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Why James Blake, Kanye & More Think the Music Industry is Broken

Why James Blake, Kanye & More Think the Music Industry is Broken

Plus, who is 4batz? The artist who secured a Drake remix with 2 songs.

March 06, 2024

We’ve partnered with Morgan & Morgan to giveaway 2 VIP tickets to the largest hip-hop festival in the US. Find out how to enter below. In other news today:

Billboard Hot 100 📈
Win 2 VIP tickets to see Metro Boomin, Future, Ty Dolla $ign & more at the largest hip-hop festival 🎟️
James Blake, Kanye, Tyler, the Creator & more think the music industry is broken 😳
Who is 4batz? The artist who secured a Drake remix with only 2 songs 🔥
Discover new music with the Rap Index 🎵
Industry Insights 🔎

Billboard Hot 100

As reported by Billboard for the week of March 9th.

The above chart shows Billboard’s Hot 100 ranking for this week. The Hot 100 ranks songs based on streaming activity, radio airplay audience impressions, and sales data—all measured by Luminate.

Kanye and Ty Dolla $ign’s “Carnivals” moves up two spots to #4, while Jack Harlow’s “Lovin’ On Me” gets bumped down again to #3. Bryson Tiller’s “Whatever She Wants” continues to climb in popularity, moving from #32 to #22 in just a week.

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We’ve partnered with Morgan & Morgan, America’s largest personal injury firm, to give away 2 VIP tickets to the largest hip-hop festival—taking place in LA from March 14 to 17, 2024. To enter, text LOUD to 4-THE-PEOPLE (+1 (484)-373-6753) for a chance to see Ty Dolla $ign, Future, Metro Boomin, Lil Tecca, and more. Terms & conditions here.

Why James Blake, Kanye, Tyler, the Creator & More Think the Music Industry is a Broken System

James Blake is the latest artist to voice his critique of the music industry's current state, and the co-signs keep rolling in. Ye, Metro Boomin, Tyler, the Creator, and The Alchemist have all reviewed and approved his thoughts via a social media reshare or comment.

Find out why artists are rallying against a system they think is broken below.

SHEIN works hard, but TikTok works harder

Blake’s peer-reviewed academic post was prompted by another user on X who highlighted his previous critique about TikTok. “Remember when my Godspeed cover went viral? Neither me nor Frank [Ocean] ever made a cent cause it was an ‘original sound’ in every video,” said Blake.

“Most people didn’t even know it was me because my name didn’t show up…The industry is beyond f*cked, and musicians are getting f*cked harder than anyone,” he said in the original quote.

Like SHEIN, the fast-fashion retailer notorious for ripping designs from other brands and producing cheaper copies, an artist isn’t paid for a TikTok sound that goes viral if it's ripped from a random video.

Virality doesn’t pay the bills

Sir James Blake couldn’t let that one example be the poster child for his thoughts on the industry, so he elaborated.

Something I keep seeing is ‘if you’re lucky enough to go viral, just use the exposure to generate income some other way’. Musicians should be able to generate income via their music.
Do you want good music or do you want what you paid for?
— James Blake (@jamesblake)
8:06 AM • Mar 3, 2024

“If we want quality music somebody is gonna have to pay for it. Streaming services don’t pay properly, labels want a bigger cut than ever and just sit and wait for you to go viral, TikTok doesn’t pay properly, and touring is getting prohibitively expensive for most artists.”

James Blake on X

The death of the music industry

Blake believes the evolution of physical albums to digital to streaming to viral sounds is preparing us for AI-generated music, which won’t pay artists at all.

He took it a profound step further and explained how TikTok/reels affect the songwriting and arrangement process of music while conditioning listeners to only enjoy a song snippet and not an entire song. Ironically, he shared this commentary in an IG reel—the format he said is killing the industry.

Similarly, Vince Staples, a man who has never met 2 dots he can’t connect, shared a more cryptic and hilarious version of Blake’s opinion.

On a recent episode of Complex’s Deep Talks, he pinpoints the exact moment the music industry was doomed—promise it’s not what you’d expect.

@complexmusic
“It was over when Mike turned white.” Vince Staples on the music industry being over with. 🧐👀#thatsdeep #vincestaples #thevincestaplesshow

What do you agree or disagree with James' opinion?

Click an option below to weigh in

Who is 4batz? The Artist Who Secured a Drake Remix After Releasing 3 Songs

You’ve likely already seen 4batz on your timeline, he’s the R&B singer wearing a black shiesty, hoodie, and gold grills. Except when he opens his mouth, it’s not the slew of slaughter gang bars you’re expecting, but rather smooth pitched-up melodies that would compliment a Brent Faiyaz or SZA feature.

But where did he come from? With only three songs released so far, 4batz has amassed co-signs from Kanye, Timbaland, SZA, and Drake—so much so that Drake just teased a remix of his most popular song, “act ii: date @ 8.”

No word yet on when the remix will be released but Drake’s longtime producer Noah “40” Shebib seems to be putting his touches on what will most likely become a Billboard hit and 4batz’s biggest song to date.

4BATZ x DRAKE
ACT II: DATE @ 8 (REMIX)
🚨COMING SOON🚨
— NFR Podcast (@nfr_podcast)
5:00 AM • Mar 5, 2024

From The Dallas Block

Hailing from Dallas, little is known about how 4batz, born Neko Bennett, got his start in music. His first song, “act i: stickerz “99,”” was released in June 2023 and got traction on TikTok.

The hit web series From The Block films artists worldwide singing into a microphone hanging from the sky. 4batz caught their attention and they released his performance in November 2023. It went viral, upping the momentum of his seemingly overnight rise.

Co-signs on co-signs

4batz’s success is two-fold. You either come across him through his music or an artist shouting out his music.

In the last 3 months, his FaceTime call with Kanye made the news, a clip of Kanye calling him his favorite new artist went viral, he linked up with Drake at a concert, and Timbaland sang his praises, suggesting Drake hops on the remix.

The media coverage of those co-signs, coupled with the virality of his solo clips, has made him feel omnipresent and confused fans who have never heard of him before.

Have you heard of 4batz before?