A day later (September 16), he alleged that Prince and Michael Jackson were “killed” by the music and media industries. He also tweeted a video clip that appeared to show him urinating on a Grammy award in a toilet bowl, alongside the caption: “Trust me … I WON’T STOP.”
Which Rappers Own Their Masters
To spell it out simple and plain, a “master recording” refers to the underlying rights to a song.
Steaming revenue, album sales, even movie and television appearances of a rapper’s songs are licensed by whoever holds the rights to the master recording.
In fact, if record labels own the “masters” to rappers’ tracks, they control the financial gains of those recordings, in the present tense and in the future.
Since Kanye is pushing for rappers to be able to legally reclaim the rights to their master recordings, something they rarely possess in the music industry, which rappers own their masters already?
8. Tory Lanez
Canadian rap star Tory Lanez may have been engulfed in scorching hot controversy in 2020 involving Megan Thee Stallion.
But just before all of that negativity unfolded, Tory Lanez took to Instagram in May of 2020 to announce his freedom from his record label, and you guessed it, owning his masters:
“I waited and calculated for 4 years… TO BE MY OWN BOSS … I OWN all my masters/publishing/royalties etc … This may not mean nothing to y’all, BUT SEEING MY RECORD LABEL AT THE BOTTOM UNATTACHED to a Major label is what we have worked this hard for …#TemperatureRising ON EVERY MAJOR PLATFORM OUT NOW.”
Tory further drove home the point that he was the rightful master of his masters during an interview with Genius:
“To be 100 percent, there’s so many labels offering me so much money, like millions of dollars… I’ve gotten offers that are life-changing offers, but I don’t care. I already own my masters.”
7. 21 Savage
The Atlanta, via the United Kingdom, rapper 21 Savage has been the hard-working architect of smash hits like “A Lot,” “Bank Account,” “X,” and “No Heart”
Believe it or not, back in 2016, 21 Savage signed a record deal with Epic Records that permitted him to actually retain one hundred percent ownership of his masters, which he confirmed on Twitter by tweeting: ‘I own 100% of my masters.’
Just imagine how profitable 21’s situation must be, keeping his publishing rights all for himself, while still benefitting from the major label muscle that expands his global exposure.
6. Iggy Azalea
Sure, the Australian Caucasian rapper Iggy Azalea doesn’t have the legal rights to her masters for the collection of her old music, such as her big tune “Fancy”
But ownership has taken on a whole new priority for her, as she now owns the masters to the new music that she has been making moving forward.
In 2019, Iggy Azalea responded to the intense financial squabble that pop star Taylor Swift was involved in with Scooter Braun over the rights to Taylor’s older catalogue:
“I’m so happy to own my master for this new album (In My Defense), They really do ppl crazy dirty on ownership of their intellectual property in the biz.”
Iggy Azalea’s album In My Defense included songs like “Hoemita” (featuring Lil Yachty) and “Freak of the Week” (featuring Juicy J).
5. Chance the Rapper
Chance the Rapper, the prince of Chicago Do-It-Yourself-ness, has held tight to the idea of ownership.
Being his own boss has benefitted Chance so much so that he managed to make history along the way with his mixtape Coloring Book, becoming the first streaming-only album to win a Grammy Award.
Chance has earned the financial flexibility to turn down a record deal from one of his Chicago musical inspirations, Kanye West’s GOOD Music label in 2016.
While on The Joe Budden Podcast in October of 2018, Chance the Rapper talked about how taking a chance on himself and owning his masters has made an overwhelmingly positive impact in his career:
“I’m independent because I own all my recording rights and publishing rights and distribution, everything,”
4. Yo Gotti
The extensively active, award-winning Memphis, Tennessee rapper Yo Gotti officially owns all his master recordings.
A day later (September 16), he alleged that Prince and Michael Jackson were “killed” by the music and media industries. He also tweeted a video clip that appeared to show him urinating on a Grammy award in a toilet bowl, alongside the caption: “Trust me … I WON’T STOP.”
Which Rappers Own Their Masters
To spell it out simple and plain, a “master recording” refers to the underlying rights to a song.
Steaming revenue, album sales, even movie and television appearances of a rapper’s songs are licensed by whoever holds the rights to the master recording.
In fact, if record labels own the “masters” to rappers’ tracks, they control the financial gains of those recordings, in the present tense and in the future.
