Blue Scholars on SleptOn

In addition to the recent post on Blue Scholars, SleptOn Magazine did a write up on the progressive Seattle hip-hop crew that again highlights the unique nature of their recent business moves.

The typical schematic record deal is one where the terms are dictated to the artist. If you don’t like it, you hit the road. “In that agreement, the label ends up—because of costs of production and ownership of the means of production and all that jazz—having a very dominating role in the relationship. If we were to sign the deals that we were being offered by some of these labels, we would have to turn over certain control.”

Ceding control to a major label can have wide repercussions past the music itself. “The kind of control I want in a music deal, for example, is to approve spending on—and distribution of—promo materials. This is an important issue if the person in charge is culturally removed from the communities they’re promoting to—which is usually the case.”

It’s not for sure that the Scholars’ unwavering, independent spirit would be smothered under the weight of a big imprint. But why take the chance? Distribution of the limited-edition CD version of OOF! will be taken on by Duck Down Entaprizez, though as the group’s press release points out the group didn’t sign to Duck Down. Rather, the Blue Scholars brought the terms to Duck Down, and Duck Down signed to them. Much of the record’s support is also coming from Caffé Vita, a Seattle-based coffeehouse well-known in the area for its progressive business practices. In the end, though, the buck in this unique deal stops with the artists themselves.