The whole truth
The following quotes are from MC Hush and have been used with the artist’s permission
Most of you probably think that an underground artists who manages to get signed at a major label is unstoppable on his way to fame. Little did you know if you think he has made it in any case by signing with a major label.
After years of hard work, having earned a lot of underground credibility in his hometown, Detroit, Dan Carlisle aka Mc Hush signed with Geffen Records in 2004.
When his solo album Bulletproof was released, he should have expected to blow up as Detroit’s new rasing star…
Enter Geffen Records with the eyes of an insider and let’s see how valuable artists are treated there.
Because Detroit rap is very much unknown, it is often despised. MC Hush didn’t really feel respect from this label’s side.
« The real is this. They don’t respect Detroit at all. I have a $200,000 video that just SITS there. »
In fact, since the release of Hush Is Coming and despite the participation of major hip hop artists like Eminem, Nate Dogg, Obie Trice and Swifty of D12, the video gets zero promotion.
Geffen’s lame excuse? MTV rejected the video!
« Their excuse for it not being played is because MTV rejected it. Hmmmmm, not that it was created this way but let’s see, PRODUCED BY MARSHALL MATHERS, FEATURING NATE DOGG, Cameos by Obie Trice and Swifty, and MTV rejected it? »
If MTV rejected the video, let’s ask a second question: how much do music channels like MTV support REAL hip hop? Since when did we have the chance to watch some real good new talents?
I don’t respect MTV’s musical tastes as far as I am concerned, since they seem to promote mostly bling bling hip hop and, thus, spread a stereotyped image of rap music.
Also, it looks like the channel that was supposed to promote Eminem with features such as EmTV is not even interested in Eminem’s valuable collaborations with his fellow rap artists. Sincerely, how far do they push hypocrisy:
« Hmmmmm, not that it was created this way but let’s see, PRODUCED BY MARSHALL MATHERS, FEATURING NATE DOGG, Cameos by Obie Trice and Swifty, and MTV rejected it? That channel at one point could have been called EMTV. Here is something you don’t know. We filmed this video in L.A. It was directed by Flyy Kai (Akon “Locked Up”, Pitbull “MIAMI”, David Banner, etc…). 3 days later we flew to Miami to edit it. The editor was Katt Brown. This dude has directed damn near EVERY Hype Williams or Puffy video you have ever seen. I asked Marshall to be in the video since he produced the track he said cool, even at one point in the video he took the line “remember you heard that from me”, pretty much a stamp of approval. I mean who wouldn’t listen to that dude in the business after he said that? Paul Rosenberg asked me could he put Obie & Swifty in it. I said sure since Swifty and I go back a long time and Obie I’m supportive of all the way. I’ll get back to Paul Rosenberg in a minute. My director took a favor from the editor so we didn’t have to pay his “normal” fee. But we still paid $200,000. In Miami are Snik, me, and my product manager from Geffen. The editing took 2 days and we saw the 1st draft with a couple changes to be made later but pretty much the finished product anyway. My product manager WENT NUTS!!! She went crazy, “oh this is hot! This is what MTV is missing, etc… »
It also looks like Geffen made up a lie about Eminem’s featuring in Hush Is Coming, making him believe that Paul Rosenberg didn’t want Eminem to be featured in Hush Is Coming:
« Snik and I were basically like this was a good look for Detroit. It goes up on the web for Geffen to see and they call me up and say the most outrageous thing EVER, “The video is great but Marshall is in it to much and we promised Paul Rosenberg we wouldn’t have him in the video alot because he said it wasn’t okay”.  »
« Now besides that Em is my boy and he jumped in it for support, wouldn’t you think Geffen would be jumping up and down because they have a tool to use to create a buzz for their artist like a “stamp of approval” from 1 of the Top Artists of our lifetime? Geffen says well Marshall is in it 42 times (remember these are fast action clips so it’s = to 42 seconds altogether) in a 4:30 minute song and that we have to cut him out of the video altogether.»
Hush wanted to make it sure, so he called Paul Rosenberg and this is what Eminem’s manager told him:
« So me being me, we called Paul Rosenberg. You know what he says? “I never said that, I don’t give a fuck, put him in there as many times as you want. Why are you bothering me with this, I wouldn’t even have had Marshall there if that was the case.. »
Lies. Only lies. Geffen is playing a dirty game with Hush. This is a shame.
Hush, who is a perfectionist, did anything possible to improve his video:
« Hmmmmmm, I smell a rat. So to make things better, I re-edit the video with him in it 11 times. Still is a good video whether Marshall is in it or not. In this game on the industry side it’s politics, and from a political aspect I had EVERYTHING in place to make the politics right for MTV. Here are the credentials.
