Scarface Goes Off On Streaming Platforms And Higher-Ups Who Have “Dumbed Down” Hip-Hop
Scarface is not happy with the current state of Hip-Hop, specifically with authority figures within the culture and streaming platforms. The 53-year-old held nothing back when discussing his feelings on the matter.
“It seems like the whole culture is being dumbed down now, and I want to be as offensive as I possibly f**king can when I say this, again,” he told Trick Trick on a recent episode of The Fly Zone Radio Show. “The culture is being so f**king dumbed down and manipulated and controlled by people that don’t look like us. So these motherf**kers don’t look like me, they’re not creators of this culture, but they want to control it and dictate who come in, how they come out, the stream… We don’t f**king stream, man, we buy records, we ride this sh*t around in our car.”
The Houston rapper passionately attacked the concept of streaming and how little artists can make off of it compared to those who host these platforms. “We can’t sell a $10 record no more, we got to sell an under-a-penny stream, you tell me where the d**k is and how we duck this d**k,” he said. “We getting f**ked. Ain’t no money in the streams for us, but it’s money in subscriptions for them.”
Scarface encouraged artists to not be bound by streaming platforms, especially because of how many other forms of music listening they essentially eliminated that were rooted in Hip-Hop. “Pull that sh*t off them f**king platforms, and don’t allow them to stream your sh*t for free,” he said. “You f**ked a whole lot of people when you f**ked over the mom and pops. You f**ked them. You knocked them people out of jobs. Ain’t no records being sold no more.”
He eventually got into crunching the numbers when converting streams into dollars compared to selling albums in the past. “If I sell 65 million albums, then I ain’t got to make no more f**king albums,” he said. “If I sell 65 million f**king singles at a dollar, then why am I rapping? I ain’t got to do it no more. … You’re not finna prostitute me. And I wish that they would stop letting them prostitute my f**king people, bruh.”
The conversation surrounding streaming has been prominent for several years now. Many platforms often tout how well artists like Bad Bunny, Taylor Swift, Drake, and The Weeknd stream, but older artists have constantly questioned why they do not profit from the very platforms they uplift by allowing them to host their music.
Kanye West recently had difficulties with his collaborative album with Ty Dolla $ign Vultures 1 being removed from streaming services. He sought out an alternative route by allowing fans to purchase it directly from his website, and looks to do so with his future releases.
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