More Hip Hop artists have been pushing independence and ownership after witnessing the financial success rappers, such as Russ, have enjoyed by maintaining ownership and control over their music. While some rappers have proudly flaunted their ownership, Jim Jones questions if artists know to monetize their work after securing ownership.
"To be an independent artist is very dope," Jones said. "That means you keeping the power within yourself. Dope. There are a lot of independent artists talking about, 'I own my masters, I own my masters'... My question is to you artists who say 'I own my masters': Do you even know what to do with your masters once you own them? Do you know how to cash in on those masters? Or are you owning your masters like you own a chain? Get back to me if you know exactly what a master even is. If you understand the whole method."
Jones also pointed out that capitalizing off of owning master recordings is different than it was years ago because music has gone digital.
"And remember, this ain't the seventies when the masters used to be big reels and stuff like that like Michael Jackson and them was doing it," he added. "It's a bit different. Masters are digital. There's no physical thing that you can grab onto. But do you know how to cash in on them? Let me know and I'll holla back."
