Sometimes I like to sit and analyze the game. Look at some artist planned verses actual in a career standpoint. Maybe somethings could have been prevented and maybe somethings were seen and until you really become a student of the music business, it is hard to comprehend.

Some of the things I am about to say will probably make some aspiring artist upset. Partially because I’ll be talking about their favorite rapper or I’ll be seemingly sealing their fate with some explanations. End of day though, who am I? Keep working! Cause you just never know.

Sometimes I think Diddy seen The L.O.X panning out to be what they are and that’s why he gave them the contracts he did…and they didn’t read them because they were more concerned about working with Biggie than handling business. Sometimes you sign people up for their ambition to do whatever. Problem is, they have to increase the value of the brand they are rocking with. Biggie sold 2 million out the gate. To be honest. I never saw The L.O.X moving 2 million individually or collectively. Their dope but, in the grand scheme that is the music business they are not visible superstars.

They are a prime example of why rap is like the NBA. Sure they may not ever go down as the Big 3 of Boston or Miami…but, RUN TMC got busy too and were very well respected.

I watched that video on N.O.R.E talking about the Illuminati and the 3 doors that you can go through after you go platinum. He said he went straight to the middle door and hasn’t reached the same level of success since. It makes me think about the price of fame and what kind of characters are we really watching and listening to on theses devices. Maybe this is truly why nothing last forever.

Sometimes I wonder if artist like Red Cafe and Jae Mills got too much to quick and it made them lazy: Maybe Labels and bosses really aren’t holding them back. Its 2014 and both of these cats have bosses that have put out multiple albums and mixtapes while they riding with them. The two guys are marginal rappers. You would think they would be trying to prove they are nice every 6 months. However, if you getting paid to ride and work in the studio and carry a flag…why would you not do it?

Loyalty pays Ten-fold. Ask Banks and Yayo. Everybody can’t be a Boss. Even less can be the Boss of Bosses. However people fail to realize that rolling with your Boss to the end pays big dividends as an Enforcer. Even in business loyalty is a must. Banks and Yayo saw fame and success 2 ways in the game and waited patiently and were multi-millionaires before 30. Not many teams can say that, and not many can say that they still got because of it.

I often wonder why people respect Businessman Jay-Z so much. He said “He made more millionaires than the lotto did” However the flaw I see in that is that a couple people may have just had a million or more while doing business with Hov or helped him just as much as he helped them. I mean..if you got a producer who is giving you great production to make a hit record. Then that’s a 50/50 split in my eyes. If you ok a rapper who had 2 or 3 records deals at a million or possibly more each to sign to your label and take an seat in the office, then you are somewhat in a partnership. How prominent is Rocawear since its revamp? Where are the member of the Roc-A-Fella team version 1 and 2.0? Has anybody seen Lady Sovereign? She got Jay’s stamp as being next. Mr. Carter is VERY GREAT at making HIMSELF a legitimate SUCCESS. The people around him…different story. All success isn’t rooted in money and TV time.

The game is filled with Free Music and Paid shows right now. Excuses are out the window no matter what your situation is. Riff Raff, Chance The Rapper, Mac Miller, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis have literally taken plays out of Tech N9ne’s playbook and created their own audibles in the path to success. If you can be deemed as popular, you can get yourself paid. The question with no clear answer will always be “How?”