Meek Mill is the latest rapper to expose the industry's shadiness, claiming his label has never paid him.
Rapper turned podcaster NORE recently spoke on the predatory nature of labels during a stop on the I Am Athlete podcast.
“When you sign to a major label, that money that they give you, let’s say they give you 800 grand, alright? That’s a loan,” N.O.R.E. explained. “You have to pay back that loan with interest. So, if you don’t make back that 800 grand what they do is, they put you in the red.
You can still be hot and you didn’t make back that 800 grand. So, they’ll give you another album, and instead of $800,000, they’ll give you 1.2 this time.
But you still in the hole for that 800 you understand? But you got another 1.2 and if you don’t make that, then you’re just in the red for both. And this is a loan with interest that you don’t get nothing out of.
Hip Hop is not meant for the artist to win. It’s never been meant for the artist to win and the more and more you learn, the more and more you read your contracts, the more and more it’s disturbing.”
NORE went on to say that labels like Quality Control are winning because they give their artists better terms.