Time: 10:23 a.m.
Date: Jan. 8, 2002.
Place: Dreamworks Records, Marketing Department.
Executive A: So what we have here is a guy who used to be in a hip-hop group in the early '90s, but now does that unplugged thing and sings about drug dealers and pimps.
Executive B: Ah Christ, who the hell made us sign Everlast?
A: No. God, no. It's this guy Citizen Cope. We've been sitting on this thing for about a year and a half now. I'm looking at this Billboard, and I don't think sales are picking up for anyone anytime soon. But this guy has "critically acclaimed" potential up the wazoo, so I think he should drop now before that ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead's album steals it all.
B: Are you sure? He's a white guy with a drum machine who likes string sections. That's nothing too radical.
A: No, think music critical terms. A white guy with a drum machine is "genre-splicing." A string section is "lush." Name the last Top Ten Critics List albums that didn't use those words in their reviews.
B: Wow, you've turned this guy into Elliott Smith.
A: Why do you think we signed both of them to Dreamworks? In all honesty, though, I'd say he's more "genre-informed," like any kid who had Napster. He sounds like he listens to a lot of stuff. I hear some Portishead in there, maybe some Tom Waits, and "If There's Love" kinda reminds me of "Something."
B: I smell a commemorative George Harrison tie-in.
A: Perhaps not. "Hands Of The Saints" sounds a lot like Sade - might turn some kids off.
B: Maybe he can cover "Smooth Operator." Worked wonders for us with Alien Ant Farm.
A: That was "Smooth Criminal." Anyways, it all ends up sounding like a doped-up G. Love fronting the Roots.
B: Well, that's not a bad thing. I think I see an angle with that. Did you hear that first song, "Contact?" He's against the police trying to take his stash. I think he's trying to find his demographic himself. And a lot of these songs clock in curiously close to 4:20.
A: Hmm ... maybe he can capture the hip-hop-minded stoner white boy crowd that hasn't had anything to listen to since Cypress Hill left them high and dry.
B: Mostly just high.
A: Touch
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