Screwed by Blue Note, Van Hunt Still Rocks. and Funks. With Soul
By Mikael Wood
Published on May 13, 2009 at 8:00pm

In 2007, when his third studio album was nearing completion, soul-rock singer-songwriter Van Hunt relocated from his longtime home in Atlanta to Los Angeles, where the Morehouse College alum figured he’d be more likely to advance his career in the music industry. “I also had a relationship that I wanted to pursue,” Hunt says, munching an egg-on-bagel sandwich last week at a Studio City café. Two years later, “Here I am, and the relationship has done much better than the career.”

A black guitar hero given to psychedelic musings on the metaphysics of desire, Hunt has never been any record company’s idea of an easy sell. “People at major labels think everyone wants to be a pop star,” says his manager, Randy Jackson (yep, the American Idol judge). “But Van’s a real career artist, and his artistry isn’t based on a hit single.” Even so, by the time he landed in L.A., Hunt felt confident that the two albums he’d released through Capitol Records earlier this decade — an eponymous debut in 2004 and On the Jungle Floor in 2006 — had held up his end of the deal with the company, garnering loads of critical acclaim and, in the case of his first, a Grammy nomination for Best Urban/Alternative Performance.

So it came as quite an unpleasant surprise, says Hunt, when executives at Blue Note — the venerable jazz label that took over Hunt’s Capitol contract after some corporate restructuring by the two labels’ parent company, EMI — decided early last year not to release Popular, the disc he finished once he was settled here. “It was probably so devastating that I haven’t really addressed the feeling,” Hunt says of the decision, which took place after Blue Note had already sent out advance CDs to media and radio types. “I remember I was in San Francisco, and as soon as I found out, I went to my favorite pizza place, ate some pizza and just tried to forget about it.”

You can understand Hunt’s devastation (if not his coping mechanism): An appealingly trippy fusion of funk grooves, punk guitar and soul vocals that still makes room for the occasional future-folk slow jam, Popular is a left-field stunner, the kind of record many a Target shopper might’ve been hoping to find after plunking down $11.98 for Prince’s recent LOtUSFLOW3R set. (“She could fill an hourglass with sex appeal” is one of several lines particularly worthy of the Purple One.) And now it sits collecting dust in EMI’s vault, awaiting the day, says Hunt, when he makes it big as a musician (or as anything else), at which point he reckons the company will finally put it out in the hopes of making a quick buck. “I asked them if I could buy back the masters, but they wanted twice as much as they put into it,” he adds. “I told ’em I couldn’t afford it and we left it at that.”

A Blue Note spokesperson declined to comment on the matter beyond saying that Hunt and the label “mutually agreed to part ways,” an opinion the singer doesn’t exactly share. “I think they were afraid,” he says. “They didn’t think they were gonna do well with sales, which is laughable coming from a jazz label. Norah Jones is the only one who’s ever sold any records over there!” (According to Nielsen SoundScan, Van Hunt has sold 158,000 copies, while On the Jungle Floor has sold 58,000 — far from blockbuster numbers, to be sure, but respectable by the label’s non-Norah standards.)

Former Capitol president Andy Slater, who oversaw the making of Hunt’s first two albums before he was dismissed during the EMI shakeup, acknowledges the challenge in marketing records as eclectic (and demographically diffuse) as Hunt’s. But he also says, “Van is one of the big disappointments for me. It’s such a shame that no one in the next [Capitol] regime saw the talent I saw in him and took it to the place it needed to go.”

These days Hunt has only himself to count on in that regard: Last week he issued a slyly titled rarities compilation, Use in Case of Emergency, through his Web site, and he’s currently at work on a new studio set that he plans to release the same way later this year. (True to genre-flitting form, Hunt says the fresh material pairs West African rhythms with classical European melodies.) The singer makes no bones about the challenges of running his own business in the Internet era. “To be honest, I didn’t even know what a widget was,” he says. “I’ve had to learn a lot.”

Still, total autonomy — even of the nickel-and-dime variety — seems like a good fit for Hunt, whom Jungle Floor producer Bill Bottrell remembers showing up for work “really hoping and wanting to do everything by himself.” The singer, Bottrell says, “has this thick shell of overdeveloped defiance. But then so do some of our greatest musicians.”

