If it ain't about the money by David Drake | @Somanyshrimp @ComplexMag

  .... As labels lost revenue in the mid-2000s, the hip-hop A&R became more of a memory. The artists who did generate significant attention after the collapse of the major labels all tended to work with low-profile, beat-oriented (as opposed to song-oriented) producers, often exclusively. And they'd be as cognizant of songwriting as they were of rapping. (Think Gucci Mane and Zaytoven, Max B and Dame Grease, or Drake and 40.) But for so many others, success and buzz proved elusive; to be a great rapper, one had to become a great all-around rap artist, and everyone wasn't built that way. But to celebrate independence from the industry structure also tends to mean distancing oneself from the A&R plugs such a structure brings.


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