>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?

Never said anything of the kind.

I said *true* artists recognize that compromise is a part of their process. The fact that D'Angelo has compromised, though, does not make him a true artist--in my mind, at least--because I believe a true artist PUTS OUT WORK.

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...

So then the reaction is to spend 10 years NOT releasing any work to prove that you are a true artist?

Please. D's hero Marvin Gaye worked under MUCH more rigid record company directives... The industry was much more structured and demanding when James Brown and Sly Stone, Isaac Hayes and George Clinton et al were putting out work on a regular basis... See, that is the test of a true artist: When the label censors your original vision, you use your creativity to work around the strictures and still produce something that manages to convey your vision while marginally appeasing the company.

If you feel you gotta take your ball and go home because you feel the label ain't letting you say exactly what you wanna say the way you wanna say it... that ain't nothing to be admired; that's weak.