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Steady Bootleggin'

© Steve Juon

Forgive the opportunity, but I've got to rant and rave for a minute -- because quite frankly, I've had it.

In the "good old days", if you could call them that, the only kind of bootlegging you had to worry about was of already released major-label albums being hawked on cassette by street vendors for half the retail price. Such mom and pop operations were the target of many venemous raps by artists who ended up being 500 short of gold or 1,000 short of platinum and when caught by the artists in question usually had their cache trashed. Still these nickel and dimers were a small threat.

Now in the 90's, it's not enough for the bootleggers to settle for jacking already released albums. The theft has gotten more insidious, and the operators more professional. These days +entire+ +unreleased+ +albums+ are being stolen and sold over the net before they are even released - some songs in fact having never been INTENDED for release. The multiple "Makaveli" albums after Tupac Shakur's death were only the start. Now at sites all around the internet you can find bootleg albums for everyone from DMX to Jay-Z to Master P of songs they haven't even put out as promotional items or CD singles. This kind of extensive bootlegging lead Nas to delay the release of his album and re-record it, which unfortunately prevented many great songs such as "Fetus Belly Button Window" from ever seeing the light of day and actually making the bootlegs even +more+ popular than they already were.

I realize that my complaint about this abuse of artist integrity will do little to change the situation; but perhaps this appeal will reach some of you who BUY these albums of bootlegged material from your local corner store and believe they are legitimate +despite+ not having the artist's label imprint and coming with a one-sheet wide color insert for liner notes -- or even worse, purchasing it over the net sight unseen. For the record, think of it this way -- if you hadn't heard about the album or it doesn't have the imprint of an actual record label, it's +not+ the real deal. If you don't support this bullshit, the artists involved might wish to release the REAL versions - professionally mastered and recorded the right way instead of on cheap carbon copies. At least the artistic integrity of the artist will be respected even +if+ they didn't want it to be released. When you hear some of the songs on these bootlegs, you'll understand why.