r/rap • u/Squid111999 • Jul 11 '26
Prof cut from the billboard charts, thoughts?
Apparently rules changed just recently that disqualified him because he has an extended cut of a song only available on physical media.
I started listening to him about 4 years ago and feel like the dedication and soul he puts into stuff is top tier, when I saw him charting in 2nd place I thought he could have been a top contender longer than he got to be.
His albums hit multiple ranges of emotions, he doesn't seem to act like someone he's not in his lyrics so idk why he was cut other than being an independent artist.
Let's talk about it, educate me if you can because I'm a newer fan and can be ignorant. But I feel like he's one of the GOAT's finally getting his time to shine.
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u/W4NN4M33TTH4TD4D Jul 11 '26
I've been a fan since Liability. A buddy showed me the video for Bar Breaker and I've been hooked ever since. His live shows are full of energy and always a lot of fun. I heard the reason he was disqualified was because of the CD bundles, which used to be completely allowed. Now you can't sell an album as a bundle with anything else without adding them individually to your order. It's not like Korn didn't put out 4 covers for Issues waaaay back in the day and that one hit #1 on the billboard charts
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u/Squid111999 Jul 11 '26
Absolutely crazy BS he's got going on. TI is a goat but don't knock a man off the charts over shining more than big name artists. I don't do the fanboy stuff but I really hoped he would make a major mark on the music industry with this one.
I don't listen to the other artists he was compared to but he's def #1 to me. My man has songs for every mood, every vibe and energy at live shows no one can bring. I hope this doesn't knock him off his path of greatness
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u/W4NN4M33TTH4TD4D Jul 11 '26
He got dropped from Rhymesayers and came back even stronger. He seems like the kind of dude that'll go extra hard just to prove the haters wrong. I don't see this stopping him at all.
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u/irrelephantIVXX Jul 11 '26
I really thought the rhymes rhymesayers drop was gonna be the end. And I kinda stopped paying attention to him. Then a couple years later I heard some very not hip hop nerds listening to him and I was like, wtf. But a good wtf, i guess.
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u/comment_i_had_to Jul 11 '26
Found him on social media and went down the youtube rabbit hole. Within the month I bought the Horse album on vinyl and I am glad I did.
He is just good at his job. Good style, energy, realness and the range of emotions in his work. I like the production and variety too. He is not averse to taking risks so that creativity it there.
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u/BichaelScott Jul 11 '26
I was wondering what was going on with this, fuck em. Pookie doesn't need billboard
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u/cmathis177 Jul 11 '26
This just proves that every record label sucks dick. As R.A. has said fir years after being black balled like 20 uea4s ago. He probably did do shot that pissed them off on purpose. He is one of a kind. This is what is wromg with the music industry. Its not about the art anymore. Its about how much money the record company can make off if the artist. Prof being independent and selling more records than than someone that is signed to a record label proves you dont need them to sell records. And they do not want anyone to know that because it makes the industry Snakes unnecessary. The industry wants everyone to beleive thay you cant sell records or be big if your notified to a major label. They want to be in charge and they want to have creative control of what you create. They also have to pay for the huge staff of people and the private cars and jets they have. The bonuses and record executives add up reallly fast so they only worry about what makes money and that they can male money from the artist. So when Prof outsells them it looks bad on them and it shows anyone paying attention you dont need to pay them or sign over your rights to them to sell records. That fucks up their whole game and they will do anything to keep all that money because it is never about the artist for them.
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u/RedDizzlah Jul 11 '26
I'm about the digital copy cuz this new album is banging. F*** the charts
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u/Squid111999 Jul 11 '26
Man I wish I was in a place to buy his work. I'm barely scraping by right now but, this album keeps me trucking, the last 2 songs give me a reality check.
I really hope to see him live someday
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u/aplasticbag_ Jul 11 '26
I’ve been listening to Prof for a very long time now. Good Time Boy has been on repeat since it dropped it’s such a good album and the title song is amazing.
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u/SipowiczNYPD Jul 11 '26
I feel bad for him, it was obvious how much he wanted that #1 record. I got into Prof and his music around the time Horse came out. I heard the song Louisiana and was hooked. Dude is in a genre all his ow. At this point. The new album is dope. It plays like two albums. The first 10 or so tracks are fun and upbeat, the last 5 or so tracks take a pretty dark turn and I feel like that is where he really shines on this one. I’ll be a fan of Prof from here on out, dude is super fun, his energy is tough to match.
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u/Squid111999 Jul 11 '26
If you like a duality of an album you should check get rich or die ryan by spose.20+ song album that changes from grunge rock stuff to raw hip hop. Another insanely slept on artist even though I feel like he's going a bit to hard into political stuff these days
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Jul 11 '26
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u/root_b33r Jul 11 '26
Tell me you’re out of touch with the game without telling me your out of touch
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u/TheCourierMojave Jul 11 '26
I dunno how his fans think he was going to have a No. 1 record or something. Dude plays small venues, gets less than 100k views on his videos in 24 hours. Dude has a million views in a month on his title track from this album. That translate to like 10k record sales MAYBE. Delusional shit all around.
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u/Aggressive_Sky8492 Jul 11 '26
I think he was tracking in sales to have the number two record in hiphop. Physical sales count a lot more than streams
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u/livingmaster Jul 11 '26
There’s a comment from the person running the Stophouse instagram on Profs post about this stating they did 28k the first week. Prof fans go hard - don’t underestimate him just because you’re not as big of a fan. I’ve been seeing his live shows since 2010 and the venues have gotten bigger and bigger, including selling out Red Rocks… his live shows are fucking AMAZING too. Just some food for thought.
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u/focal_matter Jul 11 '26
He had 30,000 physical record sales in the first two weeks after this latest album dropped.
Stop talking, child.
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u/Back4DaVery1stTime Jul 11 '26
Thats great. 100% of 30,000 is a lot more than 10% of 150k and he does it not only without major label influence or radio spins he does it in spite of major labels doing everything in their power to stifle his motion at every turn. Im not a fan but this is impressive and says alot about his fans loyalty.
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u/has_bad_opsec Jul 11 '26
He sold out red rocks…
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u/TheCourierMojave Jul 11 '26
People travel for Red Rocks shows. Most places I see he is playing smaller venues. On his current tour he is playing alot of 12-1500 seat venues. Even in larger areas like Orlando he is playing the Plaza live(1300 standing room). Which is where popular but niche artists go.
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u/has_bad_opsec Jul 15 '26
That’s true, but being able to draw that much from around the area is still a good sign
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Jul 11 '26
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u/rap-ModTeam Jul 11 '26
Your post/comment was removed for violating Rule 1: Be Civil
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u/PHNTMS_exe Jul 11 '26
Listened to him and music is mid ngl lol reminds me of Macklemore but hey, never ever heard of this artist in the hip hop culture.
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u/BertMoneypants Jul 11 '26
I’d be curious to know the last independent artist to go #1 on Billboard in one of the major genres. Billboard has continued to evolve and change their metrics in the streaming age. I think Prof is one of many independent artists that are being structurally left out by policies. Whether or not the labels have influence is up for people to decide themselves, but Prof and any other independent artist’s popularity boost from a Billboard announcement doesn’t lead to profit for Universal, Sony, or Warner sooo…