For Charles Hamilton, it seems the past few years have not been too smooth. The rapper was arrested and dropped from his label. Prior to that, he had attached a buzz to his name with mixtapes and song leaks but since then, he has faced criticism. Recently, Hamilton spoke about the last few years with MTV to discuss his arrest and the music industry.
Regarding his criticism, Hamilton explained that he understands what his detractors and others are saying. He also complained that he has been criticized too harshly, especially since he said he has released music for free.
“A lot of people been saying ‘Charles needs to get it together,’ but they don’t know what together is for me, so I’ve been half taking advice and half rebelling against advice in general,” he said. “When I was incarcerated, my songs got a little more aggressive, but after I did some time and came back to NYC, I was a little upset at my fans because they were saying some pretty harsh things about me when I was locked up…This is not how you should approach somebody who’s been showing you guys free love.”
Reports on his arrest indicate that he was aggressive at an Ohio bar when the police tried to calm him down. On his arrest, Hamilton said he was “standing up for women.”
“[People] were blaming insanity … because certain details didn’t hit the surface, but it had nothing to do with drugs, it had nothing to do with alcohol, it was about me standing up for women, once again,” he added. “What was really going on at the time was the reason why I was yelling and screaming and I lashed out…It has to do with women’s rights.”
During the interview, Hamilton also discussed his time trying to get off of Interscope and vowed to only sign another contract under “very specific” terms and agreements.
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Hip hop needs this nigga now more then ever. We got Kendrick, School Boy Q, ASAP Rocky holdin it down for the weird niggas but we NEED Charles Hamilton as well.
No, those people aren’t weird. That’s like hipster buffoons saying they’re ‘nerds’. Go underground, and you’ll get weird rappers.
CH?>??
wtf this dude got his nails done like a female ?!!
Charles still has the potential to be great, he’s a dope artist. He just needs to stop putting out so many mixtapes, and focus on one really dope one that will catch attention like Drake or 50’s early tapes. He also needs to find a way to get people back on his side…Right now most people hate him and think he’s a clown. Hiphop fans get really personal with their artist…So when you lose that likability factor, you lose your career. J Cole for eg is a mediocre artist at best, but he sells because people like him and think he’s humble and nice. CH just needs to change himself a little and narrow his focus and he’ll be straight.
charles is a dope musican, i agree he is too musical , not marketable to this uninteligent generation of hiphop fans
Hip Hop is Dead.
Why would people want to buy music if artist keep giving away tons of free music? That doesn’t make good business sense. You are devaluing your own brand. I can see a few songs here and there, but dudes are dropping multiple mix tapes and giving it away, yopu can never recoup those resources again.
you can do shows off of it. That is where the real money is anyway.
What he said; Shows = $$$. Yeah, if you were a major label guy and were spending thousands upon thousands of dollars on your mixtapes, and solely releasing them for free, I agree that that would be a poor business decision. But look at Drake, for example; working with family/friends, I’m sure “So Far Gone” cost him very little money to make, and besides the record deal he ended up getting off of it, he was able to perform across the country to sold-out theaters full of fans who knew all of his songs (at that point, all free mixtape albums), at the same time building his buzz to massive levels. He was getting major radio play for a song he hadn’t even released a single for. That, right there, is a pretty good example of why it pays to release free music; but like Drake once said (I think it was him, tho I might be mistaken), to paraphrase: it only works if the music is dope. Wiz Khalifa, same type of situation. Mac Miller as well, who pretty much took Wiz’ playbook and ran with it. In fact, this “Mixtape Method” of succeeding is pretty much the way to go in the internet age we are now in. Just a thought (ok, a LOT of thoughts)…
releasing free music does NOT entitle you to love from the people. I remember when Charles first started buzzing; like most fans of good music, I was impressed with his skills, and was excited to hear more from him (the Pink Lavalamp was a DOPE mixtape/album). But then, he started opening his mouth a little too much, and I, like most people, wasn’t feelin’ what was coming out of it, when it wasn’t music (even then, that was a fair assessment). If he only would drop the self-important, overly dramatic, ridiculous “woe is me/i’m such a tortured artist” act and focus on dropping the dope music he is capable of making, he could truly make something of himself. I truly mean that. I wish him the best, and if you end up reading this, GET YOUR MIND RIGHT, BROTHER! I believe in you, as I’m sure anyone else who has heard you at your best does. Peace
That made no sense. Dude is delusional and unwilling to take responsibility for his failures. Man up and quit bitching already! Sheesh! Did he really pull the “they didn’t understand me, I’m just too musical” excuse out on us??? Really??? WOW. If there was a smiley face icon for “Get the fuck outta here, you childish shit-cunt!”, I would put one right here —>. Jeez Loueez!
Yea, for years my favorite rappers/artist been held back from interscope, stay the fuck away from them, but hey nearly all major labels do that.
Charles is a musical genuis whose mind is in jail
This guy can rap his ass off … the problem is that his subject matter is all over the fucking place and he’s kind of weird.
“Kinda?” I’m the guy who wears pink all the time, identifies most strongly with a video game hedgehog, got stuck in the face by a chick, and raps about a week-long heroin binge like I was Kurt Cobain; I’m a certified NUTJOB! No pause!
THANK YOU Charles’ Psyche!
This dude has MAAAAAAAD (Official) [MixTapes] tho’
the guy has 50+ real mixtapes. He over saturated himself before he even came out with a fucking debut album.
DON’T FOLLOW his blueprint. He wasted all his deal money on mixtapes, it was generous but stupid.
how do you spend money making music uploading it for free for your fans???lol your retarded. i can make a beattape right now as a producer and upload it to a site for people to download without spending a dime.
People’s standards have been too low over the last decade. Mediocre, just like other rappers that have been hyped up and had buffoons buy their records. That said, it was funny when that woman beat him up.
Ja feels sorry for Charles and promises to do an album with him once he gets out.
He’s terrible anyways.. had a minor buzz once upon a time. He fucked that up
still my nigga
Jimmy Iovine is not Hip HOp…fuck him!
Charles Hamilton is a musical dude…keep up the good work man!
When a person speaks in the third person they have mental issues.
“A lot of people been saying ‘Charles needs to get it together,’
Um, is it just me – or did everything Charles Hamilton just said make ENTIRELY NO SENSE WHATSOEVER. #sigh