Who cares? (well, maybe Van, a lil' bit.)



By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY
Associated Press


Van Hunt's guitar-laden rock 'n' soul riffs have earned critical raves and drawn comparisons to greats like Prince.

But for all the laurels he's received for his self-titled 2004 debut and this year's follow-up, "On The Jungle Floor," what the 29-year-old singer-songwriter hasn't achieved is commercial success.




Appearances on shows such as "Late Night With David Letterman" have yet to help Hunt break through on urban radio, where hip-hop and slick R&B dominate, or on today's heavily formatted pop stations.

Van Hunt refuses to accept that his music may be too abstract to appeal to a mass audience.

"I do think they can be hits — they just need to be played," Hunt says of his songs. "I sit down and I write, and I make sure that it follows the code of Songwriting Craft 101. I've got hits . . . I need DJs."

There's no arrogance as the Atlanta-based musician's attitude, just a cool confidence. Hunt isn't worried about whether folks will catch on to his sound — he's just biding his time until it happens.

"Anything that is different for long enough, it becomes legitimate, so I think by the third record, we'll establish the name as a brand, and people will get into it," says Hunt, wearing his signature head scarf, over an eel sushi lunch at an upscale Manhattan restaurant.

"I always knew I was an artist, and even more importantly, a star."

And he's got the backing of a man who's helped create the biggest star-making machine of the past few years — "American Idol" judge Randy Jackson.

Given that he's become famous for advising wannabe pop stars how to fashion their voice for ultimate mass appeal, Jackson's link to Hunt might seem a bit peculiar. But Jackson has been his manager going back almost a decade when Hunt was a Morehouse dropout looking to make his mark as a songwriter and producer.

"I just fell in love with songwriting and his commitment to himself as an artist," says Jackson, who describes Hunt's sound as "if you put Neil Young, Sly Stone, Al Green in a blender."

At the beginning of his career, Hunt's sound was being performed by others. His breakthrough was the song "Hopeless," which he wrote for Dionne Farris for the soundtrack of the 1997 movie "Love Jones." Later, he would produce other artists, including Raphael Saadiq.

Though he was succeeding as a songwriter and producer, it took some persuading from Jackson and others to put himself in the spotlight. His reluctance to become a performer was mixed with the fear of not being good enough and a good measure of laziness.

"I knew that there was a lot of work I needed, as far as vocally," he says with a nonchalance that marks his persona. "To try and learn how to be a singer, a really good guitar player, a really good pianist, it's always lagged a bit behind learning to be the best songwriter I could possibly be because songwriting comes naturally to me.

"I have to push myself to practice singing . . . I just felt, if I couldn't do it as well as Stevie (Wonder) or Sly (Stone), what's the point?"

But in Hunt, Jackson saw promise that one day he could become as great as those legends.

"I think that his big ship is on its way in," Jackson says.

Jackson isn't the only one who feels that way. Prince gave Hunt his royal blessing, and even invited him to his purple palace in Hollywood to perform.

"He said he really liked what he heard, thought my band was funky — it was about all the encouragement I needed to keep going."

There still are the occasional frustrations. During a recent tour with soul singers Anthony Hamilton and Heather Headley, Hunt at times was out of his element; the crowd skewed older and came to hear the silky, old-school soul of the headliners. At times, Hunt would placate the audience by playing some of his smoother soul songs; at other times, he and his band would just rock out.

But it's nights like a recent gig at a Manhattan club that really inspire Hunt. The sold-out crowd sang along to every song he played, radio hit or not.

"I just want to express to y'all how great it is to be in a room where people appreciate what you do," Hunt said as the audience roared. •

GREAT article... I know it's been mentioned here before but it was probably at a time when I didn't care yet, lol. I didn't know he wrote "Hopeless" Fucking love that song... I just wish my ear was better/smarter when he first dropped. But it's cool, I'm on board now. I'm just glad he's staying true to himself & doing his thing

http://www.prince.org/msg/8/193673




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[Edited 7/11/06 2:01am]

I am on Van's bandwagon big time.

