Kanye West has made it known that he’s fighting to secure his master recordings from labels Universal and Sony, and now the famed producer has announced that he’ll live by his own words.
After claiming that record labels enslave artists, West announced on Tuesday, Sept. 23, he would give master recordings back to the artists on his label GOOD Music.
“I’m giving all Good music artist back the 50% share I have of their masters,” he tweeted.
Some of the artists on GOOD Music include Big Sean, Teyana Taylor, and Pusha T, who’s also the label’s president.
West has been fighting to get his master recordings for some time and sued Roc-A-Fella Records along with EMI Music Publishing in 2019 for unpaid royalties.
He started blasting the music industry earlier this month on Twitter, calling it and the NBA modern-day slave ships.
West hasn’t let up on the industry since then, even urinating on a Grammy trophy that he received — a move that got him temporarily suspended from Twitter.
The “Dark Twisted Fantasy” rapper also asked to meet with J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar and Drake earlier this month, seemingly to discuss how to change the way artists are treated by labels.
On Tuesday, Sept. 23, Big Sean responded to West giving artists back their masters and tweeted, “Thank you!!! This would help so much.”
Brooklyn rapper Desiigner, who left GOOD Music in 2019, also responded and wrote, “Thanks @kanyewest.”
There were many who praised West after hearing the news, with one person tweeting, “Man of your word.”
Another Twitter user wrote, “This is called putting your money where your mouth is. This is beautiful.”
One of West’s latest tweets was aimed at Gap, a brand he teamed with in July to bring a more affordable version of his Yeezy line to the retail chain. Also, in a tweet, he mentioned Adidas, another brand he works with to release his popular Yeezy sneakers.
West told both companies that he wants a board seat and won’t continue to work with them until that happens.
“I’m wearing Jordan till I’m on the board of Adidas,” he tweeted on Tuesday, Sept 23.
Then moments later he tweeted, “I’m not releasing nothing on Gap till I’m on the board.”
