Fat Joe has been signed to majors for decades, but the rapper says he still owes his record label money.
Fat Joe was previously signed to Warner Bros and Atlantic Records. He is independent but he says they are still looking for him to repay what he owes.
“They asked me independent or major label and I said major record labels are a Ponzi scheme. What does that mean, Joe? It means that when you as smart as me and when you been long enough as me you realize it’s just like a bank,” he explained on Instagram Live.
“Most of the time they take a kid who grew up in the projects that’s talented and give you money to make an album. Off the profit of the records, they charge you whatever they spend on the video. It ain’t like we 50/50 partners; we pay half for the video, they pay half.”
“At the end of the day, you could bring a scientist who won the Nobel Peace Prize to do the accounting and they can’t figure it out. So it’s robbery, all the way through. They own your sh-t. That’s why I say it’s a Ponzi scheme. I sold two million records, still ain’t recouped,” he said, adding “J.O.S.E. sold two million records. When I get my statement from the major label 20 years later, I still owe them money,” he then explained how it made more sense for him to release an independent album with major distribution.
This is not the first time the rapper has called major labels a “ponzi scheme.” More and more rappers are choosing to take the independent route.
