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Carl Crawford, the CEO of 1501 entertainment revealed that when he signed the “Hot Girl Summer” rapper, Megan Thee Stallion, he did not know much about the music business. Crawford and Megan Thee Stallion were earlier involved in a serious legal battle, that made them go their separate ways. Crawford spoke with Audiomack co- founder and veteran hip-hop media presence Brian Zisook about it and got into how much it affected him and his company.
When he signed Megan Thee Stallion, at the time that he allegedly did not know much about the music industry, she was in a 360 deal contract. A 360 deal means that the label gets a percentage of all of the streams of income artists can have. Merchandise, concerts, the music, of course, and more. Crawford admitted that such a deal he had with the Houston rapper Megan Thee Stallion was not the soundest, but is working and doing things that benefit his artists interests.
Fans of the rapper immediately took Megan’s side and blasted Crawford for trying tobkeep her trapped in a contract she no longer wanted to be in. “I went from being seenbas a hard-working athlete to the villain in music overnight,” he told Zisook. “I don’t letbanyone control what I’m doing anymore.”
According to Brian Zisook, Crawford invested $6M of his own money, built recordingbstudios, and signed artists straight out of his neighborhood, intending to shine a light onbthe talent in his hometown. Megan Thee Stallion became the breakout star Crawford sought, but their public fallout put 1501 under scrutiny. Crawford says their three-year- long legal battle cost him financially and made artists hesitant to sign with him. Megan Thee Stallion and her team are yet to respond to Crawford’s claims.
