Young T & Bugsey are in a formidable position thanks to the “valuable ears” of their management and record label, the rap duo have said.
The Nottingham rappers recently celebrated the platinum certification of their Strike A Pose single. Featuring Aitch, from Manchester, the track has 607,566 sales to date and, with a No.9 peak, is their highest chart entry so far.
Black Butter signed Young T & Bugsey in 2016 and they are managed by Kilo Jalloh and Moe Bah’s 2K Management company.
“Right now, I don’t know another management like them with that type of roster. They really work with their artists, it’s not rushing or putting out this or this, everything is thought about,” said Bugsey.
J Hus and producer JAE5 are also part of the 2K roster, something Young T & Bugsey said they benefit from.
“It all happens in house. JAE5 does most of the mixing on our tunes, there are so many valuable ears,” Bugsey continued. “We can make a song and there are people around us who do what we do, who get the music we make.”
Young T added: “They’re are really good at building a structure, most of the artists are on the same label as us and they’ve seen that they can build that structure [and achieve success].”
Most labels sign artists off a hit or the buzz, when we got signed we weren’t necessarily super-duper hot
Bugsey
Young T said that Black Butter felt like a natural fit from the start.
“We didn’t really know much about labels, everything was new. We knew it was an investment for them, they saw a long-term future. Hence why we’re still here,” he explained. “We were grinding and grinding and releasing songs, and even when they weren’t doing the best or performing as [well as] other artists, they were with us and knew it was for the long run and they were right.”
The pair praised Black Butter, run by co-presidents Henry Village and Joe Gossa, and the path they mapped out.
“They’ve fully equipped us and we’re just ready now,” said Bugsey. “They’ve done a really good job. Most labels sign an artist off a hit or the buzz, when they signed us we weren’t necessarily super-duper hot. They took a risk because they believed in us and it’s paid out to what it is.”
Young T & Bugsey have 2,661,577 monthly listeners on Spotify. They released Don’t Rush last month. It peaked at No.27 in the singles chart and has 83,713 sales to date.
The rappers revealed plans to invest in the development of Nottingham’s grassroots music scene, which enabled them to learn the ropes ahead of breakout single Glistenin’ in 2016.
“We just want to get to that stage where we’re able to help out musically, there are so many artists there, so many other people that we grew up with making music,” said Young T. “Luckily we were able to put our foot through the door. There are so many other artists who can contribute, even in other art forms, that we can help. It’s about getting to that stage where we can give that platform.”
Read Young T & Bugsey’s full Music Week On The Radar interview here. To subscribe and never miss a music biz story, click here.
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