Thursday, March 28, 2024

Yeezus! Kanye West Received $12 Million Advance for 2013 Album That Has Sold Only 609,000 Copies in Seven Years

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Kanye West is posting pictures of his 2012 contract with DefJam. It looks like he got a $12 million advance in 2012 for his 2013 album, Yeezus. Yeezus is right. The album was not a hit. According to Buzz Angle, “Yeezus” has a sold a total of 609,000 copies. Only 92,000 are CDs and downloads. The rest is all streaming.

“Yeezus”– which I like to call “Meezus” — was one of Kanye’s botched releases, had no marketing and no time to set up. If this is what DefJam has been paying him, they are crazy. And he’s crazy like a fox. His albums have not been big sellers in years. The licensing fees and royalties for samples he takes from other artists prey on his profit and loss sheets. And now he’s angry with Def Jam? LOL.

When black artists were really ripped off in the past, they didn’t have $12 million advances. They got nothing. Smokey Robinson will do a spit take when he sees this contract. Kanye West has never written an actual song, and doesn’t sing. What exactly is he being paid all this money for? This is completely insane. But this is how the hip hop world works. It’s all smoke and mirrors.

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.
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