Let's take a look at the tree. At the top we have Aftermath, Dr. Dre's company. Aftermath signs Eminem who in turns starts his own label under Aftermath, Shady Records. Shady Records then signs 50 Cent. Together Eminem/50 become possibly the most successful artists to ever grace hip-hop. 50, being no stranger to profitable business transactions, decides he wants in and starts G-Unit Records. His record company now, signs a slew of above average hip-hop artists including Mobb Deep and MOP. Oh and don't forget The Game. He was originally on Aftermath, but it seems that the powers that be thought he may do better joining forces with G-Unit as that would appear to be more marketable at the time. So, The Game goes from sitting on the dusty shelf at Aftermath (top of the tree), to shining and getting recognition at the end of the food chain (bottom of the tree). What a disaster that turned out to be.
50 and The Game bump heads, but boost sales for G-Unit in the process and The Game is eventually back on just Aftermath, where he has a decent amount of success but not as much as you would think being with Dr. Dre. Due to his disputes with 50 Cent, The Game left Aftermath Entertainment and signed with Geffen Records to terminate his contractual obligations with G-Unit in the summer of 2006. Throw some Interscope ownerships in this mix and you have a confusing organization of millionaires with an enormous amount of power. So.....we see albums out now that have the "Aftermath/Interscope/Shady/G-Unit" logo. Seems like too many hands in one pot. I couldn’t even begin to imagine the paperwork involved in contractual issues.
Rakim was signed to Aftermath and there was so much talk about what a great collaboration that would be. Legendary MC with a legendary producer…..how COULDN’T it be ill? What about Busta Rhymes? He almost ALWAYS had a hit. How about Eve? The Firm? Bilal? Truth Hurts? Even Dawn from En Vogue…..And most recently, Joell Ortiz!! He was signed in ’06!! I thought there would be more Latinos shining in the game with that one, but, alas, he’s gone now too and has NOTHING to show for the past 2 years there. And I almost forgot about Raekwon……that match-up alone seems already classic. It’s been really quiet about that album though….hopefully this year we’ll hear something.
In other news…
What exactly happens to these artists when they go over there? Another guess could be that since Dre has so many other projects to work on, it’s impossible for him to focus on so many . Even his OWN album! Detox? Unless your album has 10,000 tracks on it, it really shouldn’t take 8 years to drop. Unless you’re an unsigned artist without a label.
Either way it’s pretty sad. What appears to be a heaven for artists, only winds up to be a purgatory. Just a place to sit and wait. So happy to finally get there, but then you realize all that glitters ain’t gold…another case of Fool’s Gold being sold to the masses.
COMMENTS
Nice article. Did Joell officially get dropped? He had mad skill.
He's gone.....
good shit... thanks 4 not sayin dat 1st.. shit. everybody shud get a prop 4 not doin dat.
Good Article ..totally agree wit it too
well he didnt really get dropped he asked for his own release like papoose did since he felt it was taking to long for his album to get put out
reason people don't come out under aftermath is because they aren't confident or don't know what they want, just ask 50 he's said it multiple times... besides rakim who's style and dre's completely didn't click... as for busta bing bang went platinum and had huge singles, i heard I love my chick (or bitch) so much on radio rotation, i can't even listen 2 it anymore
yup ortiz mc game was correct
to bad he got dropped
where is detox?????????????????????????????????????????????
joell nice as a motherfucker.
Yeah he was nice but that is the story on Aftermath, great piece! And why does Dre always have to be in the middle of beef, I think thats his marketing techinque! Just think NWA vs The Establishment, Dre & Snoop vs Easy-E, Eminem vs his mom & everybody, 50 Cent & Everybody and the list goes on. And if you dont beef with nobody you get dropped. So if you sign with Dre make sure you got somebody in mind to beef with!
