Prodigy & Havoc Roll Deep W/ Indie Grinders, "You Get All Of This Commercial Music & You Hear It A Million Times A Day"

Mobb Deep's Prodigy and Havoc have offered their take on independent artists currently reaching new heights and making the major record labels finally take notice of their grind

 

Co-signing the indie game, Mobb Deep said commercial records have plagued quality music.

"Independent artists, we've definitely got love for them. We feel their pain, they gotta come up. Good luck to all of them," Prodigy said in an interview. Havoc follwed by saying, "I think independent artists are foundation to the music right now, because you get all of this commercial music and you hear it a million times a day. But independent artists are the real ones who are really expressing themselves. So those are the people you really have to look out for." (Muve Music)

West Coast rapper Nipsey Hussle recently credited indie hip-hop artist Mac Miller for inspiring him.

"You know Mac Miller he a cool cat and I had been conscious of what he was doing from a distance. But I was walking through the mall or something or the airport one day and I see a Billboard [magazine] [...] I see who's on the cover of the Billboard and it was Mac Miller, and me knowing him as being independent and not having a huge radio presence, that was big to me [...] when I saw that I twipic'd it and I put it on Twitter," Nipsey explained. "I just gave him his props on that and was just like 'That's big.' You know, it's a sign of the times that we living in and you know he hollered back. ... It was you know just kicking it and played some music and all that and was just talking about the industry and I was just telling him how I really respect what he's doing and it's motivation for an artist like myself that's doing it independent right now to see somebody even before he put out a No. 1 album he was... so I just wanted to give him his props on that... so he's cool and we hit it off and knocked a couple records out." (BET)

Last month, Miller reacted to his Blue Slide Park being the first album to top the sales chart since Tha Dogg Pound's Dogg Food in 1995.

"It's crazy. I've been trying to take it all in," Miller said in an interview. "I've just been in constant motion, so I haven't gotten a chance to really stop and realize how crazy this is that we got the first #1 in 16 years. It's nuts, man. I never really got far enough to see an offer for real -- I got no hatred towards major labels or anything. I never got a chance to hear what they had to say. We just really wanted to stick with our home team and keep it in the family. [The major labels] called [Rostrum Records founder] Benjy and wanted to talk, but Benjy was just on some 'We're not trying to talk right now, we're doin' this independently.' And we just left it at that." (MTV)

Over the summer, Havoc told SOHH he was split over the major/indie debate.

"I'm all about getting into any situation that makes money, you understand what I'm saying," Hav told SOHH when asked if Mobb Deep is headed indie. "So I wouldn't just be like, 'Oh no, indie is this and major is that.' You can sign to an indie and it could wind up being structured like a major deal and you won't make any money, any way. Artists beware. People are quick to say, 'Oh yeah, I'm doing indie.' If the deal's not structured right, it could get structured just like a major and you won't see no f*cking bread. I'm into getting into anything that makes money." (SOHH)