Since Kanye is pushing for rappers to be able to legally reclaim the rights to their master recordings, something they rarely possess in the music industry, which rappers own their masters already?
8. Tory Lanez
Canadian rap star Tory Lanez may have been engulfed in scorching hot controversy in 2020 involving Megan Thee Stallion.
But just before all of that negativity unfolded, Tory Lanez took to Instagram in May of 2020 to announce his freedom from his record label, and you guessed it, owning his masters:
“I waited and calculated for 4 years… TO BE MY OWN BOSS … I OWN all my masters/publishing/royalties etc … This may not mean nothing to y’all, BUT SEEING MY RECORD LABEL AT THE BOTTOM UNATTACHED to a Major label is what we have worked this hard for …#TemperatureRising ON EVERY MAJOR PLATFORM OUT NOW. ”
Tory Lanez, Instagram account
Tory further drove home the point that he was the rightful master of his masters during an interview with Genius:
“To be 100 percent, there’s so many labels offering me so much money, like millions of dollars… I’ve gotten offers that are life-changing offers, but I don’t care. I already own my masters.”
Tory Lanez, Genius Interview
7. 21 Savage
The Atlanta, via the United Kingdom, rapper 21 Savage has been the hard-working architect of smash hits like “A Lot,” “Bank Account,” “X,” and “No Heart”
Believe it or not, back in 2016, 21 Savage signed a record deal with Epic Records that permitted him to actually retain one hundred percent ownership of his masters, which he confirmed on Twitter by tweeting: ‘I own 100% of my masters.’
Just imagine how profitable 21’s situation must be, keeping his publishing rights all for himself, while still benefitting from the major label muscle that expands his global exposure.
Even with the October 2 nd , 2020 release of the 21 Savage and Metro Boomin’ joint album Savage Mode II, 21 Savage and Epic Records were still in business together, featuring songs with Drake and Young Thug.
6. Iggy Azalea
Sure, the Australian Caucasian rapper Iggy Azalea doesn’t have the legal rights to her masters for the collection of her old music, such as her big tune “Fancy”
But ownership has taken on a whole new priority for her, as she now owns the masters to the new music that she has been making moving forward.
In 2019, Iggy Azalea responded to the intense financial squabble that pop star Taylor Swift was involved in with Scooter Braun over the rights to Taylor’s older catalogue:
“I’m so happy to own my master for this new album (In My Defense), They really do ppl crazy dirty on ownership of their intellectual property in the biz.”
Iggy Azalea’s album In My Defense included songs like “Hoemita” (featuring Lil Yachty) and “Freak of the Week” (featuring Juicy J).
5. Chance the Rapper
Chance the Rapper, the prince of Chicago Do-It-Yourself-ness, has held tight to the idea of ownership.
Being his own boss has benefitted Chance so much so that he managed to make history along the way with his mixtape Coloring Book, becoming the first streaming-only album to win a Grammy Award.
Chance has earned the financial flexibility to turn down a record deal from one of his Chicago musical inspirations, Kanye West’s GOOD Music label in 2016.
While on The Joe Budden Podcast in October of 2018, Chance the Rapper talked about how taking a chance on himself and owning his masters has made an overwhelmingly positive impact in his career:
“I’m independent because I own all my recording rights and publishing rights and distribution, everything,”
Chance The Rapper, The Joe Budden Podcast
4. Yo Gotti
The extensively active, award-winning Memphis, Tennessee rapper Yo Gotti officially owns all his masters.
Gotti took to his Instagram account to make the major announcement:
“Drop My Album, Out My Deal, Own My MASTERS …. ALL IN DA 1st Month of da Year 2020 GONE BE DIFFERENT.”
Yo Gotti, Instagram Account
Yo Gotti tagged CMG and Roc Nation in that Instagram social media post do to the fact that those are the two organizations he’d be dealing with.
3. 2 Chainz
The top tier Atlanta rapper 2 Chainz described his satisfaction with owning his masters on Joe Budden Pull Up Season 2 Episode 2, even though 2 Chainz is still signed to the major label Def Jam:
“When it was time to renegotiate, that [was one of my deal points], so I could be like independent artists who do the same thing. So why wouldn’t you want to keep me on a label and keep me around? I’m sure I keep a lot of [Def Jam bills paid]. I’m not in the red; I’m a profit-making artist.”
