Bol ends Rhymefest's career
Has anyone else ever wondered why Rhymefest is signed to Mick Ronson, Jr.'s label, Trustfund Records, and not Kanye West's Good Music, or whatever it's called?
Me neither, but it's an interesting question.
A guy who was working on a story about 'Fest recently put forth the question to me and suggested that it might have something to do with a dispute over the "Jesus Walks" controversy. Which I guess makes enough sense, but had never really occurred to me up until that point.
See, I wouldn't sign Rhymefest to my own label, PenceFo Industries, because he lacks any potential to sell records, but then rappers are famous for giving record deals to the dudes that hold their weed in the airport.
So the question remains, How come 'Fest ain't rolling with Kanye? Peep this bit from a story (not the one I contributed to) about Rhymefest:
Given Rhymefest's close ties to West, many were surprised to learn that his album won't be coming out on West's own, Sony-affiliated label, already home to R&B sensation John Legend.
"There was an awkward time of two months when Kanye was very angry with me and angry at 'Fest a little bit," Ronson says about the signing.
Rhymefest says he signed with Ronson because he wanted to keep separate his friendship and business relationship with West.
In other words, Bol fucked up Rhymefest's deal with Kanye's label. I mean, think about it: Kanye's label was nominated for how many Grammys this year? Given the option, the idea that 'Fest would sign with some little tax write-off division of J Records in order to protect some sort of friendship seems entirely unlikely.
More damning quotes from the same article:
The Mindset Army, a loosely organized coalition of hip-hop fans, even circulated an online petition urging the Grammy organization to drop West from being honored as a writer of "Jesus Walks."
"What hurt me the most was the group never contacted me," Smith says of the incident. "Because of whatever their agenda against Kanye was, they could have hurt a business relationship, they could have hurt a friendship.
"Kanye called me up and was like, 'Yo, what the [heck] is this?' " he recalls. "I was like, 'I don't even know who these nuts are.' "
To make it plain: Kanye West opted not to sign Rhymefest to his vanity label because word was getting out about the fact that Rhymefest wrote Kanye's lyrics and he didn't want to create the appearance of impropriety by associating with him.
Not with millions of dollars at stake.
Knowing how much of a ridonkulous megalomaniac Kanye is, you wonder whether this was his own idea or if the order was handed down from above.
Tall Israelis...
Checkit:
