A Bidding War Has Started Over Rapper-Producer Michael Barber; Death Row, G-Unit Involved

Online, November 1, 2010 (Newswire.com) - Universal Musician, Michael Barber, who is not looking for another record deal, has found himself in a bidding war that he doesn't want himself involved with. The estranged musician, who became a trending topic on twitter this past July with the release of his free music album, "The Purple Aces Project", has a P and D deal with Universal Records via Hoopla Media Group. Hoopla Media Group is set to release his soundtrack to his hip hop based movie, Shotguns and Canned Goods, and did put out the lead single featuring Nappy Roots last week online of the same name.

The buzz behind the bidding war is over the distribution of his upcoming releases including another "free release" on Christmas Day, the third installment of his Motion Picture Mayhem series. The self proclaimed, Irish Jesus, has all of the major labels buzzing.

Barber's fan base grew mainly online from the release of his two movie based mix tapes. He released volume 1 in 2008, and after it shut down torrent sites, Barber was a heavy sought after artist. His second installment gave him more of a commercial success, as Jonathan Hay who signed him to Universal Records, helped to promote this release. MPM2 was a featured torrent on www.Frostwire.com and it just recently hit the 250,000 download mark, as registered by sites online.

The true success came after Billboard reported that it had sold close to 17,000 copies after being a free release. Those numbers combined have been the key reason why many labels are seeking out the young prodigy.

The labels mentioned on Blogtalk radio included, Death Row Records, Amalgam Digital, Atlantic Records, G-Unit Records, and Slip and Slide Records.

Death Row seems like the front runner as Barber was in LA last week, and Suge Knight who recently filed for Bankrupty, is interested in signing Barber and creating a new label. He seems to like Barber's no BS attitude as he is known for calling out people like Mike Posner, Joe Budden, The Black Eyed Peas, Charles Hamilton, and is known for destroying Asher Roth's image.

Wolfson Publications mentioned online that Death Row via a Suge Knight deal is a very real chance.

The 2nd label courting Barber, maybe for his production skills, as he has scored two movies is 50 Cent's label G-Unit via Interscope. Thisis50.com had Barber featured on the site, and Barber has many comparisons to 50 including calling out names and not backing down. 50 seems to enjoy the politics behind Barber as an artist.

Slip and Slide Records has also showed interest, A and R Otha "Vakseen" Davis III, has shown an outspoken interest in Barber, who currently lives in Florida, and did a strip club tour in 2009 that featured the likes of Flo-Rida, Trick Daddy, and Uncle Luke.

Barber seems calm (or unaware) of his recent status. His main rep was in LA last week, and the only thing seen from Barber was that he is in the studio with the Philly Rock Band, Chemical Dependency, working on new material. Barber has been a difficult person to interview over the years, turning down offers, and being just flat out strange in others. Barber is credited with writing over 800 songs since 2008, and now working with guitarist, Josh Tifer, of Chemical Dependency, it seems that a lot of doors will open.

Barber was in a short relationship with TV network host, Danielle Fishel in 2009, before a second stint in rehab. He is also known for a failed deal at Sony Records, in which he failed to give up his publishing rights. He also has sponsorships with Affliction Clothing, Miller High Life, and was once with Ed Hardy.

All the labels seem ready to court Barber, but he seems to just want to create music. He stated with Kings of Kings Dallas radio, "I just want to make music, not worry about who I am f*cking, the color of my skin, or who I call out. Yeah, I call people out, but I do so because I have a reason."

Barber continued in the same interview when asked about his current label situation,"I have the Universal album ready, and we are going to start filming the videos. I have three albums done, wrapped up, and yes I have people looking into getting distribution and what not from them, but I am just gonna be happy to release them. That is the day and age we live in, I can have a song done at 11:30 and it is on the net by 11:35. I thank all my fans, who help support me, but I don't really need a machine behind me."

Only time will tell which label will pick up Barber's next project, but based on numbers alone, it probably won't be long.

Related Media