Flying Lotus took to Twitter yesterday to speak on the unfair treatment of producers in Hip-Hop–and also theorize that some beatmakers are more important than the artists they work with. In a spate of tweets spanning most of the day, Flylo called out artists who aren’t properly compensating the producers they work with.
“When a rapper invites you to the studio and asks you to make beats on the spot. Tell them to pay your fee on the spot,” the LA-beatsmith suggested. After apparently finding humor in his belief that artists think they’re doing favors for talented producers, Flylo noted “if you ask me it’s MetroBoomin featuring Future.”
Many critics of Trap music have said rappers such as Future are overly dependent on the brooding, atmospheric production of Trap to entrance the listener more than the artist’s presence. In a CypherLeague.com piece about Travis Scott’s Rodeo, writer Skinny Berlin pondered whether he’d enjoy the album’s songs better “without [Travis Scott] rapping on them at all.”
Even if an arguable re-balancing of the scales is at play in certain Hip-Hop subgenres, Flylo tweeted “most my people behind the scenes is broke.” Apparently industry rule #4080 is still in effect, even for a producer as accomplished as Flylo. In the latter stages of his Twitter firestorm, he alleges his desire for fairness “threatened one of the greatest creative relationships” he had witnessed.
His experience may serve as a notice for other talented indie producers to steer clear of “the good ol rap machine,” as he deemed it.
Screencaps of the tweets are viewable below.
