by Sharks
D.C. rapper Wale’s highly-anticipated debut, ‘Attention Deficit’ was released yesterday, but good luck finding it on store shelves. Despite heavy promotion leading up to the release — a collaboration with Lady GaGa, a cover story in XXL magazine’s and several appearances on late night talk shows — the rapper’s label, Interscope Records, shipped an insufficient supply of physical copies to retail outlets.
Wale learned of the shortage after receiving tweets from fans who attempted to purchase the record in stores. “I wish y’all could see how many messages I got saying their local Borders, Target and Best Buy dont have it … s— is killin me,” he tweeted. None to happy, Wale voiced his frustration with his label saying, ” Thank you to everybody that is ‘trying’ to get this album its abundantly clear that I was set up to fail … thnx[sic] for pushing for me.”
The talented MC, who has over 100,000 followers on Twitter, received a flood of support from fans and artists alike. R&B artist Res, who suffered similar issues with her 2001 debut, ‘How I Do,’ tweeted, “Welcome to the music industry!”
Wale took to Twitter today with a more positive outlook on the situation, “Like I said Interscope [Jimmy Iovine] like knows they seriously undershipped and a lot stores will have the album tomorrow afternoon!” The rapper’s issue with the availability of his physical product is yet another argument for online distribution outlets in the current marketplace; iTunes doesn’t sell out of product.
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