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7 Rappers That Have Turned Down Major Label Deals

By Miranda J. July 18, 2014 11:30 AM
  • Troy-Ave
    Believe it or not, many rappers have actually turned down multi-million dollar offers from some of the top record labels in the game. In this gallery, you will discover that plenty rappers would not be who they are today musically if they simply chose a different route label-wise. Check out "7 Rappers That Have Turned Down Major Label Deals."
    Troy Ave
  • dee-1
    Dee-1 turned down a deal to sign with Cash Money. The New Orleans rapper says that at the time the deal just didn't seem fitting for him. "It didn’t feel right in spirit, it just didn’t," Dee-1 explained. "I couldn’t put my finger on it. It’s not like they weren’t gonna offer me money, of course they were gonna offer me money."
  • troyave
    Troy Ave opted out of plenty label deals simply cause the cash was not the right fit. The rapper went on to release New York City: The Album as an independent project.
  • august-alsina
    August Alsina turned down a deal to sign with Cash Money. Ultimately signing with Def Jam, August tells that his focus was simply somewhere else when it came down to the YMCMB deal.
  • Chance-The-Rapper
    Chance The Rapper turned down a deal with TDE, choosing to go the independent route. Although Chance did opt out of signing with the Cali collective, Chance assures, "All of those guys are my good friends," he said. "That whole camp is great. They're close friends."
  • joey-badass
    Joey Badass turned down an opportunity to sign with Roc Nation. His reasoning: "For right now, I feel like independence is the best thing for me. In what I want to do, it's definitely the best thing for me right now," he said.
  • 2-chainz
    2 Chainz turned down a deal to sign with Young Money . “I was one of the first people invited to Young Money, before the album. Wayne asked me,” 2 Chainz said when he appeared on an episode of “RapFix Live.”
  • macklemore_gold_349145
    Macklemore avoided signing with a major record label opting to put his Grammy Award winning album The Heist out via the Alternative Distribution Alliance. The rapper seems to have made the right choice as the LP went platinum and is regarded as one of the biggest hip-hop albums to date.

 

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