While i agree that music did change from that era, my point was more that these guys were IMPORTANT as hell in being the link between the creators & the businessmen. Gotti, Dame, Puff, Master P, Suge etc etc were guys who were astute on the business end but also were knee deep in the culture of hip hop. So it was hard for these labels to completely manipulate the artist & their images to how they see fit, without going through a middle man.
The roles of these guys are still very present they are just in the form of old white men & guys who are only involved in hiphop for the bottom line. So they don't even have relationships with their artist on a personal level, their undevoted loyalty is to their label & bosses. The fight for the artist is dead & the push for artistry is dead, it 100% just creating a product now & disposing of the artist as quick as possible.
The culture took a hit when it switched from creators with business acumen to flat out businessmen.
Topp & the whole TDE camp seem to be the only ones still in that Mode
Edit: Cole & his entire Dreamville camp seem to be on the same wave, Also Ross & MMG
hence them having longevity & success.
i agree, those cats WERE pivotal in that era of the music business, that is what is cool learning about in these interviews, but those almost times required it...these days with the sheer quantity of both artists & outlets doesn't need that link for the business to run, in fact the business is probably better for it, from the perspective of those running the show it eliminate one level of middle men...
those old white men have always had the same concern for the bottom line, but when the business didn't require the puffs & irvs, they got cut loose, the money people rarely ever really understand the art, which why the they needed the people who could say this is what is cool, but now it is way easier to pull up ig, google, or use some other metric to see what is lit or moving, in real time; less development, less guesswork, less risk, equals less money out & potentially more money in...
i'm always dubious to claims of art/artist/ manipulation by labels, not that it doesn't happen, i just don't think it is to the extent & reach that is always being claimed, anyone involved in the art #punintended of commerce knows there is some amount of theater to it, if anything that is the lesson most of the new artists have learned from that generation because listening to the dames, irvs, and puff speak on that era, that is what they understood, stuff has to look & feel a certain way...for example, the reason both dame & puff didn't think dmx would work was because it wasn't what they were selling...so they couldn't see it working, it wasn't because x wasn't nice as a emcee
when an artist can make & release music with the availability of decent tools & ease of today, i don't think they feel nearly as constricted as their counterpart artists of yesteryear, they are putting out exactly what they want (or perhaps what they think people want)...the gift & the curse of the loss of some of the gatekeepers is that the art/culture is by definition less curated, there are more creators and less control, and that generation of execs were about curation & control; whereas it became much more experimental & laissez-faire in regards to the music, and for better & worse we gained a broader spectrum of artists for whom brand/image became more important...
There's no one set up in a position of power to fight for the artist.
That was totally intentional. It's not a coincidence they went away and 360 deals came.
i don't necessarily disagree that it may have been intentional, just that had the business remained as profitable or even had those guys had artists that were in that next wave, those guys probably keep their position in the music business hierarchy, 360 deals were just a realization by the music industry that if they needed another source of revenue when they are spending so much money to create an artist they should reap more of the benefit, especially as album sales were precipitously declining...
I'm from Queens and hated that Murda Inc ****. Fruckouttahere. Cash Money Click Ja, VVV Ja was okay but Pop Ja FOH.
venni vett vecci is so slept on...i never thought ja & x were similar but i can sort of understand the comparison given the competitive nature that of that era...