"First of all, who's your A&R? A mountain climber who plays an electric guitar?" - Rap lyrics that reference the music biz

Paid in Full
[eric b]: yo rakim, what’s up?
[rakim]: yo, I’m doing the knowledge, e., I’m trying to get paid in full
[e]: well, check this out, since nobry walters is our agency, right?
[r]: true
[e]: kara lewis is our agent
[r]: word up
[e]: zakia/4th & broadway is our record company
[r]: indeed
[e]: okay, so who we rollin with?
[r]: we rollin with rush
[e]: of rushtown management. check this out, since we talking over
This def beat that I put together, I wanna hear some of them
Def rhymes, know what I’m sayin? and together, we can get
Paid in full...

GZA has all the best ones

wu is too slamming for these cold killin labels
some ain't had hits since I seen aunt mabel
be doing artists in like cain did abel
now they money's gettin stuck to the gum under the table

ya gotta read the labels

Went in the backroom, things was luvy duvy
Met ron resnick, and his partner juggy
Things was cool, as I remembered
We signed the dotted line, now we fresh record members
Had dreams of fancy cars and limos
And all I wanted was somebody to listen to my demo

^ EPMD

weird i was just noticing that protect ya neck lyric like 30 minutes ago thinking "i wonder if that's an actual reference"

apparently quasi-homosexuals be runnin this rap game...

If you're really dope, why ain't ya signed yet?
But I get
My loot from Jive/Zomba
I'ma bomb ya

(Souls of Mischief)

Yo, check it, exit the old style
Enters the new
But nothing's new 'bout being hawked by a crew
Or should I say flock cause around every block
There's Harry, Dick, and Tom, with a demo in his palm
Now I'm with helping those who want to help themselves
And flaunt a nut that's doggy as in dope
But it's not the mood to hear
The tales of limousines and pails
Of money they'll make like a pro
I be like, "Yo black, just play me the tape"
But at the show the time to spare I just make
But the songs created in they shacks
Are so wick-wick-wack, situations like this
And now I hate they give me smiles Kool-Aid wide and ask,
"Was it def?"
And with the straighest face I be like, "Hell yes."
I slip them the digits to Papa Prince Paul...

Industry rule #4080...

You gotta get a label that's willin' and able
To market and promote, and you better hope
(For what?) That the product is dope
Take it from Diamond, it's like mountain climbin'
When it comes to rhymin' you gotta put your time in
Get a good lawyer so problems won't pile
You don't wanna make a Pitch that's Wild.

Diamond D?

"[r]: we rollin with rush"

i always wanted this to mean that lee, lifeson, and peart were part of their entourage

walediscography.doc

an xls would be much more efficient

Industry rule #4080...

record company people are shaaaaady

more Tribe:

so jet to the store & buy our LP
on Jive RCA cassettes & CDs
produced & arranged buy the four man crew
& OH SHIT skip anslem he gets props too!

ah i knew there was a thread for this ... well not exactly lyrics, but nasally white a&r's who wander onto the track to
do voice overs or skits

i was asking d40 if they still do this shtick anymore and he wasn't sure if they still did but confirmed my suspicion it's maybe not as common but we weren't sure why or why not

https://youtube.com/A6-Abvdthn0

see @ 2:05 and 3:45

"invite all your friends ... everybody from the projects can come down"

"spinkelstein"

:-/

speaking of nasaly white execs and :/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqqrX0KJVcs

ah yeah a true exemplar of the form

thought this pharaohe monch line was the most brilliant lyric ever when i was 18:

"still get it poppin without artists and repertoire / cause monch is a monarch only minus the A&R"

I still think that's a dope line tbh

I live large, caviar and limos
Spent most of my time refusing bullshit demos
Can you understand, do you understand
Well let me explain I'm the A and R man
Dave Gossett. Yes I rock it
I rip the mike and I stuff pockets

Black Sheep - 'Pass The 40' has a pretty decent freestyle from their A&R man Dave Gossett (above) and a dodgier one from Chris Lighty who ended up managing most of the big NYC acts in the 00's