It seems to me the curse of any company or project that begins with controversy or edginess as a cornerstone of their image. It's easy to have a f--- it all attitude when there's nothing on the line. As the company grows, people's lives and fortunes start to depend on the company. The loose-cannon founder who was great for attracting initial attention starts to become a liability who seems totally willing to crash the whole thing.
It is funny you mention this in regards to RapGenius because I always thought about how difficult this transition is for rappers themselves. If you build an audience as a rapper talking about the struggle then its difficult to maintain that once you've become wealthy. There are only two options that I've seen - 1. Leverage the money and fame to switch to a different line of work. ie. Dr. Dre, 50 Cent, Ice Cube. or 2. Disregard the money and stay in the struggle (I think people only take this route if they have mental issues.) ie. DMX. I'd take option 1 everytime but unfortunately its not an option for some.
Yea I think that's true for musicians. I saw a Jimmi Hendrix interview about singing the blues when you are no longer poor. He said that sometimes the more money you have, the more blues you can sing! I thought that was pretty interesting.