This shyt iz on point. I really fuccs wit wut u sayin and wonder tha same. u would think after all tha hype niggaz get wit signing wit them it would b sum real productive shyt to look forward to (album wise) but , there isn't. Kinda like a modern day Death Row or sum shyt minus tha fact that at least on death row niggaz was gettin sum recognition. but as of now wit tha afta math it's like niggaz ova there gotta get a second job whether it b doing sitcoms (eve) or radio shows. wow!!!!! just to scrap bread and make sure niggaz ain't 4 got bout them. Damn shame . Scream at me 1.
They don't even get a chain or nuthin damn, it's like "aiight u wit us now, oh and don't 4 get afta u sign bacc to everyday life nigga. We'll call U."
Also it's up 2 the artist to provide undeniable hit records. I don't know if some of them artist you named except eve, proved they are hit makers.
I hope he keeps Hi-tek around. hi-tek helped wit a lot of bangerz, including "Get in My Car" off da Masscre, "Runnin" off The Documentary, and a list of others.
Busta Rhymes and Eve both enjoyed platinum success before Aftermath.
Nice read/ work, I completely agree with those things u discussed..dre fuckin up his own empire.
Dre's cool. I just didn't agree with him getting rid of the Game, because 50 gave him an ultimatum. We all know 50 is a powerhouse, but game and dre are from the same hood. Then besides working on his artists at Aftermath, he goes and does like half of Jay Z's "Kingdom Come". He should at least retire, that way he won't look so bad.
It weird cause whenever artist leave the label they never diss Dr. Dre. Nothing foul to say about the way he treats his employees or contracts. Not even Eve who has been signed to him twice now has anything negative to say about him. Maybe one day the good doctor will release a book with detailing on whats been happening
dis is a good article, right on point, u sed it where there are too many hands in one pot, bt itz da same wid other labels as well,
game sold five mill....i wouldnt call that a "decent amount of success"...good articile tho
thats way more than decent
Busta Rhymes dropped in 06 summer, but Dre is turning into Puff..
^^cosign (da band LOL)
and we all know what happened to them...diddy dropped them and was like "take that...take that"
For real good article but I think we're seeing to far into this, no one knows what really happens behind close doors that aint there own and half the people don't know that, so be easy people they're coming bac
yea i dont kno wut it is either...wut kind of DOC is that! seems like thy feel alot worst after them aftermath visits!
GD READ BTW...
dre as ah fan drop that album already man damn!
and then let yo boys shine off of ur wrk...
Deeeee-troit
that the shit he suppose to work for these real mc so that we can hear beautiful music instead of keep all of them for nothing
dre is a perfectionist....im sayin, ya he DEFINITELY slacks on his work but think about the last "Classic" album hip hop had..GRODT to me neways...dre executive produced that album, and you could easily tell. every track on that cd was unforgettable and thats why dre takes so long...he tries to emulate the perfection of that album
Very good article....I was mentioning a small portion of this just last night.
Your on point with this one.
Raekwon & Rakim! 2 of the greatest lyricists of all time. Neither of them dropped. Rakims "Seventh Seal" is comin on a different label, so is "Cuban Linx 2". Just looking at both doing a collabo or having tracks produced by Dre would seem like hip hop history. But it wasn't 2 be.
I can understand Dre payin more attention 2 50 & Em as they are were the money is at rite now, but think what could be achived if Rakim & Rae had the type of push that Em & 50 got.
Dre is a great producer, maybe even the best, along the DJ Premier but he could go sooo much further if he starts given more attention to other artists. Busta, Eve & Joell Ortiz. Look at the talent he has to choose from.
