On "Homicide," Logic warned that it was only a matter of time before "Bobby Boy snapped." Evidently, that time has come, brought on by an unexpected catalyst. The Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind scribe took to Twitter to gather his heated thoughts, and proceed to put the entire idea behind sample clearance, and those that implement it with vigilance, on utter blast.
"Just want to take a moment and say, Fu*k sample clearence. Fuck clearing samples," he writes. "Fu*k people taking all a producers money for not doing shit and fuck the companies that say no just cuz. This is hip hop. I’m tired of replaying shit. Fuck the money. This why mixtapes was so good."
While Logic's frustrations are well understood, a devil's advocate might point out one crucial detail. The idea that people "aren't going shit" is not factoring in the work put into an artist's original creation; look no further than Juice WRLD's "Lucid Dreams," which wouldn't exist without a stroke of musical genius from Sting. Is it fair to call that "not doing shit," in this context?
In any case, Logic elaborates on his position, explaining that his frustration came to a boiling point when one of his homies got their clearance denied, despite playing everything by-the-book. He also issued a more fleshed-out statement, picking up where his initial rant left off. "I think it's insane an artist can do everything they can track to track down, clear and pay for a sample and give publishing to the original creator. And if they can't be found by the best sample people there is, that a producer shouldn't suffer or lose a placement."
"it's hard to see young producers who could have life-changing placements torn from them because an artist has been unreachable for 20 years. Just think it would be dope to add stipulations for such situations. I mean sampling can I kick it. And finding out tribe owns zero publishing and I have to give up 100 percent of my publishing to Lou Reed, and not quest is insanity."
He certainly raises a few key points, using the sad case of Tribe Called Quest to emphasize his argument. It's also respectable to see him suggest solutions to some of his issues, though should he truly desire a change, he might have to take on a more active role in shaping it. Still, it's good to see Bobby harnassing some of that passion, and we can only hope his sample issue finds itself sorted out in due time.