Update: Thanks for reading. First off, the album art isn’t banned, Kanye was just over-reacting on his Twitter. The point of this letter still stands. An artist shouldn’t have to edit themselves to meet the whims of a mega-corporation that’s driven Mom and Pop stores out of business and taken over such a large block of the music market.
Secondly, as a hip-hop fan Kanye is probably my favorite currently active producer. This isn’t just some “hater hating” as a few pieces of hate mail I’ve gotten might suggest. I just wish the dude was as progressive in the way he presents himself as he is behind the boards. Here’s the original posting.
Dear Kanye,
This is the cover art for your new album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.
According to your twitter, the album art has been banned. Naturally, being one of level head and quiet business sense, you have lashed out further on the social media network.
“So Nirvana can have a naked human being on they cover but I can’t have a PAINTING of a monster with no arms and a polka dot tail and wings,” you asked. The answer Kanye is yes. Yes, Nirvana can have a naked human baby on the front of their album cover. But since the LA Times is reporting that the real issue with your album art is that places like Walmart might not stock it, might I make an observation.
You can’t buy Nevermind by Nirvana at Walmart. You can get it from their online store, but at least up until a few years ago when I stopped going to Walmart, the retail giant did not stock Nevermind. Explicitly because of that little baby wang. Even though it is one of the biggest selling albums of all time. Even though it was from a band who changed the face of music. They even edited the copies of Nirvana‘s album that they were willing to sell, In Utero, by changing the title of the song “Rape Me” to “Waif Me.” Walmart doesn’t care about artistic expression. This shouldn’t be a surprise.
It makes me sad to see you waste the potential for a genuine opportunity to raise public awareness about the sad state of music retail by simply complaining on your Twitter. You’ve got the Power, right Kanye? Fucking use it.
Walmart is the number one seller of physical music retail in America. Considering they only sell censored versions of albums this number should be absolutely staggering. And guess what? They’re cutting floor space for CDs, which means less selection. Which means less music gets sold.
Hell, even Best Buy, cited as another possible problem retailer for this release, is cutting their music retail space. The state of the music section in both Best Buys in my home town of Chattanooga, Tn is absolutely horrifying. Maybe six rows of CD’s across all genres, with an overflowing embarrassment of riches to be found if all you’re looking for are shitty Best Buy exclusive releases that feature six Weezer songs from albums almost everyone already owns. But then again, they still have your albums in stock so it isn’t your problem. Yet.
It’s easy to blame the free fall in music sales on piracy. Frankly, it is a big part of it. But the two main killers of the music industry that no one is talking about is the death of social music, and the death of music retail. That first one is a rant for another day, but the death of music retail is something you can have an affect on.
We, the music buying and listening public, need you to make a big deal about the strangle hold of places like Walmart over music retail, sir. And we need you to do it in a big, smart, way. There is no risk for you here.
First off, you have “fuck you” money. You could never sell another record and be set for life, that’s power.
Secondly, you could become a Gucci wearing folk hero, the one spoiled artist who finally stood up and said “Hey you, you know what? This thing we love and live off of is dying and it’s partly these guys fault!”
I was heartened to see you recently signed Pusha T of Clipse to your G.O.O.D. Music label. Maybe you’ll be able to give him the push needed to finally break out of the “hipsters and street dudes love him, everyone else remembers him from the Justin Timberlake colab” rut that haunts Clipse. But you know what?
Unless Pusha comes out with a single that somehow blows up the radio he’s not going to have any shelf space at Walmart either. And, even if lightning strikes and he does have a major hit, you’ll only be able to find the album on their shelves for a few weeks before it gets moved along for “lack of space.”
It wont’ be Pusha T‘s art that keeps his record off Walmart shelves, even in the disgustingly gutted “edited for content” form they sell rap albums in.
At this time in your career you have the luxury to get pissed because you want one cover image and the suits don’t think big box stores will like it. You aren’t an artist waiting to have an album released for years on end because someone at the label couldn’t get their shit together, like 50 Cent early in his career or in the worst-case scenario Saigon.
So how about you make this situation bigger than it is? Use it to draw attention to a music market that has driven Mom and Pop music stores out of business in favor of big box retailers who then cut shelf space for music after using loss leader tactics to kill the competition.
Walmart not stocking your album shouldn’t even be an issue. But you know what? There aren’t a lot of places left to go if you live in middle America. Walmart and Best Buy are pretty much it. And they’ve shown that they simply don’t give a shit about music.
You have more money than God, Kanye. So try something new. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy comes out November 22nd, the week of Black Friday. Make physical copies, including vinyl, available to stores as is. Force Walmart to buy one copy on vinyl for every ten CD’s they order. And if stores don’t like it stand up to them. You recently told the cast of SNL that they could “kiss your whole asshole” in a song. If you can tell off people who have no power over your career, why can’t you stand up to a giant who is openly damaging the music industry as a whole?
There are very few superstars in 2010. You, Jay Z, Lady Gaga, 50 Cent, and AC/DC are pretty much the last ones standing. Stand up for your art. Most importantly, do it on the public stage, not just on your Twitter feed. Make a stink about this as a stepping stone to making a broader statement about the state of music retail. To do that would change this situation from a multi-millionaire complaining about a weird oil painting he wants as his cover art to his already attentive fans, and make it about an artist using his awe inspiring influence to take a stand for everyone who makes music. From Fugazi to Pusha T to Taylor Swift.