1. Track Produced by Eminem along with cameo.
2. Hook and cameo from Nate Dogg
3. Directed by Flyy Kai (just nominated for Moonman 2005 VMA’s)
4. Edited by Katt Brown (every Puffy video you can think of including my favorite “Victory”)
5. Cameos from Swifty & Obie »
Those of you who have seen Hush Is Coming would probably barely deny the quality of the video and the emcee’s lyrical effort as well.
There is -obviously- something wrong with MTV and Geffen’s attitude, also considering the huge amount of money that has been invested in the video:
« So the video is “rejected” all of a sudden from MTV? Hmmm, something’s not right. You spend $200,000 and you allow that? By the way, that’s not what new artists get anyways. My deal was not your average deal. »
Another evidence of Geffen’s hypocrisy: the label signed him because they knew he had a band. Then they refused the band to be featured in the video:
« So let’s move on…
A lot of stuff in between goes on between the label and I that I could go on for days about. They knew I had a band, that’s why they signed me and REFUSED to allow them to be seen with me. No photos, not even on my website. They “casted” a fake band for the video. Imagine having to explain to your band why they aren’t being used. I was seen by 10 million viewers the night of the Contender Finale and Geffen doesn’t even have a single out on me. “Bulletproof” was finished and turned in FALL OF 2004!!!»
Mc Hush hasn’t been inactive, that’s the least we can say…let’s have a look at some of his accomplishments:
« The Contender finale was in May. Everything I’ve accomplished so far has been my own doing.
1. The Contender
2. XXX-2 Soundtrack
3. Anger Management 3 Promo Tour
4. Snoop Overseas Tour
5. Annapolis Trailer
6. The Contender 2
etc. etc. »
Mc Hush’s long term friend Eminem called him to open the AMT 3 in Detroit and everybody was very enthusiastic about the upcoming single.
To make it look even better and to make an impact, they decided to get Nate Dogg featured on the single:
« Now let’s jump ahead to the Anger Management 3 Tour. Marshall calls me on the NY stop and says “Paul suggested you open up in Detroit” GREAT!!! So what do we do. WE HUSTLE! We know we have to do it right and make an impact. How do we do that? We need Nate Dogg there to do the single. »
Guess what? Geffen did not invest any penny in Hush‘s promotion:
« Did Geffen pay for it? ABSOLUTELY NOT. My business manager does. Now this guy has been putting out dough even still after I got my deal cuz Geffen won’t do it. And they are just normal things any artist needs to make the job easier. A promo van w/wrap (PAID FOR), 5 extra dates on AM3 tour (PAID FOR), Nate Dogg at Comerica Park (PAID FOR). Now check this out, the only way we could get Nate is if we paid for his Birthday party in Detroit the night before, so what did we do? PAID FOR IT. All of this with no help from Geffen. $40,000 at least for Nate Dogg here. Fee, limo, security, party, rooms, etc… ALL DESERVIING. And besides all that Nate and I have a really cool relationship. And his manager is even cooler. So let’s get to my record release. I’m the one who worked my record not them. Let’s run down the 2 things that I did that ARTISTS don’t do anymore (according to retail & independent).
All along the AM3 tour…
RETAIL WALK-THRUS (Every stop on this tour we went into record stores, mom & pops, and chains like Tower).
Every retail store couldn’t believe I was doing this. They said the only artist who does that now is 50. No artist does that. I was the only other person besides 50 to do this. AND I MEAN EVERY RETAIL STORE SAID THIS.
My team (Greg, Snik, Paul, David, Josh, Leah, and others) all pitched me to Best Buy. I walked in and met with the district manager and maybe 20 Best Buy stores and NAILED IT. Best Buy was behind me. The day of, Best Buy employees were wearing HUSH shirts, and pushing an artist FOR THE 1ST TIME IN BEST BUYS HISTORY. What does Geffen do?
Announce they are only shipping 20,000 units.  »
Scandalous? Yes.
Back to the record release party…
Offer, demand and expenses…and absolutely NO SUPPORT from Geffen!
