This is The Mistake That Both Octopizzo and Xtatic Made……Other Rappers Beware

Octopizzo and Xtatic now have two things in common. One, they are both top Kenyan rappers and two, they have both been mismanaged by their record labels, Xtatic’s label is Sony but Octo has so far refused to name his. All he does is complain on Facebook. Woiyeeee.. These labels. Allow me to use the cliché that befits them, ‘good from far but far from good.’

Two years ago, we all knew Xtatic was going to be a mega star. She was different, she had the vigor ad she oozed class. From the very moment she was signed to Sony there was the common belief that she’ll take Kenyan hip hop to the next level. Almost two years later, no interesting material has been served to us. All we hear about is a ‘coming soon’ album. Where are the singles? Africans don’t even care about albums by the way. Chameleone, arguably East Africa’s all time musical don has remained relevant for over a decade yet he has never released a single album in his careers

The revelation that. Octo was signed to a label came as surprise. Record labels have screwed artistes over for many years. The latest victim has been rap cion Lil Wayne. The release of his album has been pushed forward a couple or times due to his feud with label owner Birdman. Wayne now wants out, but Birdman isn’t having any of that since Wayne and his Young Money team are his cash cows.

Yes, that’s it. When you pen a contract with a recording company, you turn from a dignified human being to a money making machine. The label owners treat you the way they see will be most profitable to them. They don’t care about you and your superstardom. All they want is the money you bring to the table. You might be wondering why some big names hit for a while then vanish. It’s not because they lose their magic. Most of the time, the decline of these stars originates from frustrations due to issues with their money-hungry financiers.

When you are a young musician, eager to make it big you dream of signing a contract with a major recording company. Labels can help push you from an underground artiste to a mainstream artiste or from a local artiste to an international artiste. That’s the norm in America and Europe. Now enter the dark side. Once you sign up, you are tied. You can’t leave until you fulfill all your contractual obligations. If you feel you can’t, you go to court, spend lots of money fighting a giant then end up a a broke artiste.

I’ll give you an example. A rapper like Lupe Fiasco has had issues with his label for years now. He has always wanted out but he can’t leave because he owes his label lots of money. These companies pamper their artistes with loans to maintain their celebrity images then problems pop up when the artiste isn’t selling enough records to repay the cash. Lupe is naturally a conscious rapper but of late he’s been forced to make commercially appealing singles so that he can make quick money to pay back the label and leave.

In Africa though, you don’t need to be signed to a record label in order for you to be successful. Artistes like Davido and Wizkid even have their own labels; hence they don’t get screwed. D’Banj, who was Africa’s golden son at one time has seen his career fade ever since he was signed to Kanye’s G.O.O.D Music.

I strongly believe that we don’t have to copy everything that Americans do in regards to their music. They are the bosses yes, but we can make our own rules. Some things that work there might not necessarily work here. Octopizzo and Xtatic made huge mistakes, I pray that all other artistes can learn from that.