Should the Westcoast Be Involved in Mixtapes?

[kingpin_4eva]

I enjoy listening to mixtapes, but you rarely find a westcoast artist featured on it. Mixtapes can blow up rappers and get them signed to record deal. The only problem is rappers don't get any money to put their material on a mixtape. While independant get money, but shitty record sales. I doubt an independant label went gold, besides dpgrecordz. Rappers like Yukmouth, C-BO, Brotha Lynch, and the list goes on and on are talented but don't get the exposure. I know it's not about the sales, but the quality. The westcoast needs to be on top like it was before. Upcoming westcoast rappers should try the mixtape world and quit doing this independant crap. What do y'all think?

[Suga Foot]

A lot of the rappers go idi, cuz it's more money for them.  Instead of making 1 dollar of a cd sale, they can make 10.

[Kaidy]

I don't see how mixtapes and being independent are opposites. I think both are very beneficial and the way to go for west coast rap.

Independent is the way a lot of artists have to go because the majors aren't handing out deals to west coast rappers right now, and even if they do look at the shitty promotion that west coast talent gets (WC, Chico & Coolwadda, Quik etc etc). You end up being tied up in paperwork and really not making a lot of money.

The idea of signing with a major is to get good distribution, promotion and some videos, but now its common to see albums get one video and get forgotten. With indy labels you might no have $ to make videos but you can make up to 8 times the money on your sales, promote in your target areas, and put out as much product as you can afford to wihtout any legal bullshit.

Mixtapes are the shit because they're great promotion. The west really needs to get a mixtape scene going, I've been saying that for a while. All these new artists and even veterans can't even get love from their own radio stations so how else are people gonna hear about them. I think the West has always been wary about mixtapes because there isnt fast money in it. But if you look at the long term, you spend a couple hundred to put some tapes out there and your album sales could go up a lot, so it seems like a good way to go to me.

Anyway, sorry to ramble on. Point is - if independents are successful it'll help stop the stranglehold of the majors. If mixtapes are successful it'll help bring down the power of  conglomerate radio stations. F.T.I.

[OpTiCaL]

He's right...mixtapes are needed for certain artists / labels to get through to us...otherwise we stuck listening to same old played out stuff that a certain radio executive or music store boos thinks we should listen to...
...sometimes only was some artists break thru is from these compilations...they may be a relative unknown aside the likes of 50 cent but because they on hte same cd people can finally notice them...not for their name..but for the skill they display!

Dont get me wrong...im no mixtape fiend...not that many are brilliant atm..but the freedom for all artists should be there, like wu-tang they were struggling an no major label wanted them..they put out a tape with a couple bare bones songs...performed to local crowd and ya know the rest.