What's up with that? t'other day was surprised to hear he's to be dropped. VH isn't that uncommercial surely, and it's a given that he's fantastic from the aspect that counts. What on earth is happening to music when a great talent like Van Hunt can get the boot by his label?

Fauxie said:

one word: money

Van Hunt needs to be more crunk next time.

Nooooo! Well, I guess we saw it coming.

It's sad, but not unexpected. I'll track down and buy his next album regardless.

Muthafuckas didn't even promote that last amazing piece of work and now their dropping him?

I want to start a record label for artists like this, he's a talent that needs someone busting their ass promoting. I mean, WTF!

Wow, that's fucked up. On The Jungle Floor was one of the best albums of the year.

Nah...for reel fo reel ?
In a world of "there's only ONE good song on the cd"
Van should've played the game & did the opposite
and, gave the label what they & the public needed.
ONE Bullshit trendy song & have the rest of the cd to play with.
Van shot himself in the foot on this one.
Hell , even PRINCE knew better when the 2nd lp was released
P went TOTALLY commercial ! And, there's still one thing folks are forgetting
He ain't Prince. shit he ain't even D'angelo. and, I like Van Hunt, btw
but, let's be real.
[Edited 12/28/06 14:11pm]

stopHATING said:

like this matters...

"bullshit trendy song" like they did 30 years ago?

It's a different time and this album did not have the backing from EMI in marketing to promote it. The truth is told when he cuts the tour after a few dates. Talent and good music can only make it if it has the proper promotion...ask Goldfrapp and their Target deal.

stopHATING said:

2 points:

1. Prince never had to take on the hit-pop monster. When Prince "hit his big lick," disco was dead, punk was being cleaned up for the masses, new wave was at its peak, rap was on the rise, and the 60's and 70's icons were dead, dissolved or fading. Prince along with Michael stepped in and filled a growing void in the music scene.

Today's r&b and soul musicians have to contend with a completely different and dominant form of pop that doesn't lend itself well to music. Much of the music audience buying records grew up on hip-hop, not music. So whereas hip-hop used to try to embrace musicians, now it's vice-versa. Black musicians have to do so to sell or they get kicked to the curb. Van, if this story is true, is the latest casualty. Even talented cats like Maxwell, D'Angelo and Bilal, who have been savvier in their embrace of hip-hop, take a long time in putting out records, presumably because in part, they'd be hard to market.

2. You're right to the extent that Van should have gone with "Being A Girl" out of the gate.

i really never heard the hype in this guy. at one point, everybody on this board (it seemed, anyway) was talking this dude up. then i listened and i thought "for real? this is what peeps are going ape shit over?"

I think Van wanted out of the deal. They did little to nothing to promote the album. If he went independent it wouldn't matter, its almost as if he was a underground artist anyway, his record sold through word of mouth for the most part.


He wanted a video for being a girl, he recently told fans on myspace that they could shoot videos for him if they wanted. The label didn't even want to invest money and take a chance to see if he would catch on. My whole thing is why the hell did they even sign him in the first place if they didn't want to promote??
[Edited 12/28/06 14:45pm]

EMI is bleeding money. If the Beatles "love" cd hadn't of been released and sold so many copies, the company probably would have gone belly up..

sallysassalot said:

That's happened to me with several artists who receive(d) a lot of mention on this site, including Hunt. He's better when writing and producing for others IMO.

Adisa said:

I think we all found it refreshing to hear genuine song writing and good song writing at that.

Meloh9 said:

I wonder this about all the dozens of artists like Van, past and present. Oh well. Gerald Levert was in the business for 20 years, but as a solo artist never went platinum. Maybe Van should think outside the box a little bit if he's serious about being an artist.

Meloh9 said:

It never went away.

WHAT THE FUCK???? NOOOOO!!!!

CalhounSq said:

You know I'll take care of you, baby, right?

Adisa said:

Hold me

Adisa said:

maybe but there is not nearly enough of it these days, also about the lack of promotion, I think there is a such thing as an artist being a tax write off.

CalhounSq said:

Right after I take you shoe shopping. I promise.

Meloh9 said:

Thank you.

EVERYONE gets dropped from EMI.

This is good - he can now move on to a label that actually respects its artists.

that's a shame. I actually found out about this guy on the Org and went to his myspace to listen to a couple of songs and like them very much. I was wondering why I never heard of this guy, his songs are great.

Adisa said:

Whom do you two think is better in that particular genre today? Just curious.

sextonseven said:

Different topic for a different thread, dude. Orgnote me if you must.

namepeace said:

3. He isn't Prince or D'Angelo, but since the former is not at his prime and the latter is MIA, he's as good as it gets right now.

what bothers me the most is that Van Hunt is managed by Randy Jackson and with the exposure that Jackson gets on American Idol, he has people like Van and Nikka Costa on his roster and hasnt used the connection to expose them more, I never will understand that

doegx said:

Simple : Randy was too busy promoting RANDY
I didn't see VAN or Nikka in any commercials.

I refuse to make excuses for this kat or any of these dudes
sitting around re-hashing "Curtis" or whomever they were "channelling"
Hip-Hop made mf's shit or get off of the pot, musically
cause remember in the beginning the music backdrop was basically JAMES BROWN
And, Prince & ALL of the rest of them who faded out
after "Hip-Hop" couldn't fuck wit the TRUTH as a backdrop.
Ain't NONE of them gonna EVER fuck with JB in Loops or otherwise
Prince's hybrid style had to give way to JAMES BROWN underneath

END OF POST
[Edited 12/28/06 15:31pm]