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For decades now, artists have been getting pimped and played by the music industry. The meshing of business and pleasure can often be an exploitative relationship for the creative party as the business person simply seeks to make money—at your expense.
Which is why artists with success stories are so hard to find. But they do exist. And sometimes they appear in unexpected places. When we think of singer and songwriter Teedra Moses, we realize that perhaps she didn’t have the career her talent would have warranted. Still, thanks to her pen game, she’s doing alright.
While I knew Moses was the mind behind her own songs, I didn’t know that she also penned Christina Milian’s 2004 hit “Dip It Low.”
This week, during its fifteenth anniversary, Moses shared some insight about the release of the record, how it changed her life and the importance of ownership in the music business.
5 years ago #ChristinaMiliana released #DipitLow on this day. (Video styled by my bestest friend @nonjamckenzie ) Months after I learned what it meant to own your own publishing. I didn’t have a place for my kids and i to live when this record dropped. My children where staying with their grandmother and i was sleeping on couches. I will never forget that next January when the 1st @bmi check came showing payments for Dip It Low… the first check alone was $349,000 and every three months after big ass checks would come in. More work started to come and my financial situation changed drastically. Moral to the story is #OWNERSHIP!!! I have been in countless situations where i could have sold my publishing and got the money i needed to help me out of a bad financial situation but i never did. Now I not only own my publishing but i have started to retain ownership of the masters of any music i put out. Labels will find anyway not to pay you but when they are simply distributors and they NEVER gave you a dime to make your music… when its time to pay you there is NO BULLSHIT! All they can do is RUN ME MY MONEY!! I NEVER cared about fame but i ALWAYS cared about my bag and the healthiness of such bags! Independence ain’t for everybody but i realised that its the only real way for an artist like me to get the money I work for… #period#blackmosesmusic@blackmosesmusic#RasNTajPublishing#publishing#independentart#gangstaDontCryWeBang#GOODSundayMorning
There were some who were confused by the role Moses played in the creation of this song. So in the comment section, she shared that she wrote the lyrics and arranged the vocal melody. And if you’re familiar with her work, then you can clearly tell that this is her style.
Throughout her career, Moses has written for Macy Gray, Trina, Teairra Mari, Nivea, Raphael Saadiq and Mary J. Blige.
