Seems Like Old Times…

So Cam'Ron sold his homey Juelz Santana's contract to Def Jam for two million bucks. That reminds me of when there was no free agency in baseball. Owners regularly sold the contracts of their best players when they were strapped for cash. I wonder if Cam'Ron couldn't have raised more money for himself by just having an auction. All the interested labels could have begun a bidding war for Santana's services.

Two millies doesn't seem like a lot of scrilla to me for one of the highest touted rappers in the youngish sort of generation. There's a whole grouping of rappers that are in their thirties and late twenties who still rhyme for the high school set. Fab, Wayne, Bow Wow, Juelz, you know the names. You would figure that Juelz would have at least three more solo projects in him. Couldn't Cam have scraped together three million dollars for the paperwork?

How much is Manny Ramirez getting this season? I know the game is totally different but he is a dude that is in his late thirties which means he is close to retiring. Once a rapper reaches thirty I'm sure that most of you da-dunt da-dunns would argue that is when they become irrelevant. Maybe that is why Cam'Ron could only fetch 2 millies for the Juelz paperwork. Juelz is approaching his thirtieth birthday and Def Jam won't pay that O.J. Mayo money to someone who has Baron Davis' knees. Record industry money is more like NFL paperwork in that nothing is ever guaranteed. Even the signing bonus has to be recouped in most cases.

Some of you are asking why the fuck am I speculating on shit that I don't know the particulars of? Sheeeeeit, speculatiing on niggas futures is one of the top elements of Hip-Hop right after writing on walls with a spray can and fingerbanging your best friends' sister. Both of which I have done, but then again, I am sooooo Hip-Hop. One thing I will say is that Juelz keeps his new movement on point by borrowing the old school vibe of using matching color-coded promotional t-shirts for all of his weedcarriers. Makes you wonder who is giving the skull [ll]? Oh boy.

pic courtesy of Miss Info, obviously

So when do you think Def Jam will release the new Santana album? Certainly not until 2009, if ever. First, Juelz will have to put out a mixtape and try to re-create the former buzz he held from five years ago. Second, Juelz will have to negotiate the politricks of a label that moves around now like a rudderless ship. If Juelz Santana rhymes like Lil' Wayne he still has a chance. The truth is there are too many rappers at Def Jam right now. Someone's gonna have to retire.