Vado Explains Interscope Departure

Vado has been pretty quiet ever since signing to Interscope Records in 2011. His new mixtape Slime Flu 3 has been in the making for several months and it was pretty obvious that fans believed him and Interscope aren’t on the same page. In an interview with XXL, Cam’ron’s protege confirms that he has left the label. He also explains the reasons behind the move.

Kendrick Lamar Shakes Up The Super Bowl With Bold Drake Diss And Surprise Guests

Kendrick Lamar's Super Bowl 59 halftime performance was nothing short of legendary, leaving fans buzzing with surprise cameos and bold moments that took his long-running feud with Drake to new heights. Kicking off with an unreleased song snippet and followed by “Squabble Up” from his latest album GNX, Kendrick immediately set the tone for a game-changing performance. Fans eagerly waited to see if Kendrick would play his diss track Not Like Us, especially with Drake's ongoing lawsuit against him and his label for defamation and harassment. Lamar's performance included an unexpected appearance by SZA and a quirky cameo from Serena Williams, along with Samuel L. Jackson’s comedic interruptions, all building the suspense around the Drake drama. In the middle of his performance, Kendrick turned up the heat, looking straight into the camera and directly addressing Drake with his famous lyrics, “I heard you like them young," as fans held their breath. Despite the tension, Kendrick censored himself when it came time to call Drake a "certified lover boy" and avoided saying “pedophile,” which had been widely speculated. Social media lit up with mixed reactions, with some fans mocking the performance as a "mid mashup" and others noting the intense hostility toward Drake. With the hashtag #KendrickBowl trending, it’s clear that Kendrick’s performance was a cultural moment that pushed boundaries—but has he gone too far, or is this just another chapter in hip-hop history? Only time will tell, and Drake has yet to respond.

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XXL: Last we heard from you, you signed that Interscope deal. Soon after things got quiet.
The Interscope deal, if you want me to be honest with you, I feel like I shouldn’t have even went all the way to the West Coast. I feel I should’ve stayed grounded with the New York labels. They understand and know me so they know how to handle me, they know what to do. You go all the way over there; they don’t know what’s going on. So now, I gotta fix everything up and I gotta work with their music. It was just a whole big difference to the point that I had to ask for my walking papers.

Just like that, you were able to leave Interscope?
Yeah. They were really under construction over there anyway so, they were like, Aight well here you go; you’re welcome to leave. I’d rather leave on that note than getting dropped or something.
So contrary to the rumors, you weren’t dropped from the label.
Never. I was never dropped. They gave me too much money. I walked off. They gave me the opportunity to leave so I left. They [weren’t] helping me in no shape or form. For example, with Chief Keef, they just threw his album out there without even building it or nothing. Interscope is the type where you just got to do it on your own. So you know like, TDE is helping Kendrick, Game is doing everything on his own, from getting the features and beats and putting it out on his own, so it’s sort of like play at your own risk over there. So I had to get back over here. I’m not over there on the West, I’m over here with people that’s seen me grow up at these labels. This is where I wanna be and they want me here.
So at the end of the day, did the whole Interscope situation become a learning experience for you?
Yeah, most definitely. As far as for the haters, good talents like me can’t be off the market for too long. You’ll hear eventually, trust me.