Bilal: Chasing Love for Sale
Sep 5th, 2006 by Chris
Have you ever waited on something so long that you forgot you were waiting? Have you ever continued to hope for something even when the vast majority of the evidence indicates it’s not happening? Have you ever just blindly believed in something that you can’t see? Yeah, let’s do some of that for the next few pages. We’re going to talk about Bilal’s new album, Love for Sale.
This article started when we were sitting around and someone asked, “Hey, what happened to Bilal’s album?” It’s a question that’s been asked a million times by a million different people since Love for Sale got leaked early this year. At one point there was a release date in February, then a new one in May, promos were mailed out, and then… well, then everything got murky.
Rumors began to surface about the album being shelved because of the extensive internet bootlegging. No one wanted to believe it and neither did I. It had already taken more than five years for Bilal to follow up his incredible debut, 1st Born Second. I didn’t want to believe it would be still longer before we heard a new record, but I was starting to come to grips with the possibility.
So I set out to find out. The logical place to start any investigation into a record release is at the label. So I began my search for the missing Bilal album at Interscope Records. It was not a promising start. Here’s how it went:
Me: “Good afternoon, could I speak with the publicist for Bilal’s project?”
Interscope receptionist: “Who’s project?”
Me: “Bilal’s project, Love for Sale.”
IR: “Bilal who?”
Me: “Bilal Oliver. He’s a singer. Last album was called 1st Born Second.”
IR: “Hold on a second.”
(((30 seconds or so elapse)))
Interscope publicist: “Publicity.”
Me: “Good afternoon, I was trying to reach the publicist handling Bilal’s record.”
IP: “Who’s record?”
So right about there you get the point. After getting the correct publicist’s name, I was told that she was on maternity leave but that I could e-mail her. So I sent the pregnant publicist an e-mail asking how I could go about arranging an interview with Bilal. I get an automated out-of-office response that confirms she is on maternity leave. The e-mail is helpful enough to list the publicity staff who will be handling her accounts until she returns. There’s a publicity person next to virtually every artist signed to the label, but guess what? No mention of Bilal or who might be publicizing his record. I called Interscope back and asked if there was anyone that could help me set up an interview with Bilal. No luck.
So I’m still trying to put together an interview with Bilal when Omar’s publicist Somaya says she can link me to Bilal’s manager, Hawk Burns. Burns provides the first bit of evidence that Love for Sale is still coming out. “It’s not shelved man,” Burns tells me. “You got to understand. [Interscope] has 50, G-Unit, Eminem… we’re not really a priority. But it’s coming out.”
A week or so later, Burns arranges the interview. The professional journalist side of me wanted to lead into the record being shelved slowly, but the Bilal fan side won out and so my first question was something like, “Man, when is the album coming out. It is coming out isn’t it? Don’t tell me the internet stuff got it shelved.” “The stuff that got bootlegged was like the demo versions,” Bilal assured me. “I’m finishing up the album right now in L.A. A lot of the stuff got bootlegged, but the stuff that got bootlegged wasn’t even finished. So it’s all good. That just shows me that there’s love out there and that cats are still checking for me.”
But what about the label promos that were mailed out along with the first release date? “I don’t know about that,” he says. “As of right now I don’t have a release date. But it should be out around the top of the year I would say.” But wait, there were two official release dates. Both times they got bumped. That much I remember.
But Bilal isn’t bothered by the details of his release date/dates. As a matter of fact, he’s not even admitting that there is a completed album. As far as he’s concerned it’s a work still in progress. “I don’t really know what’s going on the album at this point,” he says, “because I’ve recorded about 82 songs. So I don’t really know. Which album are you talking about?”
So I’m no closer to finding out what happened to the original release date. I’m no closer to finding out when Love for Sale will finally be released. It’s an infuriating place to be. And yet this is exactly the uncertain position that a rabid base of Bilal fans are waiting in patiently.
Why do people feel him so much? He’s an amazing singer. Classically trained, jazz oriented, with more ability than even his first album hints at. People who have seen him perform live become evangelists for his cause. He evokes passion.
“I’m just the artist,” he says modestly, addressing the intensity of people’s reaction to his music. “I don’t really try to decipher it. I just try to make it as true as possible. What people make of it is a beautiful thing, but I don’t sit around and think [about the response]. I just try to stay true and make the most honest music that I can.”
Pressed further he admits, “I’m something that’s different and also accessible to the people. I’m left, but I’m also in the middle. I’m different. My music has some strange qualities, but it also has accessibility to it. It isn’t so strange that people don’t understand what is going on. I’m really just trying to open up people’s minds and get people out of hearing the same type of thing… I’m just trying to bring variety back.”
The music is about variety, but the artist’s goals for the record are familiar. “Platinum sales my nigga,” Bilal laughs before continuing. “It’s already a success in my eyes because I love the music and it’s good. At this point, it just needs to come out, have a killer tour, and dope sales. One million. Three zillion. Thirty-five zillion.”
Bilal’s goals mesh with his fans goals. Both want the album to come out, both want a killer tour, and both want a million copies of Love for Sale to… well, they want it to sell. So why can’t we all just get together and get the album to the people already? Is there a petition available to sign? Can we free Bilal’s music?
The artist isn’t letting the delay bother him. He’s sitting in L.A. recording, perfecting, and deciding which of those 82 songs will make the record. But he’s not quite as focused on getting out the final product as we might like him to be. “I’m working on my 83rd song,” he laughs before adding a teaser that should console fans just a little bit. “At least once this album comes out; I can drop the next album right after that.”
