Disappointing IV Life News.. and some hope..

[Don Seer]

as posted by myself on www.dubcnn.com

I've been hearing varying whispers for a long time that several if not all artists on IV Life had parted company with the label. I can now reveal that the only artists officially connected to IV Life are DJ Slip and Crisstyle. Former artists Young Buc, Too Cool and J-Dog are still on good terms with the label, but are now free agents and have been for about a year. The official IV Life Forum has just been upgraded and evidence can now be seen there where the sections for the departed artists have been removed. (However do expect news from some former artists in coming months.)

On the upside. Mafia IV Life President & CEO, Del Dog is working on a Documentary with Shaquille O'Neal that will feature behind the scene details and interviews with IV Life. Plus the label is gearing up to release an album from the remaining rapper Crisstyle.

[Bomb-AŽ]

man that sux...but cant blame...how long were they expected to wait to get some music out...even dre doesnt take this long to drop an album....young buc and too cool were my favourites of the 4 mcs...lets see what happens



peace

[UKnowWhatItIs: welcome to my traps....game over]

They made dope music but barely released any.Too bad.

[HD]

that's what happens when u dont release any music
been wondering why the label had "fans" anyway

[westkoastanostra]

who the fuck is IV life anyway.....i never heard any of their shit....

[R-Tistic]

The last thing I heard from them was a mixtape they had back in Summer 2003.

[Conan]

That really is disappointing news...I enjoyed both of their mixtapes and was looking forward to hearing more from the camp. Strange how this has taken so long to come out though...

Hope Too Cool, J-Dog and Buc don't give up and continue to pursue music...they certainly have potential.

[Don Seer]

^ i don't believe they have.. but still.. they've been on their own for a year.. they been damn quiet!

[Conan]

^ i don't believe they have.. but still.. they've been on their own for a year.. they been damn quiet!

Yeah, if they were on their own for that long I suppose they would have made some noise by now. Really disappointing...I know the label will still be called IV Life, but it won't really be the same when three important members depart.

 

[mrtonguetwista]

Poor Crafty is probably sitting in a dark room crying his eyes out right now...lol

[o g s u e s o n e]

dayumn. i expected soo much dope music from that label in the near future. 

[Bomb-AŽ]

Poor Crafty is probably sitting in a dark room crying his eyes out right now...lol

[ExZit]

i could see this comin.. i mean, they was waitin for a big deal and to blow up.. that doesnt happen often..

[D1G1T4L]

why dont they release something independently, like bay area rappers do

[CRAFTY]

Lol @ Tongue Twister...
I'm just disappointed. How would you feel if you were a big fan?

I posted the following at their message board:

Man...I was afraid that this would happen.

I don't work in the music-business so I'm not trying to sound like the specialist here, but I just knew that some artists would eventually get fed up with waiting for an album to get released.
We all know that Tha New Breed could've been released in 2003, but Del Dog decided it would be better if he waited because IV Life had a rather big buzz at that time. So their next step was trying to find a major distributor for the album.

So here's what I think of it: IV Life was (and still is) a relatively unknown and up-and-coming company. You can't expect major labels to show great interest in such a label without having proved anything except for a big street buzz. Add the fact that IV Life is West Coast and that doesn't really make a good combination.

From what I know, they could've released Tha New Breed or the Game Over album on an independent label (Koch for instance) back in 2003. There were some big guests on those albums (Snoop, Ice Cube) so it deserved more exposure than just an indie-release? Absolutely. But you have to make compromises.
If IV Life would've opted for Koch, at least they would've released an album and it would have gotten some attention from the big A&R's & majors in the industry. Let's not be naive here: when you have someone like Snoop Dogg & Ice Cube on your albums, it WILL get noticed. The albums may not even have gone gold, who knows? But at least they would've had a better chance at finding a good major deal, than the current situation. AND they could've build up their reputation: first an album on an indie, THEN perhaps on a major. You simply can't expect to be signed to a major rightaway.
Only a handful of artists have that opportunity...

In other words, I would've made some different decisions as a CEO. But who am I to say of course? I'm just speaking my mind here.

To say that I'm disappointed, would be an understatement.
I like Hip-Hop so much, especially West Coast Hip-Hop, that it's extremely disappointing to watch unfold a label with so much potential. Others don't share my opinion, but I truly believe that IV Life could've been real big in the music biz:

- all of the artists had talent
- IV Life is connected to some major players (Snoop, Cube, Shaq)
- a major street reputation (which is important nowadays in order to create a buzz)
- mainstream-appeal (just check the songs...they could make hardcore street songs, but they could flip the script as well and make some nice songs that would be appreciated by the mainstream audience).

The way I see it, IV Life Records could've had a nice future.
I just hope that it'll all come together again somehow, or that at least Slip & Crisstyle will join forces to put out music with IV Life.