Young Thug is Free, Timbaland Sells Out, and Steve Martin Dances: Link Drop

The news, podcasts, albums, and ephemera that I've enjoyed in the last month.

Can’t Get Much Higher’s link drop is a monthly series for paid subscribers where I discuss art, news, and stories that have gotten me thinking and laughing in the last 30 days. This month, we talk about a bunch of Nintendo entering the music business, the greatest Motown cover, a new feature from Apple, and so much more.

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Musical Trends to Keep an Eye On

“Nintendo Goes Its Own Way — Debuts Nintendo Music App” by Ashley King (Digital Music News)

I was scrolling the top music apps on the App Store when I noticed somebody had dethroned Spotify: Nintendo. The video game company had launched a standalone app for people to listen to their favorite compositions from the Nintendo universe. Notoriously protective of their intellectual property, this is interesting because music streaming has been notably open, every platform has the same catalog more or less. Video streaming, by contrast, is much more fragmented. Nintendo limiting their music to a dedicated app thus represents a break from the last decade of music streaming.

“Bon Iver invites fans to cover his songs for his new website” by Laura Molloy (NME)

Over the last few years, we have seen artists look for new ways to engage and build a direct relationship with their fans. Bon Iver’s new venture to have fans cover his songs is another example of that trend. Other examples have cropped up recently too. Rapper G Herbo recently launched an app to bring fans exclusive content. Cash Cobain also launched an innovate marketing campaign for his new single where he allowed fans to choose the order of each verse and then download the custom song.

Cash Cobain’s website where fans could customize his new single

“Collective ownership can win: New music platform Subvert allows artists and fans to become cofounders” by Nyshka Chandran (Resident Advisor)

I was just alerted of a developing streaming service called Subvert that will be collectively owned by the artists on the platform. Often when people complain about the current streaming landscape, I’m told that this is what they want, namely a service owned by artists. Time will tell if consumers actually are attracted to this idea. I’m hopeful but skeptical, especially since this will certainly be driven by independent artists.

Musical History to Write Home About

All these years later, James Brown is probably still underrated. Here he is in 1974 at the age of 41 screaming and singing in between splits as a reminder why people called him “the Hardest-Working Man in Show Business.”

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Here’s Vanilla Fudge on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1968 with a cover of The Supremes’ classic “You Keep Me Hangin' On”. On certain days, I’m convinced this is the greatest cover ever recorded.

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This video of Steve Martin going, well, toe-to-toe with tap dancer Gregory Hines got me thinking about how tap dancing used to have a much more prevalent place in American culture. In fact, I think in the 1970s, there was a chance your average American could name at least two tap dancers. Someone should bring tap dancing back on TikTok.

News from Inside the Music World

“Young Thug Released After Guilty Plea in Lengthy YSL Case” by Joe Coscarelli (New York Times)

This long, complex case involving Young Thug came to an end when the Atlanta rapper “pleaded guilty to participating in criminal street gang activity.” His sentence of 40 years was commuted to time served followed by 15-years probation. From a musical perspective, the most problematic part of this case was that the judge allowed the prosecution to use Young Thug’s lyrics as evidence. I think this sets a bad precedent. Independent of Young Thug’s crimes, the idea that artistic expression could be used in a criminal case feels antithetical to free speech.