« Let’s go to my record release party. I am very excited as any artist onthis site would be. I have come a long way from Da Ruckus, to the Wired Frog, to almost committing suicide. Now my dream is here. I have an album coming out nationally and tonight is my party. What did we have to do because Geffen wouldn’t? PAY FOR NATE DOGG AGAIN. Geffen offered us a $5,000 budget and that’s it. My fucking banner cost 5 g’s. Hell a bar tab for that night cost 5 g’s. But here’s the slap in the face. NOONE from Geffen called me to wish me good luck, congratulations, NOTHING. I know a lot of you are saying what did you expect, but I’ll tell you what I expected. I expected to sign with a label that saw my team and I’s work ethic and efforts and respected it. I expected to sign with a label that would gladly match my business managers paper if he put it up (of which they said NO. They “know what they are doing”, and here’s a good one “Hush is going to be a star in 2 years”). I expected someone to appreciate that I’m excited to be a part of the label, and it changed my life. They didn’t give a fuck. NO PHONE CALL or PRESCENCE. Except the local reps, who are always awesome and KNOW the hard work we put in.
So my record is released on Tuesday August 23rd to a great response in Detroit. I land #6 my first week sales here. But guess what? In other areas of the US I’m selling out. FAST. Vegas (SOLD OUT), Tampa (SOLD OUT), Virgina (SOLD OUT), you get the picture. Now remember when I told you they announced they were only shipping 20,000 units? Guess what? 2nd week, my CD is on FUCKING BACKORDER!!! You can’t buy it across the US cuz I sold out. So now Geffen scrambles to have the pressing plant re-press. FUCKING IDIOTS! So the 3rd week nothing, 4th week TONY YAYO & KANYE are released and I’m fucked. »
The worst in this story? The Discovery Times channel wanted to use Hush’s music on one of its documentary about the D town. Again,Hush ahd to face Geffen’s indifference and MTV’s rejection. Rather humiliating for a valuable emcee such as Hush:
« The Discovery Times channel comes to Detroit to do a documentary. They follow me and some other artists around to find about our views on the scene and the city. Cool. They want to use my music for the piece. Geffen won’t return their calls. My record has been out 3 months and noone will return the calls. So they send an email saying basically, “we’re going to use his music, you’ll just have to sue us”. The next day 2 lawyers call and approve the music. But here’s the icing on the cake. They ask to air the video and Geffen says NO. WOW!!! MTV rejects it, and an off-shoot of the Discovery channel ASKS for it and they say NO????? I went off. I do some research and find out Geffen told the Discovery Times channel that a “3rd party” won’t allow it to be shown. I do some more research and find out this 3rd party……….is Paul Rosenberg. So now they are back to using this guy as their scapegoat. The kicker, in the show are film excerpts from “8 Mile”. I have a pretty good feeling that if we call up Paul Rosenberg he’ll say he never said that. »
Enough is enough. Hush wants to leave Geffen, because they won’t promote his music the way it deserves to be promoted:
« So I’ve un-officially asked the label to let me go. I have a team, a fan base in Detroit that sells out 1200 seaters, and a financial backer that believes in what we do and WILL land another deal somewhere else even if it is Independent. They have cause too much heartache and confusion and tension between myself and my group, that we have all bumped heads at some point because of the frustration of being on a label that has no clue where they are going let alone pushing an artist. Look at this list of artists who have left since I’ve been there.
1. Talib Kweli
2. Mos Def (of which Geffen has a Black Star album in the closet and has never been used)
3. Common
4. The Roots
5. Snoop (one of the biggest stars on that label period)
Well now they can add me. I have accomplished, worked, and have seen a lot. I WORK. I am a labels dream. Now imagine this.
I have a business manager that financially backed everything. Now imagine you are the artist on this site with…
1. NO PRODUCT (bad album, not even an album that was “Album Of The Month” in Maxim)
2. NO MANAGER
3. NO BUSINESS MANAGER
4. NO FINANCIAL BACKING
5. NO PROMO VAN
6. NO PROMOTION
7. NO RADIO PLAY
8. NO VIDEO PLAY
9. NO BUZZ »
Dear rap listeners and hip hop lovers, today MC Hush deserves your support more than ever.
If you feel this situation like a big injustice that has been done to MC Hush, please sign the following petition in order to show your full support to the talented emcee.
Don’t let real hip hop die.
3 thoughts on “Hush needs your support! This is the two faced game Geffen is playing with him…”
Comments are closed.
fuck geffen mc hush ur the man wer all with u.
Em should sign Hush onto Shady records.. they’d get his album out there, fuck Geffen.. Hush is a kick arse rap artist, there’s just alota haters around tryin’ to stop him from makin’ it.
Em and Hush don’t really work in the same direction….Hush is much more rock- and rap oriented and, as far as I know (i talked to him on the Detroit rap message board) didn’t want to get signed with Shady Records.
Both artists are gifted, but definitely very different in the musical style they both convey.