As a rapper, Big K.R.I.T. has witnessed the lack of support given to artists, so he’s pushing for them to come together and start their own union. During a recent interview with Ebro Darden of Apple Music 1, the emcee provided a list of reasons to back his belief that artists should unionize.
“We were talking about a union before we got on this show,” K.R.I.T. explained. “And I was like, ‘Musicians have a union, most people have a union, why artists don’t have a union? I see mad artists they go through the process. They either have a hit record or they don’t. They get signed, they get dropped.”
“They break down, they get on drugs, they go to the streets,” he continued. “But there’s no collective to call and be like, ‘Hey, man. I need to go to rehab. Hey, man. I need help with these bills. I acquired too much. What’s a good lawyer I can go to? What is the deal I signed?’”
In K.R.I.T’s eyes, artists currently have no seat at the table for unions. Despite being excluded, however, he believes that they have enough resources to create their own table.
“I think we’re at a point now with all this information we have, and you got artists that I know made millions of dollars off of their deals, which I didn’t, but even they don’t want to be where they’re signed to so who do you talk to?” the Mississippi native explained. “How many people do you put together? How much money do you pay a month to unlock that information with OGs and we all can connect?”
He added that the collaboration would be beneficial as it would allow both veterans and newcomers to exchange valuable information and help each other along their musical journeys.
Watch Big K.R.I.T.’s Apple Music 1 interview below.