He is the dopest artistto excite me since D'Angelo was making records.

BlaqueKnight said:

ok, I'mma give Van another try but I really don't like Raheem DeVaughn. When I listen to Van at least I feel like his music is geniune whereas Raheem sounds like this is just cool music to do.

I see where he's comming from but him as an artist i dont DIG !! he's boring...cant hardly play..cant dance...and only sings pretty ok..wheres the STAR QUALITY ???

I think he could have crossed over to pop radio with some of those songs.

Could he cross over to rock radio?

Without a shitload of PAYOLA cash this guy is NOT going 2 hit. I dig him but the game is NOT on his side.

Graycap23 said:

I agree. But he is right, he DOES have the material there, and his back story was pretty interesting. I think one of the things that hurts him is that a lot of his best tunes are almost too black for white radio and too white for black radio.

But like bobsteezy said, Van is seriously one of the most exciting artists to come along in a long time. He's real AND has great material!

guitarslinger44 said:

Yes.the OPPOSITE of what hits these days.

It's sad really, the way things get broken down like that. It should be so much more about talent than all the other bullshit that gets through today...

Maybe he'll do like MeShell - never really "blow up" but steadily build his audience & develop a solid following that keeps him afloat, touring & releasing records. That said, I don't really know how MeShell is doing (financially or "emotionally" in this industry) but she's still here, still going, & still amazing...

his music doesnt scream "star" to me...he is an artist like nikka costa and meshell...

just be happy with that man...do the small club circuit and make your own.

the days of big 8's supa' stars are over...

for worse...and for better.

He's too black for black radio.

sosgemini said:

I think u are correct.

sosgemini said:

Agreed. He got my money for his 2 albums and a show. And he'll get my cash for more recordings and performances. As long as there are enough people like me that can help him pay the bills, he'll be fine. His biggest liability is him being anointed "the next." You can tell from this piece that it even bothers him.

But the system isn't set up for success on that scale. Not anymore. Few, if any, of the artists of the 70's and 80's could survive in this pay-for-play, teen-skewing, iTuned business. Much has stayed the same, but a lot has changed so that the megastars are far and few in between.

Van Hunt probably needs to just take his cue from mint condition and build
his own house instead of relying on the big record companies and mainstream
radio and rely more on his fan base and touring.Van Hunt should be just fine instead of quote "Blowing Up".

phunkdaddy said:

Agreed. The article, though, demonstrates the lofty expectations that some have of him from a commercial perspective. Stevie and Prince, it appears, were the anomalies, but everyone's looking for the next black musical messiah to sell tens of millions of records.

If you have DirectTV , he's on CDUSA along with the Brand New Heavies this week.He's the opening act of their current tour I think.

Ignorant statement #1:

V-Hunt said:

Songwriting Craft 101? C'mon, dawg. Formulaic arrangements and structural familiarity may be what we're told to do when reading books like 'How To Get A Record Deal', but if you're an artist in the purest form, you learn the rules and then throw the rulebook out the friggin' window. Do you, man.To me, hits aren't as tricky as some make them out to be. Sometimes it's as simple as "a tune catches on, or it doesn't". Of the few VH tunes I've heard, there weren't any really strong melodies hollering at me. In my humble opinion, melody is the strongest element in music. If people aren't humming it, they probably aren't digging it that much.



Ignorant statement #2:

V-Hunt said:

More importantly? Perhaps that's another part of the problem. So many people want to be a star rather than a great musician. I remember reading a a quote from Quincy Jones where he advised artists to "just keep working at their craft" and "continue to improve as much as possible, and good things will happen", something to that effect. Truly, Van Hunt should be happy that he's in a position to make a living as a musician. Look at our world. Is it really important that a person becomes a star? You'd think one would be happy having the opportunity to do what they love as a job. My advice: Keep putting in the work, and enjoy what your doing because it's privilege.

