In this episode of Andscape’s Rap Stories podcast series, David Dennis and Curren$y recap the “blog era” of rap music that existed in the late ‘00s by pinpointing exactly why it was so relatable.
There are other podcasts specifically dedicated to this period, but the Smoking Section alum and Pilot Talk artist are more qualified than most to talk about what it was like.
so I’m just gonna leave you here with some lyrics from Grimes’ new song:
I wanna be software
Binary heart
Infinite options
State of the art
I just finished this deep dive from Jaime Brooks, aka Default Genders / Elite Gymnastics, on music technology’s march toward AI-synthesized voices like the the Drake / Ghostwriter situation, and why the current industry model — at least in the US — isn’t designed to support it.
[Drake] could transition from being a recording artist into something more like a landlord, renting out his own voice to aspiring record producers. Though this sort of business model has no precedent in the western record business, the artist-as-platform model has been powering Hatsune Miku’s success in the Japanese market for over fifteen years.
[jaimebrooks.substack.com]
Taylor Swift’s recent Seattle shows apparently appeared on a seismometer. The same city is famous for showing up on a seismometer because of Marshawn Lynch’s “Beast Quake” run in an NFL playoff game.
Full disclosure that I am a former Seattle resident who saw Taylor Swift’s 1989 tour and a few Seahawks games at the city’s football stadium, so I was basically obligated to post about this.
Remember the “Crocodile of Wall Street,” aka Razzlekhan, aka Heather Morgan? She and her husband were arrested in 2022 on charges of trying to launder billions of dollars worth of Bitcoin stolen in the 2016 hack of Bitfinex. She’s also a rapper, among many other things.
Now Reuters reports she and her husband have reached a plea deal with prosecutors and are set to have a hearing on August 3rd.
How long until he becomes will.i.am.ai, bitch?
I love Atmos for movies but hoo boy the entire spatial music experiment is littered with bad ideas and sloppy remixes. Here’s Kid Cudi complaining — he deleted an earlier tweet directed at Apple Music for remixing his work without his knowing.
We’re chasing this story generally — if you’re in the industry and you have thoughts, hit me up.
According to a report from The New York Times, Taylor Swift’s team signed a deal with FTX that could’ve paid up to $100 million following months of deliberation, contrary to a previous report that she didn’t.
The thing is, the deal didn’t actually go through. Sources tell the NYT that FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried canceled the deal last minute, leaving Swift’s team feeling frustrated. Talk about dodging a bullet.
[The New York Times]
“Here’s the super easy, headline statement: AI, or music that contains AI-created elements is absolutely eligible for entry and for consideration for Grammy nomination. Period,” Recording Academy CEO and President Harvey Mason jr. told The Associated Press. “What’s not going to happen is we are not going to give a Grammy or Grammy nomination to the AI portion.”
