"Playahata.com: You released two albums pretty much independently, Revolutionary Vol. I and Revolutionary Vol. II. How did you go about getting your music out there and what were the reasons you decided to go the independent route?
Technique: I release Vol.1 in 2001 a few weeks before 9/11 ni**a, and Vol.2 was officially release in Nov. 2003. But I had been selling it since August 2003. I moved about 13,000 myself and I gave 10,000 to Caroline which they distributed for me. I would always travel and put my shit out there wherever I went, at first it was me battling and then selling CD's after the battle. Or doing shows, or going to other peoples shows to hustle my CD's to the people on-line outside. I got some labels interested now and then but they could never offer me as much money as I started making and I liked being with the people and not acting all high and fuckin' mighty cuz I had a deal. Being a signed artist has really become a double edged sword I remember when ni**az used to brag about being signed, now I'm laughing cuz where the fuck are they at. They've been on the shelf since that day. Maybe if their lucky they get one single on the radio, but unless that sells 6,000,000 it's a rap."
It got me wondering what would happen if Em just completely disassociated himself from Interscope and Aftermath and did everything by himself. He's got enough power, influence and popularity that whatever he releases independently would still somehow reach all his fans and it'd give him a chance to really go crazy with his content. Iovine and Dre and Universal and whoever the fuck else is involved wouldn't be there to censor him.
I just think his music could be so much better if he cut out all the radio-friendly singles (like We Made You and Crack A Bottle) and truly stopped giving a fuck about what people think. Obviously it'd affect his sales and he wouldn't make nearly as much money but to quote him: "I don't rap for dead presidents, I'd rather see the president dead."
If Immortal can do it, why can't Em? Even if for just one album, it'd be really cool to hear Em without the influence of record executives.
But yeah, I'm interested to know what all of you think.
The full Immortal interview can be found here: http://www.playahata.com/pages/intervie ... hnique.htm