OdysseyMiles said:

I thought that was weird too. Learn the rules, then break the rules.

I think Van Hunt is a great artist and is trying to push Soul music forward. It is sad to see that he's so underrated (I'm still upset that he lost the Essence award to Kanye West. )If he doesn't become popular then that's the the way the cookie crumbles. In fact, while I think commercial success would be very nice for him it'll only ruin him. I think what they're doing with commercially successful pop stars now is just chewing them up and spitting them out. Well that's how it's always been, but it's happenening even moreso these days. How long do you think cats like TI, Ne-Yo, and Chris Brown will last? I mean a serious artist like Van Hunt is more likely to have staying power, but if blows up, he's just gonna get overhyped then tossed out the window.

Another thing is it's all up to what Van Hunt wants to do. He could probably easily sell out like The Black Eyed Peas or what India.Arie is doing now and try and sound commercial. But was that his intention when he got into the business? Did he want to just become a superstar and try and please the masses by conformity? Or did he get into the business as a serious artist to make good music and not be driven by money or fame, but driven by the art itself? Only he can tell you that.

OdysseyMiles said:

I think that was a very tongue-in-cheek statement on his part. There aren't that many strong melodies 'hollering at me' on the radio these days, but it don't stop that bullshit from blowing up. Stars don't happen accidentally in the music business these days.

If he starts to blow up, it'll probably be at the expense of most of the folks who support him now...

NWF said:

India Arie sold out??

OdysseyMiles said:

With all due respect OM, he's doing what he has to do to keep his deal. I think he meant no chorusless songs or 8 minute drum solos when he was refferring to "songwriting 101". Verse, chorus verse, bridge, etc. I'm sure Randy Jackson has drilled into his head what it takes to cut it in the biz. Since he wrote "Hopeless", he knows how to write a good song without sacrificing too much but as he is an R&B artist in 2006, there are some things he simply CAN'T do as a songwriter now that he could say 20 years ago (like Prince did). Experimentation can get you canned as an R&B songwriter these days if you do it too soon. Since he's about as on the edge as any R&B artist with a major deal in 2006 can get, I think he was simply saying he was making sure he didn't tip the boat or do anything that would give the label heads reason to cut him loose.

BlaqueKnight said:

I'm curious if OM has heard Van's stuff? Like any of it at all? (oh, the irony coming from ME )

I didn't see any of his statements as "ignorant" or annoying, but I no longer want to beat him into the ground either

CalhounSq said:

Space - Universal Love remix. Some of P's best lyrics.

I'm curious if OM has heard Van's stuff? Like any of it at all? (oh, the irony coming from ME lol )

I didn't see any of his statements as "ignorant" or annoying, but I no longer want to beat him into the ground eithe

The industry isn't having any more Princes as pop stars. Dude knows you can only do so much as an independant so he wants to push for the top where he can sneak in and do damage to the program these labels are running on the public. I ain't mad at him one bit.

BlaqueKnight said:

They really are, aren't they??

CalhounSq said:

BlaqueKnight said:

I feel you, brah. After reading his comments a few more times, it does sound like he was being tongue in cheek or perhaps a little sarcastic about "Songwriting 101".
Maybe R&B in 2006 will only allow so much as far as an edge or experimentation, but still, an artist can try to find a balance. I'm not even saying he should go all experimental. I guess I'm just surprised to see someone so openly concerned with mass acceptance. Can one dude change the standards in R&B? Usually it takes a movement, like punk or grunge, but anything's possible.

It concerns me that he's so bent on being a star. Like he feels there is some kind of validation that will come with large sales numbers and all that. I know he's got to satisfy his boss's investment in him, and he can't take that lightly. It's just that his desire for acceptance could be damaging to the integrity of the music if it becomes too big of a priority.