Dre's roster waz similiar to Jay's roster. A bunch of accomplished lyricists who aren't popular commercially. The bad thing about Dre waz the only popular artists he has now are Em and Fiddy. Thats probably why he dropped dem niggas, hes probably doin some Aftermath maintenance or somethin. Who knows whats goin to happen later this year. Jay is free agent. So is Budden. We don't kno who Dre gonna pick up.
dre is still doing work on raekwon's album genius....i can quote raekwon and rza on that one....so dont worry.....the collabo i dream of, IS COMING
WHO CARES ABOUT THESE ARTICLES ANYWAY...HIP HOP IS SO FUCKING DEAD IT DON'T EVEN MAKE SENSE, MAYBE IT WASN'T OFFICIALLY DEAD WHEN NAS SAID IT IN '06 BUT NOWADAYS PEOPLE DROP SINGLES A TEN MONTHS TO A YEAR BEFORE THEIR ALBUM RELEASES (NELLY) IF THEY EVEN DROP AT ALL (WAYNE, LIL JON'S LAME ASS, MIKE JONES' WACK ASS)THE SOUTH BEEN SLOWLY DISMANTLING IT SINCE '04 WITH LACK OF QUALITY AND LACK OF ORIGNALITY.....AND FAST FOWARD FOUR YEARS, NOW THEY CAN'T EVEN SELL. THIS SHIT ANGERS ME, I'M ONLY 20 YEARS OLD.
man dont hate....with all the leaking and piracy these days its a miracle artists are even able to complete there albums at all.....think bout that next time you download an album, and then say hip hop is dead...
DRE STILL WANT TO KEEP ALL THESE MC FOR NOTHING OH JUST BECAUSE OF HOUSEPOWER,
Good read. I really don't know why Dre has trouble blowing up East Coast acts. He's good at launching other regions' artists i.e Snoop and Em. 50 was technically discovered by Em not Dre so he don't count.
Damn he make some good points. I think it's because Dre just dont collaborate well wit everybody. When he does collaborate well wit somebody they become legendary. You know Snoop,Em,Fifty,Cube. But he dont have the ability to make hits wit everybody.
True.
Nice article. Defsounds is really coming with it this year. Maybe Dre is spread to thin and shouldn't act on every bright idea that crosses his mind. He should streamline his roster and focus on dropping one or two high quality albums a year. That'll keep his label white hot and I know Dre can pull that off.
I agree with that, Best point anyone has made so far. Way too many emcees, with Dre the only real producer. Maybe Aftermath should hire som more in house production. Dre could oversee the projects, toss a few tracks around and keep it moving. But the system in place isn't doing it. Think about it, Dre hasn't done alot of weork with Em or 50 on there last couple of albums either.
RIP Prop Joe
RIP Heath Ledger
Dre isn't just the best producer in hip hop he is probably the best producer in music period the only person near him might be Rick Ruben
no, becuase he has only produced hiphop whereas rick rubin, timbland and the neptunes are more versatile
dr dre call me
Dre can make it happen. But he cant make magic. Id be willing to bet that any problems that have arisen from his camp were from no fault of his own. He cant dedicate himself to any one artists whole album. You just cant place the blame on him. He has done way way more than his share of contributing to the advancement of hip-hop music. The rakim thing, The firm thing, The whole deal with game and 50... those ordeals were out of his control. He tried to make the firm work but niggas didnt wanna hear it at the time. Game and 50 fucked that situation up themselves. Rakim had differences with Dre and you cant expect dre to conform to that. He made Get rich or die trying a fucking miracle if you ask me. Compare it to the quality of 50s other albums and its like night and day. He made one of the biggest stars ever out of eminem at a time when white rappers were just not accepted. Ortiz is a talented MC to say the least but, once again, you cant expect dre to preside over an artists album who dosnt have much more than a mixtape following, a few beats could be thrown to him at best but dre got other obligations. He has an ear for what the people want to hear more than any other producer in the history of the music business. Were talking about a 20 plus year run of hits. I think with a producer like dr dre you have to put the criticism in the back seat and take the good with the bad because hes obviously a musical mastermind.
NWA
DEATH ROW
EMINEM
Thats 3 HUGE bookmarks in the history of this culture.
thanks for the Aftermath/Shady/G-Unit History
I agree with what most of yall are sayin, but peep this. I saw an interview with Dre and he said that his beats go out to whoever is in the studio with him when he makes them. Makes you think, maybe the artists arent in the studio like they should be...
