Coach K and P Went Years Without Making Money Before Quality Control Records Took Off

Takeoff's Celebration of Life
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - NOVEMBER 11: *EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE * Kevin "Coach K" Lee and Pierre “P” Thomas speak onstage during Takeoff's Celebration of Life at State Farm Arena on November 11, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia. Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for TVG

Quality Control's leaders, Coach K (Kevin Lee) and P (Pierre Thomas), recently shared their story about running a record label, revealing that the journey wasn't always smooth.

Appearing on a new episode Lil Yachty's A Safe Place podcast that was released on Thursday (December 15), the QC bosses said that they operated at a loss for "years" - at least five, they clarified - before the label became profitable.

"When you in a place of independence, and you don't have budgets, or you don't have capital that you can use for these artists, you might go into [debt]," Coach K said. "I remember there was times me and P was like down almost to zero, but we had a record going. So we had to promote. We had to double down. If we double down, that'd take us back to zero. It's ebbs and flows. It's peaks and valleys."

P added: "You might have one artist that's making money, that you making profit with, but you got nine other artists that's not making no money. But you dreaming big and you trying to expand and make everybody grow because you're thinking big."

The entrepreneurs' belief in their dreams eventually paid off, and in March, the pair were honored with their own day in Atlanta.

The Georgia House of Representatives Office honored Coach K and P with a ceremony officially celebrating QC Day throughout the ATL on March 15.

"Quality Control's expansion into sports, film, and investment with several new wings of the media empire - QC Sports, Quality Films, and Quality Ventures. Spearheading their way through culture, Quality Control has become the modern-day blueprint for success in the industry," Representative Park Cannon wrote in a letter.

Watch Coach' and P's interview below.

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