
wow. q-tip and reckless made a real good point. a&r's are now-a-days just lookin for the next big thing. one hot song does not mean that a rapper will be on top forever. and bein a up and comin rapper from the south i actually agree that THERE IS HARDLY ANY TALENT DOWN HERE! a majority of the rappers down here have little if any lyrical ability and can only make songs that make good ringtones (i.e. young joc, soulja boy) the list goes on. a&r's need to start looking for rappers who have talent and longevity. one hot single/ringtone doesnt mean your artist is gone be on top forever. the death of the industry is more of a&r's fault than artist. rappers make what gets them signed and if makin dumb ass songs like "lookin ass nigga(hotstylz)" "crank that(soulja boy)" get them signed then thats what they gone make.
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YEA TIP!
YEA TIP!
tell these bs A&R's how to do their jobs. they are giving shitty no experience mcs fame and fortune and for what? so they can get they check at the end of the day. it's a shame what the industry has become but from what i heard, all labels and a&rs aren't like that. i heard geffen was actually a great label, whom in which lets the artist decide which single they would want to put out. different from labels such as the ones in the south like um....you know what, i don't know any good labels down there and i don't care to know. so all i gotta say is. Q-TIP your are the man and I brought a real copy of the Renaissance. it is a true hip-hop album and will be a classic over years to come.
-mentalist