Lucas Foster took a road trip to a Motel 6.
Leaks, and leaks, and more leaks. In the same week our advanced curation algorithms decided a Carti leak was The Rap Song Of The Day™ (sponsored by American Apparel, powered by Raytheon), leaks are the topic of conversations, journalistic investigations, thinkpieces and criticism.
Noah Yoo’s diligent sleuthing, Ben Dandridge-Lemco’s sharp micro- and macro-cultural perspective, and Paul Thompson’s artful criticism have framed a discourse on the state of misplaced mp3’s, 2019 that could possibly continue until the end of time. Leaks’ financial and artistic costs have to be accounted for in the same way retailers account for stolen inventory; they have been essential to rap since before Napster and will remain so after the workers of the world dismantle the tasteless and capitalist Spotify playlist. The way leakers run low levels grifts on labels is criminal.
Leakers won’t go away, and some ideal universe where stars and labels have a precise finger on every audio files’ location is more dystopian than a network of nerds who can provide cover for artists creatively strangled by their record deal.
Pusha T appreciates this, announcing “I love leaks like the next man but i had to make sure you had the mixed and mastered in your archives” as he dropped the previously leaked, Kash Doll-supported “Sociopath.” There is so much copy dedicated to discussing what Pusha does right here that I’ll let you decide what pet Pusha coverage adjectives ought be employed to praise it.
