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Page 2 of 2 HHN: Since your last interview with the HHN in February of 1999, what
are some things Rap Coalition has accomplished that you're most proud
of?
WENDY DAY: I've been spending a lot of time outside of NY: Chicago,
Houston, Cleveland, Atlanta, Jackson, Little Rock, Dallas, Oklahoma
City, Tulsa, Baton Rouge, etc. I am opening offices in Atlanta, Houston
and Los Angeles by 2000. I'm also excited about my monthly column in
MURDER DOG that talks about how to put out your own records. And I have
columns on three internet sites: aka.com, mp3.com and rapstation.com
(which are partly owned by Chuck D). That's where Rap Coalition is at:
helping artists to own their own sh*t so they aren't sharecroppers
anymore. And of course there are the artists we've helped that I'm proud
of like DJ DMD (million dollar deal on Elektra); Sticky Fingaz (new
million dollar solo deal on Universal); NO Joe (about to go to Elektra);
and Lil Keke for whom I'm shopping a huge label deal. I'm also thrilled
by the multi-platinum successes of Eminem and the Cash Money guys whom I
helped bring into the industry.
HHN: In the last interview with the HHN, you spoke on being part of the
$30 million dollar deal for Cash Money Records and the never receiving
the money they owed you ($150,000) for getting them the deal. You
mentioned you were in the process of suing them. What is the status of
this situation now and would you ever work with Cash Money again?
WD: Yep, it's true: I put together their deal. The structure of the deal
came from my head and my attorney's head (Peter Thea). They didn't pay
me my little $150,000 (of the $30 million). Our agreement was for
$600,000 (5% of the deal), but I only wanted $150,000. I'm still suing
them. Ain't nothing fast about the US judicial system. My lawyer is the
bomb, however, so don't worry about me. He's the Johnny Cochran of the
music industry!!! They will get taxed for their little "faux pas" of
forgetting to pay me. I got a call from Cold 187um last week (Above The
Law) who said word on the street in L.A. was that I got paid. He said if
the Crips knew I hadn't gotten paid yet they would have stepped to them
at The Source Awards. I'm glad they didn't. I spend more time keeping my
friends from stepping to those fools than I do chasing my money. It's
nice to be loved, but I don't believe in that street sh*t to settle
beef. So if they die, then what?! The no one gets paid. Especially their
artists. How am I going to protect artist's rights and then see
something happen to hurt them?? Work with them again--Cash Money? Are
you kidding?
HHN: Being that you deal with record labels on a frequent basis, in your
opinion, which are some of the more difficult labels to deal with and
why?
WD: I'm not sure what you mean by difficult. There are a lot of reasons
why I hate dealing with labels, but I can pretty much work with anyone
as long as they are not robbing their artists. To me, the worst labels
are the ones who don't pay royalties timely (or at all) or the labels
who think they know how to work an artist properly but really have no
clue!!! I'm also not happy with Jive's attitude regarding renegotiation:
once an artist signs to the label they are very reluctant to renegotiate
the deal, no matter how many units the artist has sold. On the
publishing side, EMI Publishing has a reputation for mistakes and errors
in their royalty statements, and EMI Publishing has some of the dopest
artists and producers (Premier, Jay-Z, Puffy, Easy Mo Bee, etc).
HHN: You manage Ras Kass. I was wondering if you can give the Ras Kass
fans out there some info on a new album, collaborations and his attitude
towards the industry right now after releasing "Rasassination" which was
greatly under appreciated?
WD: He is working on a new album right now for Priority (the production
company, Patchwerk, is gone).....While we are on the topic, I'm in the
process of restructuring Visionary Management, and we will manage only
artists who share the visionary concepts of self-ownership and strong
business sense. All of our artists will have strong teams in place in
order for us to help them get to the next level. We will no longer fight
artists to be successful who don't make an effort on their own part to
succeed. We're happy to set up events and opportunities for artists, but
if they do not show up, or don't take advantage of those opportunities
(even after asking for them), they will be dropped from the roster
immediately.
HHN: Can you give us specifics of what a good record deal looks like?
WD: It's so hard to generalize, because a record deal is really
dependent upon the artist's buzz, level of sales experience and track
record, and financial potential. But so that you have some frame of
reference, I never do a deal for less than 12 or 13 points. I always try
to get the artist a significant budget so there can be a few established
producers involved (since it's a production driven industry) and maybe a
guest appearance or two by a more established rapper. I try to keep the
duration of the contract as short as possible (almost all labels want 7
years and I NEVER do 7 year deals) and I try to have some clauses that
say when the album has to drop (4 months after delivery, for example) or
the artist gets to bounce. I also try to weasel in clauses that
guarantee promotional efforts for the artist (this is very difficult if
not delivering a finished album at the time of negotiations). With
Twista's deal, we guaranteed it department by department and then added
in a slush fund for when they f*cked up so we could pay someone to do it
properly (only in the areas where they were notoriously weak).
