Free Rap=Wave of the future.

Jan 03, 2007

Free Rap=Wave of the future. · by Sach O

A symbol of Freedom…and free use.

Rap music, theoretically, should be really cheap to record. After all, rock bands need expensive amps and instruments: all a rapper needs is a sampler, a couple of breaks and a half decent mic to drop the next “Long live the Kane”. The main problem is that lawyers and record companies have turned a basically free exercise in creativity into a prohibitively expensive practice thanks to sample laws and clearance fees. With increasingly stringent laws regulating even the use of snare hits, labels have minimal incentive to fuck with music featuring unclearable or costly material. The result is “We Fly High”, unless your name is S. Carter and you can afford 3 samples for your lead single. It’s a major problem because (in case you haven’t noticed) consumers don’t seem to be buying rap at the same pace that they used to. Now the realist in me blames the internet, but deep down I’m pretty sure that folks wouldn’t mind shelling out 15$ for a great rap album in 2007.

Oddly enough, they might be forced to accept it free of charge.

In addition to the previously hyped Mixtape Messiah II which remains in steady rotation around here, I was caught off guard by Talib Kweli and Madlib’s Liberation which leaked a few days ago. A short and sweet collection of Rawkus-era rap music, it’s an unpretentious set that succeeds in its simple goal of combining Madlib’s stoned beats to Kweli’s pseudo-revolutionary rhymes: the bad Kid samples stuff, Jay-Z’s idol raps about black power and growing up. Nothing fancy, but 30 minutes later I was left pondering why New York rappers can’t sound like this more often instead of pretending they’re from Miami. That’s a complex question without which this site might not exist, but a simple answer revolves around the aforementioned sample laws. Released free of charge over the internet, Liberation is full of reggae breaks, jazz horns, soul loops and soundtrack pianos that would have probably cost a fortune to clear. It’s strange to hear internet-whipping boy Kweli suddenly leap back to Reflection Eternal form, but it makes sense: these beats are the closest thing he’s gotten to Hi-Tek’s 90’s material since then. The result is a conundrum: Talib Kweli’s best record in ages, but one he can’t legally sell without an overbearing amount of hassle. Even if he cleared the material, what label will release an EP with no viable single or attempt to reach outside of the backpack sphere? As maligned as internet rap’s rep has become, Talib and Madlib chose the best and only option available: now someone should build on what they started by making more law-breaking internet-distributed hip hop.

There’s not all that much risk involved. Record companies can shut down unauthorized online distribution of their material if they so choose but it’s pretty hard to sue a freely distributed project for profits. I suppose one could argue that the value of the sampled brand is diminished, but on a small scale (IE: underground rap) it would probably come off as a waste of time for copyright owners. I’m fairly sure Dangermouse got away with his whole Grey Album scheme and he used the cot-damned Beatles so whoever owns a widely used break record won’t bother with internet project A so long as he gets his Def Jam check every month. With this in mind, what’s to stop some bored kid from making his own Paul’s Boutique in Cool Edit right now? The technology is user friendly and rappers already have to release anywhere from 3 to 20 pre-album mixtapes to get a buzz in today’s climate anyways: might as well make that illegal product really illegal. Hell, if you give it out for free, no one will complain if it sounds a little grungy: perfect excuse to bring back the warmer, bleeding mixes of the tape era… or cheap Dell PC mixes for that matter.

Of course, people gotta eat and the idea of full scale beat jacking experiencing an internet rebirth is naïve to say the least, but stranger things have happened this decade and bored myspace rappers are plentiful: let’s get the good ones to stop competing with multimillion dollar production budgets and have them make music that even Jay-Z couldn’t afford to lay down.

Comments for "Free Rap=Wave of the future."

cut out and burned my own copy of liberation…it’s okay

— JunSri Jan 3, 09:09 PM
Wow. I though Oh Word was above listening to some bullshit like Chamillionare. Reading that just makes me never want to visit this blog ever again.

— SausageInMyAss Jan 3, 09:55 PM
First, to Sausage dude: Get off of your self-rightious, over-pretentious high horse. Hip Hop is about respecting all forms of creativity regardless of where it comes from. We might not like the message, but if the guy has talent then give him his props and Chamillionaire happens to have talent.