@ Jumar05 . Aiight now my nigga i once said that i don't vibe wit all tha south offers but it ain't only tha south who fuccin up tha game or can't sell lil homie. try (Cam,Dipset As A Whole, Shyt G-Unit Not Doin That Great,Niggaz Up Top Rappin Bout Nike Bootz, And Ya Legendz Like Tha Wu Can't Make Decent Numbaz) So Don't B Pointin No Fingaz Lil homie like it's just tha south. it's plenty otha nigga from otha region havin to do wit it too my dawg. Scream at me 1. Is chicken noodle soup original or quality? or is Ja Rule's Judas A Lil Bit Mo On Tracc of wut I'm Sayin??!!!!
dre too buzy wit detox man naw but 4 real aftermath aighnt that juggernaut they clamied to be ohh yea and if detox aighnt the bible of hip hop thats shits a disgrace fuck the waiting
This is one of the bes articles yet, on pont wit dis one, but Dre aint no puffy or jay-z, he aint ruthless, he works behind the scene but to be honest u cant expect him to make magic happen everytime, like ppl expectin wayne to cum up wit a new hot track everyday, im still guna cop detox regardless
and game did good under dre, his first album is a klasix
Its no longer Aftermath and there's much more after THAT
The south is saving hip hop! The North is killing it with there garbage ass mcs....If it wasnt for the south hip hop would be no where right now!
interesting perspective.....iunno if the north is killing it because of there mc's being bad...because they arent.....but without the south right now, rap would be in a tight spot...
People like this are what's been killing hip hop since Big and Pac died. That regional bias is corny. In the East, we have Jay-Z, Nas, 50, Kweli, Fab, and Cass. In the West, we have Snoop, Cube, Game, Bishop Lamont and Crooked I. In the Midwest, we have Kanye, Em, Lupe, Twista and Nelly. In the South, we have Outkast, Triple 6, T.I., Wayne, Bun-B, and Jeezy. I left alot of artists out from each region but you get the point. Hip Hop is alive and well, wherever you are, whatever you like. All the regions are holding it down.
iunno bout this article man.....yea em and snoop may be the only ones with credible streaks.....but get rich did amazing....documentary was ill....it may not have done well but busta's last album was actually tight as shit.....the reason the album with rakim never came out is cause dre said it wasnt clicking between the 2 of them, which makes sense......and that raekwon album coming sun, you cant rush a classic, dre knows all bout that
WORD!!! HIP HOP IS DEAD!!! IT SEEMS LIKE ALMOST EVERYONE NEEDS CONTERVERSY TO SELL...DOES ANYONE REALLY SPIT FIRE ANYMORE!!! DO ANY OF THE RAPPERS EVEN CARE ABOUT HIP-HOP. NOW YOU GOT RAPPERS OWNING 250MILLION DOLLAR EMPIRES, NOT EVEN GIVIN A FUCK ABOUT WHAT FED THEM IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!
I FEEL YA
You damn right about this.
DRE IS NOTHING LIKE PUFF!! FIRST OFF WHO THE HELL YOU THINK STARTED THIS GANGSTER SHIT???
this article is true in every degree i dnt understand either and it aint like dre's a grimy businessman because nobody says anything bad about him he's had plenty of talent and success around him the firm went platinum eve was a platinum artist game is a star he sold 5 mill but everyone else is a mystery dr.dre needs to write a book or sumin cus i been wonderin wat the hell been goin on over there for a min
Good shit Reign... sup with a new track?
It's sad but true...Dre's not making shit happen. Everything that he was known for being able to do which is drop hott beats... is being done a thousand times over by younger and far more hungrier people.
Maybe he doesnt have that "hunger" anymore... he's in retirement mode now I guess....
~Be Eazy!
not even a chain, now tha's funny.
LIMEWIRE IZ THE REAL REASON FOR RAPPERS DOWNFALL.
