Kanye West has expanded his tirade against label ownership of musicians’ master recordings, this time adding that Prince and Michael Jackson were “killed” by the music and media industries.
“We used to diss Michael Jackson the media made us call him crazy…then they killed him,” West wrote in one Tweet. In another he posted a photo of Prince, writing: “Letâs get it big bro…you and Michael passed so we can live.”
We used to diss Michael Jackson the media made us call him crazy … then they killed him
— ye (@kanyewest) September 16, 2020
Letâs get it big bro … you and Michael passed so we can live pic.twitter.com/GIEWDhyepw
— ye (@kanyewest) September 16, 2020
In Tweets, he compared himself to Moses and the music industry to a “modern day slave ship”. EMI (owned by Sony/ATV) has controlled the rights to Westâs work since 2003.
In other messages West claimed that he’s the “only person” who can speak on the issue of masters ownership without being cancelled (HotNewHipHop notes that some artists have managed to buy back their masters, including Jay-Z, Frank Ocean, and Rihanna).
“The artist deserve to own our masters…artist are starving without tours…Ima go get our masters…for all artist…pray for me,” West wrote.
The artist deserve to own our masters … artist are starving without tours … Ima go get our masters … for all artist … pray for me
— ye (@kanyewest) September 16, 2020
The artist also claimed that Universal won’t tell him how much his masters cost “because they know I can afford to buy them”.
UNIVERSAL WONT TELL ME WHAT MY MASTERS COST BECAUSE THEY KNOW I CAN AFFORD TO BUY THEM
— ye (@kanyewest) September 16, 2020
He then went on to say he will stop at nothing, and proceeded to share PDFs of his apparent contracts.
This is what me Kanye West deal looks like today … I PRAY IN THE NAME OF JESUS THAT IT DONT LOOK LIKE THIS TOMORROW pic.twitter.com/i8UN3Z6oQ3
— ye (@kanyewest) September 16, 2020
“EVERYONE AT UNIVERSAL AND VIVENDI PLEASE UNDERSTAND THAT I WILL DO EVERYTHING IN MY LEGAL POWER AND USE MY VOICE UNTIL ALL ARTIST CONTRACTS ARE CHANGED STARTING WITH GETTING MY MASTERS FOR MY CHILDREN I WILL NOT STOP I PROMISE YOU IM AM PETTY AND VERY PERSONAL,” he added.
EVERYONE AT UNIVERSAL AND VIVENDI PLEASE UNDERSTAND THAT I WILL DO EVERYTHING IN MY LEGAL POWER AND USE MY VOICE UNTIL ALL ARTIST CONTRACTS ARE CHANGED STARTING WITH GETTING MY MASTERS FOR MY CHILDREN I WILL NOT STOP I PROMISE YOU IM AM PETTY AND VERY PERSONAL
— ye (@kanyewest) September 16, 2020
After sending that tweet, he later posted a video clip of him appearing to urinate on a Grammy award stuck in the bowl of a toilet.
Trust me … I WONT STOP pic.twitter.com/RmVkqrSa4F
— ye (@kanyewest) September 16, 2020
Yesterday, the billionaire rapper claimed that artists have no control of their actual music after signing a deal, writing: “When you sign a music deal you sign away your rights. Without the masters you canât do anything with your own music. Someone else controls where itâs played and when itâs played. Artists have nothing accept the fame, touring and merch.”
In January last year, West sued EMI in an attempt to be released from his 2003 contract, which includes an agreement that he âremain actively involved in writing, recording and producing Compositions and Major Label Albumsâ without retiring. EMI was also given rights to Westâs songs that he wrote prior to the agreement.
In response, EMI sued West the following March for allegedly reneging on his âbargained-for contractual obligations to the companyâ. The dispute was eventually settled in January, as reported by Billboard.
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