Van Hunt loses Popular

If Van Hunt’s e-mail interview with Rodney Carmichael last year was any indication, it seems like there’s no love lost when Van Hunt moved from Atlanta to Los Angeles a few years ago. But many of his fans in the city still have love for him. We were eagerly anticipating the release of his third album, Popular, on Blue Note/EMI today.

It looks like we might have to wait indefinitely. According to a post on Van Hunt’s MySpace page, the album has been shelved. Since he doesn’t currently have rights to the masters, it could potentially never see a legitimate release. It looks like Van Hunt might have to pull a Killer Mike and offer it as a free download - which is a shame, since his work deserves more consideration and respect than an Internet free-for-all bootleg.

Unfortunately, it’s not hard to see why Popular isn’t coming out. EMI just got bought by a private equity firm and is about to lay off 2,000 employees, and it’s suffering defections from its biggest stars. The company increasingly looks like a liquidation/bankruptcy candidate, and isn’t going to waste money on a guy who has never had a hit record. But if anyone deserves Meshell Ndegeocello “favored nation” status - i.e., someone who gets to drop albums despite never going gold or platinum - it’s Van Hunt.

Below is an excerpt from Van Hunt’s MySpace post.