I'm signed to Atlantic through 300 Entertainment [Lyor Cohen's label]. That is my only contractual relationship.
I was signed to RCA to be a country singer.
I think, actually, I was the first person to ever sign a simultaneous video and recording deal with a record company.
I'm an entertainer, and I'm paid as an entertainer.
When a record company makes a mistake, the artist pays for it. When a manager makes a mistake, the artist pays for it. When the artist makes a mistake, the artist pays for it.
Apollo Records signed me for my gospel ability.
They told me that they are starting a classic label, and wanted me to be the first artist. So I signed, and am producing myself, and writing my own music, but I'm their first artist on their classic label. And I have creative control.
Well I know I was contracted to Polydor so they couldn't use my name.
When I first heard Ray Charles, he was a flop artist on a small label in California. He hadn't sold any records. And I bought his contract for $2,500.
You sign your life away, basically, when you sign a record deal, and if you have a platinum album, then you go back in and renegotiate.
Def Jam just made deals with me. They wouldn't let me go because they didn't really have that much street cred. So they kept me around.
Just give a drum roll, announce my name & I come out & sing. I have a contract that says I'm a singer. So I sing.
A development deal is an in-between record deal. It's like, a guy saying that he wants to date you but not be your boyfriend. You know, they don't wanna sign you to an actual record deal or put an album out on you. They wanna watch your progress for a year.
I was talking to different labels: Columbia, RCA, Epic. I decided not to sign with Epic even after L.A. Reid offered me a crazy deal.
