There’s a ton of talk about Lil Wayne and/or Drake possibly defecting from the platinum palace that is Cash Money Records. Naturally, all of this spawns talk of which label either of them may land with.
photo: WENN
For Wayne—who had gotten lazy on the mic with the punchlines—it could be the needed boost to shake him out of what seemed like a codeine addled haze. Match Wayne’s potential new home against these 15 rappers who won after switching labels and see if he can have a true rebirth.
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photo: WENN
Nas: Sony to Def Jam
The Nas and Jay Z truce was taken to another level when Nas jumped ship from Sony to Def Jam—the label where Jay just so happened to be president.
Eve: Aftermath to Ruff Ryders
By her own account, Eve wasn’t ready for prime time while at Aftermath. Staying under the Interscope umbrella but reuniting with her Ruff Ryders fam proved to work well for Eve.
LOX: Bad Boy to Ruff Ryders
Jadakiss, Styles P, and Sheek Louch apparently saw the handwriting on the wall and didn’t want to be relegated to Bad Boy artists living in struggle after a strong debut. They’ve yet to match the sales of the Bad Boy debut, but they kept their longevity.
Dr. Dre: Death Row to Aftermath
Since they deaded their partnership, Dr. Dre has amassed a net worth of about a billion bucks, and Suge Knight might be spending the rest of his life in a cell. You do the math.
Snoop: Death Row to No Limit
After allegedly getting cheated out of royalties, seeing 2Pac’s death, and facing his own murder trial, Snoop ditched Death Row, and stepped his business game up by learning from Master P.
Hopsin: Ruthless to Funk Volume
He could’ve been the artist to help resurrect Ruthless Records. But after being completely dissatisfied with the experience, Hopsin co-founded his own label with Funk Volume. It seems like quite a shrewd move.
T.I.: Arista to Atlantic
Tip got dropped from Arista, metaphorically hit the trap by dropping mixtapes, and hasn’t looked back since he dropped 2003’s Trap Muzik with Atlantic.
Ice Cube: Ruthless to Priority
Technically, Ice Cube stayed with the same distributor in Priority. But he was the first N.W.A to be rubbed the wrong way by his Ruthless contract and made a break for solo stardom.
2Pac: Interscope to Death Row
Since 2Pac was originally signed to Interscope, moving over to the Interscope-backed Death Row empire proved to be a financial win-win. That increases exponentially considering Interscope allegedly paid $1 million to bail ‘Pac out of prison, while Suge Knight put up the other $250,000.
Game: Aftermath to Geffen
A heated exchange in New York, which ended with members from 50 Cent and Game’s respective camps trading gunfire marked the end of Game’s tenure under the Aftermath/Interscope/G-Unit umbrella. Game was quietly moved to a parent company for his 2006 album, The Doctor’s Advocate.
Busta Rhymes: J Records to Aftermath
If you want to see the Dr. Dre touch in effect, observe how moving from J Records to Aftermath changed Busta Rhymes’ collaborators from Mariah Carey to Raekwon and Nas.
Mobb Deep: Jive to G-Unit
Chalk it up to a Queens thing, as Havoc and Prodigy parlayed a mutual connection with the late Chris Lighty into a short-lived partnership with 50 Cent for their 2006 album, Blood Money.
Wale: Interscope to MMG
Joining the self-manufactured fantastical rapper Rick Ross seemed like a match made in hell at first glance. But Wale never started rapping about moving dope, and for all his fabrication, Rick Ross turned out to be a much savvier businessman than most initially gave him credit for.
50 Cent: Columbia to Shady/Aftermath
If you ever wonder just how cold the recording industry can be, just remember that Columbia dropped 50 Cent after he got shot nine times.
