Let’s
Here is more from Blue Note:
Popular was originally intended for release in January 2008, but was pulled from Blue Notes release schedule in late 2007 during a tumultuous time for the labels prior parent company EMI. Hunt had been moved to Blue Notes roster following the release of two albums for EMIs Capitol Records: Van Hunt (2004) and On the Jungle Floor (2006).
In 2016, Hunt re-approached Blue Note (now underneath the Capitol Music Group, a division of the Universal Music Group) to reconsider releasing the album. Current Blue Note President Don Waswho has cultivated a movement of forward-thinking artists who blur the lines of R&B, hip-hop, funk, rock and jazz like Robert Glasper, José James, and Chris Davereadily agreed, allowing the album to finally see the light of day.
Popular was so far ahead of its time that it sounds fresh today and reaffirms Van Hunt as an important musical voice, says Was. The opportunity to right this wrong is both karmically and musically solid.
Populars 14 tracks show the evolution of Hunts sound from his first two albums, an assemblage of funk, rock, soul and all styles in between that followed in the vein of his primary influences: Prince and Sly Stone. LA Weekly called the album a left-field stunner for its trippy fusion of funk grooves, punk guitar and soul vocals.
This record is all the way me, said Hunt in 2007. Without a doubt, its certainly personal, in its sound, in its lyrics. I wouldnt necessarily call it autobiographical, but its all about how I feel. Picasso said that art should disrupt, and it does that a bit.
10 years later Hunt reflects back and looks ahead: I put my whole world into making this record. But looking back, my world was a different place then. I was different, then. I thought my world was all there was. I was to learn that the emotions on that record couldn’t overwhelm the events that would befall its release. Piracy, changing technology, collapsing economy we this entire industry went under.
Check out the album below: