Master P changed the way music was marketed, packaged and sold, and does not get the credit or respect he deserves.
Lil Romeo became the label’s biggest star, and No Limit’s commercial appeal came to a halt.ĭuring No Limit’s rise to the top, the label dropped some incredible music, and sadly their contributions to hip-hop are often overlooked. Production troop Beats By The Pound, the outfit who created the No Limit sound, left the label, and upon their departure, many of No Limit’s blue chip players followed suit.
It appeared the label had done so much that they’d hit a ceiling. It was a craze.Īs the 2000s rolled on, America’s tastes in music changed, and the Tank was no longer the force it once was.
Mystikal album covers full#
Obscure artists like Skull Duggery, Full Blooded and Mercedes sold hundreds of thousands of units based on their Percy Miller cosign alone. Artists on No Limit had no promotion other than magazine ads and the tank logo and ‘Executive Producer: Master P’ tag on the back of their colorful albums. The craziest part about the label’s success was that the sales didn’t come from heavy radio or video airplay-people were just incredibly loyal to the brand. In fact, No Limit albums were generating so much income that P never had to tour-which is the way most artists today make their money. And thanks to his monumental distribution deal with Priority Records-where he was able to keep 75% of the profits (wholesale price) for every album sold-he made an estimated $350 million dollars ($160 million of that in 1998 alone) over the span of his career. Thanks to artists like Snoop Dogg, Mystikal, Silkk The Shocker and P himself, the label was able to sell over 80 million records worldwide. And to think, this all started from a $10,000 insurance settlement check from P’s grandfather.īut while the outside ventures brought in beaucoup bucks and helped elevate the brand, P’s bread and butter was always the music.
Mystikal album covers professional#
No Limit dabbled in professional wrestling (for the WCW), started a sports management agency (15 years before Jay-Z), and P even attempted to play in the NBA. But music wasn’t enough for the budding entrepreneur, as he expanded his empire to hawk movies, sneakers, clothes and toys. It seemed as if everything he touched turned to gold. From 1997 through 2000, the label dropped 51 albums, making Master P hip-hop’s ultimate hustler. Some of you might be too young to remember No Limit’s heydey, but in the late '90s, Master P and his legion of soldiers ruled rap with an iron fist. It hurt me more than the fuckin’ six years did, really.It’s hard to believe that No Limit Records’ stronghold on the rap game was 15 long years ago.
I have to make it hard as possible for myself. “It was a huge setback – self-inflicted of course, because if I don’t shoot myself in the foot then it won’t be a race. “I had my head sticking through the roof, and I was just trying to get the rest of my body through,” he says of the 90-day jail stint. The rapper, real name Michael Tyler, understands it was his losses that kept him out of the spotlight. “That little motherfucker that jumped over my head with the skateboard and the Beats headphones playing Lil Wayne. “It’s really the backpack kids that you’ve got to get,” he says about the new content he’s cooking up. According to Rolling Stone, the album will feature Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, Future, Busta Rhymes and others, including New Orleans’ own Trombone Shorty and the Stooges Brass Band. Cash Money rapper Mystikal is heading back to the booth for his first album in more than a decade.Īfter laying low on the charts for 12 years, the Louisiana native, who just dropped his latest single “Hit Me,” is prepping his new LP titled Original due in June.