Rapper L-tido made the unpopular choice of staying an independent artist when it wasn't fashionable to do so and now when most artists are following his trail‚ he announced that he signed to Universal Music‚ shocking most of Mzansi.

Speaking to TshisaLIVE‚ L-tido explained the motivation behind his decision and why he's always moving against the wind.

"Firstly‚ this ain't the normal artist to record label contract. It's more of a partnership and it took over five months to negotiate it with them. I feel we came to an understanding with Universal‚ you know... like I was absolutely happy when I eventually signed."

But why would he give up independence? Was it about the guap?

"It was something that I couldn't resist. They say that everybody has a price and basically the offer from Universal was amazing and really hard to resist. But above all‚ it's all about the music.

"I can't obviously discuss the details of the contract but it's not a normal artist contract. The fact that it took five months to put together should tell you how much work had to go into it. They gave me a contract and I changed everything I wasn't happy with‚ then they tailored it specifically for me. It's not a standard contract‚" L-tido said.

These days the headlines are dominated by artists announcing their independence from record labels and it seems to be the popular move.

L-tido's deal highlighted the fact that part of the reason he's still standing‚ 10 years into his career‚ was because he doesn't follow the trends.

"Yeah‚ I'm not following what everyone else is doing; I'm doing me at the end of the day. You can't just follow people; you gotta do what makes sense for you. For me‚ I know that if I went to a label when I started I would have never got this kind of deal right now. Even when we negotiated a contract‚ now I could prove that I've put in the work‚ I'm consistent and I have longevity as an artist."

He got tons of congratulatory messages from his industry mates.