Source: Bernard Smalls / @PhotosByBeanz83
Issa Rae learned quickly that the music industry is the absolute pits.
Issa Rae is celebrating a successful five-season run of her hit original HBO show Insecure, which stuck the landing in its highly-praised series finale. One of the show’s many strengths was its top-tier music selection which Rae is very proud of. With the help of the show, Rae is now a highly successful mogul who launched her Raedio music label imprint in a joint venture with Atlantic Records.
Speaking with the LA Times, Rae revealed that she believes the music industry is a mess and needs a refresh after she was asked if she felt it was a good place for ideas to flourish. “Absolutely not. It’s probably the worst industry that I have ever come across. I thought Hollywood was crazy,” Rae told the LA Times. “The music industry, it needs to start over. Conflicts of interest abound. Archaic mentalities. Crooks and criminals! It’s an abusive industry, and I really feel for artists that have to come up in it.”
“It was kind of shocking. I don’t want to get too specific, but even in crafting our own deals [for soundtracks] with labels or artists, it would be so convoluted. And finding out how artists were treated at other labels… Being a creator myself and knowing what I want in terms of a relationship with a production company or a producer, I’d like to think that we’re more artist-friendly than a lot of other labels and companies out there. I want to revamp things,” she continued.
Rae also touched on Wizkid’s “Essence” not getting the Grammy recognition it deserved and being inspired by women in Hip-Hop and R&B genres.
You can read the entire interview by heading here.
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Photo: Bernard Smalls / @PhotosByBeanz83
