YoungBoy Never Broke Again has become the latest artist to voice his concerns over the lack of ownership of his own music and subsequent issues with his record label.
On Wednesday (July 8), the Baton Rouge rapper vented his frustrations on his Instagram Story, accusing his label of refusing his request to acquire his masters.
“I said they can have the next 4 albums free all I want is my masters in still got told no,” YoungBoy wrote. “Dirty game.”
YoungBoy signed to Atlantic Records in late 2017, and has put out two studio albums with the label since then. His most recent effort was April’s 38 Baby 2, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 67,000 total album equivalent units.
Owning masters has been a point of contention in the music industry long before YoungBoy began rapping. Nas once told a story of Prince turning down a collaboration because he didn’t like the fact the Queens rapper didn’t own his masters.
“I said, ‘Yo, look man, let’s do this. Let’s do this song,’” Nas explained in a 2019 Drink Champs interview. “And he was like, ‘Do you own your masters?’ But he blew my shit, because I was like, ‘I don’t. And I’m far from it, ’cause I owe this label like four, five albums.’ … He dropped a jewel, he kind of helped me see the future and he was like, ‘When you own your masters, give me a ring.’”
YoungBoy Never Broke Again Clarifies His Kid Count
Russ recently preached the importance of ownership of your music as well, sharing a screenshot showing how much he made while owning all the rights versus when he didn’t.
“My come up. OWNERSHIP,” he wrote. “Ups and downs is all part of the journey. STICK WITH IT. The big dip in fall of 2016 is when I partnered and moved my main earners over to Columbia cuz I wanted them on my debut album.”
Revisit 38 Baby 2 below.
Real shit. I had a contract as a “contributer” in the late 90s. I wrote verses for a certain label, came up with hooks and choruses as they came to me. I had no claim to any songwriter credits but it didn’t matter, I was in my teens and star struck. Until Brad Jordan hipped me to the game, he told “get your money!”. At first I thought he was encouraging me to keep it up. But his look, his expression was so deep and meaningful that I realized he was telling me, ” they are not paying you enough to give away your creative property. From an OG to a BG at the time, I know tell you cats as an OG, Get Your Money!!!
In this day and age they have a lot more opportunities to have control over there career and finances but you see it over and over again once they have made it then they wanna go back and fix that contract, i really wish more artist would be about they business from the beginning, yes it’s harder but the reward and freedom is so much more greater, it’s like why make pennies on the dollar when you can make the whole dollar, that quick money is always short money.
While you’re correct everyone should hang on to there own Masters but I would venture to guess it is difficult for an up and coming struggling artist to have a ton of Leverage enough in the beginning to negotiate that while still getting a lucrative advance on your initial projects. You think a kid like NBA YB had money for lawyers in the beginning?? When you’re broke and you’re offered $250k or $500k cheque up front it’s hard to be thinking about your Masters then, but when they blow up they always regret it.
REAL SHIT MOST OF US YOUNG BLACK MEN COME FROM POVERTY HE WAS TRYNA MAKE IT OUT HARD 2 TURN DOWN THAT CHECC
You. Signed. A. Contract.
What if you didnt pop? Would you want them then? Shouldve bet on yourself.
All that money wasted on Valtrex medication and dumb shit…. that’s your fault for not investing in yourself and owning your own masters. Let me explain it to you in a way you’d understand lol, What would you rather be….the herpes sore or the Valtrex medication?
Hmm did you tell them that or you make a contract and make them sign it stating that? This motherfuckers too dumb to be off a label
Lol, I bet he would love J. Prince’s help now.
He signed the damn contract! Can he not read?? Of course they said no youre going to put out 4 booty albums and bounce they’re smarter than you bucko
J Prince is somewhere smiling
Looks like its gonna be “Youngboy NBA:G-League” pretty soon. Maybe J.Prince can help him get his music back too…
Remember when it was annoying that everyone was “Ice” something or “Lil” something or “Big” whoever or whatever? Now we’ve got all these clowns with “Young Boy” and several words or lame acronyms and all this who can’t even enunciate a single rap bar.