Miami, FL. – Over the course of the passing week,
speculations have been brimming all across the industry about Universal dismissing artists,
apparently they weren’t finished just yet. Word has it that Universal has dropped
yet another Miami based Hip-Hop group, the recently popular, Grind Mode. Longtime group members, Stage McKlezie, Chaos, and Hunger comprise
Grind Mode. They recently signed to Universal Republic through a joint venture with Dadetown, which is operated by heavyweight producer Bigg D. This news came abruptly as
rumors are still circulating.

Sources close to the group explains that there was a slightly
longer story behind the scenes that caused the immediate release from their
contract. Apparently, one of the group members was still signed under a
previous label dubbed Iconz
Entertainment and caused a conflict of interest when decision came to sign
with Universal, however that group member was allowed to be released from his
previous contract if they agreed to allow Gorilla Tek to produce tracks to make the album cut. Somewhere down
the line, those tracks that were agreed upon apparently wouldn’t make the cut
as promised. That enraged the execs at Iconz and they decided to take the
situation into legal matters. They filed a lawsuit against Grind Mode and the
participating parties, cause and effect, Universal released them from their
contract.

Ironically, their lead single, ‘I’m So High,’ sky-rocketed them
to the top of the charts, was a produced track from Gorilla Tek, as he laid the
foundation. However the single did not perform well on a national level and spins dropped dramatically. This is the 2nd group from Dadetown to get dropped from Universal. Check out their interview in our Next in Line Archives (Grind Mode), it might tell you something we didn’t.

Keep posted to 24hourhiphop.com
for updated news as this situation is still in the developing stages.