Citizen Cope
Citizen Cope has never been an artist that has enjoyed much radio play or even a big push from his record companies, even though he has spent his entire career up to now on major labels.
Yet, he is in the enviable position of being an artist that can tour large clubs and theaters, and as his current tour attests, sell out multiple nights in cities like Boston, Philadelphia or Miami. To Cope, his ever-expanding popularity is largely the result of having created a sound that is uniquely his with a message that feels authentic and honest.
“You don’t want to try and make a record like somebody else makes it,” Cope said in a recent phone interview. “You just want to take the good stuff that you like or you enjoy as a listener, and if it works in your stuff, you want to (give) something from your own soul that’s original. I think that’s what people identify with in the long term. A lot of these songs that I’ve done are going to stand the test of time. It’s amazing that ‘The Clarence Greenwood Recordings’ still sells a thousand copies a week, and it (that CD) is six years old. ‘The Karma Kid’ had its best year last year, and that’s eight years old.”
While he isn’t a platinum-selling star, Cope has built a very respectable level of success despite going against the conventional wisdom that suggests that to achieve major popularity, an artist should create a focused sound that fits a popular musical format.
His four records have brought together a varied range of influences that include pop, blues, hip-hop, laid-back rock, reggae and folk. This probably hasn’t done Cope any favors with radio, where he hasn’t fit the medium’s more narrowly defined formats. The eclecticism has probably even confused some potential fans.
But now, with his fourth CD, “The Rainwater LP,” in stores, Cope (real name Clarence Greenwood) said he was able to bring the various strengths of his three previous albums all into play on the new CD.
“Like some of the (songs) off of the first album, like ‘Salvation’ and ‘If There’s Love,’ I think, are some of my best actual songs. ‘Clarence Greenwood,’ I think, is a great record as a whole. (The 2006 CD) ‘Every Waking Moment,’ to me, has some of the best production that I’ve done. And I think this record kind of hopefully took something that I’ve learned from every record and kind of applied it…I’m really excited about this record.”
In some significant ways, though, “The Rainwater LP” is very much its own animal.
For one thing, it is arguably Cope’s most acoustic-centric album and also perhaps his most laid back collection of songs. In fact, the relaxed vibe of the CD makes “The Rainwater LP” feel a bit undercooked upon initial listening. But subsequent plays reveal that there is actually a good deal of nuanced production and instrumentation within the CD’s seemingly simple and pared back sound.
And the restraint Cope shows in his sonic treatments allows the seemingly simple melodies of songs like “Keep Askin’” (with its striking descending piano line), “Off The Ground” (an especially melodic reggae-rooted track) and “Jericho” (a grooving electro-tinged tune) to really shine.
The Rainwater LP” may not be Cope’s most musically immediate effort, but it is a sign that his songwriting and production skills continue to grow more developed as he goes further into what is now about a 15-year career.
A native of Memphis, who spent time growing up in Texas, Mississippi and Washington, D.C., Cope went solo in the mid-1990s after a stint as turntable player in the critically acclaimed, but commercially ignored, hip-hop/rock group Basehead.
He signed with Capitol Records, only to be dropped by the label after it shelved his 1997 debut CD, “Shotguns.”
Cope, though bounced back, landing a deal with DreamWorks Records, which released his self-titled debut CD in 2002. That CD never caught on, but during this time, Cope got a significant break.
A demo of his song “Sideways,” was sent to Carlos Santana. The guitarist decided to record the song for his “Shaman” CD, and had Cope produce the track.
This project introduced Cope to L.A. Reid, who was then the president of Santana’s label, Arista. Once Cope freed himself from his DreamWorks deal, Reid signed him to Arista. But before he could release “The Clarence Greenwood Recordings,” Arista folded, and Cope was shifted to RCA Records and its different staff. The label retained Cope for one more CD, “Every Waking Moment,” after which Cope was able to get his release.
He chose to start his own record label, Rainwater Recording, and release his new CD himself.
Cope doesn’t deny his frustrations with the major labels, which didn’t seem to understand how to market his music, or even have enough staff to make him a priority. He said “The Clarence Greenwood Recordings” was especially a missed opportunity.
“I just kind of got herded over there to RCA (after Arista folded),” he said. “In the time they had had artists they had signed that they were excited about, different artists that they were excited about. I just kind of got sent over there. I had a classic record, ‘The Clarence Greenwood Record,’ had anyone wanted it. Unfortunately it went to RCA, who I didn’t think understood or had the capacity to promote and market it. So I was kind of stuck.”
Cope, though, was able to keep touring extensively, and this enabled him to build a strong grassroots following. In fact, his ongoing tour schedule played a major role in creating the four-year gap between “Every Waking Moment” and “The Rainwater LP.” Touring even dictated the way the new CD was recorded.
“I just was doing the record and then I’d go on tour, then I’d come back and finish some more of it,” Cope said of the recording, which stretched out through much of 2009.
The interruptions in recording, though, had their benefits, as Cope was able to live with his early recordings for the project, identify ways to strengthen the songs and then record them again at a subsequent recording session.
“You can listen to it and then have a perspective and go back and jump into it,” said Cope, who self-produced “The Rainwater LP” and used studios in Brooklyn, New York and Malibu, California for the project.
Cope should be able to do justice to the songs on new CD on tour, as he tours with two keyboardists, a bassist and drummer. He’ll also play a decent selection of his earlier songs, he said.
“Everyone has their favorites, so I try to cover the array of what we’ve done over the years,” Cope said.
Citizen Cope plays South Florida on March 24, 2011 at the Culture Room, 3045 N Federal Hwy, Ft Lauderdale. Show starts at 8pm. Tickets are $32.90. For more info: www.livenation.com
