Show Me The Money! Hip-Hop's 10 Greatest Bidding Wars
The Situation: After catching DJ Kay Slay's ear with his debut single, "Alphabetical Slaughter," Pap signed to his Streetsweepers Entertainment label and released more than a dozen mixtapes between 2004 and 2006, making him the hottest free agent on the market.
The Decision: After several major labels showed interest in signing Pap, Jive Records stepped in and made him an offer he couldn't refuse in August 2006: a record deal reportedly worth $1.5 million. He didn't release an album through the label, though, and was dropped in September 2007.
Papoose
The Situation: Shyne has been a coveted free agent not once, not twice, but three times—in 1998, when he was discovered by DJ Clark Kent in a New York barbershop; in 2004, when he was serving a 10-year prison sentence for his role in the infamous Club New York shooting; and in 2010, when he was released from prison.
The Decision: All three times, Shyne has been awarded about a million dollars for his services. He signed with Puff Daddy and Bad Boy in 1998 to release Shyne, teamed up with Def Jam in 2004 to put out Godfather Buried Alive from behind bars and took L.A. Reid's offer earlier this year to put out his third album, reportedly called Guess Who, later this year.
50 Cent
The Situation: After getting shot nine times in 2000 (you know that story, right?) and signing a label deal with Columbia Records, Fif got dropped and found himself as a free agent once again. So he released his debut album, Guess Who's Back?, independently and recorded the mixtape, 50 Cent Is The Future, which earned him a faithful following and several contract offers.
The Decision: In 2002, Eminem heard Guess Who's Back? and flew 50 out to Los Angeles to record with Dr. Dre. There, Fif agreed to sign a $1 million record deal with Shady Records, Em's imprint on Interscope Records.
Mobb Deep
The Situation: After releasing their early albums through Loud Records, M-O-BB split from the label in 2003 by releasing their mixtape, Free Agents: The Murda Mix Tape, and declaring their independence.
The Decision: They put out their 2004 album, Amerikaz Nightmare, through Jive Records, but ultimately decided to accept a deal to join 50 Cent's G-Unit Records label in 2006 to release their seventh studio album, Blood Money. They got an undisclosed amount of cash and a couple of Porsches for their signatures.
The Situation: Remember Lil Wayne before he turned into Lil Wayne? Back in 2004, he briefly flirted with the idea of leaving Cash Money Records to join Def Jam. Jay-Z, then the President of Def Jam, tried hard to get him to sign to the label.
The Decision: Baby was having none of it. To entice Wayne to stay with Cash Money, he made him president of the label and gave him his own imprint, Young Money Records. The rest, as they say, is history.
Jim Jones
The Situation: The Capo made a name for himself by releasing two highly-successful albums through Koch Records in the mid-2000s. So once he decided to take his act the major label route, several labels were lined up wondering what he might be able to do with a major label budget.
The Decision: Jones accepted a seven-figure deal to join Rick Rubin at Columbia Records in 2007. Unfortunately, he's since gone back to the independent route after his major label debut, Pray IV Reign, sold less than 50,000 copies in its first week.
Asher Roth
The Situation: You already know the deal: White rapper + the possibility of becoming the next Eminem + a fairly strong buzz + an industry cosign = A whole lot of record labels chasing after you!
The Decision: In late 2007, Steve Rifkind managed to sign the Morrisville, PA rapper to his SRC label after Roth's manager Scooter Braun shopped him around to a number of major labels.
Kool G. Rap
The Situation: Who wouldn't want to sign a rap legend to a record deal? That was the thought during the late-1990s when G Rap started to look for a label deal to release his third solo album, The Giancana Story.
The Decision: Indie upstart label Rawkus Records coughed up the funds to sign G Rap to a $1 million contract. In the end, though, that price managed to work against G Rap, who struggled to record a song big enough to help the label recoup his losses. The project was eventually shelved before finding a release through Koch Records in 2002.
The Situation: After releasing seven albums on Sony, Nas found himself as a free agent as he prepared to release his noteworthy eighth album, Hip Hop Is Dead, in 2006. Obviously, plenty of major labels came knocking at the opportunity.
The Decision: For about $3 million, Nas put aside his ego and signed with Def Jam, which was headed up by Jay-Z at the time.
The Situation: You didn't think we forgot this guy, did you? Drake's 2009 So Far Gone mixtape probably incited riots in major label board rooms as everyone tried to cash in on the next-best-thing in the world of rap.
The Decision: In the end, Drake's decision was pretty simple. He flirted with the idea of inking a deal with Interscope but ultimately kept it in the family and collected $2 million to stay with Universal and Young Money Entertainment.
