Chocolate City in collaboration with 100 Crowns, Martell and Continued Ent. surprised us with an Official MARTELL CYPHER  . People are still digesting the content of the cypher but many have already expressed an opinion on whether they think the cypher was dope or not. In my opinion, i think the cypher lived up to all expectations , all the featured rappers came out smoking . When you have a Legend like M.I , a veteran like Aq and Loose , and a rapidly growing brand like Blaqbonez , you really do not expect anything less.

For me , regardless of whether the rappers were dope or not i saw this from a business perspective and i think people missed the point. The point is M.I and Choc city are fighting for rappers to get paid for the features they do with brands . They are challenging other brands to ensure that whenever rappers are used for commercials , they should ensure they have a budget to cater for the rappers needs . It’s more like a campaign rather than an actual cypher or battle rap. I see it as a healthy competition between MARTELL and the other brands who supposedly do not pay acts for what they do for them . I really commend M.I and his team for their forward thinking.

I have always championed the cause that acts who get featured in projects should get royalties or compensation regardless of how small their contributions are . So long as you find a persons talent sufficient enough to be exploited , you need to pay for their services . Gone are the days where we would leverage on the fact that you are providing a platform as an excuse to cheat others. People have real needs and situations they are facing and their work of art need to pay their bills . Read more

Unfortunately , the same rappers who Choc city are opening up the market for are the same rappers that have come out to criticize the cypher for not being dope enough or off-the-top. In my Opinion , that is completely missing the point .

Fuck the industry , I pay Payola with suitcases – AQ