Wednesday, March 1, 2023

jason hirschhorn's @MusicREDEF: 03/01/2023 - Trying Young Thug, Investors Discover Hip-Hop, Record Deal to Nowhere, De La Soul, Kali Uchis, 100 Gecs...

The first thing that my dad said to me when I said I wanted to be a singer was, 'There's a million girls prettier than you and that can sing better than you. What would make you think that you could ever do that?' A lot of immigrant families are of this mindset—your parents have to be the most honest with you and they have to make you as tough as they can make you, because the world is hard.
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Wednesday March 01, 2023
REDEF
Kali Uchis in Detroit, Feb. 28, 2022.
(Scott Legato/Getty Images)
quote of the day
"The first thing that my dad said to me when I said I wanted to be a singer was, 'There's a million girls prettier than you and that can sing better than you. What would make you think that you could ever do that?' A lot of immigrant families are of this mindset—your parents have to be the most honest with you and they have to make you as tough as they can make you, because the world is hard."
- Kali Uchis, whose third album, "Red Moon in Venus," is out Friday on EMI/Geffen
rantnrave://
Court Calendars

Jury selection in the ALEX MURDAUGH double murder trial that the entire country has seemingly been bingeing for the past month began Jan. 23 in Walterboro, S.C., and jurors are expected to hear closing arguments today, after 24 days of testimony. By contrast, jury selection in the sprawling, controversial and already messy racketeering trial of YOUNG THUG and his YSL label/crew began Jan. 4 in Atlanta, and as of the end of last week, no jurors—not a one—had been seated. Legal experts tell Vulture the nature of the charges (i.e. racketeering), the expected length of the trial (it could take a year) and the celebrity of the defendants all figure into the difficulty of finding people willing and able to serve on the jury. And willing and able, if the state wants to win its case, to accept that Young Thug and his colleagues' songs might constitute confessions of actual criminal guilt. Prosecutors say YSL is a gang and its art is hiding some of the evidence in plain view.

On the other side of the country, an appellate court on California last week overturned the murder conviction of a San Bernardino man in the first successful application of a state law that limits the use of songs, videos and other forms of creative expression as evidence in criminal trials. TRAVON RASHAD VENABLE SR.'s conviction had hinged largely on his appearance in a video by his younger brother, a rapper named YOUNG TROCC. Prosecutors played the video three times during the trial, including during closing arguments, when the jury was told, "That's our victim's murder. There he is." GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM signed the bill targeting over-aggressive use of song lyrics in October. Similar bills have been considered in New York and New Jersey, as well as in Congress.

But not in Georgia. Young Thug's most prominent co-defendant, GUNNA, pleaded guilty to a racketeering charge in December and may be called to testify against the crew. The prosecutor, FANI T. WILLIS, is unapologetic about going after rappers' art. "I have some legal advice," she said in announcing an indictment against another crew, DRUG RICH, last year. "Don't confess to crime on rap lyrics if you do not want them used. Or at least get out of my county." Country singers, crime novelists and filmmakers may want to heed that threat/warning, too. Or maybe not, since none have been targeted. The New York Times' JOE COSCARELLI and RICHARD FAUSSET lay out the issues in this recent longread that notes the controversy and the criticism (and the complications of external factors like social media) while also laying out the very real gang problem the prosecutor is facing.

As for the ongoing search for a jury, Young Thug lawyer BRIAN STEEL tells Vulture, "Trials are not judged by the amount of time, they're judged by the fact that it's a fair trial. No matter how long or short this trial will last, so long as the verdicts speak the truth of not guilty, it is fine with me."

Dot Dot Dot

CARDI B's and OFFSET's lyrics are being used against them, too—not in court but at MCDONALD'S, where the Wall Street Journal reports (paywall) that some franchisees are refusing to promote their "Famous Orders" meals, which were announced during the SUPER BOWL. The fast-food chain says the pop star couple's promotion has widespread support at its restaurants, but the Journal said a number of franchisees, especially in the mid-Atlantic and Southeastern US, have either complained or are sitting the promotion out because the couple's "lyrics and lifestyles aren't aligned with the company's brand"... TIDAL changes course on royalty splits... How a single $5 show 30 years ago in San Francisco grew into the citywide NOISE POP festival... Why we rave... Why the SPINNERS belong in the ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME... Dublin's vinyl-only soccer stadium.

Rest in Peace

DORIAN ZEV KWELLER, 16-year-old singer/songwriter son of singer/songwriter Ben Kweller, who recorded under the single name "Zev." He was killed in a car crash Monday night, two weeks before he was scheduled to play his first-ever gig, at SXSW.

