Mailbox Money filled his bank account with more money from album sales than the vast majority of artists signed to an industry machine, destined to eat scraps while their masters live like royalty. Seeing lucrative success at the industry level with the Proud To Pay campaign shows more than having ownership, it shows that the system that Nipsey is challenging does have cracks in its exoskeleton. He properly gauged interest in his product at a level and price point that fans would be able to purchase from him; even if the price was nearly ten times what a traditional album costs.
Whereas Lavar Ball, owner of Big Baller Brand, decided to stay the course, Nipsey proceeded to meet on his terms, creating a situation that will benefit both parties for years to come. The question of how Proud To Pay can continue to exist under the umbrella of Atlantic Records does come to mind. Will there be a percentage taken off the top from the executives that want a piece of the action? From release to release, his fox-like slyness intrigued his growing fan base.
Interviews with radio figures that encouraged him to discuss his beliefs on worldly events made people keen to find out the depths of his intelligence.
By the time that he would begin to push the limits of pricing points for music, he was already a well-respected figure in burgeoning rap circles. Of course, these projects from these artists may be free, but the successes of the Proud To Pay campaign may push Nipsey to instill the program for their bodies of work as well.
If he does, this could expose the convention as a means of frantically grabbing at unassuming fans dollars instead of a battle in the war for music industry supremacy.
Across the crowded musical landscape, album sales have been declining across the board. Newer artists are getting shafted by men in suits, sitting at round tables, determining the best way to spend the least amount of money on young creatives. His partnership with Atlantic proves this; his declaration of the continuation of Proud To Pay hints at their trepidation.
The number is astronomical, no doubt, but the message will be clear when people buy it. Without artists to work with, record label officials are glorified, administrative assistants. For Nipsey, who's one of the biggest independent rappers in hip-hop, this was a major development in his career.
Now with a major label behind him, his highly anticipated Victory Lap album—which has been teased since —will finally hit stores and streaming platforms in a major way. The timing and the terms of the partnership aligned with Nipsey's vision so it made sense to sign with Atlantic.
But I felt like the way we went about it and the terms that we came to were really important. And if we had to just stay outside of the system a little bit longer to get the terms that we feel we deserve, we was going to do that.
The West Coast MC also stresses that Atlantic's excellent track record working with rappers' labels helped him solidify his choice. One major point is that Nipsey doesn't see this partnership as a short relationship. He says that he's planning on putting out four projects with Atlantic, the first being his debut album, Victory Lap. There isn't a release date for the LP at this time, but hopefully that comes out sometime early next year.
Nipsey is also gearing up to release a collaborative project with a rising West Coast rapper sometime in the future.
0コメント