LA Weekly

http://www.laweekly.com/2...-the-hunt/

Awesome article! Thanks for posting that!

guitarslinger44 said:

Do anyone still care about Van Baldy? I hope I don't get hit by Karma and start losing my hair, I'm sorry jebus...(seriously i'm sorry jesus)

kdj997 said:

That's cold.
I think Van Hunt and Robert Randolph are
probably two of the best black artists to
come out this decade. They are both good
musicians and they both care about the
music versus commercializing themselves
for an easy buck. What you have seen go on
with Blue Note and Van Hunt is the very
reason why it's good to own your masters.

phunkdaddy said:

-----
Co-sign but I hate that la weekly feels that they need to take a slam at Prince. You don’t have to pull one artist down to build another up and the media always does this with black artist.

If anything that might want to state that P was right about owning your master tape because if Van did we would all be listening to Popular today.

laurarichardson said:

I agree with your post.

Nice article. Looking foward to see Van in concert in the next couple days.

Why is it necessary to take shots at Prince in this article? dude doesnt have the fucking drive, its that simple, it was clear as day when he was at EMI that he wanted to sit and chill and not tour or push the record, no one could get him off his ass to do interviews etc...and sorry but you need to build somewhere, shit take a lesson from his then label-mate Norah Jones, have that kind of drive, she was playing clubs about 150 a year during the later 90's long before a deal.

Um Van Hunt has been touring. He's opened for the likes of
Mary J. Blige, Anthony Hamilton, and Mint Condition.

kdj997 said:

Aww, Hellll NAW! Take that back!

Van it the man! Don't hate

lastdecember said:

That's a load of bull. Where are you getting this mess? He didn't want to tour? WTF? Come on. You have it set in YOUR MIND the he "doesn't have drive" when in truth, there are a lot of hands in the pot when you are signed to a label. TOURING COSTS MONEY. Its not like the label is gonna kick down Katy Perry money to him because he's not doing pop music. What you think is laziness could be as simple as not wanting to settle for the bar band circuit. Many artists who have a bigger vision for their project have a hard time with this. Its a tricky balance game you have to play. If you put together too small of a show, you get stuck because no one wants to PAY YOU. Doing bigger venues usually means waiting to open up for bigger acts (like he did) but the payoff is a larger crowd and experience. I got to see Van in large and small venues doing promotion for both of his CD projects. I don't live in Atlanta or anywhere in the South any more. Dude was touring. He wasn't doing 150 nights a year but he was touring. Lets not forget that Norah Jones is Ravi Shankar's daughter. Its not like she couldn't get daddy to foot the bill here and there for touring if she came up short, which she probably didn't since she has a strong following. Geethali is a showbiz kid. That usually means, you're born with connections. You can't compare one artist's circumstances to another artist's anyway. I'm sure dude made some mistakes (cough,cough,ONEMANSHOW,cough) but its tough to play your hand while you have a buzz going without stumbling here and there. There are a lot of reasons projects have trouble. I don't think "laziness" was an issue for Van Hunt.

BlaqueKnight said:

Sorry but you said it right there, DUDE might not wanna play the bars etc.. well U GOT TO sometimes, you wanna have "pride" well, see where pride gets you. As for NORAH she was playing with the Peter Malick group, Charlie Hunter Trio and Wax Poetics, long before going it alone, and the first time i saw her was in a "bar" opening for JOAN FUCKING RIVERS to about a 100 people, you gotta do these things, no one knew her for the most part, she was selling a demo cd for 5 bucks at the gig. The Ravi bull crap got picked up after she was signed and blew up, but notice she went right back to doing small gigs again to keep it honest, not having this "Pride".

The experiences with VAN were from his reps, sorry you dont like to hear this, but we pushed the shit out of his first record, 8months before it came out, long before anyone here knew who the fuck this cat was. THEY said constantly they wanted him to do this to do that, to be interviewed for this newspaper and that one, in NYC, but they said it was so hard to get him to do anything, whether it was PRIDE or LAZINESS it doesnt really matter, neither will win you any points or respect.

