Story of two separate rappers who leased two separate beats from two separate producers, only to have them both end up on Chance's "Coloring Book" mixtape/album.

http://djbooth.net/news/entry/2016-05-18-chance-the-rapper-juke-jam-leased-beats

Chance the Rapper, “Juke Jam” & The Heartbreak of Leased Beats

During my 1 Listen album review of Chance’s Coloring Book I couldn’t shake a strange feeling of familiarity with “Juke Jam.” The heavy but gentle chords that play at the beginning - I knew them, but couldn’t put my finger on where from. It was like seeing an old friend in a new setting. There’s an unreachable itch that irritates the soul when you hear something and can’t recall where you heard it before; a musical puzzle only missing a single piece to complete the picture.

I asked Lucas, the connoisseur of all things samples, about the beat and he sent me Mount Kimbie’s "Adriatic," the song that “Juke Jam” samples. Interesting, but not what I was looking for. And then it clicked. The answer wouldn’t be known by Lucas, or anyone at DJBooth for that matter. It was a song that wasn’t released yet, by an artist that's completely unknown compared to Chance. I heard it seven months ago, while in the studio with an artist from Atlanta name Phay. Not only does it have the same sample as “Juke Jam” but it’s the exact same beat, both produced by Rascal. Phay’s version is called “Lawd Please.”

Yoh ‎@Yoh31
Whenever @Pharohmusic drops his album, there's a song called "Lawd Please" that you should play at 2am and let lightning strike your soul.
11:10 PM - 8 Nov 2015

Me and Phay go back, back when I had my old blog, back when he used to go by Pharoh. He took a little time off from rapping but when he got back into building a body of work, he invited me to hear the album that had been in the works for months. I remember the studio session - he played me every song, one by one explaining the concepts and how each fit into the overall theme. I won’t give it away but the narration and execution was impressive, the album serves as an ode to his mother. The cover is like the heart shape tattoos that appear on the arms of the tough cartoon characters or sailors, no matter how big and mammoth of a man you might be, most have a soft spot for their mothers. You can feel that soft spot in the music.

There’s a record that immediately stood out, he was singing and the soulfulness of his voice caught my ear from the very beginning. It poured out of him like the words were coming from a depth that even an X-ray couldn’t find. Heartfelt and sincere, I had a feeling it would be a big one that his listeners would gravitate toward. Sometimes you can just tell.


When it was brought to my attention that the two songs were cut from the same family tree I was surprised. Especially when you consider how Chance and Phay are on two opposites ends of the spectrum. This wasn’t Bas and Mick Jenkins, two artist on a similar plateau, big enough where one would be accused of stealing from the other. After Chance it would be “Juke Jam” and all the freestyles and remixes to come after.

Phay caught wind that Chance had a version of the song during the Atlanta stop of the Family Matters tour: “I went home after Chance’s performance. It was incredible. One of the best live shows best I’ve ever seen. My bro Kelechi hangs around afterwards with the guys from Social Experiment. At 4 AM he calls me talking about, 'Bruh! Chance rapping on Lawd Please.' I’m freaking the fuck out at this point. I'm thinking Chance is about to rap on my record. It's 4 AM. I gotta be dreaming. What Kelechi meant was Chance made a song to a beat I already had.” At the time both records weren’t out yet, Towkio was the only feature, it was just a strange coincidence and Chance's version wasn't wasn’t yet guaranteed to be placed on the album.

Unlike Mick and Bas, this wasn’t a case of a beat heard on SoundCloud being passed around like Bow Wow’s resume. Phay didn’t have exclusive rights, he had only leased the beat from Rascal with the understanding Rascal could also give it to others. From my understanding, out of the thousands of beats Chance played during the making of Coloring Book, he stumbled across “Juke Jam” in a folder full of various instrumentals. The same thing that caught Phay's ear caught his. He decided to make a fun record, something for the summer, a vibe reminiscent of those teenage days at the roller rink. The Justin Bieber feature almost guarantees that it will be a huge smash. I find it fascinating how two artists can hear the same beat and make two records that are polar opposite.

“Lawd Please is a very important record to me. I remember what state of mind I was in when I wrote it. I was in the midst of uhhh…… depression. I feel hesitant admitting that I was depressed. I come from a foreign background. Mental health and illness tends to be ignored in minority communities. I wasn’t happy. 9-5 life got the best of me, and I was trying my best to cope. I wasn’t doing music. I wasn’t doing the things that brought joy and purpose to my life. So in the midst of depression, I wrote this song. It was a letter to the big man upstairs, the Lord himself, to help my family through this time of despair and darkness. There is a famous Arabic proverb that translates to "pray to God and tie your camel." Basically, pray for what you want, then proactively seek what you just prayed for. Lawd Please is that proverb personified. I played it for my mom one random day, and she broke down into a sea of tears. I'll never forget that moment. She wasn't just listening to the record, she felt it. It spoke to her”

Phay wasn’t the only artist to have a beat from their album placed on Coloring Book. Masego, another rising musician, took to Twitter the day Chance’s album dropped, heartbroken after hearing a beat he wrote to on the album. He said he felt like the song shaped his forthcoming album and now it felt dead. It’s possible that he fell victim to the same situation - songs being passed around in giant folders that could end up in anyone’s hands. It’s weird how the industry works. Security and ownership has to be guaranteed even when you’re at the bottom of the totem poll.


