If you don’t know what TIDAL is, we’ve got all the details here.
We recently discovered just how invested Jay Z is in the streaming service. In a Q&A at NYU/Tisch School’s Clive Davis Instititue of Record Music, Jay answered a number of questions from students asked by faced Professor Errol Kolosine. Among these questions was one on whether major labels would be restricted from using the service. Jay said that they couldn’t do that, especially considering the nature of contracts. “If you don’t have a contract as an independent artist, then you can do whatever you want and we would love to work with you.”
The follow-up question on whether an artist could use TIDAL instead of a contract is what prompted the discovery that Jay longer has a record deal and suggests that all of his future music will be released on the service. “I’m on TIDAL. I don’t have a record deal. So, yes.”
What smaller independent artists will gain from the service is still an an outstanding question. TIDAL executive Vania Schlogel, who was also present at the Q&A, gave a very vague answer. “We’re still a very young, nascent company and we have a lot of initiatives that we’re working on, especially when it comes to indie talent, emerging talent, giving people visibility, giving people a forum to put their music up and giving them control of their distribution and their creative content.”
Jay mentioned the Discovery Plan, where new talent that any major artist has found on the service can thrive. He says by introducing these artists to the world, they will be “inspired by that sound. It gets a little ethereal from there, but just the possibilities of what TIDAL can do are really exciting, on a creative front.”
What will this mean for the future of the music industry? Will independent artists be able to use this as a platform to help them find their fans?
You can read the the rest of the interview here.
Jack White has increasingly shown us that he’s a big hip hop fan. From professing his love of Kanye West, to hiring Run The Jewels to open for him at Madison Square Garden and beyond, it was only a matter of time before he started incorporating hip hop into his beloved Nashville-based label, Third Man Records.
Third Man announced back in 2013 that they were going to release a vinyl edition of Jay-Z‘s Magna Carta Holy Grail. Now, two years later, it is set for a March 20 limited release of 1000 copies.
White has previously stated that he and Jay have worked together on numerous unfinished songs. He’s also sampled 99 Problems at live gigs before.
The limited edition box set will contain eight 7″ records in a clothbound binder, with pages that scratch off to reveal lyrics and photos, which is pretty cool. Brian Roettinger, who was responsible for the original album artwork, designed the whole thing.
Despite the fact that this, in my opinion, was easily Jay-Z’s worst album, the release sounds pretty cool, and hopefully signifies that White and Third Man will be releasing more awesome hip hop vinyls in the future. I for one, would fucking love Run The Jewels I & II on vinyl!
Check out the trailer here:
Alright, let’s do this. Over the years artists come and go, change their style, reinvent themselves, record great album and terrible ones. Sometimes they win fans, sometimes they lose them, some burn out and some fade away. And then there’s the artists that sell out.
Here are ten artists who did just that.
Aerosmith
Whether you’re gonna admit it or not, Aerosmith recorded some absolute classics – don’t tell me you haven’t drunkenly sung to Walk This Way, Dude (Looks Like A Lady) and Love In An Elevator.
Unfortunately, any shred of respect anybody ever had for them died a long time ago. Examples: Steve Tyler’s godawful film ‘career’. Guitar Hero: Aerosmith. Steve Tyler being a judge on American Idol.
Aerosmith have become a bunch of dicks who not only stole their highest ever selling song from Celine Dion, but are forever the soundtrack to Ben Affleck waxing philosophical about fucking animal crackers. While Tyler’s daughter Liv gets it on.
Queen
I fucking adore Queen. Freddie Mercury had the greatest voice of anybody, ever, in rock history. They’re one of my all time favourite bands. Unfortunately, after he passed away, things took a turn for the worse. Way, way too much time has been filled by the remaining members attempting to relive the glory days. Remember that time Queen re-did We Will Rock You with boy-band 5ive? Or the time Taylor and May performed Bohemian Rhapsody on the X-Factor, and We Will Rock You on American Idol?
I’m leaving Adam Lambert out because admittedly, I was blown away when I saw them play together a couple months ago. But the fact remains that this event should not have existed. They should have disbanded permanently when Freddie died.
Sex Pistols
Oh my god, the Sex Pistols. Arguably, they were always sell-outs, considering that their whole punk image was meticulously sculpted by endless asshole Malcolm McLaren. The Sex Pistols were a lot more similar to 5 Seconds of Summer than anybody cares to admit.
Here is the leader of the punk revolution advertising British fucking butter.
OH AND DON’T FORGET THE TIME HE WAS ON JUDGE JUDY
Iggy Pop
I really like Iggy Pop, but there’s no denying that he deserves a spot on this list. The man who used to slash himself to bits in the name of rock ‘n roll; the man who had an enticingly gossip-worthy relationship with Bowie, the man who had my all-time favourite awkward conversation with my beloved Tom Waits, the man who will almost certainly live forever alongside Lemmy and Keith Richards was not only on American Idol, but in an ad for CAR INSURANCE. What a glorious dickhead.
