Bryan Leach Speaks On A$AP Rocky

The President of Polo Grounds/RCA Records is speaking on the company's newest signee who made headlines for a $3 million deal.

As previously reported A$AP Rocky made headlines after revealing to Pitchfork that he'd landed a lucrative deal with the record label.

"The situation is almost unrealistic. I mean, five months ago I had about $3,000 in my bank account. Now I'm worth $3 million."

"Nobody's gotten a deal like that since 50 Cent."

 

Now however the company's President Bryan Leach is explaining the situation and clarifying that he didn't write the Harlem rapper a $3 million check, instead he simply invested the money in his new project.
He tells XXL,

"What he was saying was, when you look at his deal, between the marketing, the promotion, the A&R budget, the advance, the life of the deal--this is what it comes up to. It's no different than an NBA contract if you factor in bonuses. It was definitely a competitive deal, and it was worth every penny, but it wasn't 3 million dollars in his pocket."

While he didn't dish out $3 million to the A$AP crew head, Leach remained mum on the exact number the rapper was paid.

"That's putting out his personal business. It was a competitive deal. I will say that every single label out there was trying to sign the kid, and he took one or two meetings and went with his gut and his heart. It wasn't because of money. It wasn't a big a** bidding war. But it was a competitive deal. It also factors in his A$AP Crew."

Leach, who's played a role in the careers of Lil Jon and Pitbull did not enter a plea during his arraignment.

Police report that they pulled the music exec over after midnight Wednesday for driving erratically and discovered a .380-caliber, semiautomatic pistol in the car's central console with six bullets.

Hollow-point bullets expand after impact, a feature that can make injuries worse.

An attorney for Leach declined comment on his arrest but noted that the exec runs his own label within RCA's stable, Polo Grounds Music and was named by Crain's New York Business as one of its "rising stars" under 40 in 2007.

He also added that Lil Jon, one of crunk's biggest figures, told Crain's that Leach "was the one exec that decided to take a chance on me."

RCA Music Group has yet to comment.

The exclusive deal, which was inked with Polo Grounds Music/RCA Music Group and a production deal with Battery/Jive Records, allows Yung Joc to not only be an artist but also to sign emerging acts to his new label Swagg Team Entertainment.

“Joc is a triple threat. As an artist, executive and personality, he is now entering a higher phase of his career and I'm happy to play a part in it,” affirms Bryan Leach, President, Polo Grounds Music.  “I feel with Pitbull, Yo Gotti and now Yung Joc, Polo Grounds has an amazing front line of smart, talented, hungry artists that will continue to show why it's still all about making hit records and outworking everyone else.”

Yung Joc, who is credited for discovering the GS Boyz (“Stanky Leg), stated that he will actively seek break out talent to sign to his label.

"It is my pleasure and honor to announce my affiliation and new partnership with Polo Grounds Music/RCA Music Group and Battery/Jive Records,” states Yung Joc. “Now I can actually work and not wonder if I'm going to be held back from building my own brand as well as the Swagg Team brand. I'm very excited to work with this team.”

To celebrate the new deal, Joc states that he is currently working on his new album tentatively titled Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood, slated for a late 2010 release.

"As far as working with Beanie, It's a motivational song called “Tell That I Won't Run Away.” It's for all my strong Black people and Beanie Man putting that Jamaican fire on there and it's a mixture of both our styles and it represents the struggle."

Hurricane Chris has held down radio this year with his monstrous single “Halle Berry.” But as many of his fans have been wondering, when's the album coming. Signed to Polo Grounds/ J Records, the Louisiana fire spitter broke down the hold up and the upcoming 2010 release of his sophomore album, Unleashed. Speaking with Hip-Hop Wired, he stated,

“We got a lot of business that be going on behind the scenes [that's being worked out]. You get in music, most of the time you think it's just going to be all about music, but there's a lot of business behind it. I'm going through a whole lot with them record labels just trying to make them speed that process up because I got like 10,000 hits that I'm ready to drop. I had to jump “Halle Berry” of on my own and then they got behind it. You basically gotta promote yourself now.”

In the meantime, Chris is still fine-tuning his upcoming release and revealed a little of what to expect.

“So I got a mixtape I'm about to drop right now. I'm gonna heat the streets all the way up so we just waiting on the label to get ready. The name of my album is Unleashed. We steady switching the date so you know, we pushing it back. I got another video that's going to come out right now…I got a single out with Mario and Plies called “Headboard.” It's on and it's picking up heavy…we out promoting it right now. I got a lot on the album too. When the album comes you gonna get a different side of me, probably something you ain't got from me before. You getting all my versatility in this album. I got features from Beanie Man, it's just on a whole other level. So when we release Unleashed, you gonna know what time it is.”

Hurricane also will showcase more of his enlightening songs which many have overlooked as they wrongfully place him in a ringtone rap category. Try stepping to him cocky and over confident and you'll probably be the one taking the L. Adding a little detail about his upcoming music and his new mixtape dropping right before Christmas, he added,

“The mixtape is coming two weeks. It's called Hurricane The Great…Louis-Animal 2. Only one song from the mixtape, “Beat It Out The Frame,” will probably be on the album. It's a club banger… As far as working with Beanie, It's a motivational song called “Tell That I Won't Run Away.” It's for all my strong Black people and Beanie Man putting that Jamaican fire on there and it's a mixture of both our styles and it represents the struggle."

Unleashed will also include production Funk Dog (A Bay Bay), Shawty Red, Bangladesh, KLC, and The Incredibles.