Once upon a time in a universe far, far away, HipHopDX used to host blogs. Through Meka, Brillyance, Aliya Ewing and others, readers got unfiltered opinions on the most current topics in and beyond Hip Hop. After a few years, a couple redesigns and the collective vision of three different Editors-In-Chief, blogs are back. Sort of. Since our blog section went the way of two-way pagers and physical mixtapes, Twitter, Instagram and Ustream have further accelerated the pace of current events in Hip Hop. Rappers beef with each other 140 characters at a time, entire mixtapes (and their associated artwork) can be released via Instagram, and sometimes these events require a rapid reaction.
As such, we’re reserving this space for a weekly reaction to Hip Hop’s current events. Or whatever else we deem worthy. And the “we” in question is myself, Omar Burgess and Andre Grant. Collectively we serve as HipHopDX’s Features Staff. Aside from tackling stray topics, we may invite artists and other personalities in Hip Hop to join the conversation. Without further delay, here’s this week’s “Stray Shots.”
Obie Trice
Andre: Obie Trice released an album called Cheers in ‘03, but like the rest of Shady Records at the time, there was nothing nice about it. The Detroit emcee had the soul of a conflicted marksman. I imagined him under a bush somewhere with facepaint on, decked out in camo and with you in his sights, but he hesitates and all is lost. As such, his debut came out during 50 Cent season, which overshadowed everything that year, and the year after that. But the guy had all the fixin’s: a Pharoahe Monch flow, a deft eye for detail, and a vivid storytelling technique. But he just couldn’t find a way to plug himself into the zeitgeist. And, say what you will, but there is something to this art form about finding a lane and then bum-rushing the hell out of that, no matter what or whose broken down chevy you have to ram through in the process. With Cheers going gold, and with Obie surrounded by the absolute best in production (Dre, Eminem and Timbo), guest features that usually come with a signed contract in blood (50 Cent, Busta, Em’, Lloyd Banks, Nate Dogg), and a lead single called “Got Some Teeth” that toed the line between being unorthodox and straight up loopy, it’s safe to say that Obie fit right in at the haunted house that was Shady HQ.
But as things tend to do, his relationships slowly fell apart, and he left or was let go from the label some six years later. But there will always be that enormous potential. For my money, “Don’t Come Down” off his inaugural album that spoke in 1080p about his conflicted mother that eventually kicked him out, or the “Pistol Pistol (Remix),” which is such a serious ode to revenge that features lines like, “It’s not a verse, it’s a curse…” that some terrible DA could have used it in court will remain testaments to a sound that never quite developed into the dark, gritty behemoth it should have.
50 Cent
Omar: I’d stop short of calling anyone on Shady Records diabolical, lest the Rap Gods send a lightning bolt through my computer for cyber blasphemy. But obviously any discussion about Shady/Aftermath begins and ends with 50 Cent. This seems like the time when Dr. Dre and Eminem were in full label-building mode. Em would later admit to being in a slump and a certain boredom with music before Paul Rosenberg coerced him into listening to 50’s Guess Who’s Back, and the rest is history. So in a surprise to absolutely nobody, I’d say 50 is the most important artist on Shady. Technically, he was already established, he lent them a certain credibility, he had incredible crossover success for the course of his first two albums, and inking him as well as G-Unit to deals under the Shady/Aftermath umbrella temporarily changed the way most of us viewed Eminem as an assembler of talent.
The cult of 50 worshippers that regularly visit this site are going to accuse me of slandering Fif, but he’s always only been a serviceable rapper at best with a few high-water moments here and there. But, in terms of moving in a room full of vultures, when we think about what it means to be a Hip Hop artist on a major label in the 21st Century, I think about 50 Cent. Strangely, it’s not even about the rapping. You organically build that fan base from scratch, and when the demand reaches its peak, you can put out product on a major for about three to four albums and take advantage of the increased visibility, properly negotiated royalty rates and touring.
Yelawolf
Andre: Yelawolf’s a relative newbie at the Eminem HQ, but at this point we know what the Shady one likes, and Yela’s got it in spades. Really, really comfortable with the seedy underbelly of American life, the emcee shot southern gothic, spitfire flows over beats that sounded like souped up pickup trucks rummaging through the backwoods somewhere. Think The Walking Dead but turnt’ with unlimited ammo. Plus, after 2010s Trunk Muzik caught the eye of the camp it seemed like a match made in horror movie heaven. He released Trunk Muzik 0-60 so the label could capitalize on the enormous momentum the original created, but it lacked the moonshine it took to really create something that country bamma. Whatever the case, we’re still waiting for Yela to hit that cultural sweet spot the way he did in 2010. If so, and with the right marketing plan, we may just get the country Hip Hop-punk rock crossover we didn’t even know we were looking for.