2 Chainz, Joe Budden Pull Up
2. Jay-Z
With the billionaire status that Jay-Z exudes, it should be completely obvious that arguably the most famous rap star to ever emerge out of the New York City borough of Brooklyn owns his master recordings.
In fact, Jay-Z, the captain of the Roc Nation brand, demanded the total control of his Def Jam masters as part of the deal when he took on the job as president of the label back in 2004.
1. LL Cool J
Not only is LL Cool J the very first rapper to put out an album on Def Jam records, but he became one of the first and biggest solo superstars in hip hop history, while still a teenager.
LL Cool J still stands strong in the entertainment industry, with multiple revenue streams flowing from film, television, and his Rock the Bells brand that authentically champions the golden era of hip hop culture.
Owning his master recordings has also been an integral part of LL’s success, even back at a time when the very thought of that was incredibly uncommon.
Sway Calloway spoke with the legendary hip hop icon during an episode of Sway In The Morning in November 2019, asking if LL Cool J owned the masters to all 13 of his albums, with LL confirming:
“Yeah. I’ve owned ’em for 20-some years…Yes. All of it. So when you hear ‘Mama Said Knock You Out’ in a movie and stuff like that, like I’ve licensed those songs. A lot of people don’t know that, though…I own all them joints. Writers get their share, Def Jam gets a lil’ piece for their distributing, so it’s business. But I own it, and I control it. That is something to me that, in this day and age, is something we talk about. We didn’t really talk about it back then.”
LL Cool J, Sway In The Morning Interview
Now that you know what the deal is with these 10 rappers that own their masters, work hard to make your masters recordings as valuable as possible by mastering your song writing skills.
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COMMENT: Do you know any other rappers we haven’t mentioned who own their own masters?
–Drew Morisey, @drewmorisey on Instagram and Twitter
A Huge Chunk of Jay-Z’s $1.3 Billion Fortune Has Nothing to Do With Music
Jay-Z started his music career as Shawn Corey Carter in the ’80s. He rapped to escape the poverty around him. Carter met his mentor Jaz-O and joined the older man in recording “The Originators.” The duo’s song earned them an appearance in Yo! MTV Raps.
This was the moment when Carter took up the name Jay-Z, paying homage to his mentor. The moniker punned on his childhood hood name, Jazzy. It also referred to the subway station near his home known as J/Z. Little did Jay-Z know it would become a household name.
In 1996, Jay-Z released his first album, Reasonable Doubt, when he and his friends founded a record label, Roc-A-Fella Records. The record reached No. 23 on the Billboard 200 and established Jay-Z as a rising star. The rest, as they say, is history.
Jay-Z’s fortune outside of music
Most people don’t know Jay-Z’s massive fortune has little to do with music. According to Forbes, the rapper has made most of his wealth from the alcohol industry. He is a brilliant businessman who’s had nothing but the Midas touch in business.
Jay-Z co-owns Armand de Brignac, a champagne company with Moet Hennessey Louis Vuitton (LVMH). According to Forbes, Armand de Brignac is worth $310 million. In 2021, Jay-Z announced he would sell half of his champagne company, Ace of Spades, to LVMH. Forbes estimated that the gold-bottled champagne value stood at $640 million.
Another brilliant venture for Jay-Z is D’Usse Cognac, which he co-owns with Bacardi. D’Usse is worth over $100 million; it sells for $30 a bottle. In 2021, Sotheby’s had an exceptional 50 rare bottles of the brand. One of these rarities included a crystal, diamond-shaped decanter. The 50 bottles auctioned for approximately $24,000 to $75,000 per bottle.
The former rapper also owns stakes in Uber worth $70 million and $100 million in Tidal, a Scandinavian streaming service, according to Gem Tracks. The musician–turned–businessman has shares in Sweetgreen, a salad chain, and an insurance company, Ethos.
Jay-Z owns the master recordings and publishing rights to his music, worth approximately $95 million. The man owns several $50 million mansions and a massive art collection worth $70 million as of 2019. Roc Nation is Jay-Z’s entertainment company he started over 10 years ago with Live Nation. The company represents top stars via its sports agency and record label.
Hollywood’s A-list billionaires
On the Forbes‘ World’s Billionaire List, 2,668 billionaires made it. Only eight from Hollywood made it to this list.
