The best part of waking up is not a Rick Ross re-released album to bump.
There must be a lot of members of the Ross family and hella people on the Miami police force. Nothing else can legitimately explain how Black Wooly Willy over here sold 400,000 copies of his yearly coaster, Teflon Don. Now, as a big “fuck you” to the (unrelated) people that bought it, he has announced that he will be re-releasing the album with new bonus tracks. Though it is hard to feel sympathy for people who still buy Ross CDs in this day and age, it is the principle of the matter that irks us.
There must be a lot of members of the Ross family and hella people on the Miami police force. Nothing else can legitimately explain how Black Wooly Willy over here sold 400,000 copies of his yearly coaster, Teflon Don. Now, as a big “fuck you” to the (unrelated) people that bought it, he has announced that he will be re-releasing the album with new bonus tracks. Though it is hard to feel sympathy for people who still buy Ross CDs in this day and age, it is the principle of the matter that irks us.
First of all, this is a terrible business idea. The reason this was a viable option for other (better) artists is that they have die-hard fan bases that might actually shell out the cash for another copy of an album they already own. Rick Ross doesn’t have this. Have you ever met a Rick Ross fanatic? Anyone who was going to buy this album already did. Anyone who wasn’t going to buy this album either hasn't and never will listen to it, or illegally downloaded it (and probably deleted it soon afterward). If the Avatar re-release bombed, how could there be any hope for Teflon Don?
Rick Ross would be an excellent Executive Producer. First, he looks strong enough to dangle a gangly white rapper from a high rise building. Second, his albums sell because of everyone else involved. It’s like a compilation album with good producers, good guest artists, and one weak rapper swizzing up every track (Quick SAT review: Rick Ross is to his own album what Hittman is to Dre's 2001). Furthermore, where does this man get off adding bonus tracks? The album was only 11 tracks long to begin with! You’re not dropping Thriller or Illmatic here, Ricky. Just throw those tracks on from the get-go.
Rick Ross would be an excellent Executive Producer. First, he looks strong enough to dangle a gangly white rapper from a high rise building. Second, his albums sell because of everyone else involved. It’s like a compilation album with good producers, good guest artists, and one weak rapper swizzing up every track (Quick SAT review: Rick Ross is to his own album what Hittman is to Dre's 2001). Furthermore, where does this man get off adding bonus tracks? The album was only 11 tracks long to begin with! You’re not dropping Thriller or Illmatic here, Ricky. Just throw those tracks on from the get-go.
The real issue here, however, is not that Rick Ross sucks and has no reason to be re-releasing mediocre albums. Rather, it is that this re-releasing trend has gathered far too much momentum in the industry as of late. Record labels (and artists that want to keep their record deals) are always looking for a way to bump up their sales numbers (part of the reason double discs were so popular was that they are counted twice by Soundscan, so gold sales = platinum plaques). In any business, it’s understandable to want to maximize profits, but you can’t do it by swindling your customers. That’s exactly what is happening when artists drop their albums and then drop a special edition a few months later. They could have given us both at the same time and let us choose, but essential they are saying “fuck you, pay me… twice”. What’s worse, most of the time, the newly included songs are those that were cut from the original version because they weren’t good enough. You want us to buy another copy of your album to hear some shitty songs that didn’t make the first cut? Fuck you, give me my money back!
Sometimes, however, they are tracks that were cut for lack of space, rather than quality, or that just didn’t fit with the sound or flow of the album. Further, sometimes they just weren’t finished in time to make the album. In these cases, perhaps it’s not about sales numbers, but just wanting to get the music out to the fans. Fine. Then leak them! Not only will you not piss off your listeners, but they will really appreciate it. Fans love it when artists leak their own music. If you made enough on your album to even be considering a re-release, then you made enough to take a loss on a couple tracks. But what if it’s more than a couple tracks? Those production costs are going to start adding up. Fine. Re-release the album with a bonus disc, but then release the bonus disc on its own as well! Lady Gaga and Usher did it! That way, you get that sales bump from people who hadn’t purchased the album yet and the real fans that ran out to get the album as soon as it dropped the first time don’t feel cheated when they are re-released with new music.
In summation, good artists need to stop cheating their fans out of their hard earned money just to boost sales figures, and Rick Ross needs to stop pretending to be a good artist. Also, he can feel free to just truffle shuffle his fat ass away from the mic altogether.
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