Despite a major falling
out with marquee artist Lil Flip and major label backer Sony, Sucka Free Records
hopes to keep pace by offering downloads from their website, suckafreerecords.com.
According to CEO
Duane “Hump” Hobbs, a growing number of songs from Sucka Free’s
back catalog are are available for download for 99 cents.
“I am doing
this to show we are cutting edge,” Hump told AllHipHop.com. All of Flip’s
early material and late material, early HSC material or any of our underground
(mixtapes). Flip has about twenty underground that people have been trying to
get since ‘Game Over.’”
It was apparent
that Hobbs was open to repairing his relationship with Lil Flip, after, according
to Hobbs, the rapper took a label deal and jumped directly to Sony, Sucka Free’s
distributor.
“Me and Flip,
we still haven’t talked going on about 10 months. Sony has admitted to
taking Flip behind my back. The lawsuit against Sony in being litigated. Sony
wasn’t respecting the lawyer I had from Houston, so I had to get help out of
New York.”
Hobbs said that
the label offered to settle over the dispute, but the amount was so low, he
refused to accept it.
“They tried
to offer me $100,000. I’ll make $100,000 in my sleep. They give me a label
deal, then give my artist a label deal, which is crazy.”
Additionally, Hobbs
said the label has stopped sending royalties to his company, in what he described
as an attempt to squeeze him into a financial corner.
“They are
trying to stop all our money coming in until we sign over Flip,” Hobbs
claimed. “We worked hard for almost ten years, putting him where he wants
to be. To let these people take my artist from me and take money from my entire
family’s mouth wouldn’t be right.”
Sucka Free’s
President, Terry Hobbs philosophized that their woes were indicative of a larger
trend for minority owned independent record labels.
“A lot of
injustice is done to African-American’s in the music business,”
Ms. Hobbs said. “Their [Sony] just using Flip and then they will hang
him out to dry. Someone has to make examples of them. They hung Jermaine Dupri
out to dry with Bow Wow, they did it to Michael Jackson and Xzibit.”
Hobbs said that
he understands the southern market and that without the aid of regional independent
labels, the majors would spend more money trying to market their releases and
make less money.
As a result of
the experience, Hobbs said he has a deal with Dynasty Records/Universal to distribute
a new label, Sucka Free West and was planning on opening Sucka Free Mid-West.
“We run the
streets out here,” Hobbs said adding “as I can distribute everyone’s
music, Sucka Free will make money. They can hold them checks til they think
I’ma bite the bag. I still got money to get it straight. I’m still going
to war through court and I will be there until I win.”
