It may not save Hip Hop, but it'll make me happy.
So as many of you already know, Kanye West and Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson will be releasing albums on the same day next month. Curtis has had kind of a bad past couple of months. All of the singles from his upcoming album have bricked all to hell, and this week he had a very public blow up at his label regarding the leaking of a video to the internet. All this combined with the circus surrounding the 'Kanye vs. Curtis' matchup has prompted Curtis to say this:
"If Kanye Sells More Records... I Won't Put Out Any More Solo Albums"
Now a lot of stuff could happen to make me a happy man that week. Kanye selling more records outright and Mr. Jackson keeping his word. Kanye outselling him and Curtis making a backpedaling statement to cover his ass. Curtis outselling Kanye initially, then getting caught up in a scandal involving his label or (better yet) G-Unit flunkies padding the sales of the album.
The only downside here is that it advocates the idea that sales are equal artistic merit, which is part of the problem with Hip Hop in the first place nowadays. All the 50 Cent/G-Unit fans out there tend to be the sort that respond to any criticism of the value of the actual music with, "Well, he's making more money with it, so whatever." As though the man were putting money into their pockets rather than bleeding it from them. Kanye, for all his conceited talk and all his temper tantrums about award shows has shown a pretty mature attitude about all this. When asked if he felt pressure or worry about possibly coming in behind 50 for sales, he said something to effect of he'd rather come in second on a day people talk about than first on a day no one remembers. Plus he has shown that when it's time for him to make music, he's more concerned with doing something different than what might be hot at the time. That's at least getting close to what it's supposed to be about. Memorable personalities, events and most importantly music.
Maybe, just maybe with one of the biggest proponents of 'sales=good music' out of the limelight there will be a bit of a shift in mindset among those in the mainstream.
Mostly though, I just don't want to ever hear another garbage ass record like 'Candy Shop' again.
Sorry about the long absence, but I've been busy. I've got a few surprises in the works, and Music Club is going to be back in a huge way. Just be patient and watch this space.
"If Kanye Sells More Records... I Won't Put Out Any More Solo Albums"
Now a lot of stuff could happen to make me a happy man that week. Kanye selling more records outright and Mr. Jackson keeping his word. Kanye outselling him and Curtis making a backpedaling statement to cover his ass. Curtis outselling Kanye initially, then getting caught up in a scandal involving his label or (better yet) G-Unit flunkies padding the sales of the album.
The only downside here is that it advocates the idea that sales are equal artistic merit, which is part of the problem with Hip Hop in the first place nowadays. All the 50 Cent/G-Unit fans out there tend to be the sort that respond to any criticism of the value of the actual music with, "Well, he's making more money with it, so whatever." As though the man were putting money into their pockets rather than bleeding it from them. Kanye, for all his conceited talk and all his temper tantrums about award shows has shown a pretty mature attitude about all this. When asked if he felt pressure or worry about possibly coming in behind 50 for sales, he said something to effect of he'd rather come in second on a day people talk about than first on a day no one remembers. Plus he has shown that when it's time for him to make music, he's more concerned with doing something different than what might be hot at the time. That's at least getting close to what it's supposed to be about. Memorable personalities, events and most importantly music.
Maybe, just maybe with one of the biggest proponents of 'sales=good music' out of the limelight there will be a bit of a shift in mindset among those in the mainstream.
Mostly though, I just don't want to ever hear another garbage ass record like 'Candy Shop' again.
Sorry about the long absence, but I've been busy. I've got a few surprises in the works, and Music Club is going to be back in a huge way. Just be patient and watch this space.