MTV News caught up with top hip-hop bloggers to discuss the “Thank Me Later” leak that’s being widely downloaded at lightening speed.
NahRight.com’s Eskay, Rapradar.com’s Elliot Smith, FakeShoreDrive.com’s Andrew Barber and more all chimed in on what they feel is a very clear violation of hip-hop fans usage of the internet.
Per MTV:
any times in the past — with Jay-Z’s Blueprint 3, Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter III and Kanye West’s 808s and Heartbreak — we’ve seen blogs post a myriad of songs immediately after the album leaks. While they might not post the entire album, you’d get at least three new joints from it. With Drake, however, most blogs have decided to ignore Thank Me Later’s early, unplanned release.
“Enough is enough,” Andrew Barber of FakeShoreDrive.com told MTV News on Wednesday. “I know, for my credibility, we kinda already take enough from the artists. I know it’s a give-and-take relationship, but we already take enough from the artists. At a certain point, you have to take a stand. Most ethical blogs won’t post the album or keep posting [individual songs]. At a certain point, you’re cutting into their sales. Its one thing to post a few songs, but to post every single song, that’s basically pirating. That’s where I draw the line.”
“To be fair,” RapRadar.com founder Elliot Wilson said, “I think a lot of the sites, when the album fully leaks, they don’t put up the full album leaks. They kinda slowed down on the leaks and they’ll make the bold statement, they’ll decide, ‘This is the last leak we’re gonna put up from the project.’ “
Don’t even get me started on the obvious ass kissing that’s going on from the aforementioned. While I respect and admire all my blogger colleagues, the fact of the matter is bloggers post illegal copyrighted materials on blogs every single day. So to suddenly gain some sense of moral consciousness now that hip-hop hopeful’s own Drake aka Hammerhead has become yet a victim of the web, is laughable and a down right betrayal to the word “blogger”.
Now I will agree with former Editor in chief of XXL Magazine, Elliot Wilson, that bloggers don’t post full albums hardly, tons of non mainstream blog spaces do. Hence its where I got my copy.
Like everyone, I’ve downloaded “Thank Me Later,” and if I were a fan of Drakes — or hip-hop these days — I’d post it. Or at the very least hint to you where you can find it.
Unfortunately, for me the first three songs sunk me into an emotional hope so deep that not even a fireman without a collar bone could have rescued me.
Either way it’s an interesting read. Go here to read the full story.
Pop the hood to hear Drake’s feeling on the premature leak.
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