by Diamond Brown
Rappers Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion may be featured on many songs together, and the IOP rapper even made a special guest appearance during Megan’s ‘Hot Girl Summer Tour,’ but could a potential rivalry be brewing? In 1967, Atlantic Records became a fully owned subsidiary of Warner Music Group. Cardi B is signed to Atlantic Records, and Megan Thee Stallion, as of February 2024, works alongside Warner Music Group for distribution.
According to Warner Music Group, “Today, Megan Thee Stallion and Warner Music Group announced an innovative agreement that will enable the Houston native to maintain her independence as a musician while also having access to the music company’s robust global services, ranging from radio promotion to marketing worldwide.”
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As I mentioned in a previous article, Atlantic Records is taking notice of how successful the Houston rapper has been lately—her song ‘Hiss’ going number 1 on the charts and her recent tour showing much success. The labels are taking note, and with that, they are side-eyeing another particular act, Cardi B. Sure, Megan’s album sales are low, but she is hardworking, marketable, and willing to tour her music, unlike Cardi.
With this in mind and Elliot Grainge soon moving up over at Atlantic, there will be major changes taking place, one of which, according to a trusted source of mine, “Megan will more than likely be getting a larger budget for better videos, more radio, and bigger advances. That money is probably going to be taken from Cardi. They’re already demanding that she sells at least 100,000 – 300,000 albums first week.”
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Music Business Worldwide shared, “Elliot Grainge, the founder of 10K Projects, is becoming CEO of Atlantic Music Group, home to Atlantic Records and 300 Elektra Entertainment. That change will take effect from October 1st.” If we all recall, Ice Spice is signed to 10K Projects and Capitol. With Grainge being the common denominator for all three rappers, it’s only a matter of time to see what changes will be made and who will truly be affected by it.
But one thing is for sure, the only rapper who is getting the squeeze is Cardi, and with her latest pregnancy announcement, the labels are not happy, believing this to have been done out of spite to avoid touring the new album yet again. It should come as no surprise that if the budget for the album is cut, the music videos will either be lower budget or cease to exist, which may result in the Bronx native being dropped from the label overall.
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However, for a rapper like Cardi B, being independent may not be the worst thing. She’s already garnered a very strong fanbase. We can look at Iggy, who was recently named the second most successful female Hip Hop rapper despite being independent. It may be time for Cardi to stop cursing out her fans, start being honest with them, and most importantly, give the fans what they want—music.
Otherwise, the pressure from the higher-ups will only continue to trickle down, and this can spark some jealousy, which we can already see coming to a head with Cardi recently tweeting about there having not been a successful album from a female rapper all year despite her female rap counterparts dropping projects. I guess we can only wait and see. But we are looking forward to Cardi’s sophomore album and have faith that she’ll be able to pull some good numbers.