HHN: In the Hip-Hop industry right now, of the artists you haven't
helped yet, who can you see that is in a bad deal right now just by what
they are putting out and their promotion?
WENDY DAY: Of course I can see this. In the case of Jim Crow I saw it by the lack of set up and the
lack of awareness on what is virtually a dope group. But I never seek
artists out. They have to come to me and ask for help. I don't help
those who don't want or care about it. Let's put it this way. If you are
a producer, can't you hear a wack track? If you're an electrician, can't
you see a bad wiring job by looking at shoddy work? If you paint houses,
can't you see a bad paint job a mile away? It's like that for me too. I
can see bad promotion and poor awareness a mile away. But there are many
reasons for that. Artists getting locked up mid-process, over-worked
label staff, disregard for the artist or the artist's attitude, etc.
Let's face it, labels want to work with artists that they like and on
projects that take little effort.
HHN: We have all heard of the big LOUD Records/Relativity merger. In
your opinion, who wins in this deal? Are LOUD artists better off now?
Are the Relativity artists coming aboard in a better situation?
WD: It's actually not a merger. Relativity got taken over by LOUD. I
thought Relativity sucked (almost all of their departments) so I'm
thrilled. My concern right now is getting royalty payments for the
Relativity artists, which are past due. I like LOUD as a record company
and know that they are better than Relativity, so I'm hopeful. I'm just
waiting to see how it all shakes out...who gets dropped and who stays at
LOUD. But there is no more Relativity. They do not exist. LOUD now has
Sony distribution (they had BMG) which is great distribution, but the
job of any distributor is to get the records into stores. As long as
they do that, it's all good. It's up to LOUD to work a record properly
and it couldn't be worse than Relativity, right?
HHN: What have you personally heard from artists in the industry about
50 Cent's "How To Rob" cut? and what are your feelings on the song?
WD: I haven't personally heard reaction to the song. I've heard some
gossip about artists being pissed off, but I don't believe it. I haven't
heard any retaliation dis records. Personally I think it's a clever
record like GZA's "Labels". I don't think he meant to hurt anyone, it's
all in fun. Lyrically, it's dope, so how can you be mad??? I especially
love that he used artist's own music and flow to burn them with dope
lines...but I'd also like to point out that for the past year, we've had
a spate of rappers getting robbed. It's a problem--they are seen as easy
prey. In a minute I'm going to put Freddie Foxxx in charge of security
for the rap nation, so y'all criminal minded vultures better step off...
HHN: Who are some indie artists we should be watching out for?
WD: Beelow from New Orleans, Lil Keke from Houston, Swisha House from
Houston, Big C from Houston and Baton Rouge, Redrumm from Houston,
Reality from Atlanta, Coffee from Atlanta, Pastor Troy from Augusta,
Juice from Chicago, Turtle from Chicago (he's part of Legit Ballin'),
Money T from Chicago (Legit Ballin'), Newsense (Psycho Drama) from
Chicago, Triple Darkness from Chicago, Right On Time from Chicago,
Concord Affiliates from Indiana, Medusa from L.A. (still!), Jurassic 5
from L.A. (still!), Thirstin Howl III from N.Y., Poepan from New York, C
Rayz Walls from N.Y., uh, sh*t! I'm drawing a blank!!!! There's a cool
unity movement coming out of Chicago. I think it's called MATS. It's
uniting the Rap artists (like Do or Die and Crucial Conflict) and the
Hip-Hop artists (like Common and Juice) into one strong unit. It may be
just the thing to force a music industry in Chicago.
HHN: What is Rap Coalition's goal for the new millennium?
WD: Same as it ever was: protect, unify, educate and inform Rap artists
and producers and to readjust the system of power that currently exists
in the music industry where the artists are the last to get paid.
Sharecropping is over...artists need to own their own art form now. We
have just expanded into Reggae due to severe need, so in a minute, we'll
be a complete Urban music coalition! With an eye on artists owning their
own s*it and focus on artists understanding finance and economics, we
are consistently pushing for NO MORE SLAVES!!!
HHN: What is your final message for the HHN readers?
WD: Rap Coalition has brought me a great deal in the way of insight, in
human enrichment and understanding, and put me in contact with real
people creating real art (out of love) and suffering real injustices in
their everyday struggle. The fact that so many Rap artists think of me
as somebody who has helped make a difference in their lives is the
greatest honor that I have ever been given. Source: HHNLive.com
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