This is where the artists go after the majors won’t invest in them anymore.” – 50 Cent in 2007
Cuuuuurtis! You had to know you were gonna hear from me today homeboy!
Today we learned that Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson is no longer signed to the mighty Interscope Records. He is now an “independent” artist with a deal over at Caroline, a little known imprint of Capitol Records.
My, how the mighty have fallen.
Lest we ever forget, let’s revisit 50′s infamous phone call with Angie, Cam and Alan Grunblatt of what was then Koch Records (now E1). Everybody remembers that argument right? Remember Curtis was trying to shit on Cam for doing indie deals at Koch for Dipset artists, saying the label was a “graveyard” and yelling about how Lloyd Banks had more money than Jim Jones?
Yeah, you remember. Well if Koch was a graveyard in 2007, then what the fuck is Caroline in 2014? The truth is, there has never been any shame in signing an indie deal. As a matter of fact I could argue that there’s far more honor in an indie deal than a 5 album slave deal with a major.
Look, this shit happens to a lot of artists who have moved past their prime (although it hasn’t happened to Eminem or Jay-Z). It’s a reality of the market, and the reality is, it could happen to anybody. And that Curtis, is why you maintain a certain amount of humility while you’re sitting pretty at the top, because you never know what position you’re gonna wake up and find yourself in one day.
