Kendrick fought the good fight on XXXTentacion’s behalf. Kendrick Lamar was planning an exodus after he heard Spotify was looking to ban XXXTentacion for his questionable acts. Two weeks ago, XXX and R. Kelly both got the axe from the streaming service after it had devised a hateful conduct policy. Naturally the two musicians were the first to go, as was teenage phenom Tay-K. This has caused an internal rift at the company, as several executives were not in agreement with the decision. The Head of Artist Relations Troy Carter had to persuaded by CEO Daniel Ek to unpack his bags.
According to the Guardian, Kendrick Lamar personally contacted Daniel Ek to voice his frustrations, even going as far as to threaten pulling his music from the platform. Other artist were rumored to have called of their own volition, sensing the hateful conduct act could lead to arbitrary business decisions, more so than ethical ones. Listeners have a difficult task ahead of themselves. Once they’ve invested so much in an artist, does their record of conduct become a point worth defending. Sometimes it’s best to cut your losses.
Top Dawg Entertainment President, Punch also commented on Spotify’s policy writing, saying “Whoa. Are they censoring the music? That’s dangerous.” Considering Punch was readying an official TDE playlist for the streaming service, Spotify’s next move is either boom or bust. It doesn’t help that hip hop’s sense of community makes for an all-in-one deal at the bargaining table.
