Post by TQ on Aug 25, 2008 21:48:00 GMT -5
Wuzzup TP!!!! Long time no hear right? Sorry about that... This Indie sh!t is hard work!!!! Anyway I hope u guys are well. I been checking the site today and I wanna address some things. First off I wanna say THANK YOU to all the peeps that bought Paradise. I thank u for ur patience. All the push-backs and bullsh!t was frustrating for all of us believe me! We were on the same side... I hated to have to constantly announce more delays. I went to EMI and told them that they were gonna be responsible for me losing this huge, loyal, fanbase of mine if they pushed this album back again. They wanted to drop Paradise in Jan 09 because they knew that they were gonna be making changes in the company. I'm all about u guys. U have fed my family for 10 years and at this point I owe u more than 1 album every 4-5 years. There is a fine line between business and art. I didn't know how fine it was until I went independent. Everyday I wake up faced with a decision to satisfy my fans or make a living. The more this business changes, the bigger that decision becomes... I read some of the threads and I see that some of u are disappointed with "Paradise". I'm really sorry to hear that. I never woulda thought that!!! LOL! We all have our opinions and mine is still the same. U guys don't know all the bullsh!t that I had to go thru on this one and the fact that it came out the way it did makes me beat my chest! It's selling around the world online. For an indie label like my own, it doesn't have to chart for me to make money. It's really a blessing. Once again, Thanx to everyone who bought it! Even the ones that didn't like it!!! Anyway, I can understand the issues. "Paradise" is too close to traditional R&B and not close enuff to TNSMC. I get it. Unfortunately the TNSMC crowd seemed to stop "buying" records a couple of years ago. Please don't get me wrong. I'm not talking about ThugPoetry, but the vast majority of people who bought my first record, but are not members of this site. The girls on the other hand still buy cd's... I made a conscious effort to make more songs for them because of that fact, and the fact that I owe them that much. I have 100's of thousands of female fans that have listened to me hustle, ride, and give it up to my neighborhood for over ten years. At some point I wanted to give them something to listen to and feel like a woman... With that, out the door goes a lot of the originality that comes with the kind of music that I normally make and in comes the "love" subject. Not my favorite subject to write about, but I think it was effective. I get a lot of mail from women saying that they love it and bought it.
I dropped this album against the will of my distributor because my fans were tired of waiting. No way for me to explain another 9 month delay to non music "business" people even if I understood the reasons for it. I raised hell to get it out when it came out. Right now it's out online in most of the countries where my fans are located. There has to be some sacrifice made tho. There will never be an abundance of physical copies of my albums from here on out. They will be mostly digital releases. There is nothing that I can do about this fact at the moment. I'm sorry. All record companies are the same. The only way to keep giving u guys what u want and to be able to drop more than one album a year, instead of 1 every 5 years, is to a$sume ALL control over ALL my business. The fact is, "Paradise" is showing me that I can make a living online if I drop albums more frequently. This is the plan. I'll take responsibility for not satisfying the people who don't like my record. I cannot take responsibility for the difficulty in finding it... That ain't my fault guys. We won't have these problems too much longer tho...
As far as the 12 songs goes... Due to the amount of piracy in the music business there is now what is called a "controlled composition" clause in most contracts. Google it. Controlled compositions are records under the "control" of the parent company. In other words, songs that the record company are responsible to pay for. In my deal there were 10 controlled compositions. That means that 2 songs on the album I don't get paid for. They are essentially free records that I JUST GAVE TO U GUYS!!!! LOL! Not a problem, but I still have to pay the producers/publishers on those tracks! Get it? I'm sorry but I just can't give away 5 or 6 records on an album. I can't afford it! I try to put up unreleased new material to make up for it periodically, but u have to visit ReverbNation to get it all...
Now for the particular songs... I hate "In my Lap". It was the first record that we did and we took it to the strip clubs and it took off. That got EMI all pumped up and they wanted it to be the first single. I basically ran around asking the stations to tell them that they hated the song so that it would disappear... Still had to put it on the album cuz a lotta peeps down south liked it. I did not produce "Pround Mary". I did not mix it either. I HAVE NEVER USED ANTARES AUTO-TUNE FOR ANY REASON!. That was Deezles idea and I did not know until I heard the final mix. I was not paying for a recall cuz I still liked the song. Nevertheless I do cringe when the intro comes on. not because it sounds bad, but because of how people think not knowing the situation. As if I was trying to be T-Pain... LMFAO!!! I think yall know me better than that...
Understand that it will NEVER be possible to please everybody. Understand that U will NEVER hear an album like TNSMC again. It is a cla$sic. Every good artist has their cla$sic that will stand alone. That album is mine. I'm 14 years older than I was when I actually started writing that album. What things are any of u doing that u were doing 14 years ago? Not much I think! LOL! I mean, I haven't sold a bag of weed or a .357 in a LONG fu©kin' time!!!