- Matty Karas, curator
slime language
Billboard
Why Music Catalog Investors Are Finally Warming to Hip-Hop
By Elizabeth Dilts Marshall
There's an increased appetite for rap songs and catalogs. What's fueling the surge?
HuffPost
I Signed A Big Record Deal And Thought I'd Made It. I Had No Idea What I Was About To Face
By Charlotte Martin
"I had finally done it ... The world was finally hearing my music, and I was ecstatic. Unfortunately, that feeling didn't last long."
GQ
De La Soul Picks Their Favorite (and/or Most Hated) Tracks
By Rob Kenner
In their final interview before Dave "Trugoy" Jolicoeur passed, De La went through their discography and selected standout songs from each album ahead of their streaming debut.
Pitchfork
Welcome to Kali Uchis' High-Femme Fantasy
By Isabelia Herrera
Bouncing in a lowrider and chilling at home with the L.A.-based singer, whose music opens up a world of mischief and beauty, luxury and vulnerability.
The New York Times
100 Gecs Shook the Underground. Can the Duo Explode … With Rock Music?
By Joe Coscarelli
Laura Les and Dylan Brady's debut spurred a subgenre called hyperpop and earned them a major-label deal. Swerving again, they're returning with a different sound on "10,000 gecs."
The Bag
'You follow drugs, you get drug addicts and drug dealers. But you start to follow the money, and you don't know where the f*** it's gonna take you.'
By Nathan McCartney
A look at the music IP ecosystem: Private Equity + Funds + Majors + Publishers + Entertainment Companies.
Variety
John Fogerty Recounts His Epic Journey to Finally Control His Classic Creedence Songs: 'Good Things Come to Those Who Wait' -- for 55 Years
By Chris Willman
The former Creedence Clearwater Revival frontman goes step by step through a half-century's worth of resentments and standoffs that led to a better-late-than-never happy ending.
TechCrunch
Tidal will cut 'direct artist payout' program to invest more in emerging artists
By Amanda Silberling
The Block-owned music streaming service is shifting the way it pays artists after an experimental program failed to generate results.
Los Angeles Times
Toxic sex, social anxiety, '90s guitars: How L.A.'s Blondshell pulled off the rock debut of 2023
By Mikael Wood
The forthcoming album from 25-year-old Sabrina Teitelbaum stakes her claim as one of Gen Z's most incisive singer-songwriters.
LAist Studios
K-Pop Dreaming Ep 1: Secret Fan
By Vivian Yoon
Growing up in Koreatown during the 90s and 2000s, host Vivian Yoon was an emo-listening teenager who embraced American pop culture. At least that's what it seemed from the outside. But at home, by herself, what she listened to was K-Pop. How Vivian's hidden love for the music is propelling her to explore the connections between K-Pop and her hometown.
punk
Global News
The robots are coming to take over the airwaves. Next target: the trusted radio announcer
By Alan Cross
With each leap in artificial intelligence technology, the need for humans to do certain jobs is slowly disappearing. Now Alan Cross fears it's coming for his job.
Music Business Worldwide
Web3 technology isn't in vogue like it was last year. But it's still the future of the music business
By Sergio Mottola
Sergio Mottola, co-founder and President of Public Pressure, on why he thinks Web3 can still be transformative for the music sector.
The FADER
The Making of Mach-Hommy, Part 1: Designated Unicorn
By Paul Thompson
In the first part of a three-part cover story, the elusive Haitian American rapper Mach-Hommy remembers a freestyle he recorded as an adolescent, with two older boys, over one of the most iconic beats in hip-hop history.
Pitchfork
Fever Ray's Voices of Desire
By Sasha Geffen
The Swedish pop iconoclast talks about their one-of-a-kind vocal style, working with Trent Reznor, and the thorny themes of love that animate their new album, "Radical Romantics."
The Guardian
Bye-bye American pie: high price of visas keeps British musicians off US tours
By James Tapper
Ever since Beatlemania, UK acts have set their sights across the pond. Now spiralling costs are pulling the plug.
Billboard
After Spending Spree, Utopia Refocuses on Fixing Music Royalties
By Richard Smirke
The fintech firm's CEO believes a faster and more transparent royalty process will "help all facets of the industry earn more money."
NPR
Senegal's artists are fighting the system with a mic and spray paint
By Ayen Bior, Ari Shapiro, Noah Caldwell...
A cultural center in Senegal is creating a safe space where artists can use their platform to speak about climate change while also finding opportunities in the art and music scene.
Norient
Music or Weapon: Four Monologues from Ukraine
By Dmytro Fedorenko
These four testimonials from Ukrainian artists were recorded during the summer of 2022, a few months after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The statements are candid monologues about music, dignity, and life during the darkest of times.
Disgraceland
Mac Miller: Hallucinations, Counterfeit Pills, and a Standoff with the Most Powerful Man in the World
By Jake Brennan
An unexpected backlash to his debut LP led Mac Miller down some previously unexplored and increasingly dark rabbit holes, where he found not only creative rebirth–but the point of no return.
Black Music and Black Muses
Black Swans
By Harmony Holiday
On Nina Simone's elegant belligerence.
what we're into
Music of the day
"Moonlight"
Kali Uchis
From "Red Moon in Venus."
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