Didn’t Travis make lovesick and get Kanye attention? Didn’t he also say how 40 and so far gone inspired him by sticking to himself ?

But 150k doesn't guarantee you s***.

You can just end up broke and in astronomical debt.

PLEASE SAY SIKE LMAO

Can't you just breakthrough with a good sound and hype around you?

I don't like Lil Darkie but that dude is doing solid numbers while being Indie, and he has a decent image. Same with Tyler, Chance, X.

The only way you have to sell out is if you truly have nothing going for you artistically and you have to sell out and follow the current trend/sound.

I think with good music, you can do it for less than that. Probably still need 10-20k though with smart investments

Bro is washed in every aspect

Terrible name, no style, bad sound, bad image all around. Throwing $150,000 to "build" a brand like that legit is just burning money. Especially if he's trying to be a rapper.

Maybe not the best example

so it is legal then? everyone knows the labels are doing it but i was under the impression that it was illegal. i guess not

payola is illegal. this isn't payola. aside from playlisting

Legality is literally(read: mostly) irrelevant once you make 8 figures

Clairo broke from her bedroom with zero help

I mean at that point he might as well go all out lol

He ain’t paying it back anyway

yeah that's what i meant. she blatantly admitted to playlisting

??? pls tell me you’re joking

I think the laws around playlisting are still new and weird. I think it's like a technicality where you can't pay directly to be on a playlist. but you can pay some sort of "consultant" or type of bullshit and they get it on a playlist

this. people can make it if they're just authentically themselves

all it takes is a cell phone, a laptop, and talent. a lot of people have the first two. but Clairo has more of the last one in her pinky toe than most people have in their entire body

dude is speaking the truth

Well yeah I mean, that's what I meant earlier by people "sponsoring you" it could be parents, d*** dealers, prostitutes, whoever someone gotta have the bread lol

mhmm interesting. also if an artist drops a song or project and wanted to dominate the charts for x amount of weeks, is there a ceiling for their budget ? or can they keep paying to get playlisted, thus remaining on the charts for however long they wish.

olivia rodigo for example, how she just popped off and did drake/ariana numbers even though she's a new talent. i know she has a disney background which gave her the connections, but is payola what's making her dominate the charts like that ? i'm just tryna understand

i feel like @op is talking about street rappers like NLE, YB etc. You need studio time, advertising, beats, MV shoots etc. to even get your name out there.

tyler had like 10 projects before he had any sort of buzz, but X is a good example of the internet blowing an artist up, its happening with ssgkobe & sofaygo rn

Pretty much

Not really. You're being obtuse about this.

A high school drop out, how's he going to earn enough money legally to support his music career, family, etc.?

How?

yeah. I used to be one of those folks who thought you could just drop something and then it takes off organically. it's still possible (very rare) but even after it takes off organically, then you'll have tons of offers to put $ behind it to get it to the next level

They make you think they independent for that organic feel