Where You Been?: 3 Talented Rappers Caught Up In Label Politics.

It seems all this bull about record sales has led to a lot of talented rappers being dropped from their labels for not being marketable.

Of course, the internet makes makes it easier for rappers to put out material and get it to their fans. But it would be nice to see these talented spitters getting the shine they deserve. Here are my picks in no particular order:

1) Peedi Peedi (or Peedi Crakk if you prefer)

Peedi’s hyper, psychotic Bugs Bunny flow led to him being pegged as the next big thing several times over. But despite being part of Roc-a-fella’s lineup when it mattered and knock out cameos on records by Freeway, Beanie, the Roots & DJ Jazzy Jeff, his supposedly finished debut “Prince of the Roc” has still not been released (though apparently scheduled for this year). A damn shame; I would have liked to see what he did with a whole album. And how the fuck Young Gunz going to get an album released before Peedi?

2. Killer Mike

One of the dopest out the South, Killer Mike has pure lyrics, sheer intelligence (go listen to “That’s Life” off I Pledge Allegiance to the Grind to get an idea) and a gritty, no-BS cadence. Like Peedi, he built up a rep through several great guest appearances and an affiliation with a well-regarded hip hop supergroup (in this case, the Dungeon Family). He even put out a decent album, Monster that sold decently but didn’t really represent his talents. But a recent dispute between Big Boi of Outkast and Sony has led to his follow up Ghetto Extraordinary to be pushed back several times from its original release date of 2005. Since his first album dropped, he left Outkast’s Purple Ribbon Records and has put out excellent street albums on his own independent label Grind Time Records (like the aforementioned “I Pledge Allegiance…”). Still it’d being nice to hear him over name brand producer beats with the budget a major can provide.

Edit:Whoops, Theory of Black Ice tells me I’m wrong and KM is distributing Grind Time Records through Bay Area record label SMC. My bad, good for Killer.

3. Joe Budden

Joey Budden is a talented storyteller with an appealing every-man quality but the guy can’t seem to get a decent break. Since the release of his self-titled debut he’s been dropped from Def Jam and his second album The Growth reportedly became stuck in development hell and no one really knows when it’s coming out. Like KM, he’s been putting out cohesive, well-thought mixtapes with very little of what one would consider irritating mixtape conventions (DJ shouts, pointless skits, etc.) and mostly original production. He’s now gearing up to release the third installment in his Mood Muzik series. Hopefully Budden will get signed at some point; he has been working with Just Blaze again lately on tracks like “Pop Off” and they’ve both indicated they’re going to some more collaborations. Let’s see what happens.

Anyone else you can think of? Let me know in the comments.

Bonus links: The vid for “Brand New Funk 2K7” by DJ Jazzy Jeff & Peedi Peedi

Trailer for Mood Muzik 3:

Killer Mike’s Grind Time Sports Show series on Superdeluxe, “Making It Rain” (hilarious) Interview with Peedi on The Sound of Young AmericaAnd Killer Mike