Maségo ✔ ‎@UncleSego
Woahhhh. My heart just broke. A beat I wrote a song over is on Chance's tape.
10:29 PM - 12 May 2016

Maségo ✔ ‎@UncleSego
I feel like my song died!!! Dag this hurts
10:29 PM - 12 May 2016

Maségo ✔ ‎@UncleSego
GAHHHHH Come on music industry!!!
10:29 PM - 12 May 2016

Maségo ✔ ‎@UncleSego
This is extremely painful. That beat shaped my album now I don't know what to do
10:41 PM - 12 May 2016

Phay has a great relationship with Pat and has met Chance on occasion, he sings nothing but praise about them both and about the record. When I asked how the situation has changed his business mind he replied, “The 'Juke Jam' situation reshaped the whole way I perceive the business side of music. If I can give any advice, I would advise artists to buy their beats if they have the capital. If you truly believe in your product, buy it. Leasing is just another name for borrowing. It's like renting an apartment or house. It's not yours. There's no equity. There's no long term investment. Buying your beats puts you in a landlord position. The only person I can blame in this situation is me. I had the capital to purchase the exclusive rights to the instrumental, but I didn't. I leased it. Like an idiot. Own your shit. Own your masters. Own yourself.”

A very important lesson for all artists pursuing a career in the industry. Phay’s Mama will be released sometime in the fall. “Lawd Please” and the few songs on his SoundCloud released during the Phay Friday series, are just the beginning for him.

By Yoh, aka Anderson .Paak Voice, aka @Yoh31. Chance Illustration by BAMBUU.

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only thing i'd ever lease would be a car
buy the motherfucker outright and own it
and producers that lease beats?
opportunists to the fullest
they don't care. they out for money
thee
end

life always offers you a 2nd chance...it's called tomorrow. use it wisely

>only thing i'd ever lease would be a car
>buy the motherfucker outright and own it
>and producers that lease beats?
>opportunists to the fullest
>they don't care. they out for money
>thee
>end

Cats primarily lease beats nowadays as one of the few ways of generating income from their art. The days when you could run up on an artist, play your beats and possibly get a call back are far from over, so leasing is an option for a producer to get as much profit from one beat. Most producers are not happy with the lease game. There's thousands of other cats to compete with and you normally have to invest lots of money first before your beats are even heard on the various platforms for leasing producers. Then there's the stigma placed on you by records labels that if you're selling/leasing beats for $50, then they're not gonna pay you $2000+

As Phay said, it's his fault and he should have bought the beat when he had the chance.

And, there is nothing wrong with getting paid for your art. If you advocate doing it for the "love", or the other nonsense that cats who don't want to pay up tell you, then, by all means, please do so. But, most cats who are trying to make a profession out of their hobby still have bills to pay.

Come to grips with the fact that most OKP's are of the Nut Hugger lineage, so, if you' re not part of the little cliques that exist 'round here, your posts will probably tank like Souljaboy's album sales.

as if a "lease" doesn't have a beginning and end point?

We see through all that boo boo like it's ghost shit... (c) Quelle Chris

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Days like this I miss Sha Mecca

<--- Big Baller World Order

I mean, sucks their version has a lot of meaning to them and this caught them off guard, but other than floating their song out as a freebee it's not their joint anymore (I assume).

I don't really understand what they were thinking about the more I think about it. You put all this work into a song but the music is only yours to rock with for a limited amount of time. Once your subscription is up you have no claim to the music anymore.


__
I don't like the beat anymore because its just a loop. ALC didn't FLIP IT ENOUGH!

Flip it enough? Flip these. Flip off. Go flip some f*cking burgers.(c)Kno

Allied State of the National Electric Beat Treaty Organization (NEBTO)

>I mean, sucks their version has a lot of meaning to them and
>this caught them off guard, but other than floating their song
>out as a freebee it's not their joint anymore (I assume).
>
>I don't really understand what they were thinking about the
>more I think about it. You put all this work into a song but
>the music is only yours to rock with for a limited amount of
>time. Once your subscription is up you have no claim to the
>music anymore.
>
>
Leasing usually doesn't give you an exact period of time for using the beat. But if you don't purchase the exclusive license, the contract normally states the beat can be sold to other artists and that if an exclusive license is sold, he beat is now under ownership of the purchaser of the exclusive license. So, if you and I lease a beat and no one ever purchases the exclusive license, we can rock on with it until perpetuity.

All comes down to cats wanting to be cheap. It's the same thing like going into the clearance store and buying the poly blend winter coat rather than the wool joints, winter comes around and you realize the coat ain't keeping you warm enough and then your salty at the next man who's looking all comfy in the wool coat that you passed on.

