It used to be a given.
You’re a rapper that finally gets his/her big break and land that ever-elusive record deal. You get a few videos on Yo! MTV Raps or Rap City, build up a little national notoriety and it’s almost a foregone conclusion that you’ll crank out two, maybe three albums at least. Needless to say that line of thinking is about as antiquated as a music video show. In 2015, success for an emcee is largely based off of YouTube clicks and iTunes downloads.
The advent of the internet all but clogged up the game, making top-of-mind status a virtual exercise in futility for rap neophytes. Many artists choose the internet as their path to fame (aka 2000s version of selling CDs & tapes out the trunk), but some still prefer the budget, (perceived) security, comfort and status that comes with landing a record deal. For 70’s and 80’s babies, landing a record deal is still viewed as the pinnacle— the point when you’ve finally been “put on” and the moment that signifies your piece of the “American Dream”. And despite the fact that today’s artists are by and large more savvy than they were in the 90’s, many aspiring rappers still aren’t afraid of a major label.
Sidebar: In other words, a 360 deal ain’t exactly sneaking up on anyone in 2015.
This article is directed squarely at some of y’all.
Besides, a major label is where the greats of the greats made a name for themselves. Perhaps this changes over the next 10+ years, but signing to a major is the equivalent to playing in the NBA. You may be the greatest European basketball player, but until you take that flight and play amongst the very best, how will history truly remember you? People love to rank Jay Z’s albums, but has anybody ever slid The S. Carter Collection in between Vol. 1 and Vol. 3? Can you imagine if Thriller was a mixtape? As it currently stands, a lyricist’s “NBA Championship” is delivering a classic album on a major label. Though it’s important to understand the overall influx of music created by the internet has the genre in a perpetual state of change.
The result? Fans get bored far more quickly than in year’s past; consequently, labels struggle to justify going through the rigmarole of putting out a rapper’s second album (developing a concept; booking studio sessions, engineers, producers and featured artists; clearing samples; creating album artwork; marketing; PR; booking tours; merchandising; etc.), when they can simply sign the next big thing for ostensibly less money, while cashing in on the recency factor. That rapper’s experience is only compounded by dreaded “sophomore slump”— emcees have scraped the proverbial plate of their life story and best bars on their first effort, leaving no angle or creativity to spare. Moreover, file sharing has drastically skewed the measurement of a record’s success.
All the obstacles outlined above leave can understandably leave an emcee crestfallen; putting out an album on a major damn near a miraculous feat. What we should learn from this is a rapper has to have put out at least three albums on a major to truly be classified a superstar. Or at the very least, this is the new prerequisite to even have a seat at the table of such a conversation. A quick look at the young talent that has entered the game in recent years will prove how tall of a task reaching the three album plateau truly is.
A$AP Rocky
Label: Polo Grounds Music (Sony)/RCA
Major Label Debut: Long.Live.A$AP — January 15, 2013
Sophomore Album: None
Machine Gun Kelly
Label: Bad Boy/Interscope
Major Label Debut: Lace Up — October 9, 2012
Sophomore Album: None
Kendrick Lamar
Label: Top Dawg/Aftermath/Interscope
Major Label Debut: Good Kid, m.A.A.d. City — October 22, 2012
Sophomore Album: None
Chief Keef
Label: Interscope
Major Label Debut: Finally Rich — December 18, 2012
Sophomore Album: None
Tyler The Creator
Label: Odd Future/RED/Sony
Major Label Debut: Wolf — April 2, 2013
Sophomore Album: None
Earl Sweatshirt
Label: Columbia
Major Label Debut: Doris — August 20, 2013
Sophomore Album: None
French Montana
Label: Bad Boy/Maybach Music Group/Interscope
Major Label Debut: Excuse My French — May 21, 2013
Sophomore Album: None
Meek Mill
Label: Maybach Music Group/Warner Bros.
Major Label Debut: Dreams And Nightmares — October 30, 2012
Sophomore Album: None
Big Sean
Label: GOOD Music/Def Jam
Major Label Debut: Finally Famous — June 28, 2011
Sophomore Album: Hall of Fame — August 27, 2013
Third Album: None
Tyga
Label: Young Money/Cash Money/Universal (Republic)
Major Label Debut: Careless World: Rise of the Last King — February 21, 2012
Sophomore Album: Hotel California — April 9, 2013
Third Album: None
2 Chainz
Label: Def Jam
Major Label Debut: Based on a T.R.U. Story — August 14, 2012
Sophomore Album: B.O.A.T.S. II: Me Time — September 10, 2013
Third Album: None
Childish Gambino
Label: Universal/Island
Major Label Debut: Camp — November 15, 2011
Sophomore Album: Because the Internet— December 6, 2013
Third Album: None
Future
Label: A1 Recordings/Epic/Sony
Major Label Debut: Pluto — April 13, 2012
Sophomore Album: Honest— April 22, 2014
Third Album: None
Big. K.R.I.T.
