Source: Lester Cohen / Getty
The Migos and their ascension into the Hip-Hop elite show no signs of slowing. After splitting with 300 Entertainment and solidifying themselves within the Quality Control Music ranks, the Atlanta trio and the QCM label chiefs in a sprawling Complex cover story detail the events that led to the ending of the relationship with the previous label.
Along with the Migos, labelmate Lil Yachty, COO Kevin “Coach K” Lee, and CEO Pierre “Pee” Thomas get candid about their time in the industry from top to bottom. One of the standout moments of the piece occurred when Coach K and Pee discuss 300 Entertainment’s ham-stringing of their movement, and how it immediately broke open when they left the machine Kevin Liles and Lyor Cohen built.
From Complex:
The summer before the country began dabbing, Quality Control Music entered a distribution and marketing deal with 300 Entertainment. 300, founded by former Warner execs Kevin Liles, Lyor Cohen, and Todd Moscowitz—the latter two have since left the company—was a splashy new venture at the time, promising to be a new kind of record label that understood the emerging streaming landscape. It made sense at the time: QC had long aspired to more than its reputation as an upstart trap label, and this was the deal that would bring them to the next level.
However, when asked about the biggest hurdle they’ve faced as a group along the path to their current success, Offset doesn’t mince words: “300. I’m saying it. What.”
He continues, “300 was the biggest hurdle. They tried to hold us against our will. It wasn’t never no in-house hurdles we ever had, like where it had been a problem. With 300, that was the biggest thing, going through times and situations with them. And we still did them right. Left them a nice piece of work.”
Pee, whose words are typically measured, adds, “I’m going to stand behind him on that. Because for 18 months, we couldn’t sell no product. Whatever that was already out, that was already on iTunes or whatever, that was cool, but anything that we was putting out, it was like we was shackled down.”
“They created that whole movement,” Pee continues, referencing the fervor “Look At My Dab” sparked. “It was one of the biggest songs of that year. We had the athletes doing it. You had the kids, everybody was doing it. But you ain’t see it on iTunes, you see what I’m saying?” We couldn’t sell it. We couldn’t stream it, because we was in a battle.”
“We got a company saying, “Y’all can’t put no music out. We ain’t letting y’all sell nothing.”
Carefully speaking, Coach K and Pee say that the ending of the arrangement with 300 Entertainment involved “good litigation” and cost them around $500,000. The immediate payoff for the label and crew was the explosive surge of the Migos top-selling single “Bad and Boujee” which has culminated into a frenized, cult-like following of the rappers and relatives.
Check out Complex’s fascinating full piece on Quality Control Music here.
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Photo: Getty
