Rapper Big Boi has taken aim at his former record label bosses at Jive, insisting music executives "almost tried to kill" his career by repeatedly delaying his new solo album.
The OutKast star switched labels from Jive Records to Def Jam after bosses admitted they were unsure how to promote his new album, Sir Luscious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty.
He is convinced Jive heads wanted to force him into either reworking the record into an OutKast album or doubling up his solo disc with his bandmate Andre 3000's own material, as the duo had done with their hit 2003 project Speakerboxxx/The Love Below.
Big Boi tells The New York Times, "They kept saying, 'OK, we're going to put it (the album) out.' 'We're not going to put it out.' 'The album is coming this day!' 'No, it's not.' Or when I was going out of town to shoot videos, they were like, 'No, the budget's not cleared.'"
And the rapper claims Jive purposely held up his negotiations with Def Jam bosses in a bid to keep him from signing with a rival label, insisting they were "trying to wait something out that wasn't going to happen".
He adds, "There were a lot of Jedi mind tricks going on... They almost tried to kill my career with that waiting."