http://www.albumism.com/interviews/van-hunt-reexamines-the-state-of-his-art

PC: I'm based in London, and would love to see you back here in the UK to perform. Any chance of you returning to England anytime soon?

VH: I love England. I'll definitely return to visit, as often as I can. But it won't be to perform. While I'm there, we can chat over a pint. That would be great.

PC: What's on the horizon for you? Any hints of a new album on the way? Will you be heading out on tour soon?

VH: I'm retired.

PC: Retired? That's quite a surprise. Is that from music as a whole or just certain aspects of it? What prompted the decision?

VH: I've retired from the cycle of making records with a commercial expectation associated with it. And that's not because I wouldn't relish the opportunity to bridge my latest art with commerce. But, art needs the strength of a distribution and marketing arm. It needs an impetus. Creativity doesn't just come out of a genius garden. Art has to solve something within an artist. The artist is usually driven by a question he has formed from watching a dysfunctional society. So he births a solution. But, if there is no system by which he can entrust the robustness of his solution—that is, artist development, marketing, publicity, promotion, strategy...other ideas about how to peel and articulate the layers of his work to the market—then the fire of his work is doused.

To me, this is really sad news. He was one of the most creative and exhilerating songwriters of the last 20 years. Shame on this corporate, soulless industry and shame on music fans for not recognising his talents.

[Edited 8/26/17 4:48am]

MattyJam said:

http://www.albumism.com/interviews/van-hunt-reexamines-the-state-of-his-art

Thanks for posting this link, Matty.

wow, i almost feeled compelled to go buy EVERYTHING from this dude on the strength of that response/explanation. such depth and eloquence. i knew OF him of course, heard a song or two even, but i might just go fuq with him for real....

datdude said:

wow, i almost feeled compelled to go buy EVERYTHING from this dude on the strength of that response/explanation. such depth and eloquence. i knew OF him of course, heard a song or two even, but i might just go fuq with him for real....

You won't be disappointed, he's great.

datdude said:

wow, i almost feeled compelled to go buy EVERYTHING from this dude on the strength of that response/explanation. such depth and eloquence. i knew OF him of course, heard a song or two even, but i might just go fuq with him for real....

Yes! Van Hunt is probably the finest lyricist in R&B - ever - and has to be in the top ten of great
pop lyricists of all time too, as indicated by this "depth and eloquence."

datdude said:

wow, i almost feeled compelled to go buy EVERYTHING from this dude on the strength of that response/explanation. such depth and eloquence. i knew OF him of course, heard a song or two even, but i might just go fuq with him for real....

You should. He's amazing.

I had been avoiding looking into this. Sad to see he really is done. Feels like the "bad guys" won in a sense.

His enemies.