For those of you who haven’t been reading the comments, my post on Nike’s new commercial has received some interesting comments from readers. The commercial features a track by Saul Williams, List of Demands. The choice of this song has been controversial for two reasons. He’s an outsider voice, and someone held up as a pure artist. Having his music used in a commercial, and for a Nike commercial on top of that, has really surprised fans. Just Google “Saul Williams Nike Commercial” and you’ll find posts, comments at sites like Last.fm, and comment threads at YouTube where fans of his are shocked and dismayed that Saul Williams “sold out.”
The second issue, discussed in this AOL Sports Fanhouse blog post, is whether the song is appropriate for a commercial. That one’s less interesting, though.
Saul Williams addressed the first controversy on his web site. Here’s part of what he had to say:
1. yes, i approved the use of my song (which i wrote in my bedroom on a thursday afternoon, while Saturn was at school).
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7. I have never seen a Nike ad and thought “I gotta get those shoes”, but I have thought, “who sings that? I gotta get that album”. which is to say, am I selling Nikes or is Nike selling Saul Williams albums?
8. I made $0 from the sales of that album….so far.
9. As I’m typing this I’m watching Poetri (from Def Poetry’s broadway cast) in an Arby’s commercial.
10. What happened to all the people who said, “Saul, I wish more people could hear your music?”
11. I might consider myself a sellout if I wrote a song FOR a corporation, but an ad exec asking me to use my song in their commercial, strikes me as not much different as a student asking to use my song in their film. Granted I can think of plenty of corporations that I would say no to and a couple of years ago I probably would have said no to Nike, just as I did to Mercedes (but they actually wanted me to write a poem about a car! A poem!). But, yes, I knew that Nike had made certain steps in addressing issues, which I had to research years ago as my neice, who is a formidable athlete, and daughter have both begged me for Nikes. Although I do not personally own a pair, I remember what it was like to be in junior high school. They’re both really excited about the commercial.
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13. I’ve had quite a few pro-football players come up to me in airports and restaurants to tell me that they listen to my music (even before games!).
14. I don’t watch football (unless it’s soccer).
15. ipods ain’t green.
Hit the link to see the reaction, or hit the FM thread about the commercial. Some fans aren’t buying it.
As most of you know, I pay attention to the music used in commercials and soundtracks, precisely because I find them to be a great source of new music that doesn’t make the radio or iTunes top sellers (my usual ways of finding new music). I really appreciate what music supervisors do both in commercials as well as in soundtracks. I love how they find a phrase or a feeling and focus in on it. In a lot of ways, they’re analyzing the music by zeroing in on that one aspect of a song.
In other words, I’m that guy Saul Williams is talking about. I’ve never bought a pair of Nikes because on the commercials, but I did go out and buy the single and then his last album, which, by the way, is pretty damn good, released direct to the audience for $5, no DRM, and was produced by Trent Reznor.
So, obviously, I’m OK with Saul Williams’s move here. “Selling out” is relative, and it’s about the purity of what goes into the art, not necessarily how it gets used. Nike’s ad agency chose it, and paid for it, and didn’t do anything underhanded with it. He has no moral issue with Nike (satisfied with their changes on the labor front), so he should go for it.
I’m not a super-fan, so I don’t have a lot invested in Saul Williams’s journey thus far, so maybe I’m missing something. Fans invest a lot in their favorite artists, especially when it’s an artist that’s less popular or has “outsider” as part of their identity. I can respect that, but my theory is that as long as he’s making the same kind of music and using the same approach to his art, this can only be good.