Tory Lanez is feeling quite secure as a newfound free agent, despite the sheer number of “life-changing,” multi-million dollar record deals he’s been offered from “so many labels.” Tory put out his new mixtape, New Toronto 3, two weeks ago tomorrow, officially releasing him from his contract with Interscope Records. Now that he’s fresh on the market, it’s no wonder that tons of labels are dying to sign him, but Tory says he’s not interested.

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“To be 100 percent, there’s so many labels offering me so much money—like millions of dollars,” he revealed. “I’ve gotten offers that are life-changing offers, but I don’t care. I already own my masters and publishing and everything. So I don’t see any reason to give that to somebody else.” Tory had already made his stance very clear on “Letter To The City 2” off NT3 when he spat, “The next move is goin’ fully independent /And any label offer under hundred mill’ is just offensive.”

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Now that he’s become independant, Tory has more time to focus on scouting talent for his own One Umbrella imprint. He’s already signed promising artists like Melli, Mariah the Scientist, Davo, Kaash Paige, and his very first signee, Mansa. “That kid is probably one of the most talented individuals that I know,” he said of Mansa. “That kid is a problem. He’s a real-life problem.” Tory is making it a priority to try his best to protect his artists from any kind of exploitation in the industry and from encountering any of the obstacles he did in his early days. “When I went through these situations, I told myself there’s good things that came out of these situations and bad things,” he explained. “I never want an artist to feel how I felt. And because I have that [knowledge], that now gives me a better insight on what not to do and how to pay more attention…At the end of the day, you gotta go at things unselfishly.” Catch the full interview with Billboard below:

After Megan Thee Stallion came forward with grievances against her label, it seems as if everyone is weighing in with their two cents. Megan took to social media to share that 1501 Certified Entertainment was holding her back and keeping her from releasing new music. Now that she's managed by Roc Nation, some things are apparently shifting behind the scenes and Megan revealed that she wanted to renegotiate her contract because there were things in the document that she didn't understand. 

Isaac Hayes III, son to the legendary late music icon Isaac Hayes, has had a long career in the industry. He recently shared his opinion on the matter and uploaded a video of himself criticizing Megan's desire to renegotiate her deal. He starts things off by saying that he is a fan of Megan Thee Stallion and played her music on his radio station long before she became a star. "When I see the same ol' same tricks and mistakes being made by an artist, I'm gonna point 'em out 'cause I want to see her succeed," Hayes said.

"Artists need to be mindful of the 99 and the one percent," he added. "That means that granted, an artist is 99 percent of the success sometimes, right. They do all the heavy lifting, they're out in front of the camera, they do all the traveling, they're up late, they work hard, but there's also this one percent that artists cannot forget about."

Hayes states that the "one percent" are those that give you just a nudge that "changes the entire trajectory of your life." He added, "Meaning, if it wasn't for them, there would be no you. There might be another version of you, but there would be no you." He said he doesn't know Megan's relationship with 1501, but "regardless of what the contract said," she elevated musically as an artist under their guidance.

He doesn't believe that Megan should be talking about reworking her contract until she's released a debut album and gained a level of success where she can pull those types of moves. Hayes gave the examples of Boyz II Men and the Backstreet Boys who both renegotiated their contracts, but that wasn't until they released chart-topping records.

When artists make moves prematurely, Hayes asked if they'd rather have "50 percent of 50 million dollars or 100 percent of a million dollars." Check out his opinion in full below.

Artists are excited when industry professionals and label executives express interest in giving them a record deal, but not all that glitters is gold. For decades we’ve listened to stories about artists being taken advantage of, and rapper 600Breezy recently shared some advice to rappers during his interview with DJ Smallz.

600 Breezy said the biggest mistake artists make is “signing to other rappers.” He added, “He gotta do his job, too. Like, he’s still rapping. You gotta sign to somebody that don’t wanna be the person that you are or don’t want to hold you down to not get bigger than them. You sign to another rapper it’s always a hidden agenda there.”

There have been “plenty of times” when label-owning rappers have attempted to ink deals with 600Breezy, but he said he’s had to turn them down. “If it’s like, a rapper that’s not rappin’ no more or don’t really care about it, it’d be cool,” he continued. “But not an active rapper. Everybody seen me with Drake all the time. I wasn’t signed to Drake, bro. ‘Cause at the end of the day, he’s still an artist. If I signed to him, he’s gon’ sign me to a label. I would have other people over and it ain’t gon’ be like I’m dealing with him. He’s still on the road doing shows, making albums. So, if you sign to him and he’s really who you singed to and you gotta do the professional part, too, they ain’t gon’ get nowhere ’cause he gotta focus on himself.”

Another mistake that artists make is “taking bullsh*t deals” like “360s.” Artists who take advances for a number of albums over a certain number of years is also something that he warns against. “That’s where everybody f*ck up at.” Watch 600Breezy talk about Drake and share other thoughts about the industry below.

Prior to being known as The Lox, the New York hip hop group went by The Warlocks. Sheek Louch, Styles P, and Jadakiss endured a name change at the hands of Sean “Diddy” Combs when he inked a deal with them in 1995, and they were happy to adjust because it was during a time when Bad Boy Records was in its prime. 

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However, years later, The Lox members were ready to leave Bad Boy because their more hardcore rap style wasn’t blending well with the label’s creative direction. They did their best to legally be released from their contract, but Jadakiss reveals what led to Diddy finally letting the rappers move on with their careers with Bad Boy in their rearview.

Jadakiss took a trip down memory lane with HipHopDX and revisited some 1990s moments. “[Diddy] just changed our name and just walked out the room,” Jadakiss said with a smile. “At that time he was like MJ in his prime so it was like, everything he said was golden so we was young hungry whippersnappers coming from Yonkers. He knew a lot about marketing and said Warlocks wasn’t marketable and Lox was more marketable.”

Then, he shared how The Lox managed to break ties with the label. “It was probably after the argument with Diddy,” Jadakiss revealed. “When Styles threw the chair at Puff. I ain’t sure, but that was probably the last straw for that. Prior to that we was…conversations amongst the group and things of that nature, but after that little incident happened, I think that’s when we decided to part ways.”

Watch the rapper’s full clip below and listen to how his friend was responsible for giving him his rap moniker.