In one of my favorite songs this year you said, “No one man should have all that power.” Maybe you’re right, Kanye. But you do have it. You’ve got a lot of it. And frankly, maybe it’s time for you to use it.
Your friend,
John-Michael Bond
The 1st Five
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*cue the applause*
Comment by Brittany Smith — 18/10/2010 #
Great writing! Also, it’s “In Utero”.
Comment by jerkface — 18/10/2010 #
Thanks sir. Fixed that.
Comment by John-Michael — 18/10/2010 #
I wish I had his problems?
Comment by tre — 18/10/2010 #
Top serious. Still it would be nice to see an artist of this level of success throw a temper tantrum in name of music instead of self-pity. He could very well be the man to throw that tantrum.
Comment by John-Michael — 18/10/2010 #
his label said it will back him up if he chooses to keep the album art even if wal-mart wont stock it so he might keep the album art anyway… so chill
Comment by andrew — 18/10/2010 #
Chill? This letter says nothing about his label. It’s about an artist using his voice and power for something greater than himself or simply complaining. Ask the Distillers how supportive majors are of controversial art on a release that isn’t from a major superstar. His label supporting him doesn’t change anything. Far as I’m concerned it just makes him wasting his opportunity to bring attention to a major enemy of his, and all artists’, lively hoods ever worse. But hey, as long as his label has the balls to support a sure thing I guess it doesn’t matter anymore.
Comment by John-Michael — 18/10/2010 #
My favorite part is how you mention you stopped going to Wal-Mart years ago. BRAVO! Rage against the machine! I hate the wally world order (wwo). I believe in freedom of expression, freedom of speech and the betterment of mankind. Walmart does not hold a good record of human rights. From underpaid employees to devastated communities when a new store moves in. They don’t care about US economics or the advancement of the individual. That said, I know your letter is not about WalMart per se, but the Wal Mart brand has been burned into the brow of all the “TipperHeads” now turned Tea Partiers, and what the hell for? Yes thats 3 misspelled wallmarts oops 4.
Comment by Jim — 19/10/2010 #
Attracting the crazies. Stoked!
Comment by John-Michael — 19/10/2010 #
a few things. and I’ll start from the bottom, twitter is about the biggest public stage anybody has today. the quickest and largest way to get a message out. so you have no point there.
“It makes me sad to see you waste the potential for a genuine opportunity to raise public awareness about the sad state of music retail by simply complaining on your Twitter. You’ve got the Power right Kanye? Fucking use it.”
dude what do you think twitter is? he has like a gazillion followers. that shit is POWER. twitter goes a long way.
also Kanye does not have more money than god.
fuck you money isnt 40 million dollars.
I’d say fuck you money has to be above a couple hundred milli. Kanye can spend his net worth in a couple years easily . I say all that to say the dude still has to make a living. i.e. he has to worry about shit like if wal-mart will sell his record or not. Kanye West vs. Walmart I’m betting WalMart wins every time. believe that.
you sound like a teenager with teenage ideals. and you probably are. and I for sure I just wasted 5 minutes of my life reading this and writing a reply.
Comment by pizzer — 20/10/2010 #
Thanks for reading and responding.
I’m a 26 year old college graduate. My ideals are different that a lot of people, but they’re by no means teenage. And yeah, 40 million is fuck you money. Maybe you can’t live off 40 million if you get diamonds in your teeth every year, but the idea that it’s chump change is infantile.
Also just for the record in 2008 West made 30 million and in 2009 he made 25 million, according to Forbes Magazine.
Twitter doesn’t raise public awareness the same way that going on TV and making a national story out of something does, it’s just preaching to the people who already like you and listen to you. Kanye’s legendary statement “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” wouldn’t have had the same impact if he’d Tweeted it. There was more to his statement than just 140 characters.
“I hate the way they portray us in the media. You see a black family and they say we are looting, you see a white family and they say they are looking for food. And, you know, its been five days because most of the people ARE black. And even for me to complain, I would be a hypocrite because I would turn away from the TV because it’s too hard to watch. I’ve even been shopping before even giving a donation, so now I’m calling my business manager right to see what is the biggest amount I can give. And just to imagine, if I was down there and those are my people down there. If there is anybody out there that wants to do anything that we can help about the way America is set up the help the poor, the black people, the less well off as slow as possible. Red cross is doing as much as they can. We already realize a lot of the people that could help are at war right now, fighting another way. And now they’ve given them permission to go down and shoot us.
George Bush doesn’t care about black people.”
Man, I wish he could have Tweeted that! Then the majority of Americans, you know the 306 million people who don’t follow his Twitter, wouldn’t have had to face a harsh reality. Thank God for the biggest public stage on Earth. Other than say NBC’s Nightly News which has an average of 5 million people watching a night. Slightly bigger than West’s 1.4 million Twitter followers.
My point stands. Also being told I sound like a teenager by a dude whose email starts with “icygrape” is kind of a badge of honor.
Comment by John-Michael — 20/10/2010 #
Fantastic.
Comment by Alex — 20/10/2010 #
Brilliant and refreshing read. The face of music is dwindling and, as much as I do not like Kanye, he can do something to change it. I think the problem with big name artists is that they don’t want the face time. Tweeting keeps everyone, famous or not, behind a veil, closed off to reality. By tweeting he only reaches his fans, not the people who could care less about him but love music and art and could potentially make a difference. Its a shame really. Maybe this article is a firestarter. One could only hope. Thank you for that.
Comment by Chris — 20/10/2010 #