Rehabilitating the Download Outlaws; Rapper Ryan Leslie's innovation of the Hybrid-Artist

Through Artist empowerment Rap/Hip-Hop & R&B artist, Ryan Leslie, is seeking to rehabilitate 100,000 download Pirateers with an approach which is as much avant-garde as it is independent and labour-intensive.

'Outlaws', 'Junkie's' or 'modern era, land-fairing pirate's of the cyberspace autobahn's'; whichever your preferred title, illegal downloaders have comprehensively lay siege to the once largely impregnable business model of the entertainment industries channels of consumption. Be it due to not wanting to further line the already luxurious silk, hand-stitched pockets of Simon Cowell and Co. Or simply not seeing the logic in paying for something you could take for free, isn't that important. Whatever the driver, music artists of all tiers of popularity, have felt the kickback of these pirates who continue to fiscally devalue the art they produce. 

Solutional efforts are primarily targeting stricter law enforcement and the pursuit of facilitators to such downloading. However, before such a course of action can be ratified, there are two seemingly unnavigable minefields which instil apprehension. Foremost, how do you undertake such a process of prosecuting hundreds of thousands of individuals, under potentially hundreds of different national jurisdictions? And as a stand off to this, what affect will the artist prosecuting the fan have on their future marketability and potential for commercial success? 

With such unnerving obstacles to recouping lost revenues, one man endeavours to independently rehabilitate and recruit his fans, and in the process, overhaul the music industries methodologies. Imagined in the mind's eye standing tall in a blustering gale under grey skies; a caped crusader with the functionally obsolete, yet stylistically paramount black shades of all great rapper's, Ryan Leslie is taking on the issue in a decidedly more mutually beneficial, if a little unorthodox, manner.

Forging a musical career from behind the black and white keys from whence so many greats have stepped, Leslie's indubitable and multifarious virtuosity saw him fulfil the role of a producer and music writer. Producing for the likes of Fabolous, Cassie, Red Café & Booba, this would seem a natural progenitor to a solo career. Although, in a career which has yielded 6 solo albums to date, with a labour intensive work ethic he continues to produce, recently seen with California hot shots YG and Nipsey Hussle.

As an independent in an industry saturated with contracts, legal jargon and a scarce enough availability of get-out clauses that Lil Wayne still cannot escape Cash Money Records, R.Les has defined his success. 100,000 units sold whereby he, or an artist he works with, personally knows each of those 100,000 people. 

The offensive strategy for such a challenge spotlights three converging avenues of fan-rehabilitation. Call the first 'WhatsApp Ave', and remember to be open to new concepts as you approach it. It gleans its hypothetical title from Ryan's publicly shared cell digits, and subsequent place in thousands of loyal fans WhatsApp contacts; or if you prefer, email lists. Derived from the mind of a Harvard graduate of just 19 (yes, we're still talking about Ryan here), he has sought out the inherent loyalty in relationship. Remaining hypothetical then, imagine a situation in which you could communicate briefly once in a while with your favourite artist. Then remember that you only just read it was actually possible.. If Les happens to be your favourite that is. After establishing a rapport akin to that of a friendship with a slight distance, he releases his new album (MZRT, to be released March 2015). But how can the outlaws set sail in their pirate ships in search of an illegal download? You can't steal from friends..from homies..

Shift laterally a couple of blocks and you'll meet with 'Experience Avenue'. An avid proponent of a live performance > studio record hierarchy, and a believer in artists as performers first and foremost, he's a champion of the tour lifestyle. Maintaining the recurring theme of access, and reaping the added impact of a capacity crowd with a tinnitus-inducing speaker system. Catch a stop on his world tour and you'll witness the personal level aspect which defines his hustle. Glimpsing faces and regurgitating the name of opposite-side-of-the-Atlantic Renegades ('Renegades' being his fan base). Conversing with the crowd for views on a track, demonstrating perfect posture seated at his keyboard and laying down the melody before rattling your brain with an energised performance to a self-composed, self-produced instrumental. The albums are outputted to bring you to the concerts, as opposed to the concerts being a way to sell more albums, even if this occurs as a direct result.

Sandwiched between these two is his 5th Avenue; Independence. Facilitator to freedom of action, and from red-tape. A construct conducive to such experimentation, testing of avant-garde theorems and environment to affirm his tautologies. Hence, no longer can you purchase his previous album from iTunes, 'Black Mozart', or from any other retailer for that matter. Access to download can only be granted with a $12 Renegades membership on his personal website. This being a means to create acquaintance, with a similar structure for purchasing the new album, MZRT, being sold solely from the same website. Independence is his gravitational source around which all other foci are birthed and revolve.

From this same central gravitational hub however arises his obstacles to success. Could it be that this hybrid approach will only work at his plane of popularity? And is his degree of independence only facilitated by his broad skill base which spans through all compositional elements of music production, marketing and business acumen? The kind of skills which many label-reliant artists simply won't posess. Even despite such musical proficiency, does this approach contain within it a capability to grow with a growing fan base? And at what point does the personal contact element shift from being labour intensive to simply being impractical? Such a take on change is as much organic as it is hybrid. Maintaining a system by which thousands of wannabe artists are attempting to come up in the industry every day, only scaled-up a few hundred times. 