Second, Oh Word….this post is so close to something that I’ve been thinking about it’s crazy… even crazier that we come upon similar ideas but from different angles.

I too, have been thinking that music’s distribution model should change from a pay-for model to one of free distribution via the Internet. Truth of the matter is that record sales ARE declining, but mostly because people are tired of buying sub-par music. They’d rather risk prosecution and get it online than pay $12-15 for a CD that only has 5 hot songs out of 16. So what’s the solution? Give the music away for free and let the number of total downloads determine the popularity of the artist/group. It’s a win/win for the artist/group and the label because a)the label doesn’t have to spend any money on manufacturing costs. They jsut have to cover storage space and monthly bandwidth charges. 2)The artists really doesn’t make money off of records sales anyway…they’ll make it up in concert performances and merchandizing (which the artist should be controlling anyway).

The only problem with your idea, is that without those clearances the artist can’t get their music on the airwaves/television, which is still the most viable way to market. I haven’t come up with an alternative to this though…..

— Frank 'viperteq' Young Jan 3, 10:37 PM
Well in an ideal world (hardly the case) the industry would move towards a Creative Commons model (google it, link’s not working for some reason). That would be a solution but it’ll only happen once money from the current model dries up for those benefiting or if enough new artists actively reject the old way.

As it is now, I’m encouraging the outright breaking of laws. Television and Radio are under so much corporate control that the average artist who isn’t backed by a major shouldn’t be attempting to pander to those mediums. It’s much wiser to build a fanbase through touring, the internet or other alternative means and let big-media approach you such as Adult Swim partnering with Stones Throw or certain indie bands signing contracts with increased creative and financial control.

I also would encourage paypal as a solution to the distribution issues you bring up but that’s because I’m one of those kooks who believes in (voluntary) micropayments. I’d easily slide 2-4$ (average royalty on a CD) to an artist whose LP I downloaded if I were given that option.

— Sach Jan 3, 11:25 PM
I agree on this free music idea. I think all unsigned bands should try to make an Illmatic-type length album (8-12 tracks, 30 mins) & make it freely available on myspace or their own website. If some people that listen to it find it really good, then they’ll support you by going to your concert &/or buying your regular for-sale albums

— NoMamesBuey Jan 4, 01:46 AM
I haven’t heard this, but I’m reasonably certain Kweli still sucks. You’d need to write about 100,000 more words to convince me otherwise, but I doubt I’d take the time to read them.

— nesta Jan 4, 02:11 AM
^you serious? Kweli is one of the best in rap in the past 10 years. Dude makes at least 1 album or album-quality mixtape every year. They’re all quality also, say at least 3/5. Yeah they’re not all at the timeless 5-star quality of Train of Thought, but if that’s your standard then EVERY ARTIST IS WACK. Hell many “artists” like Jim Jones prolly can’t even make ONE 3/5 album in their whole career!

If you hate Kweli, the proverbial question must be asked “dope beats dope rhymes what more do yall want?”

— NoMamesBuey Jan 4, 03:03 AM
re:Frank ‘viperteq’ Young
“We might not like the message, but if the guy has talent then give him his props and Chamillionaire happens to have talent.”

Cham had the biggest single of the year and it was about racial profiling. You don’t like that message?

— wtf Jan 4, 03:24 AM
This might be the move…and getting your stuff on the airwaves these days goes beyond clearing samples. Even my local college (formerly backpacker friendly station) is playing mainstream garbage cause…”The streets ain’t feeling” those other cats.

— Amadeo Jan 4, 10:15 AM
Artists giving their music away for free still have the very real problem of getting people to pay attention.

— rafi Jan 4, 11:01 AM
Even though mixtapes are freely distributed, under the copyright law, distribution still means infringement and by statute, is punishable up to $250k per unlawful use. That’s $250k per beat, per download. Yo, that’s mad chedder!

Anyways, Chamillionaire has ALWAYS been dope. Not in my top ten, but will always garner a listen to.

— Combat Jack Jan 4, 12:10 PM
Good Work Oh Word!
There has been an elephant in the room (or board room) for quite a while…namely the industry: who have managed to ruin more careers of far more atrists than they’ve helped cultivate and because the artists that should be the execs are either still touring at 70 or strung out and done for, the industry has been filled by lawyers (liars) and other money-over-music based entities…yuck! When u play your music at home, it’s for free, when u work on music at home, it’s for free! Dangermouse is a genius in that by giving his music away, he was able to single-handedly show up the money-hungry industry! I don’t think we “need” TV or videos to advertise what u can do with 1 show!
As far as Chamillionaire, what is his talent? He doesn’t produce music, I have yet to see him pick up an instrument on “Unplugged” and do what musicians have been shunned all through school to learn…uh, where’s the talent?

Peace

I1

— Tim E. Taylor Jan 4, 01:05 PM
^^^Hahaha. Haven’t heard that one in a long ass time and was not expecting to read it on this site.

— Nikhil P. Yerawadekar Jan 4, 02:52 PM
Can someone please explain to me how mixtapes are blatantly illegal on all fronts when they are sold, no matter if it says “PROMOTIONAL MATERIAL ONLY!,” yet you can buy Gangsta Grillz Dedication 2 with Lil’ Wayne at Best Buy and on iTunes?

— Rap Jack Bauer Jan 4, 03:33 PM
Chamillionaire raps very well. Backpackers reflexively hate on him because of his image, but to deny that he’s talented at what he does from a technical and stylistic point of view is foolish. Additionally, the man has paid his dues with years of work at an underground level. He’s no instant-made popstar: his first week sales sucked and he worked and toured his ass off to make his record work. I can respect that even if I don’t like his actual debut album.

Also, as noted, he made a pop song about racial profiling which is more socially relevant and daring than what half the backpack set is rapping about.

— Sach Jan 4, 07:15 PM
I think it all comes back to the basic point that the copywright owners sharen’t going to get sue-happy if there’s no money to be made from suing—thus Sach’s point about mixtapes being useful for underground rappers and mainstreamers releasing free shit.

It’s like YouTube—before they were owned by Google they could have all the copywrighted material they wanted on their site, because the fact that they had no money meant there was no motivation to sue them. But as soon as Google bought them, the copywrighted stuff was the first to go because Google has deep pockets that would’ve drawn lawyers in packs.

In regards to Chamillionaire—I’ve ignored him, despite many friends who like that style of rap swearing by him for a long time now, but I finally downloaded the most recent mixtape when it was linked here. I still don’t really like the stuff over those really Southern beats. It’s just not my style at all. But tracks like the Hip Hop Is Dead alt version and Picture Me Rollin prove the man can rhyme and definitely made me appreciate his shit.

— DC Jan 4, 08:16 PM
This is the first “free” album I’ve downloaded, but it has nothing to do with Kweli and everything to do with Madlib.

It’s about what I expected: Madlib was solid, Kweli is the same as he’s been since 2000—he tries hard, but too often comes off as lame.

Haven’t heard enough from Cham to judge.

— eauhellzgnaw Jan 5, 04:49 AM
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
“pay attention…”
That is def the issue. I usually will dL someone’s shit if they send me the link, I may not listen to the whole project unless the first couple of tracks catch my ear, but I will give it a chance. I feel a lot of people are not willing to give it a chance unless it is someone with a name ie.Madlib
I have had an album out now for a couple of months that is available for free dL, and have been spreading the word like crazy..but to this day we have only had 600 people dL it. People are just not willing to listen to the product unless you are known….and to anyone who is interested the album is called “Reborn Soul:Roberta&Aretha”
www.everydaybeats.net/rebornsoul
features beats constructed from nothing but Aretha Franklin and Roberta Flack samples.

— evolveone Jan 5, 11:34 AM
I think the music model needs to change, but realize that stealing the albums will change the business model in a bad way.

Labels now want a cut of concert and t-shirts for new signees.
Are y’all up on that?

If you don’t want to support the album bc of the “evil label” then what are you going to do about the concerts?
Sneak in?
Steal a t-shirt.

I think the subscription model of music is the future.
With Yahoo! Unlimited for example, you pay $70 a year and you can listen to all the music you want.
It’s pretty ill and it’s put me onto shit I would never find on the torrents or Soulseek.

We can’t keep stealing forever.

— start snitching Jan 5, 01:28 PM
TAJKIDD IS FROM PHILLY.

— TAJKIDD Jan 29, 11:16 AM
please i need some rym if i dont come up with them im a dead man

— raymond Jun 25, 03:40 AM