Wati Heru "365"

"I'm independent till I fuckin' die"

You listen to podcasts? I love them. Especially podcasts that cover true-crime. I'm sure you've heard of Serial, if not I would highly recommend the first season. Anyways, lately I've been absolutely addicted to a true-crime podcast called Sword and Scale; a bi-weekly production that covers everything from serial killers to mothers hacking up their children for inconvenience (yes this actually happened).

So what do crime podcasts have to do with this rapper Wati Heru? Well, the masterminds that produce Sword and Scale have great taste in music (in my personal opinion). Each episode has a section of what is normally electronic, dance, or hip-hop beats that play after the host, Mike Boudet, talks briefly about what is coming up.

As I was listening to a random episode last night I couldn't help but dig the beat that was chosen for the episode I was listening to. Fortunately, the people at SAS reference what music was used in each episode. So I searched it and found it. Sweet. But to my surprise it wasn't just the beat; this dude was rappin' on it. Enter Wati Heru.

I've never heard of Wati Heru until literally last night. And I can't really find much on him except that he's from New York City and is pretty intent on doing shit his own way. Like he states very clearly from the beginning, "I'm independent till I fuckin' die" after chanting "No 360, 365". 

360? 365? What the hell does that mean?


Without going too much into it, basically, from what I have gathered, it's a type of record deal, called a "360 deal" in which the label signs an artist and books shows, manages, and provides support for the artist. However, the label is somehow involved with all aspects of the artist's sponsors, such as merchandise, touring, endorsements, media appearances...everything pretty much. Long story short, it’s all about money the label can make and less about investing in the development of an artist or group. It has apparently become a stigma in the rap world.

But thank God we have guys like Wati Heru, who wastes no time in bashing the deal and announcing his view of the whole thing. Take a listen

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