Atlantic Records

**Atlantic Records** is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Its headquarters are located in New York City. American rapper Nipsey Hussle had a partnership deal with the label to release his debut and only studio album, *Victory Lap* (2018). He would've released four projects with them, though his death in March 2019 resulted in only one record.

## Background

On November 27, 2017, it was publicly shared of his independent label, All Money In, joining ventures with Atlantic Records for the release of his forthcoming album. He explained to *Billboard* in an exclusive, "It's not about a fame ambition or getting a radio record. The decision really came down to the message I'm trying to get across. I wanted to give that message the best chance to be heard and consumed on the highest level. That was my goal from the jump as All Money In took time to build its position in the hip-hop lane." Atlantic's staff, chairman/CEO Craig Kallman and chairman/COO Julie Greenwald said, "Nipsey is not only an extraordinary MC but a true visionary and innovative entrepreneur. Over the past seven years, he has built an incredible brand that reflects his independent, non-traditional approach to what it means to be a creative artist in the modern music marketplace. We are thrilled and honored that he has chosen Atlantic as his label home."

In an interview with *Complex*, he noted it to be a "strategic partnership," in order to "utiliz[e] their specialties and their strengths" to move higher "in terms of recognition, fan base, access to radio, access to retail, and utilize their staff, and tapping into a specialist." Having been passed on Atlantic years ago, he noted that he always respected them, in particular for its legacy and long-term chairman. He continued, "I just felt like they wasn't industry plastic. I thought they was a different texture than the traditional industry operation. They was invested in seeing what happened with Def Jam happen again, as far as Julie's involvement over there and building legacies with Jay Z and with Ruff Ryders and with Ludacris and DTP and all of those successful cases that happened in the past. So I always felt like they was who I wanted to go into business with. I just thought I had more work to do so I could negotiate a little more aggressive." He revealed that the deal was made "between the last two releases," though stopped dropping music since then. He explained, "I didn't wanna make a big deal announcement until the music was ready. I don't like when artists do that. I don't really care about the business; I wanna hear the music, as a fan."

To *XXL*, he revealed the plan of putting out four projects with the record label. He added that he "always wanted to be in business with Atlantic."

He told *The Fader*:

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> Partnering with Atlantic Records creates the opportunity to take what we're doing to the next level, without compromising. That's one of the reasons I took my time but this represented a perfect storm and it all aligned. We've been going back and forth on what it would take to do a deal as I make my moves outside of the traditional systems. And it's just really being able to mix and master my album. *Victory Lap* has a real mix and master and that's the first time that one of my projects has that. It wasn't that we couldn't do it but really going to the extent of having musicians in here that I can really pay to sit around and work. It's producers that we can sample because it's no longer just indie and now we have a partner who can do clearances for us. Even the staff — having so many people be able to make phone calls and bring designers or radio people. It's all the resources that we have that was once just a three-man job. I had to do the projects and work it from all angles ourselves. To give the music a really fair chance to make sure that it gets is proper platform, we knew we always wanted to go back into a major situation as a partner, but we just had to get a weight back up outside of the negotiating table to do that.
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> I was always trying to figure out what the strategy would be but to go into the next level of the game, you have to tap into a resource pool whether it's your own resources or a partnership or reinvesting. The decision was really about me thinking about the message in the music and it deserves to have a global platform. Once I figured that out, it was just about what terms our deal would be on and being able to justify that request when we sit down.
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Along with this, he said, "We had the option to do it through the Atlantic deal and at this moment, the Nipsey album and the couple albums to proceed this one will all be done through All Money Atlantic. As we work our artists and get them to a level, if Atlantic believes in what we doing and choose to be in business with us on Pacman, J Stone, or Cobby [Supreme], then that's where we'll do it. If they're like, 'We wanna see y'all make this happen outside of the building,' we got that option too. But obviously Atlantic is going to be where we try to do everything but it just has to be mutual and something we all agree on and believe in. So we're doing one at a time."

He told *Forbes*, "It's a partnership. … I shook hands and said I wouldn't give full details, but we're sharing everything: profit, masters. I was holding out for a long time for these terms."

Before Hussle's deal, he sought advice from Master P. P recalled, "I read over Nipsey's contract he had with Atlantic Records and I told him it wasn't a good contract. He was like, 'Big Dog, I respect it, but this is something I gotta do because I put all these records out and they didn't go anywhere.' Nipsey don't even know how famous he is because he was always fighting against the system."

In August 2019, the newly launched Neighborhood Nip Foundation was met with support, where Atlantic gave a "six-figure donation." Samiel Asghedom stated, "They wanted to be the first to donate. It's important we let people know that." In a joint statement to *The Times*, Kallman and Greenwald said, "Nipsey will be forever missed, but his courageous, generous spirit lives on in his incredible music and the impact he made on the community. Nip's love for the generation coming up behind him is a big part of what's inspiring this foundation, and we're proud to celebrate his life by supporting his legacy."

## References

1. ↑ Mitchell, Gail (November 27, 2017). "Nipsey Hussle's All Money In Label Teams with Atlantic Records for His 'Victory Lap' Debut: Exclusive". *Billboard*.
2. ↑ Setaro, Shawn (November 27, 2017). "Interview: Nipsey Hussle Talks New Partnership with Atlantic and Business Moves Outside of Music". *Complex*.
3. ↑ "Nipsey Hussle to Continue Proud 2 Pay Campaign with New Atlantic Records Deal". *XXL*.
4. ↑ Starling, Lakin (November 29, 2017). "Nipsey Hussle Is Making Major Label Moves with an Independent Spirit". *The Fader*.
5. ↑ O'Malley, Zack (February 20, 2019). "Inside Nipsey Hussle's Blueprint to Become a Real Estate Mogul". *Forbes*.
6. ↑ Yates, Shanique (March 25, 2022). "Master P Once Advised Nipsey Hussle on His Deal with Atlantic Records — 'It Wasn't a Good Contract'". *AfroTech*.
7. ↑ Kennedy, Gerrick (August 23, 2019). "Nipsey Hussle's Family Launches Neighborhood Nip Foundation, with Support from Major Partners". *Los Angeles Times*.

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