| |
The Inside Story On
Def Jam's Faulty Relationship With The West Coast
Written By: Infinite
on 12/1/01
Why did G Funk Records
relationship with Def Jam Fail?
How did Jay-Z's
Roc-a-Fella Records succeed, where Warren G's G Funk
Records failed?
How did the Dove
Shack "Summertime in the LBC" never get the radio play
it deserved?
How come the Twinz
album never even went gold?
Throughout the latter half of the 80's, Def Jam Records
saw enormous success. Def Jam Records/ Rush Management
produced a number of hip-hop's early pioneers and hitmakers.
Artists such as, Kurtis Blow, LL Cool J, RunDMC, Slick
Rick, The Fresh Prince, and Beastie Boys all saw their
carears and records blow up larger than Jay-Z's ego.
Then as Russel Simmons, owner
of Def Jam, describes in the Rap Documentary the show,
"Dr. Dre and Suge Knight took all that East Coast rock-n-roll
energy, and just took it some place else." He
continue's to ride dick in saying, "They got the money,
they own their half of the business, and I can't say
nothing about Death Row Records, Dr. Dre, and Suge Knight
except, I'm on they dick."
Def Jam was unfadeable in the late 80's. But as
Jay-Z puts it, (inbetween rhymes about being the greatest
of all-time, King of New York, etc.) "Shit's been kind
of soft since Snoop came through and crushed the building."
West Coast hip-hop took over
the industry in the early to mid 90's. Which sent
Def Jam scrambling to sign West Coast artists and steal
their own piece of the pie. Signing Left Coast
artist/groups such as South Central Cartel, Domino,
and Montel Jordan to name a few. Their biggest
move however would be the signing of Dr. Dre's little
brother, Warren G, and his production company 'G Funk
Records.' Warren G had already earned his
stripes in the game. Co-producing for both the
Chronic and Doggystyle. And producing for Mista
Grimm on the Poetic Justice soundtrack.
Warren G's 1rst record 'Regulate....The
G-Funk Era', was released in 94, on the strength of
the already run-away summer hit "Regulate" which was
recieving heavy rotation on both radio and video stations
respectively. The record went on to be Def Jam's
saving grace selling 4 million copies at a time when
Def Jam, and the East Coast as a whole was at their
lowest.
During this time, Def Jam was
restructuring a marketing and distribution deal with
Polygram. Def Jam was happy with this deal until
Polygram sold to Island Records. Island Records
then controlled most of the marketing at Def Jam.
However, Island assumed no incentive to market Def Jam's
Records. So Island offered all their attention
and efforts to their own artist, and Def Jam became
a distant second on the priority list. Def Jam was furious
about Polygram selling their stake in Def Jam to Island
Records. They worked hard to restructure the deal,
or discontinue it. This process would take years,
and it was during this time, late 94-97, that two remarkable
and potential platinum albums, slipped through the cracks.
The Twinz, two "look-alike,
dynamite, trump tight Twinz" produced by Warren G dropped
their debut album "Conversation" on G-Funk Records/Island/Def
Jam Records. The Twinz, artists who Russel Simmons
labeled as, "Stars who were lost in the shuffle" sold
a meager 100,000 copies. This disaster was followed
by another Warren G produced G Funk/Def Jam/Island release
by a Long Beach group called the Dove Shack. The
Dove Shack was featured on Warren G's debut album, and
they were garnering support and respect on the Left
Coast as the next big thing out the LB.
Their record contained a single Russel Simmons describes
as a "sure thing number one pop record that Island never
bothered to work." The song was "Summertime in
the LBC" and anyone who has heard it, whether your sportin
Abercrombie or Timb's knows that it's arguably one of
the greatest summer joint of the 90's.
It could even be said that
Warren G's sophmore album, "Take A Look Over Your Shoulder"
was also lost in the shuffle.
Eventually however Def Jam
was able to work out their label beefs. Russel
Simmons said the previous situation had been so painfully
unpleasent that at one point he even considered selling
the business and starting over again. Nonetheless
the label recovered in enough time to use their marketing
talent and connections to help push Jay-Z, DMX, and
Ja Rule to platinum status. Def Jam is now worth
over 200 million, and is once again on top of the rap
world.
The sad irony of this situation
is that Warren G's label 'G Funk' could easily be currently
dwelling in the throne that Jay-Z's Roc-a-fella Records
now ocupies. But as Warren G said it best, "The
Game Don't Wait". It's a cold game. And
a damn shame.
Copyright Infinitepublishing2001
Any feedback is extremely appreciated.... 1 Love, 1
Nation
|