1. Steven Spielberg
The Shindler’s List film director has amassed a fortune of $3.7 billion. This wealth is from producing major blockbusters like Jaws, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and Saving Private Ryan. He also earned most of his fortune via project fees.
2. Oprah Winfrey
The talk show host was named the first black female billionaire in 2003. Her net worth is $2.6 billion. Oprah made most of her money from her ownership of the talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show. She’s also made over $427 million from her share in the weight loss company, Weight Watchers International.
3. Kanye West
Despite his many controversies, Kanye West has won 24 Grammies and sold more than 160 million records. West is famous for his fashion wear, including the much-loved label Yeezy. According to Forbes, West made most of his money from Yeezy, which has earned him $1.5 billion. Kanye West’s net worth is currently at $2 billion.
4. Kim Kardashian
The reality TV star’s net worth is $1.8 billion. Kardashian made her wealth by selling her 20% stake in KKW to Coty for $200 million.
5. Rihanna
Musician and cosmetics tycoon has a net worth of $1.7 billion. Most of her wealth is from Fenty Beauty. Her 50% stake in the company is worth $1.4 billion.
6. Peter Jackson
Peter Jackson, a film director, has a net worth of $1.5 billion. He’s made his fortune from the sale of part of Weta Digital, a visual effects company. Jackson sold the firm to Unity Software for $1.6 billion. He and his partner own 60% of the company.
7. Jay-Z
8. Tyler Perry
Actor and film director Tyler Perry’s net worth is $1 billion. He made most of his wealth from owning the rights to the Madea franchises. Perry also has a 25% stake in BET+.
Kanye West responds to reports Jay-Z sold his masters to buy back his own: “Don’t let the system pit us against each other”
Kanye West has responded to reports that Jay-Z sold the rapper’s masters to Def Jam in a bid to secure the rights to his own recordings.
Earlier this week (September 15), West began sharing scans of his record label contracts. Some of the pages he shared suggest that, while the star owns some of his masters, the rights for his first six albums were previously held by Jay-Z.
- READ MORE: Kanye West’s first Presidential rally: the key pledges, from gun ownership to prescription drugs and abortion
West released his first six records on Roc-A-Fella, the label owned by Jay-Z. However, when Def Jam bought the label in 2004, the label owner and rapper reportedly sold the rights to records including ‘College Dropout’ and ‘Late Registration’ in a deal that would secure his own masters.
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Ye has now responded to the reports on Twitter, sharing a screenshot detailing the issue. “Don’t let the system pit us against each other,” he wrote. “JAY IS MY BROTHER … I have eternal love for all artist that have been through and are still trapped [in] this crooked system.
“Jay still doesn’t get his own masters back for ten years. I will see to it that we all get our masters.”
When he began sharing details of his contracts on Twitter, West said he would not release any new music until he is free from his ties to Sony and Universal. He also labelled himself “the new Moses” and said the “music industry and the NBA are modern-day slave ships”.
A day later (September 16), he alleged that Prince and Michael Jackson were “killed” by the music and media industries. He also tweeted a video clip that appeared to show him urinating on a Grammy award in a toilet bowl, alongside the caption: “Trust me … I WON’T STOP.”
JAY Z Wins the Rights to Masters of His Own Albums
In case you’ve forgotten, JAY Z has been busy with a legal battle with sound engineer Chauncey
Music Apr 19, 2015
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Apr 19, 2015
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In case you’ve forgotten, JAY Z has been busy with a legal battle with sound engineer Chauncey Mahan over the ownership of masters of Vol. 3…The Life and Times of S. Carter and The Dynasty for the past 12 months or so. Claiming co-authorship of 41 songs in Hov’s catalog, Mahan brought forth a lawsuit over $100,000 against JAY and Roc Nation, which was filed shortly after Mahan was accused of extorting Hov and Roc Nation for masters, outtakes and other unreleased material that he retained on hard drives more than a decade after the recording of Vol. 3…The Life and Times of S. Carter. In his lawsuit, Mahan claimed to have notified Roc-A-Fella in 2000 that he was in possession of the studio recordings but never heard back from the label.
Last week a U.S. District Judge in New York favored on the side of JAY Z and Roc Nation in the lawsuit, arguing that Mahan had reasonable notice that “royalties were owed to him in this situation” and waited far too long to bring the lawsuit to court.
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JAY Z Wins the Rights to Masters of His Own Albums
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