Kanye West is back in the news again (when is he not?) and he troubled superstar has now extended an olive branch to old rival Taylor Swift.
He’s promised to help the singer acquire control of her master recordings, as he continues his crusade against what he calls unfair deals for artists in the music industry.
Notorious talent manager Scooter Braun infamously owns the rights to Swift’s first six albums, after acquiring her former record label Big Machine.
Swift was furious by the news, saying she was “sad” and “grossed out” by the deal, and has spoken fiercely of her desire to control her music.
Kanye West himself used to work with Braun but said he wants to put their history to one side and stand with Taylor Swift on this issue.
Writing in all caps on Twitter to emphasise his point, the rapper said: “I’m going to personally see to it that Taylor Swift gets her masters back. Scooter is a close family friend.”
I’M GOING TO PERSONALLY SEE TO IT THAT TAYLOR SWIFT GETS HER MASTERS BACK. SCOOTER IS A CLOSE FAMILY FRIEND
Love Hip Hop?
Get the latest Hip Hop news, features, updates and giveaways straight to your inbox Learn more
— ye (@kanyewest) September 18, 2020
In a separate tweet, West referenced Drake, another musician he has feuded with, as he continued on the theme of reclaiming artists’ rights to their music.
He said he wants to “transparently” change every album, publishing, merchandise and touring deal, “except for Drake’s.”
West added he was joking about the latter part, saying: “I love Drake too… all artists must be free.”
WE’RE GONIG TO TRANSPARENTLY CHANGE EVERY ALBUM DEAL EVERY PUBLISHING DEAL EVERY MERCH DEAL EVERY TOURING DEAL EXCEPT FOR DRAKE’S DEALS 🤣 JUST KIDDING … I LOVE DRAKE TOO … ALL ARTIST MUST BE FREE
— ye (@kanyewest) September 18, 2020
Master recordings are the original recordings of an artist’s music, from which all the later copies are made. The owner of these exerts huge control over the use of a song and then earns money from it.
While it’s rare for an artist to own their master recordings, Swift is determined to do so for her entire back catalogue. She has stated her intentions to re-record all of her first six albums.
She signed a record deal with Universal Music Group in November last year, an agreement which allows her to own her master recordings from the label.
West, who suffers from bipolar disorder, has been relentless on Twitter over the past while. Earlier this week, he ruled out releasing new music on his current record deal and compared the music industry and NBA to “modern day slave ships”.
Check out ‘cardigan’ by Taylor Swift:
