Rocking in a Free World

Still, he adds, breaking new music is the independent’s main role in the industry. “The majors aren’t developing artists anymore. They’re looking for those artists who are selling 100,000 units on their own, because it’s a safe risk. They just try to make them a 300,000-seller or better.”

Rhymesayers’ highest-profile group, hip-hop duo Atmosphere, blew up nationally beginning in 2002, selling more than 200,000 copies of its CD Seven’s Travels, and receiving offers from several major labels—which it turned down. Atmosphere’s newest record, When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold, was the number-five bestseller nationwide in the last week of April.

"We spend just as much money as we make in most years," Sayers says.

“If we can achieve the same things, there’s not much reason to sign our artists to a major,” Sayers says. “Maybe they’d be a gold or a platinum artist right now if they were on a major label. But maybe they wouldn’t. Before, you knew if you got signed to a major label, that meant your video was going to be on rotation 24/7, your song’s going to be on the radio 24/7, you’re going to be plastered all over the place. And that’s changing.”

As its fan base grew, Atmosphere brought label mate Brother Ali on the road with them. In 2007, Ali’s album The Undisputed Truth was released to critical acclaim, garnering the label another flurry of local and national press. Now Rhymesayers is in a position to groom another up-and-comer to tour with Brother Ali.

But while Rhymesayers has grown into one of the most reputable independent hip-hop labels in the country, money remains tight. “We spend just as much money as we make in most years,” Sayers says. “At the end of the day, our success isn’t a business model. Our success is our artists. We’re fortunate to have a faithful following that’s more in tune with the concept of supporting something that’s independent.”