Label: Def Jam
Major Label Debut: Live From The Underground — June 5, 2012
Sophomore Album: Cadillactica — November 10, 2014
Third Album: None
The labels, the style of emcee, the region they hail from— doesn’t matter. If this were the 90’s, all of these cats would’ve had at least two records by now and likely would’ve gotten their debuts off the ground sooner.
Obviously, there’s many factors that play into these artist having not gotten to the evasive third album. Some, like Gambino, have varied interests; while others, like Meek, got locked up. Maybe some of these guys just aren’t the stars we thought they were out the gate (Kendirck notwithstanding). And maybe some just aren’t comfortable dropping three records inside a three or four year window. Even Macklemore & Ryan Lewis haven’t put out a new project since The Heist nearly two and a half years ago. Still, one can easily harken back to the days of the game’s elite putting out an album on a major almost annually. Many of the names listed above haven’t had a whiff of a sophomore LP and the labels themselves don’t seem to mind the pushbacks.
Sidebar: Note the repeat offenders, and Bad Boy. We might as well call Bad Boy “the Kentucky Wildcats”, because if you go there, you’re sure to be one and done.
On the flip side, it’s a foregone conclusion some of these artists will get to #3, but how many are locks? Kendrick and probably Future. The next three would be K.R.I.T., Big Sean and 2 Chainz, none of whom should be classified as “locks”. Superstars like Drake, NIcki Minaj and J. Cole have all been at the forefront of the game for over five years and each of them have three major solo albums, with Nicki and Cole just now joining the club within the last month. Wiz Khalifia also reached the threshold in 2014.
Matter of fact, y’all better watch out too (Smh at Meek).
Making an album — you know, if you actually give a shit — takes time. That time is necessary for all of the painstaking thought, conceptualization, preparation, rhyme writing, beat selecting, practice and sacrifice needed to make it the worthwhile piece of art it should be. Record executives are now forced to figure if each of these artists are worth that investment.
And that’s where you separate the Biggie’s from the Gorilla Blacks.
Eminem, Wayne, Nas, T.I., Jeezy, Lupe, Kanye, Jay, Ross, Game and Fab— these are the true superstars in the rap game because they have built careers that have spanned a decade or more. Each of these artists have at least four solo albums under their belt, with more music still to come…that people actually want to hear! From that group, Tip, Jeezy, Lupe, Kanye, Game, Rozay and Loso all began their careers in the 2000’s and have managed to overcome the majority of the same barriers today’s new artists must struggle against.
It should be understood that the raw number of solo records isn’t the sole barometer for greatness. Some have speculated Nas released his Street’s Disciple double disc merely to get out from under his deal with Columbia. Ross has been rumored to have the same motive for dropping two albums in 2014. Not to say these projects were lacking effort, but merely putting out work for the sake of putting it out won’t get you there. If that’s how you feel, perhaps the mixtape route is better suited for you.
Speaking of, the mixtape lane isn’t a bad one. You can live handsomely putting out an abundance of mixtapes and independent albums. Curren$y, for example, has put out approximately 942 mixtapes, a handful of independent LPs, but only two major label albums. For this reason, nobody would classify Spitta amongst the greats (well, except for my brother), as Andretti’s major solo records are drowned in a sea of free releases.
When a rapper’s résumé gets pulled during arguments in bars, barbershops, blogs and message boards, mixtapes and independent albums serve primarily as window dressing— ancillary evidence designed to enhance the case, rather than make it. Ultimately, people cling to albums on major labels above anything else, which is why they still matter in 2015. The major label release is how you keep them interested. Although creative control can be a point of contention, it allows for the biggest budget, broadest reach and a greater likelihood for making the streets care.
Getting to a third major solo album should be applauded because it’s the new litmus test for success and relevancy in hip-hop. You reach three LPs, you’re an all-star. Throw in a classic, you’re a champion. Anything beyond that and you’re approaching immortality.
To the group still grinding to reach their third album: best of luck to you. Let’s hope you’re in the lab as we speak.