Mac Miller and Soulja Boy: Independent Rappers With A Mission

In January, Mac Miller split ways with his long-time label 'Rostrum Records'.

At the time, it was unclear whether or not Mac would sign with a big label, most of which would dream to have the young rapper with a devoted following on their roster.

To everyone's surprise, Mac stayed completely independent and inked a television deal with MTV featuring his 'Most Dope Family'.

On the other end of the rap spectrum, Soulja Boy (who has a net worth of $25 million) has his own independent label called SODMG.

So how do these young artists handle a booming rap career by themselves? Well, the most important part of the equation for these two is that they get to produce the music they want, with no label influence. In addition, their schedules are up to them, so if they feel like going on tour, no problem.

If they feel like taking off to Bermuda for 6 weeks to smoke and ride jet-skis (a-la Entourage), that is completely their decision too.

Mac Miller even released an entire album without any label support and whereas it certainly did not get the same attention as previous albums, 'Faces' did very well.

To many up and coming rappers who are dying to get noticed by big labels, the independent route is an attractive option these days. Keep the majority of the revenue from your music and do things at your own pace. Sounds nice. Of course the flip side is gathering enough exposure in order to reap those kinds of benefits.

We will have to watch and see if these guys ever fold back into a label deal or if they'll remain independent. However, if they're smart about their careers, they can probably live very comfortably the rest of their lives.

For guys like Mac Miller, who have become increasing strange with their persona and music, sometimes a major label can keep them focused. So what do you think, should these guys remain independent?