Elektra spent an estimated $250,000 to film a Tow Down music video -- featuring him behind the wheel of an orange Mercedes modeled on a car from the "Dukes of Hazzard" TV show -- and to fly him to meet radio programmers at a Miami convention.
But the relationship quickly soured. Rap radio programmers didn't like the song and the label seemed to lose interest. Tow Down recalled that a label executive once called and left a message inquiring how "Low Down" was doing. Elektra soon notified Tow Down that it would not release the album.
"Some things connect, and some things don't. Unfortunately, this didn't," said Elektra's chairwoman, Rhone.
Tow Down is still living off his Elektra advance and is busy performing back at his Houston haunts. One of his latest songs accuses the staff of his former label of being "amateurs" who subsist on sales of the decades-old Eagles catalog.
Like Interscope, Universal Records also made a run at developing a white rapper -- New York-based Genovese.
A rap fan since the fifth grade, Genovese performed at clubs and appeared on tapes circulated in New York's rap underground. But it wasn't until a few months after Eminem's 1999 debut, Genovese said, that a major label expressed interest.
Universal paid the Yonkers performer a five-figure advance and spent more than $200,000 on marketing and a music video shot in New York's Little Italy, playing off of Genovese's Italian roots. Label executives also introduced him to East Coast radio programmers and pitched him to rap magazines.
The first song from Genovese's "My America" album garnered modest airplay in various markets, including Phoenix. But based on the tepid early response, Universal decided not to release the album.
"You come so far, and then you get sent back," said the 26-year-old rapper, whose full name is Joseph Genovese. "I still haven't gotten a shot." Today, as he tries for another record deal, Genovese performs in local music clubs. He recently appeared at a theater in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
"We felt Genovese was a tremendous talent. And we're frustrated the marketplace didn't respond better," said Universal Records President Monte Lipman, who took the helm after Genovese was signed. "At the end of the day, people respond to music. People don't buy Eminem because he's a white rapper. People buy Eminem because he makes great music."
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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)
White rhymers
Most rap stars are black artists, but Eminem has sold more albums than any other solo artist in rap music history. Record labels have signed white rappers to try to copy his success, but their sales have been disappointing.
* Eminem
Three albums released on Interscope Records.
Sales: 19.8 million copies
* Bubba Sparxxx
One album released on Interscope Records.
Sales: 600,000 copies
* Tow Down
Two albums released on D.I.M.E. Records; dropped by Elektra Records.
Sales: 15,675 copies
* Genovese
Album never released; dropped by Universal Records.
Sales: 0
* Hot Karl
Album never released; let out of contract by Interscope Records.
Sales: 0
Sources: SoundScan, record labels