Stat Quo
Omar: In a bit of a surprise pick, I’m rocking with Stat Quo. Stat embodies that talented handful of artists who just couldn’t make coexisting under the Shady/Aftermath/Interscope conglomerate work. In a lot of ways, his story parallels Bobby Creekwater, Obie Trice, Ca$his and if his next album doesn’t commercially cross over, Yelawolf too. That’s not a diss. Being on Interscope is about making Top 40 hits, and if you’re not a mainstream, radio friendly, hit-making artist the house that Jimmy Iovine built isn’t for you. But Stat gave me some moments. He held his own on “Syllables” next to 50 Cent, Eminem and Jay Z, which is a feat in and of itself for an emcee on the come up. With all due respect to the current roster, go back and listen to “On Top Now” and tell me who on Shady has the balls or skill set to call themselves a field slave shit on Oprah Winfrey then throw in some informed commentary about the state of Hip Hop over that top notch DJ Khalil production?
So yeah, to me Stat represents the untapped potential of an entire talented roster that was just in the right place at the wrong time when the major label recording industry cratered. In a different era, who knows what Shady Records could have been? The industry is filled with what Stat referred to as “iPhone 5C niggas with turquoise backs” (that would be Game’s “Compton” from the OKE mixtape), and circumstances didn’t allow for him or the rest of the roster to counteract that the way Eminem intended when he signed them. But there’s some kind of legacy there, and hopefully this upcoming Shady XV project will put the current roster in the position to avoid what happened to the Shady v1.0 crew while honoring that legacy.
Omar Burgess is a Long Beach, California native who has contributed to various magazines, newspapers and was an editor at HipHopDX from 2008 through 2014. Follow him on Twitter@omarburgess.
Andre Grant is an NYC native turned L.A. transplant who’s contributed to a few different properties on the web and is now the Senior Features Writer for HipHopDX. He’s also trying to live it to the limit and love it a lot. Follow him on Twitter@drejones.
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This was a great list!
dont think anyone will surpass 50 but obie was/is super underrated.
Truth be told
Yelawolf is coming into his own now. Those classic rock freestyles he’s been dropping, and the love story singles…. love story is about to be a classic…possibly. Oh, and he’s premiering a freestyle video on BET… thats gotta be a first lol.
yes, yes, yes and yes^
You know Inter won’t let him stick to those rock freestyle, Scope has been fucking over artists since Fif came on the field
Yela has already said he eliminated all of the outside factors and em is allowing him artistic freedom to do his own thing this time around. Based on Til its Gone, I believe it. He’s doing his own thing, which is what made eminem /interscope notice him in the first olace .
Yeller. Till it Gone
Yela dumb cunt
The label is shit nownobodys wants yelawolf or wack ass slaughterhouse. Em is em he is the label. 50 was there only real success and he put in that work like john cena/
Luv yall
Obie Trice is one of the most underrated emcees of all time.
He’s good, but not that good
I like your list, but I think Proof was one of the best on the label. Not only in his obvious relationship with Eminem, but his content was pretty great. Outside of that, I find Shady and Aftermath a rather weird record label compared to others, since to me alot of labels have several or more albums dropping a year, whereas aftermath and Shady just reserve a few artists, some you never hear of, and others get produced. It’s never clear why people are left go or dropped. If you look at Eminem’s history of signing people, the majority were southern.
what ever happened to obie, stat quo cashis and bobby creekwater? did they go anywhere, are any of them still considered signed to shady?
There’s no Shady Records without 50 cent
True, Eminem was the energy need to kick start a serious label, 50 Cent certified it for quite some time to come. But Em needs to find something new, fresh, and lyrical. Slaughterhouse is dope, but they don’t have the energy or something… plus “Our House” already tainted their image.
NOt sure if Slim the mobster was str8 aftermath but hes my most underated. album/mixtape with dre was crack
Always good to see Obie get his props. Stat could have been something special, but back to Obie. Cheers was an AMAZING album. “Don’t Come Down” is a genuine classic that can break a grown man’s heart. Love you mom. 2nd Rounds On Me was pretty good, too. If anyone should be welcome back to Shady, it’s Obie.
