Oh, the music industry.
Let's start with Lupe Fiasco, shall we?
I read this article last week after a close friend of mine was telling me how excited she was about Lupe's new album "L.A.S.E.R.S." In order for Atlantic records to release his record, he was "forced to create" songs that he didn't like- namely, the lead single "The Show Goes On."
“That was one of those records the record company gave me, [they even gave me] stuff they wanted me to rap about. … At that point, I was just drained. I was like, ‘Whatever. Another song, another day, another dollar.” said Fiasco. “I had to do ‘Show Goes On,’ that was like the big chip on the table. I had to do it and it had to be the first single if the record was going to come out.”
That's some of the biggest bullshit I've heard in a long time- from both ends of the argument, really. Record companies obviously don't care about the artist anymore if this is happening- they merely care about how much money they're going to make off of a particular record and artist. This is why we don't see any conscious hip-hop in the mainstream- because even though these huge labels have the power to promote records that bring out issues within society, the labels push the bullshit "gansta rap" that sells to suburban teenagers, with their black Escalades and their houses that all look the same.
And, on top of that, there's Nick Valensi's (he plays guitar) comments on how "awful" the making of the new Strokes album was, which is really unfortunate in my opinion. His issues really have more to do with how the album was actually made than how it sounds, but he did say that that he feels like they have a better album in them, and that he wants it to come out soon (which, again, would be rad. I do love The Strokes).
What's the point of releasing an album you don't completely love? As a musician, I know that I wouldn't release a record to the public unless I knew that I enjoyed every single song on the record. If you don't love it, that means you're not putting much effort into it, and that means it's not going to be your best work.
On a nicer, unrelated note: The Beach Boys are releasing "The Smile Sessions" sometime this year, a 44- year old unfinished album that was shelved. Should be pretty neat.
One last thing- a bit of shameless self-promotion. My band with my brother and Pat Testa, Cute Machines has a free show Tuesday night at Café Prytania for WestFest, which is a bunch of free shows for bands headed to SXSW. It's FREE and it's going to be totally rad, so you should show up. Doors are at 9, music starts at 10, and you'll be home by midnight so you can get some sleep before class on Wednesday morning.
I completely agree with you. Lupe claims to have given in to the record companies as if he had no control. Perhaps he thinks this move will save him from coming across as a sell out but there is no hiding it when you write music because people tell you to write it.
ReplyDeleteAnd as for The Strokes, I have been a very loyal fan since 2005 and for them to evolve from such a close knit friendship to openly talking about the internal relationships within the band just makes it seem like their musical chemistry is gone. Which sucks because they had so much of it. I mean I'm listening to Angles now and it's good but you can hear the absence of that special Strokes texture. But that's what happens with musicians over time. They're people too and people change.