Legends of Hip Hop: Scamming Up and Coming Artists and Producers?

Are Prominent LEGENDS in the game SCAMMING up and coming independent artists and why?

2020 has been one of the most difficult times for people of all walks of life, ages, and creeds. It has been especially tough on a lot of different industries geared towards consumers and services. Countless companies have applied for bailouts and pandemic assistance relief and others have resorted to scams on social media. 

With times being rough financially for musicians mainly because they are unable to tour, do shows, sell merch and other means of income, rap legends have been resorting to gatekeeping via dms and more. 

The Beginning.

It all began with Facebook leaderboard scams. Hot 97 (NY) began with a "Who's Next" opportunity. Back in 2016 when I dropped my EP, I paid the $20 fee to enter into the bullshit. Never heard anything back from Flex or Hot97. I guess you can say that was the first time I got scammed and it ignited an anger that I have never felt before. I didn't want anybody to feel the way I did. Like wow, how can a notable radio platform and popular DJ take money from people and not deliver their promises as a supporter?" 

When I began podcasting, I made it my purpose to help artists avoid scams and flourish properly as rising acts in the underground. Leaderboard's became a popular scam tool. Funny how nobody is really on Facebook messenger like that voting and listening to your music though. 

I have even publicly warned artists in the comments section regarding this bullshit. 

The Pandemic Scam

March 2020 came a time of influencers DESPERATE for money. They began participating in "Giveaways" guaranteeing  clients thousands of followers based on mentions in stories and posts. The problem with this theory is that legitimate PR agencies who have developed these giveaways are now battling the fakes who are also offering these major opportunities for brands to grow ever since advertisers have began boycotting Instagram and Facebook due to:

"the social network has contributing to spreading hate speech and misinformation to the public, leading to an increase in racism and radicalization...."

Which made total sense because technically they are creating enemies out of brands instead of allowing brands to present their product.

Around May/June of 2020 came the rapper scam. Dozens of well know rappers from Shad Moss (Bow Wow) to Fat Joe and Jadakiss began climbing into the dms of independent artists to offer placement for Mixtapes to be promoted. 

$750 was the whopping cost for these placements which wound up on Soundcloud (yes a Soundcloud mixtape absolutely no shade by the way) 

What I found sad was the amount of artists that fell for it. Not based on their stupidity and ignorance, but mainly because they thought that their favorite rapper was here to help them.

Is it all BS?

Well, I have seen people talking about having success for their plays, but I will tell you as a social media manager, how much things cost and why it technically IS a scam.

Soundcloud alone, in order to reach 100K streams on one song isn't even $25. 100K on Spotify is less than $150. What is the ROI on these streams besides clout and being able to say you hit a certain amount of streams?

How many people have reached out to these artists to say that they became a fan off their music based on these mixtapes. How many artists have had an increase of merch sales? Youtube subscribers? Tik Tok subscribers. How many people have developed a dope fanbase off of piggy backing off these artists giving opportunities. 

I always say this:

IF IT SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, THEN IT USUALLY IS.

As much as we think that Legends in the game are trying to help us, they honestly cannot help themselves. They are complaining about their contracts (mainly because they can’t keep up their end of their agreements) because they are not making any money!!

They really believe people out here are uneducated about how business truly works! It’s one thing to offer promotion based on the fanbase they have, which is kind of what labels do when you really think about it. You are accessing their built (sometimes botted) following in exchange for investing into tapping into it.

However, one of my major concerns is HOW these artists are contacting independent artists. It seems extremely robotic and soulless. You can’t possibly think EVERYBODY’S music is dope. 🤣 But the bait of the blue check and following is what makes these artists truly think their favorite is checking for them. 

Sorry, they’re not. They don’t care about you. They don’t care about your hustle, your struggle, your grind and your mission. They care about your money. 

These are dead end mixtapes. They aren’t blogged about, talked about, mentioned, promoted, or even pushed properly from a marketing perspective. 

How much would you pay for clout? When the pandemic crisis is over, will they be taking you on tour with them to promote these mixtapes? 

What goes around comes around. 

Avoid @dablock365 at all costs.