As a first generation 'hybrid artist' it may appear to be a system that is functional under specific circumstances, but which will not cope well with growth.  However, surely the mind which conceives and believes in ventures through previously only dreamt up solutions is the most powerful, and contains within a capacity for self-assessment and self-correction. Look at Apple; you can bet your last chip that they'll sell millions of their smart watches, but more through beautiful marketing than through product necessity. The likelihood of a perfect product first time out is inconceivable. Beginnings for great minds are always small when compared with their endings. And so we can witness the growth process of both of these potential greats..

Wu-Tang Clan calls Play-Action on Download Misappropriation

Once Upon A Time In Shaolin might just have afforded Wu-Tang Clan the accolade of best title for a debut rap album ever. As it was, their debut was of course the universally deemed classic, Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) way back in 1993. So now their story from Shaolin will mark their final act after 22 years, 8 albums (including Once Upon A Time), countless singles, EP's, compilations, and the untimely demise of 'Ol Dirty Bastard; they will exit the recording studios of Staten Island, and take their place in rap history.  

The Clan never really was a body that cared for conforming though. Be it their running through Fred Flintstones neighbourhood for the Gravel Pit video, their voluminous audio cuts from the 1981 movie Shaolin vs Wu-Tang, from which they would derive their name or The RZA's writings of The Tao of Wu; a book which patiently sits on my desk, soon to monopolise my thoughts. 

So in keeping with this tradition of breaking tradition, they have just one copy of the new album. No digital back-ups, just a regular disc similar to those most of us have. Just as susceptible to scratches, and the resultant broken up audio, as any other. Although perhaps not so at this current time as it's sits locked away in what RZA calls the "illest album cover ever". Also known as a very fancy looking box to you and I, by British-Morocan artist, Yahya. The same box which was held for three hours at JFK airport because somebody lost the key and could not confirm what was inside..

Think of it like this. The Denver Broncos are down in the Super Bowl. 4th quarter with a buck 12 to go, and in need of 88 yards to hit a touchdown. Peyton Manning in his final season steps up, not liking what he sees on the defensive set, only instead of yelling his signature audible, Omaha, to the rest of his team he initiates the play. Going for the hand off to his running back as planned, he instead holds onto the ball, creates a play-action situation and tosses up an 88 yard Hail Mary to one lucky & unsuspecting receiver for the win. 

RZA is your hip-hop Peyton. The smartest man on the field, split-second-analysing intricacies you have no idea exist. Thinking he was going to hand off the album to the fans, but throwing it up to one, with 88 years of copyright.

As the auction is still going ahead, one assumes they found the key. But whilst the physical existence of the 31-track LP which is said to feature Redman, Cher and even members of FC Barcelona, and which is shrouded in mystery and a grade of secrecy which is nothing short of monumental in a world full of internet leaks, the reasoning behind this move is no less shrouded in befuddlement. 

With online outlaws illegally downloading every minute, it's been justified as an attempt to bring back value to music. If you win the bid, (RZA has already been offered $5mill so don't go raiding that piggy just yet) you own the album, yes, but it is subject to Wu-Tang's copyright which won't run out for 88 years so one can't simply copy it and sell it to two...or 7...billon. 

You could however share it for free, and this is where befuddlement meets contradiction. The successful bidder will of course be buying into imminent pressure to share. But to share it for free, would that not stand in conflict with the original reason for such a stunt? To add value. Unless there is a preempting of a sense of profound blessing which will consume each being who hears the album. This being induced due to the sharing of the album for free in defiance of the odds which currently are being built against its release.

Perhaps we are simply not wise enough to understand the wisest man in hip-hop. Perhaps once I've consumed, digested and embodied the Tao of Wu I will be enlightened to an understanding. As an opinion devoid of the specific circumstantial activity of this case, it's certainly refreshing to see some artists innovating. Be it RZA and the Wu, Beyoncé, J.Cole & Drake releasing albums without telling a sole or Macklemore and the two Ryan's (Lewis and Leslie) repping for the independent hustler. Where downloading outlaws are concerned, the pinstriped suit adorned boardmembers of the record labels are plainly failing to deal, and so to the artist experimentation I salute.

To the Shaolin story, it is mine to opine that perhaps Wu-Tang will just sell the most expensive record in history. And in doing so, will accumulate the same revenue as they would have accumulated had they sold the album the old fashioned way. And the album will be shared, free of charge. And the owner will be a hero to Wu and Hip-Hop fans everywhere. And the Wu-Tang Clan will have a final album that will, like themselves, be remembered in history, as conforming to their own tradition of breaking tradition. 

Just one final word. Please nobody inform Dr. Dre of this concept of an 88 year copyright, because I'm still trying to get to hear Detox. We don't want him getting ideas...