Moral of the story is, don't be cheap. Especially when most exclusive licenses are only double or at most quadruple what the lease price is. And which leasing prices usually running from $10-$100, if you made a song that is the centerpiece of your album, just pass on this month's J's and buy the cot damn beat.

Come to grips with the fact that most OKP's are of the Nut Hugger lineage, so, if you' re not part of the little cliques that exist 'round here, your posts will probably tank like Souljaboy's album sales.

>Leasing usually doesn't give you an exact period of time for
>using the beat. But if you don't purchase the exclusive
>license, the contract normally states the beat can be sold to
>other artists and that if an exclusive license is sold, he
>beat is now under ownership of the purchaser of the exclusive
>license. So, if you and I lease a beat and no one ever
>purchases the exclusive license, we can rock on with it until
>perpetuity.

Ah ok, that makes more sense.

if you made a song that is the centerpiece of
>your album, just pass on this month's J's and buy the cot damn
>beat.

For real haha.


__
I don't like the beat anymore because its just a loop. ALC didn't FLIP IT ENOUGH!

Flip it enough? Flip these. Flip off. Go flip some f*cking burgers.(c)Kno

Allied State of the National Electric Beat Treaty Organization (NEBTO)

█▆▇▅▇█▇▆▄▁▃
Big PEMFin H & z's
"I ain't no entertainer, and ain't trying to be one. I am 1 thing, a musician." � Miles

"When the music stops he falls back in the abyss."

Buy the beats or don't...

Leasing is living money for sure but I'm not a fan.. either sell the beat for a set amount of give it for free with the understanding if someone else pays for the beat it aint yours..

Double 0
DJ/Producer/Artist
Producer in Kidz In The Hall
-------------------------------------------
twitter: @godouble0
IG: @godouble0
www.thinklikearapper.com

put up or shutup.

I remember before soundcloud there was and surprisingly still is a soundclick, and when everyone was on it, big name to hometown producers were leasing beats for .99¢ to $10, and rappers were rapping over those said beats on their soundclick pages (sounded like they were using their headphones as microphones too).

Never understood the leasing beats situation, and it was even funnier when I saw a Judge Karen episode where some kat was sueing a producer for letting someone else use the beat but obviously didn't understand what leasing meant.

https://tinyurl.com/y4ba6hog

---------
"We in here talking about later career Prince records
& your fool ass is cruising around in a time machine
trying to collect props for a couple of sociopathic degenerates" - s.blak

A song recorded over a leased beat should be viewed as an advertisement, an exhibition track. If a person really digs a beat but can't afford the exclusive I would tell them to pass altogether, just end up like these guys, making your best work for something you don't even own.

In the long run the only person who benefits is the producer, they're going to get paid from any amount set in that contract whether 10 people lease that beat or one person or group buys exclusive rights and they can actually sell and do numbers.

I think the best logical situation for a rapper leasing a beat is freestyling/mixtape shit, not something disposable but just good enough to show skill and get buzz so you won't be heartbroken like these fools basing work they intended to sell and market off music they didn't even own.

and depends on that contract too, some are vague, some are really specific, just depends on who they're doing business with and how educated they are on what they're getting into.

exclusive=album
lease=datpiff lol

PEACE LOVE and MONEY

https://soundcloud.com/dabeatnik/drumpf-beer

For reasons that everyone above me has mentioned...

First let me preface this by saying that I least almost every beat beat on my album (20 songs).

There's a big difference between being too cheap to buy an exclusive and flat out not being able to afford to pay for an exclusive. An adult with a wife/child/mortgage and every other responsibility usually wont have the paper to pony up on exclusive beats. Like homie up above said, usually the going rate for an exclusive is double to four times the cost of a lease. So I was looking at:

20 beats x 50.00 dollar leasing fee= 1,000.00

or

20 beats x 200.00 dollar exclusive fee= 4,000.00


This isn't the only reason leasing as a good option, though. Realistically, the chances are slim that another prominent, established artist is going to choose the same beat that you pick. I don't hear of many occurrences similar to whats in the article (and if you have confidence in your own ability, you wont really care if a fellow unknown artist grabs the same track as you). Moreover, with the sheer volume of producers out here leasing beats, its unlikely that your track will be picked up as an exclusive by someone else, either (that's been my experience, at least).


The biggest concern that I've found is negotiation that takes place in the event that one of your leased tracks begins to sell. Most agreements that I've come in contact with only speak of a renegotiation of terms, which I'll admit could mean anything from a 50/50 split to relinquishing the rights to your track outright.


But, like i said, Its beneficial on both sides. The producer gets an opportunity to make money off of a track that may not have sold at all, via lowering the price, but without shorting themselves because he/she has the opportunity to make more off of it. The artist benefits because they can purchase quality production for a low price, with the only likely negative contingency hinging upon their record being successful.


Process like Sabans, amazin--------> https://twitter.com/SolidusShaz

As someone who used to rap as a longtime hobby, I saw firsthand how little respect that most rappers had for the production process.

Hilarious how these guys never fully grasped the importance of that beat until they couldn't use it anymore. Even if you lease it initially, if the song that uses it is an important piece of your upcoming project, why not just pay the extra for exclusive rights?