I was a kid! I'm a grown man now! If thaz ur album, by all means turn it on and bump it! It's not a crime to BUY it again! LOL! Don't get me wrong, this "Love fest" is over after "Paradise". My next record will definitely have a lotta bite to it because over the last couple years a couple people have pissed me off and they gotta know it. I've kinda slipped back into fu©k u mode... Nevertheless, IT WILL NOT BE "THEY NEVER SAW ME COMING"... Please understand that. I prolly wont be all over ur TV or radio... I won't have that kind of budget. I will make great music for u though and I'll make sure that u don't have to look for it! Who knows??? Maybe something will catch on like that and it goes as big as Westside! We'll see!
I still won't sign my life away to a record label for it tho... I just don't want fame that bad. I just want to make the kind of music that I wanna make. My next ventures will make that possible I promise...
As for all my European fans who have an issue about possible favoritism for the US... I'm doing a 3 month tour in Europe and none in the US. Can we call it even? There will never again be a time when one territory gets a TQ album b4 another. From here out my releases will be worldwide in the same week. Deal?
Now I want all my peeps to know this. Under no circumstances am I apologizing for a bad performance with "Paradise". I personally feel like it's my best album yet. I said that already and I still feel the same about it... The overwhelming response has been extremely positive and like I said I was shocked when I read how some of u guys feel about it. I hadn't really heard anything bad about it until today actually and from my own site!!! LOL! Thaz a trip!
Somebody likes it tho... the worldwide iTunes numbers are great and S.E.X.Y. is my biggest online single yet! It has sold more copies online around the world than any of my previous records, including Westside! (Keep in mind that people were buying physical cd's back then...) All in all I'm happy with the project and happy with the knowledge and endurance that I have been blessed with to make a way out of no way. I'm looking forward to touring in the 4th quarter overseas! We are gonna have a ball!!!! Come and check me out! U can tell me how much u hate my album in person!!!! LOL!
I love yall to death! Thanx 4 riding with me!!!!
WESTSIDE4LIFE!!!!
I 4got another little subject... Filmz...
Now I'm a OG at this music game. Movies is a different story. Here's the way it basically goes. U get picked for a part right, they give u a contract and pay u half of ur bread. U get the other half b4 u start shooting. They give u a schedule and tell u when it'll be released. I take that and run with it thinking it is what it is... Then they push it back or change distribution or sell the rights or just do nothing!!! What I'm finding out is that I'm just an actor and I have no control over sh!t once I leave set! It was like pulling teeth just to get copies of the joints that I've done already... So I really don't know what to do about this movie sh!t. I'm gonna keep doing them regardless cuz it's fun as hell and it's good money. Plus u get paid whether it comes out or not!!!! I try to keep u guys in the loop, but when things don't go as planned I don't want yall pissed at me or thinking I'm fulla sh!t ya dig? LOL!!!! I don't know what to do about this one... I just finished a joint that I'm scared to even talk about LOL! I'll figure out a remedy though... I never woulda thought that Richard III, Rockin' Meera, and The Devil's Grind would not be out by now... I did them joints in 06! It is what it is... Acting is the sh!t. I won't stop.
I'll Holla!
I dropped this album against the will of my distributor because my fans were tired of waiting. No way for me to explain another 9 month delay to non music "business" people even if I understood the reasons for it. I raised hell to get it out when it came out. Right now it's out online in most of the countries where my fans are located. There has to be some sacrifice made tho. There will never be an abundance of physical copies of my albums from here on out. They will be mostly digital releases. There is nothing that I can do about this fact at the moment. I'm sorry. All record companies are the same. The only way to keep giving u guys what u want and to be able to drop more than one album a year, instead of 1 every 5 years, is to a$sume ALL control over ALL my business. The fact is, "Paradise" is showing me that I can make a living online if I drop albums more frequently. This is the plan. I'll take responsibility for not satisfying the people who don't like my record. I cannot take responsibility for the difficulty in finding it... That ain't my fault guys. We won't have these problems too much longer tho...
As far as the 12 songs goes... Due to the amount of piracy in the music business there is now what is called a "controlled composition" clause in most contracts. Google it. Controlled compositions are records under the "control" of the parent company. In other words, songs that the record company are responsible to pay for. In my deal there were 10 controlled compositions. That means that 2 songs on the album I don't get paid for. They are essentially free records that I JUST GAVE TO U GUYS!!!! LOL! Not a problem, but I still have to pay the producers/publishers on those tracks! Get it? I'm sorry but I just can't give away 5 or 6 records on an album. I can't afford it! I try to put up unreleased new material to make up for it periodically, but u have to visit ReverbNation to get it all...
