Cyrus Langhorne
R&B singer The-Dream has announced some bittersweet news heading into the weekend about a split from record label Capitol Records.
Dream revealed the unexpected breakup on his Instagram page Friday (July 10).
Recently, Dreams spoke on the music biz catering more to non-Black musicians.
“If you got a hit and you’re white, there are no limits to what you can do. If you’re black and you have a hit today but can’t do it again tomorrow, then your ass is out of here. When the industry uses you up, that’s it. You’re gone. It’s a constant battle for our culture. We can’t say no to radio, we can’t say no to Spotify, and we can’t have a concert because nobody will come. And the whole time, everybody is taking from our culture to enhance the pop side of things. By the way, the pop side doesn’t mean you have to be white. Bruno Mars is pop. Nobody listens to Bruno Mars like he’s a black artist. Which I’m sure for him, he’s like, “Thank God.” There are urban artists and then there are pop artists, and urban artists get things taken from them. We create the swag, and everybody knows it.” (Billboard)
Dream also weighed in on the buzz surrounding close pal Jay Z‘s popular Tidal music streaming service.
“I think my good friend Jay Z said it best: Apple makes a billion dollars doing something; we have no problem with it. We’ll buy 8,000 iPhones. But if a black man does it, immediately people say, “Wait, hasn’t he already made enough money?”” (Billboard)
In April, the Grammy-winning performer revealed business plans he had in the works with Jay.
“With [Jay Z], I’m more involved now with Jay than I’ve ever been. It just wasn’t about me signing to someone. Jay doesn’t even see me that way – More likely, before he would even suggest his home, he would try to find a home for my whole situation. Not just try to put me under something – we’re building Contra Paris, which is an art label. It’s about art overall, period. Anything that’s art, we’re trying to get into. I have a lot of people hitting me on Instagram, guys and girls, that are trying to fuse music with their culture.” (XXL Mag)
