So, While We Were Watching the Grammys Azealia Put on Her Own Show

Last Sunday night Azealia Banks used her Twitter as a virtual soapbox to sound off about her label of 3 years, Universal and a debut album that she feels has been long overdue.  Her relationship with Universal made a turn for the worse as she took to Twitter and essentially begged to have her contract bought out by Sony.  Since I’m sure most of us who were on Twitter that night were probably typing away about Kendrick’s Grammy snub, Lorde’s interpretive dancing, or Madonna’s Django inspired white suit, I posted the Tweets below

This isn’t the first time we’ve heard of an artist coming to virtual blows, with a record label and it surely won’t be the last.  Pushed release dates seem to be a problem faced by rappers across the board whether they’re considered an elite such as Ross or an up and comer like Angel Haze, a rapper from Detroit (notice I said rapper and not female rapper or “femcee;” post coming on why I’ll no longer use either term #JustWaitOnIt).

Angel Haze’s story is particularly interesting because she did a lot more than threaten Universal. See, out of fear of a debut album flop that most artists struggle to come back from (minus Wale) Universal decided it’d be best for Haze to push her album release date back to March.  Infuriated, Haze took to social media much like her label mate to air out her frustrations.  She then followed up her passionate Twitter confessional by following through and leaking her album Dirty Gold via her Soundcloud page before having it taken down by her label immediately.  As both sides found out shortly after, the damage had already been done forcing Universal to prematurely release the debut which ended up selling less than 1,000 copies in its first week.  Maybe there’s a method to the label madness afterall?…

It’s stories like these that stop me from leaning one way or another on the issue although in Banks case I think her gripes have more validity because of the buzz she was able to generate after her single 212.  In actuality Banks’ mixtape Fantasea has songs just like 212 from cover to cover that could be packaged for mainstream success in my opinion.  Tracks like “Luxury” have that top 40’s crossover appeal to them thanks in part to her disruptive production and up tempo flow (which I’m still trying to wrap my head around since she apparently grew up in Harlem, but sounds like a London native.) So then why aren’t we hearing her all over our airwaves vying for the title of Goddess emcee? Welp, in her opinion it’s because her music is being handled by a bunch of white guys who don’t know what they’re listening to and wouldn’t know the first thing about her “black girl craft.”  2 points for Azealia because chances are she’s probably right.

Unfortunately for her, she works in the music industry where right-ness and raw talent don’t always get you very far.  Nope, only sure fire, low risk hits can do that in a landscape where album sales are steadily decreasing along with label bottom lines. The result is an industry full of labels who can’t afford to take the risks they once did because they LITERALLY can’t afford to be wrong or misfire.  This is in part why we get a lot less Azealia’s on our airwaves.  Though, I’m sure lyrics like, “I smoke a lotta ciga/ Do a nigga have to bust this nigga/ I don’t wanna slump this nigga/ I don’t wanna dump this nigga” aren’t helping her cause as far as marketability is concerned because she is a woman, and a rapper, hence she’s supposed to leave those lyrics up to her male counterparts, right?

To be honest I don’t blame the labels for wanting to protect their investments and hedge their risks.  This is exactly why so many up and comers like Nipsey Hussle and Chance are swearing off major label deals for as long as they can, sticking to the independent shops where they can hold on to what most artists value, control.  With stories like Azealia hitting our timelines and newsfeeds more frequently it’s no surprise even someone at the height of the game like Nas in the early 2000s proclaimed himself, “A Colombia Record slave.”

-Kway