R&B singer Emanny—known for collaborations with Joe Budden, Rick Ross and Jadakiss—is candidly speaking out about the challenges artists face in the music industry.
Emanny, who recently released Before H3r (Before Her 3), shed light on the predatory practices that continue to plague the music business. His proposed, bold solution: a union for artists.
“The business is never not going to be predatory unless we find a way to at least create some level of union and have a standard for how we are treated within the business,” Emanny said. “There is no business without the art. We have to make that clear.”
In 2021, KRS-One, Public Enemy’s Chuck D and Kurtis Blow founded the Hip Hop Alliance. The organization addresses the “needs and concerns of the Hip Hop and R&B workforce through advocacy, information and service.” It functions similarly to a union but falls shy of being a formal union.
The New York-born singer emphasized the importance of prioritizing and protecting the creators of music. He acknowledged the role of record labels and their financial investment, but he insisted that the art itself is the foundation.
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“I get it. Everyone’s like, ‘Yeah, but there’s no business without the labels who push with the money.’ Cool. To me, that’s secondary. You have nothing to push if you don’t have actual art first. So let’s protect that first. And then we’ll figure out the business,” he stated.
For Emanny, the issue isn’t about greed, just fairness.
“We ain’t greedy,” he said. “We just want a fair shake and a fair hand at the table.”
The singer also warned of an increasingly dire future for artists if systemic and technological issues go unchecked.
“If you think it’s bad now, just imagine how much worse it’s gonna be in the next 10 years when the technology gets even better with [AI], and the [label] situations are even more dire,” Emanny cautioned.
He recounted a story of an artist and friend who secured a record deal. The person released great music, only to be dropped shortly after with no meaningful gain.
“It’s a predatory industry, a predatory situation, period. And it’s going to get even worse if we don’t have some level of understanding—yo, we have to work together to get this better,” Emanny said.