There used to be this ideology that if you wanted to make it big in the music industry, you needed to be signed to a major record label. I mean how else were you supposed to get noticed, right? The majors put several marketing dollars behind your project, introduce you to people you wouldn’t otherwise meet, and give you a platform to spread your music — but only if they want to.

Over the last several years, certain artists began to realize this predicament and managed to garner great success without a major label behind them. Check out 10 artists who did so at one point in their career after the break!

1. Mac Miller

Mac Miller was signed to an independent record label in Pittsburgh called Rostrum Records where he released his number 1 album Blue Slide Park independently. Mac recently parted ways with Rostrum, however him and his business partner Q have their own label called REMember Music, so we expect Mac’s indie success to continue to grow.

2. Tech N9ne

Strange Music’s own Tech N9ne has garnered an impressive amount of success as an indie artist. He’s released over 10 albums since 2000, headlined multiple tours in the last several years, and has a cult-like fan base, which doesn’t go unnoticed. Tech N9ne is the epitome of independent success.

3. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

What is there to say about these 2. They just swept the Grammy’s, have 3 multi-platinum selling singles, a platinum selling album, and they did all of it independently. Say what you want about these 2 stars, but they’ve done what several artists dream of doing.

4. Nipsey Hussle

Residing on the Left Coast, Nipsey Hussle changed the game with his recent Crenshaw campaign that left major labels confused. Capitalizing on his core fan base’s loyalty towards him, Nip successfully sold all 1,000 copies of his Crenshaw mixtape for $100.00 a piece. And he did this independently with no help from a major. Enough said.

5. Dom Kennedy

Another West Coast artist who’s achieved great independent success is Dom Kennedy who just released his new album Get Home Safely. With no major push behind him, Dom was able to get his stellar project in stores and he also locked in a nationwide tour, which he’s currently on.

6. Freddie Gibbs

After once being signed to Jeezy’s CTE imprint, Indiana’s own Freddie Gibbs recently became an independent artist. Not seeing eye-to-eye with Jeezy made this an easy decision for the gritty street rapper, and hopefully now he’ll be able to achieve the indie success he’s capable of.

7. Chamillionaire

The H-Town has birthed several of hip hop’s greats and to not include Chamillionaire on that list is ignorant. Many only think of “Riding Dirty” when it comes to Cham, but since then, he’s been on an independent take over. With his Chamilitary fan base being as strong as it is, the Houston OG has been able to release project after project and perform constantly across the country.

8. Hopsin

Hopsin is necessary in today’s culture because he’s very outspoken, his style’s unique, and most importantly he’s talented. Since signing with the independent label Funk Volume, Hop has achieved major success and a large part of that is thanks to his die hard fan base.

9. Tha Dogg Pound

Daz Dillinger and Kurupt, better known as Tha Dogg Pound, released their debut album Dogg Food in 1995. Before Mac Miller released Blue Slide Park, the West Coast duo were the only ones to have a number 1 album independently. From there, the close affiliates of Snoop Dogg went through some internal issues, but still achieved great success.

10. 50 Cent 

After having one of the most successful careers in the music industry as a major artist, 50 Cent has recently parted ways with Aftermath/Shady/Interscope in order to become an independent artist with a distribution deal under Caroline/Capitol. 50 has had several issues with Interscope in the last 4-5 years in regards to his 5th studio album, so now that he’s a free agent, it’s time for the G-Unit general to take over once again.