Chris Cornell.
Anyone who has known me for while knows that behind the hip hop, bass-heavy electronic, ambient, soul and everything else I listen to daily, will know that my heart lies with rock ‘n roll and grunge. I freaking adore Soundgarden and Chris Cornell has the third best voice in the genre, after Staley and Vedder.
Then in 2009, this happened:
I have no words. I remember seeing this video at some cafe with my family. I nearly cried. I didn’t want to believe it. I still don’t.
He also co-wrote a song for someone off American Idol. That seems to be a bit of a trend with the artists on this list, hmmm.
INXS
As an Australian, I am very proud of INXS. Sitting somewhere between Duran Duran, The Police and Tears For Fears, with a frontman blessed with the charisma, good looks and swingin’ hips of Jim Morrison, INXS did a hell of a lot for Australian rock music. Then, Michael Hutchence died.
But they didn’t stop there. INXS went further than the other guys on this list when it comes to being involved in reality TV. Remember Rock Star: INXS? The entire reality TV season dedicated to finding them a new singer, and for some reason Dave Navarro was there?
I want to shirt-front every single person in this photo
It really made me cringe. Okay, so Queen recruited a guy from Idol. But INXS made their own fucking show entirely about it. It was SHAMEFUL AND HUMILIATING. JD Fortune, the dude who won? How could he be anything even remotely close to Hutchence? Why did they even try? Seriously. Why.
This guy
Or this guy.
Are you fucking kidding me?
If your next question is “Did you just spend half an hour staring at photos of Michael Hutchence and listening to ‘INXS Remastered’?” Then I think you know what the answer is.
Eminem
This is a tough one because I really, really love Eminem. I love that Rick Rubin worked on MMLP2 – Hell, I love that it was called MMLP2. But the fact is that he has sold the fuckkkkk out.
Firstly (and I realise many may disagree with this.) One of the first things anybody learns about Slim Shady is that he really fucking hates his mum – and for good reason. I hate Debbie. You probably hate Debbie. I can personally guarantee that at least a few million people have yelled the words “FUCK YOU DEBBIE” with absolute glee, over the past decade or so. We learn so much about Debbie from Em’s songs. Her crippling pharmaceutical addiction. Her lies about her health for government benefits. Her gross mistreatment of baby Marshall, and kid Marshall, and teen Marshall to the point where he had to constantly, aggressively, violenty rap about it. And then, WHAT THE FUCK. HE APOLOGISES. THROUGH SONG. AND THEN THROUGH REAL WORDS. THEN THEY HUGGED.
MY LIFE IS A LIE
On a more legitimate level, Eminem has progressively become soppier, poppier and generally worse. The dumb pop stars he used to make fun of? Now he features them on his songs. In general (with some exceptions – there were a handful of brilliant tracks that shone through MMLP2) his music has been steadily stumbling for around four albums now. Particularly in his over-usage of annoying female-led helium-high pop choruses, over-produced backing rhythms, and far, far too many ghost writers. It really makes me sad.
Jay Z
Magna Carta Holy Grail was an ad for Samsung. And it was a terrible album anyway. He’s an unbelievably successful businessman. He should stick to that. He should not pretend to be any kind of credible rapper anymore because he’s not.
That’s all I’ve gotta say about that one.
I bet he thinks its ironic.
Ice Cube
Staying on rap train for now – unlike Ice Cube. Some might argue that Ice Cube didn’t necessarily sell out, more that he re-branded. He is a pretty good actor after all, and in all honesty, 21 & 22 Jump Street were actually fucking hilarious. But when you think about the fact that this is the guy who did this
And then the fact that he did this
You will realise that it’s possibly the lowest moment in hip hop history.
Silverchair
Finally, Silverchair. So, Silverchair were the first band that ever got me into music. I have an extremely vivid memory of hearing Frogstomp for the first time, around 12 years old. It changed my life and I’m not alone in that sentiment. Frogstomp, Freak Show and even Neon Ballroom are some of the best Australian rock albums – and in the case of Frogstomp, one of the best rock albums in general – for the last three decades.
Then, Diorama happened. Then The Dissociatives happened.
Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
Anyway, there you have it. I’m going to go weep into my copy of Superunknown now.
Rap beefs, the greatest of verbal jousts. Maybe it’s because, between two brilliant wordsmiths, they can get absolutely titanic. Maybe it’s because somehow two human beings dripping with gold and diamonds, driving around in Maseratis and Maybachs with enough money to leave me weeping uncontrollably at the thought, can find something so petty to get mad about about that they enter into personal feuds that last months, even years. It’s astounding.
Drake and Kendrick are the two most recent stars rumoured to be embroiled in conflict, which would be absurdly one-sided given that Kendrick is a lyrical genius.
