Hot Karl, who keeps his hair spiky and wears black-rimmed glasses, said Interscope paid him a five-figure advance, plus $3,500 a month for living expenses. Interscope spent an estimated $400,000 to record Hot Karl's first album, in which he raps about Los Angeles nightclubs and pokes fun at gangsta rap and auction Web site EBay.
Last summer, after six months of waiting for the release of his album and the anticipated promotional campaign that would catapult him to stardom, Karl began to press label executives. When they told him the record wasn't ready, he asked to part ways.
Hot Karl, 23, said he recently signed a six-figure contract with record conglomerate EMI to write songs for himself and others. But Karl doesn't see himself taking center stage soon. Although labels routinely sign hot prospects only to drop them, Karl believes that other artists are given a better shot at success because the record companies are willing to show more patience.
"It seems like white rappers have to do it off the first single," Karl said. "The bar is so high, and if you don't come up to the bar, you don't have a career.... I wasn't really given the chance." Executives at Interscope declined to comment
Houston rapper Tow Down, whose real name is Bryan Theriot, has been trying to build a following for years.
Flavoring his raps with references to stylish cars, marijuana and country-western culture, Tow Down developed as a local hit in Houston's rap circles. He sometimes promoted his music by dropping in unannounced on radio disc jockeys broadcasting from other performers' concerts. Two years ago, he began persuading stations in Tyler, Texas, and Shreveport, La., to play one of the songs from an album he had recorded on his brother's tiny independent label.
On an earlier collection, produced by his brother, Tow Down was part of a trio of white rappers who tried to downplay their race by placing a photo of three middle-aged black men on their album cover.
The airplay on his solo record caught the attention of a talent scout at Elektra.
"When they found out I was white, it was like, 'Fly up here tomorrow and come hang out with us,' " Tow Down said.
Elektra flew him and three friends to New York, picked them up in a limousine and got them into the MTV Video Music Awards, he recalled. He soon signed a deal to release a single from his "By Prescription Only" album through Elektra, which made superstars of such rap artists as Missy Elliott and Busta Rhymes.