Now for the particular songs... I hate "In my Lap". It was the first record that we did and we took it to the strip clubs and it took off. That got EMI all pumped up and they wanted it to be the first single. I basically ran around asking the stations to tell them that they hated the song so that it would disappear... Still had to put it on the album cuz a lotta peeps down south liked it. I did not produce "Pround Mary". I did not mix it either. I HAVE NEVER USED ANTARES AUTO-TUNE FOR ANY REASON!. That was Deezles idea and I did not know until I heard the final mix. I was not paying for a recall cuz I still liked the song. Nevertheless I do cringe when the intro comes on. not because it sounds bad, but because of how people think not knowing the situation. As if I was trying to be T-Pain... LMFAO!!! I think yall know me better than that...
Understand that it will NEVER be possible to please everybody. Understand that U will NEVER hear an album like TNSMC again. It is a cla$sic. Every good artist has their cla$sic that will stand alone. That album is mine. I'm 14 years older than I was when I actually started writing that album. What things are any of u doing that u were doing 14 years ago? Not much I think! LOL! I mean, I haven't sold a bag of weed or a .357 in a LONG fu©kin' time!!!
I was a kid! I'm a grown man now! If thaz ur album, by all means turn it on and bump it! It's not a crime to BUY it again! LOL! Don't get me wrong, this "Love fest" is over after "Paradise". My next record will definitely have a lotta bite to it because over the last couple years a couple people have pissed me off and they gotta know it. I've kinda slipped back into fu©k u mode... Nevertheless, IT WILL NOT BE "THEY NEVER SAW ME COMING"... Please understand that. I prolly wont be all over ur TV or radio... I won't have that kind of budget. I will make great music for u though and I'll make sure that u don't have to look for it! Who knows??? Maybe something will catch on like that and it goes as big as Westside! We'll see!
I still won't sign my life away to a record label for it tho... I just don't want fame that bad. I just want to make the kind of music that I wanna make. My next ventures will make that possible I promise...
As for all my European fans who have an issue about possible favoritism for the US... I'm doing a 3 month tour in Europe and none in the US. Can we call it even? There will never again be a time when one territory gets a TQ album b4 another. From here out my releases will be worldwide in the same week. Deal?
Now I want all my peeps to know this. Under no circumstances am I apologizing for a bad performance with "Paradise". I personally feel like it's my best album yet. I said that already and I still feel the same about it... The overwhelming response has been extremely positive and like I said I was shocked when I read how some of u guys feel about it. I hadn't really heard anything bad about it until today actually and from my own site!!! LOL! Thaz a trip!
Somebody likes it tho... the worldwide iTunes numbers are great and S.E.X.Y. is my biggest online single yet! It has sold more copies online around the world than any of my previous records, including Westside! (Keep in mind that people were buying physical cd's back then...) All in all I'm happy with the project and happy with the knowledge and endurance that I have been blessed with to make a way out of no way. I'm looking forward to touring in the 4th quarter overseas! We are gonna have a ball!!!! Come and check me out! U can tell me how much u hate my album in person!!!! LOL!
I love yall to death! Thanx 4 riding with me!!!!
WESTSIDE4LIFE!!!!
I 4got another little subject... Filmz...
Now I'm a OG at this music game. Movies is a different story. Here's the way it basically goes. U get picked for a part right, they give u a contract and pay u half of ur bread. U get the other half b4 u start shooting. They give u a schedule and tell u when it'll be released. I take that and run with it thinking it is what it is... Then they push it back or change distribution or sell the rights or just do nothing!!! What I'm finding out is that I'm just an actor and I have no control over sh!t once I leave set! It was like pulling teeth just to get copies of the joints that I've done already... So I really don't know what to do about this movie sh!t. I'm gonna keep doing them regardless cuz it's fun as hell and it's good money. Plus u get paid whether it comes out or not!!!! I try to keep u guys in the loop, but when things don't go as planned I don't want yall pissed at me or thinking I'm fulla sh!t ya dig? LOL!!!! I don't know what to do about this one... I just finished a joint that I'm scared to even talk about LOL! I'll figure out a remedy though... I never woulda thought that Richard III, Rockin' Meera, and The Devil's Grind would not be out by now... I did them joints in 06! It is what it is... Acting is the sh!t. I won't stop.
I'll Holla!
Snoop is a great artist and I love his "Vato" track, but no one can tell me he's still living the life he's rapping about in that track LOL. In his case it's part of an image he tries to portray to sell records. Did anyone see the promo pics for Cube's new album? He does the same.