Good article i agree 100 percent! I hope Dre drops that detox album this year i bet he will outsell weezy and im not hatin im just sayin. Weezys dope as fuck anybody read about him getting arrested lastnite, wonder how that case will turn out?!
I love these thought provoking articles. Keep 'em up.
What exactly is Dre focusing on the most these days?
it is what it is. when detox coming
Yeah, to me it seems like the whole Aftermath & Shady things are done because Dre nor Em has graced us with their presence in a few years, and they basically are telling everyone that they're through. The only reason G-unit is still in the Game is because 50 won't give up, he's the only one doin anything for his label.
the best thing 4 aftermath 2 do is keep there subdivisions i.e shady/g unit/flipmode/theblackwallstreet ect. and doc dre give beats to the bosses and throw a couple beats out 2 the other cats in their labels
I think that the problem with Aftermath is that Dre is a micro-manager. He has to directly involved in every project on the label. He's also a perfectionist. He's only released 2 solo albums in 16 years. That should show you how much energy he puts into a project.
He's had a number of talented producers under his belt over the years like Scott Storch, Mike Elizondo, Mel-Man and even Slim Shady. He should have let them focus on some of the lesser known acts. Rakim left Aftermath. Ice Cube and Dre were supposed 2 do an album together, it got scrapped. Em's last couple of albums didnt have alot of Dre production. Neither did 50's last 2 joints. He didnt do shit on "The Doctor's Advocate". He and Snoop don't work together like they used 2. Eve.......c'mon man. Even Pac said before Dre left Deathrow, he wasnt hardly doin shit and Daz was controlling much of the production duties.
Dr. Dre is one of the greatest producers in the history of the music industry. But he has a bad track record of developing acts.
Very good atricle, but i think that some of these artists see what dre did for em, and what em did for fif, and they think the sames gonna happen with them. but its a damn shame joell got dropped ol dude was raw.
210 Stand Up
Great article, This is a perfect example why it's so hard to get into the music industry even if an artist have the hottest beat, lyrics and skills. It's not about talent anymore. White executive slaughtering the rap game and dude like jay-z ,dr-dre, diddy, etc becoming close to being billionaires not letting the next runner-up eat, so the bottom-line we helping them kill talents from hip-hop. But i have to say thank god for the internet where i still can go and listen to some good underground lyricists.
Hip Hop is asleep. Far from dead but I think everyone has a part in why it's in the state of acomma that it's in, Regardless it will return and when it dose you all will know it.
i think its a case of too many artist with high caliber and maybe the all of have egos (meaning dre and who ever else is singhned to aftermath) which they cant let go of then creative differences come in to it. this is probably why we never got to hear THE R but its cool now cause his working with Primo now. the same goes
dre cant be that busy doin other peoples tracks for him not to be able to drop detox its been over 5 years now waiting for this album. really to dre its more profitable to produce tracks for other people and get paid then for him to put money into makin his album and sellin it because he knows record sales suck now and days. i mean 3/4 of the people that commented in here prob download there music for free. so all in all he would rather just produce a hot beat and sell it 4 a couple hundos.
Nice article. But there are several inacuracies. Despite that I heavily subscribe to the bootleg market, I know that the Busta CD I heard a while back was official (The Big Bang, Aftermath Records June 13th 2006), Eve's CD Here I Am has featured two singles and is available for pre-order on Amazon.com for those of us that still pay for music. While its release date has been pushed back on several occasions, Source Magazine has already reviewed a copy of it, so that's done. I have mad respect for William Michael Griffin Jr bka Rakim, but he and Dre couldn't vibe in the lab. Dre being the perfectionist and our 5th percenter brother being the proverbial Old Dog. I recall Rakim and Truth Hurts putting out a track dissing the good Doctor. Dude, just doesn't put out no bs. Trust, if he was on some diplomats shit, all-in-your-face you would tire of even him. But the panic that there is a problem . . .that's media bullshit, Reign.