Young Guru, a well established producer in the music business, gives you the straight talk about corporations, major labels, and how artists enslave themselves by signing record contracts. This video is filled with gems and should be encouragement for every independent hip hop artist on the path to building their own business.

In this video sited at Hypebot, Lupe Fiasco reveals some of the absurdities he’s had to endure while trying to get his music released under his label, Atlantic.

Meanwhile, in this post sited at Fakeshore Drive, the Cool Kids are just recovering from a nasty court battle with their label, Chocolate Industries.

Peep the tweets from Chuck Inglish and Sir Michael Rocks

Last but certainly not least, Nas wrote a searing letter to his label Def Jam, telling them in essence, to stop fucking with his creativity and “Put [his] Shit Out!”

The information about publishing is not the most valuable treasure of this video clip. It’s Phil’s will to grind and create an opportunity for himself when the climate of the music business was changing.

Nuff said!

via Mike Hudack

In this video, DMX talk about how even the highest paid artists get abused and taken advantage of by major labels. This is why I’m glad that the the old way of doing business in the industry is collapsing. What artists can’t afford to do is allow major labels to regain their power to continue this.