Was Brooklyn MC Joell Ortiz dropped from Hip Hop power label Aftermath?
According to label mate Bishop Lamont, he very well may have been. In a recent interview with HoodHype, Lamont said Ortiz might have been dropped after expressing his [Ortiz] grief with some of the label execs over the web and in interviews.
"From what I heard, I think he got dropped--don't quote me-- but I think dude got dropped because of the whole Interscope thing."
Last November, in an interview with XXL Mag, Joel said he didn't feel as if he was wanted at Interscope citing word of a possible release.
“First, Aftermath called and said that Jimmy Iovine doesn’t want me there…I don’t even know Jimmy Iovine. I never even met him. [They said] ‘I don’t know what’s going on with Aftermath. The word is that they thinkin’ ’bout letting you go.’ I’m like, ‘Let me go? I got all this buzz, putting out good records, I’ve got XXL covers on my own!’ This information was comin’ from within Aftermath,” Ortiz told XXL late last year.
"What he said wasn't wrong," said Bishop. "But what Joel didn't have a chance to experience coming in-- was the politics that go on in any label. He felt that it was something personal--that's business." Bishop continued.
Ortiz was officially signed to Dr. Dre's Aftermath imprint in the Summer of 2006.
In 2003 Ortiz won the EA Sports Livestyle MC battle landing him a spot on the NBA Live 2005 soundtrack as well as a record deal with Jermaine Dupri’s So So Def. However, the So So Def deal never materialized.
In 2007, Joell released The Brick through Kotch Records. N
No official word has emerged regarding Ortiz's situation with Aftermath.
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Originally Posted by .El Che.
