Please chill with the guilt trip. You're actin like if I've heard your album, all of a sudden I no longer love H.E.R. That's ridiculous.<P>Personally, I don't see how a true supporter of progressive hip-hop can NOT download the album. I mean, we've been waitin for this joint for 3 years. People want badly to hear this album. I actually considered not downloading it, but then I decided I just couldn't wait to hear it. Even if it was unmastered. Just like when Star Wars dropped last year. Months before it came out, people would watch versions of it in various stages (without special effects, without sound, etc). Or they'd read the script or whatever. If you're a true fan, you just can't wait. You'll take whatever taste of it you can get, no matter how small. Just like, if all that was out there was a copy of the LWFC lyrics, mad heads would read all the tracks straight through.<P>So to say I'm not down with progressive hip-hop is an insult. We're just some hardcore fans who couldn't wait, that's all. We're still gonna buy the joint on the 28th, just like all the Star Wars heads packed the theaters out last year, despite the fact that most of them already knew the plot and had seen pictures and scenes of the movie beforehand. <P>As for passing judgement on the album, that's our right. That's how it works. You make the music, we judge it. It's not about "we paid our money, so we have every right to blah blah blah..." It's just our role. You make the joint, we listen to it. It's unfortunate (for you) that an unmastered version of your album got out, but there's nothing you can do about it now. You can't stop people from listening to it and passing judgement on it, no matter how many pleas you make on this board. Listening to an album is like meeting someone for the first time. You can't be like, "No wait! Don't judge my appearance right now, cause I haven't had time to comb my hair. I didn't mean for anyone to see me like this!" Well, sorry, but it's too late. Your (unmastered) album is out, probably half your fans have heard it, and first impressions have been formed whether you like it or not. You just gotta be secure enough in your music to accept that.<P>If you're talking strictly about sales, I feel no remorse in downloading the album, because I *will* buy it. And I have not distributed it to anyone. No one, but myself, has heard the LWFC mp3s that I own. I downloaded the album and exactly zero dollars came out of your pocket. <P>But if you're saying that I, as a lover of "true hip-hop", have some moral obligation to not pass judgement on your album until the magical date of March 28th... that's a little too idealistic.<P>---------------------------<BR>"when science finally locates the center of the universe, some people will be surprised to learn they're not it."<BR>- unknown<P>"words - so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become in the hands of one who knows how to combine them."<BR>- nathaniel hawthorne<P>"whatever happens it was written, meaning God meant it..." <BR>- nasir jones