Big Sean’s first advance check from Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. Music stunned Fat Joe and the rest of us.
While business dealings in the music industry used to be kept behind closed doors, recent discussions surrounding the unfair treatment of artists have led to a more transparent time. Ironically, while Kanye West has gone on a social media tirade to expose the unfair deals often made by record executives, his own problematic business practices have come under fire after allegations were recently made regarding his contractual agreements with G.O.O.D. Music signee Big Sean, who has been pressed about what kind of deal he struck with Yeezy when he first started out.
Speaking with Fat Joe on his podcast, Big Sean discussed how much money he was making in the early days of his career. Admitting that he didn’t bring a great deal of credentials to the table, Sean explained, “[Kanye} just signed me because he heard me rap, I had nothing going so, yeah, my first advance was…bro, I don’t even wanna say the number.
It wasn’t a lot at all.” Joe continued to press Sean for the exact number, to which he finally replied, “My first advance was $15,000 bro.” While $15k might sound like a lot to most middle-class workers, it’s actually a shockingly low amount for a rapper signing a deal with a major label.
Sean might have been more comfortable discussing the details of his original dealings with Kanye West now that ‘Ye has announced his plans to give back every G.O.O.D. Music artist his 50% share of their masters.
After receiving flack for holding on to his rights to several big artists’ profits while simultaneously advocating for his own right to his music, Kanye took to Twitter to prove that he is willing to put his money where his mouth is. “I’m giving all Good music artist back the 50% share I have of their masters,” he wrote. The artists include Big Sean, Pusha-T, and Teyana Taylor, just to name a few.
Big Sean reveals his first advance from Kanye / G.O.O.D. Music was just $15k pic.twitter.com/GaTp1lIF2n
— HipHop-N-More (@HipHopNMore) October 9, 2020
