Alongside chart success as an artist, Potter Payper is building his independent record company and creative consultancy 36 The Label.
The UK rap star is interviewed in the latest edition of Music Week.
36 The Label can already claim a Top 5 mixtape with Payper’s Thanks For Hating (23,625 sales to date – Official Charts Company), released in February this year, as well as critical acclaim for its championing of authentic talent
As an artist, Payper was previously signed to 0207 Def Jam, who released his 2021 mixtape Thanks For Waiting (No.8 peak 43,864 sales) and 2023 debut album Real Back In Style. Its No.2 peak brought his highest chart placing to date, and the album has currently sold 45,662 copies.
36 The Label is home to artists such as AB, Fee Gonzales, Twin S, KayMuni and KB, alongside Payper, whose own releases are supported by his partnership with EGA Distro. The rest of the acts on 36 The Label have distribution support from Virgin Music Group, a result of a deal he signed with EGA founder Colin Batsa while he was in his previous role at Virgin.
The label has a small team of five, all recruited by Payper, who is president, CEO, creative director and head of A&R. His business partner Jess Bridgman is the label’s vice president, director and head of marketing. Jeffrey Owusu-Dankwa (who also works for Payper’s management company Groundworks) leads A&R, with Jackson Cabulo serving as junior A&R. Legal and business affairs are fronted by Alex Hinton.
“I made it my business to cultivate relationships with members of the team and to try and be mentored by them, even if they didn’t know that they were mentoring me,” said Potter Payper. “I would always be a sponge in that sense, trying to soak up as much information as I could.”
Here, Potter Payper opens up about his aspirations for 36 The Label and his own role as a label executive…
During the label’s formative years, have there been any examples of successful labels or companies that you took inspiration from?
“I’ve always drawn inspiration from Gucci Mane and other entrepreneurs like 50 Cent with G-Unit, Slim Shady with Shady Records, Jay-Z. These are rappers who were signed and then created their own labels. In England there hasn’t been a lot of that, so I get a lot from the American examples. Most recently, Yo Gotti and Collective Music Group have been flipping the script, signing all the hottest artists in the game. I study Lyor Cohen a lot and the moves he’s made. I see the plays on the business side and that makes me hungrier than spitting lyrics does. Spitting lyrics is just my way to get there.”
Have you always had a keen eye and ear for how deals and contracts in the industry actually work?
“Only since about 2021 when I started working with 0207 Def Jam. Around that time I was getting a lot of brand deals and feature agreements, so was signing off on a lot of stuff. And I just made it my job in business to be across everything, to start trying to understand the litigation and then apply that aggressive style of business that I had from being in the streets at age 13. The little monster I was grew to become a fully-fledged monster.”
I see the plays on the business side and that makes me hungrier than spitting lyrics does
Potter Payper
How would you define your methodology when it comes to signing acts?
“The number one thing I look for [when signing] an artist is whether they can rap. Are they really saying something or is it just more generic stuff that will be here today, gone tomorrow. I look for substance. If I see myself in them that’s a good and a bad thing. I’m looking for my negative traits in you so we don’t have to waste my time or everyone else’s. Because yes, it’s my label, but really and truly it’s built off the backs of my team. They carry all of the workload. We all came together and it was very natural and organic, either through the love of Potter Payper or our other artists.”
What do you think these artists are looking for from you?
“I’d like to think it’s not just a feature or a co-sign. Because if you’re good at rapping, I can give you that anyway. I put everything into this label, I don’t clock off. So if I sign you, I’m investing a lot into you. If I’m not making music myself, I’m in the studio with these artists or I’m on the phone to them, or in their video. KB is one of my very close friends and I’ve known him for more than 15 years. Same for AB; he has a very dear place in my heart. And KayMuni I see as the next Potter Payper – he’s going to be massive.”
How do you feel new artists can actually cut through in 2024?
“I have learned that there are two ways to break an artist. One is through an organic fanbase. Cultivating real fans and a following over time, and then that builds into a machine like my own fanbase. The other way is you can put a lot of money into an artist, get a big budget and make them look slicker than they are so that people will believe it and fall for it.”
By the end of your five-year plan what do you want to have achieved with 36?
“We’re going to build a catalogue. We’re going to release a compilation project, 36 The Legacy, hopefully by the end of 2024 and that’s going to be big. I’ll be happy as long as music is sustaining the artists I work with and we’re putting them in a position where they can make legal money. Every artist has their own individual fanbase and that relatability. So, if artists other than Potter Payper are doing good numbers, then we’re absolutely made. By 2025-26 I think it will be a whole different conversation that we’re having. I look forward to that conversation.”
Subscribers can read the full Potter Payper interview here.
PHOTO: Prince Atender/Groundworks