As for daddy footing the bill for Norah, cheap shot, do the research they dont speak for the most part at all, she grew up not even knowing the man for the most part, and before she blew up she lived right here in BROOKLYN in one room apartment. Nice slam on her, kind of like the cheap LA times writer that slammed Prince to push Van, poor way to write.
[Edited 5/15/09 17:28pm]

Laziness is not the issues with Van Hunt. He's pumped out 3 studio albums and a "b-sides" album in a 4/5 year period as well a 4th studio album due later this year. As well writing tunes for several other artist's such as Rashaan Paterson and Anthony Hamilton. And he has done several "small bar" shows. In fact i'm seeing him tonight in a small bar show. I think when it comes to Van is he has his vision of his art and he'll be damned if anyone is gonna tell him what to do with it.
[Edited 5/15/09 18:51pm]

P2daP said:

No i agree on that but what im talking is his ranting and bitching about ways that things are done by the majors but then complaining about not being signed by a major. If you got the stuff put it out, you have chains on you, you are not held to a contract, put the shit out yourself, case closed

lastdecember said:

I didn't take a cheap shot at Norah. Re-read what I said. I have nothing against her and think she's done a good job of marketing herself. I said her life experiences and circumstances are different from Van Hunt's - THEY ARE.
Also,
You speak as if there's only one way to do it when that's not true. There are lots of artists who sell records with little to no touring. You can look up and down the charts and throw a dart and it'll land on a hip-hop artist who has less touring experience than Van does. I was simply saying that making the right choices for an artist can be very tricky. Not every artist makes the right choices all of the time. Still, I don't think Van is screwing up nearly as much as you seem to.

Artist R&B, POP or otherwise have to stay relevant and true to whatever music they are putting out there. Part of what the masses buy is the image and the brand that the artist projects. What's Van's image, what's his brand? Music wise the boy is gifted but I don't know if he really sold the image of the rebel rocker/funk/pop crooner well, the public sure didn't buy into it. Bro needed a hot hollywood romance, some flashy suits with scarfs and thumb rings...something that would appeal to the ladies. Fact is unless your Luther or Barry, you need to present some eye candy for the listening public to take that ride with an artist down the musical road of self exploration. As sad a statement as this is those that play to our vanity we find some morbid connection with. I thought Jungle Floor would be the jump off for the brother..that was one hell of an album. I don't think the label gave it the right push. Popular is cool but JF had a serious commercial appeal.

BlaqueKnight said:

Van should take a page from Ryan Adams, that is one person that walks the talk, and doesnt really give a fuck. There are alot of artists like Van who "say" they dont give a crap what the mainstream and labels think, but they do. Ryan is fortunate to be on the ONLY label that truly backs "artists" and thats Lost Highway.

The difference with Norah and Van isnt their life experiences, its the genres you can market them too, or that they are aiming for. Norah has more genres and people that she appealed too early on, she wasnt far from the "teens" she was appealing to the people who buy "albums" not ringtones, the more mature buyers. Van is in a genre that is floundering, suffering because if you are a RB male you have to be singing about sex and "in the club" and the "vip", lets be real, that is a "WEB" that everyone is trapped in, not that Van is doing that but he is trying to go into a genre where thats the climate, and HAS been the climate for almost 20 years now.

The thing with Van is he almost has to do the touring thing, he has to play the shows, even places he may think he is better than, if he wants to be the artist that he wants to be. If he doesnt want to, then quite frankly, why Bitch about the labels if you arent doing things your own way. Meaning you cant complain about labels when you dont want to be a part of them anyway, why bother, do things yourself, put the stuff out on your own and play some shows, create your own buzz. The artists that you are talking of not touring, are mainly hip hop artists who generally never tour for the most part because thats not in the genre its not important to the kids that buy it, with Van he is more mature, he is trying to go a different route, he isnt hip hop nor is he a "rock band".

BlaqueKnight said:

-----
Norah Jones does not even talk to Ravi (LOL)

BlaqueKnight said:

Well the same could be said then of any Female artist, i dont think Norah made it on her looks, she isnt doing magazines and shoots and commercials, she is a straight up artist and musician, who just happens to be pretty, but shes got alot of skills. Cassie is a model who then got a contract because if you are a model, thats already your exposure, so norah and cassie are on two different planets, cassie is on the rihanna ciara planet and Norah is just not even in that solar system. I still think that Van's troubles are more in the genre that he wants to go for, RB males are not diverse anymore, at least the ones that are pushed with any ability, sorry 2 say that the only way Van is going to get some push is to do it on his own

lastdecember said:

I didn't say she made it off her looks and don't sit here and pretend like if Norah Jones looked like Angie Stone she would still be doing the same numbers. You know just like I do that the entertainment business is partially looks based and even though Norah may have some skills, the FACT that she is pretty helps her whether she'd like it to or not. That was my only point. Pretty girls get more opportunities in the entertainment industry...PERIOD. It doesn't matter what genre or style they have. That's all I was saying.
And I agree, the only way Van is going to get some push from his work is if he does it himself.
[Edited 5/21/09 10:11am]