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Why Does Def Jam Hate the West Coast?
So what’s up with Def Jam? It seems like after Warren G, they haven’t shown the West any love. Yes I give them props for putting out WC’s Ghetto Heisman, but the whole “Track nine skips and is unlistenable” feature just didn’t sell me on that CD. It’s not the West Coast’s fault that CD didn’t sell like it should have; the blame lays squarely on Def Jam. WC has no responsibility for the mistake Def Jam made pressing the CD.
Strike One
Doing some research on this post, I found a tape with an Julio G show from August 2006. Julio had Russell Simmons on, and was talking about a new Def Jam artist named Dro (No ,not Young Dro). Russell premiered a Dro track called Ghetto Prayer and it was one of the tightest songs I’ve heard in a long time. No joke, this was quality. Ghetto prayer was introspective, lyrical, and all over an extremely expressive beat. I’ve included the audio below.
I was extremely excited that Def Jam had decided to start supporting West Coast artists again, but aside from a feature on a movie soundtrack and a few MySpace videos, it seems like Def Jam didn’t help dude at all. I don’t know whose decision it was to throw Dro over a hyphy ass Rick Rock beat, and make a medium budget video to the song, but I wasn’t feeling it. Still, Dro had HUGE potential as you can tell from the track I posted.
Strike Two
So time goes on and Jay-Z takes over. Rumors go around that Glasses Malone was offered a deal, but didn’t take it. OK. Now what does Def Jam do? Be the bigger party and find another talented artist from the West to support? No, they take the scorned female route and now they want the West Coast to buy Rick Sauuuuce the bossssss’ new CD.
Just to prove my point, I did a cursory search to see how many West Coast artists were signed to Def Jam as of right now. The only thing west related I found was Kanye West. If that isn’t a blackball against a whole coast, I don’t know what is. It’s not like we don’t have the talent or the potential. Check our archive.
Strike Three
So what is Def Jam to do? Continue down this path and miss out on a potentially huge market? Check back next week for the answer.
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Wood Says: March 27th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
I may have done it a bit too much with that Photo! HAHHAHA
West Coast artists need to embrace Digital Distribution | Lyay.net Says: March 31st, 2008 at 10:08 am
[...] before. West Coast artists no longer need to adjust their goals according to this new market. Major labels haven’t show the west coast any love lately, but at the same time, are they really needed? All artists need to focus on is recording, [...]
DJ Shanx Says: April 13th, 2008 at 12:43 am
I agree totally and it personally pisses me off that they won’t sign anybody from the west. I did hear that Hot Dollar was signed to Def Jam but I’m not sure if that is still pending are not.I totally feel we are dropping the best heat and they are sleeping. Between L.A. and the Bay theres a market in itself full of talent along with Diego,Oregon Vegas, Seattle ,etc.
D-KOMPOSE Says: September 14th, 2008 at 10:44 am
I remember when Def Jam was on the West Coast. They had (remember this artist Richie Rich and Montell Jordan, Y N Vee?) These dudes and this female group was out of the Yay Area and L.A. and they were signed under the A&R Rep Tina Davis.
They were not marketed right. I’m not from the west coast,but I respect the West coast alot because I live out here and there is alot of talent, but we are at a point where every artist is rehearsing the same script and are not talking about anything. I was one of those brothers who tried to get on with Def Jam and almost made it in due to one of the reps over there at the time name John Stocks. He was the director of A&R and he was a cool cat, plus my style was totally different.
The a&r departments run off of a click organization. You know how heads use to act in grade and high school? If you was’nt in my click and we did not know you, you did not fit in. From the a&r departments, to the promotion and marketing departments, everyone in their departments get a wind of it to cut the artist down. I was’nt part of that type of mess, but its sad how grown folk act imature till today like this in the industry.
Your right when you said there is a large market on the west, but it is a click when coming from New York
labels. Giving props to New York always and forever for creating an outlet for brothers and sisters with this game called rap music, but there was a time and I still see a small percentage of disrespect from New York when other states started sending demos to New York labels. They would not open your package. It was’nt that they did not take unsolicitied material,that was not even heard off then, it was if the music was not home grown, why should we take it from your state? You look out for home first and they did just that.
I’m still an artist doing my thing,regardless of age, because music is music and it was FUBU created For Us By Us and I want to continue to be part of the culture and the movement.
Other states got feed up for the disrespect and started studing on how to put labels together and bip bap boom, labels started coming out and selling indepently with a forget you attitude from artist.
WE DON’T NEED YOU!
You remember how if you were from the South, you were laughed at because labels in New York and there artist felt they could not rap and the only thing they were good at was being good skip cooning, jeffin’, Uncle Tom slaves and they were country with no talent?
Thats how sad the industry was, an then the dirty started doing their on thing and blew up. Now who’s laughing? Before you did not want to deal with the south, but as artist started to make more money and bringing bigger talent and rhyming became off the chain and blowing the east out the water, it is time to extend our hand and tell you we are sorry for the disrespect. Let us put a label up from New York and lay it on solid ground in the south.
Do you see my point? Sorry to be long winded, but I feel this needed to be adressed. To sum it all up, never laugh at other cats doing their style of music, because you never know when you need them and Def Jam needed to branch out. Thats how I feel about them rejuvenating a new label on the West Coast. Its going to happen and there will be more veterans coming back with grown folk music. Don’t get me wrong, rookies will be on the label as well, but it will take the veterans to guide the rookies by the hand so they can become veterans! I’m one of the vets who would love to be apart of the Def Jam West Sound.
History is already repeating itself in the game of hip hop. It is coming back in full circle where veterans nave something to say and the rookies as well. Remember the veterans are producing the rookies, so who has the youngest minds that are creating the beats? The Vets.
Def Jam is still the premier label and respect really needs to be paid to the west, so Def Jam, get off your butts and sign the new west coast artist. One other thing I will see thats going to happen is demo submission will grow again. I will talk on that later. Those are your diamonds in the rough. I take all demo submissions. Its respect towards my label because you spent enough time to think about me and the label and I always respond back out of respect.
Peace,
D-KOMPOSE (Representin’ Day-O (Dayton,OH-10)