Industry Rule #4080 in full effect. Following on from the ingenious Fela Soul, Bizarre Tribe fused the rhymes of The Pharcyde and Tribe from their debut album and the samples from ATCQ’s The Low End Theory breathing fresh new life into two seminal works of hip hop culture. Instead of seeing it that way, however, Sony decided to slap the guys at Gummy Soul with a cease and desist letter. Gummy Soul responded with openness and humility and we respect them for that. Now, I’m not surprised by their decision – let’s face it, Sony suck as a record company when it comes to artist satisfaction (Michael Jackson and George Michael anyone?) but it really saddens me when big record companies throw their weight around pretending that their image and their bank accounts are under threat. People will be buying or not buying Tribe’s (or The Pharcyde’s) back catalogue whether Bizarre Tribe is a free download or not. This album has nothing but a positive effect. What Sony should be concentrating on is making quality music, the kind of stuff that the future generations will hear and contemplate doing this to.
Well, we say f*ck ’em, so stream the album below and read Gummy Soul’s full open letter to Sony.
