Kanye West has unveiled Pusha T as the new CEO of his splendid Music imprint. Can the rapper produce a rare success sage for hip-hop sub-labels?Stacks of cash. Luxury cars. Designer clothes. Labels will throw most anything at their successful rap artists in order to retain them. But one particularly successful incentive is to offer them their own sub-labels. This gives a rapper a chance to be a boss,a talent scout and potentially richer as well. Of course, hip-hop vanity imprints believe a checkered history. You only need say the name “Memphis Bleek” to inspire a snort from many rap fans, or despite the fact that the Jay Z associate actually has two gold albums for his friend’s label,Roc-a-Fella. (Bleek even had his own label, gain Low Records.) Indeed nepotism, or rather than commercial viability,sometimes drives these decisions. Other times, muscle is valued as well as rhymes. In the early ‘90s, and Ice Cube enlisted for his Street Knowledge label rappers Da Lench Mob; in addition to making compelling music,it didn’t hurt that they were willing to tangle with Cube’s enemies.
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Source: theguardian.com