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Forum nameThe Lesson
Topic subjectjust because you make some concessions w/your art doesn't
Topic URLhttp://board.okayplayer.com/okp.php?az=show_topic&forum=5&topic_id=2700386&mesg_id=2701019
2701019, just because you make some concessions w/your art doesn't
Posted by vee-lover, Sun May-20-12 03:52 PM
negate him as being a pure artist.


>If you were around for the making of Voodoo saga, you'll
>remember ?uest's regular reports about all the compromises
>being made, right up until the choice of covert art. And also,
>let's not forget that D is fundamentally a collaborative
>artist. You can't claim to be "uncompromising" when you are
>very dependent on others to help you develop and execute your
>vision.

The things you listed are so minor and insignificant lol. The Voodoo cd is a classic example of someone who is true to their art. That cd was held up for YEARS because the label was upset that there was NOT ONE radio friendly single on that entire cd. He was holed up in Jimmy Hendrix's studio for months much to the label's chagrin who was demanding that he hurry up with the record. That entire record was completely opposite of anything done by any mainstream r&b act...it was also different than his previous cd which the label was also urging him to continue to make a Brown Sugar 2 to follow up the success of the 1st cd.
>
>D is not "uncompromising"... He's a procrastinator. And
>besides, I'm not even sure how desirable it is to be
>"uncompromising" in the first place. True artists know that
>there are always compromises to be made. The moment a vision
>leaves the safety of your head and interfaces with the
>material world, it's already compromised. The struggle then
>for the artist is to try to maintain as much of the original
>vision as possible... or to try to mold a new vision out of
>the compromised one.

wait, you just said D'angelo is not uncompromising yet you say in the same paragraph that GRREAT artists don't compromise...so which is he? And first of all, when you have ppl putting millions of dollars behind you, then of course you're going to have to compromise on some things - whether it be the album cover or which song to release...but the overriding principle for any artist is to be able to make the music they want to make instead of doing what's likely to get them a hit...