I still remember the buzz around Stat Quo’s “Statlanta” back then. All the writers and industry folks from that time were basically praising that as the next classic that would come from the crew. Wish I could’ve heard the album as it was originally intended.
At any rate, Shady Records is still a really interesting label. Definitely successful in its own right, had some good talent, and those old Invasion tapes were incredible. I think the one weakness that Shady has had, especially in its early years, is that they sort of treated everyone like Eminem. Cheers was great, but it sounded and felt like an Eminem record; I think he found his own lane with Second Round’s On Me, which is one of the best projects to drop on Shady Records. I think 50 Cent was the only notable act on the label who got a chance to showcase his own brand/personality up front.
I’m looking forward to seeing where they go from here. I think getting Just Blaze to executive produce the next Slaughterhouse record was a smart move, and if House Rules is any indication, their album will showcase all of their talents and personality. I thought Yelawolf’s album was dropped at the wrong time too, but I’m checking out his next joint.
Shady’s problem was/is always that if Eminem isn’t at least on 40% of the album, the fans ain’t buying it. 50 Cent had a strong persona that didn’t need Eminem’s presence and therefore that’s why he’s the only successful artist on that label and if it wasn’t for him, Shady Records would be a novelty label most people would forget exists.
Look at the “success” of Slaughterhouse and Yelawolf and you get the same rinse-repeat of the Obie/Creekwater/Stat situations, praise of “underrated” but the millions of Eminem fans dwindle to a couple of thousand when it’s time for Eminem to present other rappers.
Look at how half a mil showed up for the Eminem Royce album but disappeared when Slaughterhouse dropped, even though they say “the (free) mixtape was better”. I know I’m not the only one who sees the hypocrisy.
Anyway, looking forward to hearing the 1st disc of XV.
So true. Only Slaughterhouse and Yelawolf’s albums are the only albums i bought without needing Eminem to present them. What other rappers from SHADY RC to me is they either lack intensity in their music or they are just not good enough(well for me)
Word up Andre / Omar .. YELAWOLF is next .. How do you follow the Greatest Artist of All Time ?? Well .. YELAWOLF is doing it .. There will never be another one .. Just wait for #LoveStory .. It will change Lives and forever change the Game .. Shady Records FOREVER
This is the beat article I’ve read on here Ina while. Good job jhdx
great read…the disconnect between youth culture and media executives is always interesting to think about. especially when i think about this article and the bobby shmurda article. or this migos article: http://www.thefader.com/2014/11/04/cover-story-migos-definitively-better-than-the-beatles
on one hand there are people who mainly want to teach artists and have a mission orientation about culture. others chiefly want to exploit them for financial gain and have less of a social responsibility ethic. a lot of people are somewhere in between both extremes and go back and forth depending on what makes $ and what motivates them emotionally.
at the end of the day there is so much money exposure to be had when dealing with the lyor cohens, l.a. reids and interscopes. but there can be a sacrifice of equity and control. if you stay indie and prefer the strangemusic model, but don’t have the team or partners that tech9ne has, and don’t know how to find them, AND you have a manager in your ear who wants to be paid saying you need to make a move now because you won’t be young forever and these young kids are the real come up, if you loose them you loose your moment, then of course you go for the exposure.
it is very very very difficult to be the person who has generous fan base, has a loyal team of very skilled people, makes compelling, outstanding art, has lots of potential for growth, has the humility and work ethic needed to avoid lawsuits and early death, AND has the business sense needed to avoid contracts that prevent them from dropping material when they want to. and a person could have all that going for themselves and still not have the street smarts needed to nonviolently make the gatekeepers cooperate. and then to be that person and be between 16 and 22 years old is almost once or twice a generation.
in the case of these shady artists, by the time they get out of binding 4-5 year contracts or multiple project contracts, they are no longer that charismatic 21 year old or wise beyond their years 25 year old or that 17 year old prodigy. They are older and jaded, and the fans are like, where you been? the fans have moved on. if artists can’t release accessible AND strong new material at least on at least a quarterly basis, then it’s probably not a good idea to rely on music or fan support as a sole source of financial or emotional sustenance.
MY ACTIONS ARE LOUDER THAN THAT SOUR !!! SISSIES………………