And Drake is a pantomime of sadness
I’m praying for their beef to become a thing. Here’s some other unintentionally hilarious rap feuds that actually happened:
5: Azealia Banks vs Iggy Azalea
Taking out the ‘Nobody Gives a Flapping Fuck’ award are the Azaleas (Iggy at least got the spelling right). This never-ending monstrosity kicked off with Banks crying plagiarism, saying that she had a song called Pussy before Iggy ever did. Which is akin to angrily insisting you had a raging case of the clap first. Shit got catty real quick. Twitter catty:
‘*Kanye shrug*’
Who Won: They’re equally as talentless and equally adept at completely bastardising rap music, but considering the hysterical nosedive of Azealia Banks’ career plus the fact that she will find a reason to start shit with Absolutely. Fucking. Anybody. Fuck, we’re giving this bout to Iggy with a polite request to also just stop.
4: Nelly vs Chingy
When actual rappers Biggie and Tupac feuded in the 90s, everyone (rightly) worried that someone would get hurt. By the time 2004 rolled around and these two hip hop punchlines started cussing each other out, nobody even looked up from their Blockbuster-rented copy of Napoleon Dynamite.
One’s biggest hit was an ode to removing your clothes in the face of intense humidity, Hot In Herre,
TRANSCENDENT!
The other’s was a wonderful little ditty about the exact location of where he enjoys the way you do that entitled Right Thurr.
GAME-CHANGING!
Aside from a mutual penchant for the letter ‘R’ at the expense of the entire English language, these two hail from St. Louis, Missouri, where there was apparently not enough room in town for TWO abysmal rappers, hence the beef.
Who Won: Utterly pointless, but considering nobody has danced to Right Thurr in their right mind in a decade while Hot In Herre somehow still gets requested in sweaty little dive bars the world over, we’re going Nelly. Sorry Chingy, wherever you are now.
I can still hear his voice on the wind…
3: 50 Cent vs Floyd Mayweather
Mayweather isn’t technically a rapper you say? Watch this and tell me how ridiculous you feel. These guys used to be thicker than thieves. Here they are, all business on their money stack phones:
Still more battery life than an iPhone 6
But it ended after Mayweather went to prison and 50 claimed he owed him $2 million (roughly 35 stack phones). Their quarrel seemed to have died down but then shit got real this year, leaving me in a mix of stitches and this:
Fiddy used his ALS ice bucket challenge as a platform to question Floyd’s reading ability, offering to donate 750K if the welterweight could read just one page of a Harry Potter book. Considering the brain injuries associated with professional boxing, this had some rather dark undertones. Floyd took it a step further with his response though: publicly taking 50’s son Marquise under his wing as a father figure. This was after some shockingly abusive text messages from 50 to his son had been leaked.
Who Won: Seeing as 50 Cent would smoke Money on the mic, and Mayweather would murder Fiddy in the ring, it seems to be a draw, but we’re giving it to 50 because any man who can be shot nine times and survive is clearly a T1000 Terminator and not to be fucked with.
2: Ice-T vs Soulja Boy
Ice-T was a grizzled ex-Crip of your dad’s age who once had a song called Cop Killer and looks permanently this stern:
“Did you finish your homework today, motherfucker?”
Soulja Boy was a 17-year-old malcontent whose only achievement was glorified ringtone Crank Dat. Clownfuck awful in every single aspect, it still enabled him to now live like a king on royalties, because 2008 was a time when we lacked any semblance of a conscience.
Pictured: not a shred of remorse
Hearing that steaming puddle of horsepiss on the radio, Ice-T decided he was having exactly none of this shit, inviting the upstart to get the fuck off his lawn by publicly announcing that Soulja Boy had singlehandedly killed hip hop and threatening to invoke the wrath of every OG on the West Coast if he continued this assault on street poetry.
Soulja responded by telling Ice-T to grow a hairline and fight his grandfather. Two responses you would expect from someone who once told the youth of America to ‘Superman dat hoe’.
Who Won:
Really?
1: MC Hammer vs Jay-Z
The David and Goliath of rap feuds, only if David showed up holding a rubber chicken and was also insane. After pissing away all of his Hammer Time money, MC Hammer went from purveyor of parachute pants to preacher. Meanwhile, Jay-Z continued to spend the last two decades releasing platinum record after platinum record and living life as though it’s a video game with God-mode unlocked.
It’s beyond unfair.
Jay-Z poked fun at Hammer’s bankruptcy on his verse in 2010 Kanye song So Appalled. Seemingly unable to endure a joke that had been told since before Jay-Z had even released Reasonable Doubt any longer, Hammer proceeded to lose his mind quicker than his millions; taking to YouTube to call Jay-Z a Satanist ‘hellboy’ and an Illuminati, then putting out a diss track so unbelievably, pants-pissingly cringe-inducing it defies reason:
Holy shit. Hooooooly shit. I’m cutting my ears off and clawing my eyes out, maybe give them a Viking funeral to counter even the most infinitesimal chance I might hear that abomination of a song or see that miserable clichè of a video ever again.
Fuck.
Who Won:
