Over the years, this website has received requests for reviews (there’s a certain company that sends me links to my email on an almost weekly basis) but I’m no yes-man, so I’m only going to give props to shit I genuinely like. Back in the day, I was contacted by a public relations company and asked to review a couple of albums. I wrote a review and an artist profile for two of High Focus Records’ artists because I genuinely enjoyed their work, but once I ignored a lacklustre album (not on High Focus by the way) the P.R. Agent (who worked for multiple recording companies) went bye-bye. This in a nutshell, is how this industry works: write something they want you to and they’ll give you some more work, but when you decline, they walk (or stomp) away like petulant children. Because of this experience, I’d guess the majority of reviews on websites, both independent and corporate, involve favours, possibly monetary persuasion, and outright lies. That’s not how reviews should work and I want no part of it.

Looking back at this companion site to What Went Wrong With (given its closure) I’ve come to the realisation: why the fuck am I spending my time and energy promoting a bunch of celebrities for free? Because I like their art? Sure. But the fact that I and many other fans already exist, am I really contributing to their success? And do they even deserve these sometimes in-depth critiques when 80 or 90 percent of them can’t even be bothered to acknowledge an article about their creation?

I guess the question remains: was this site responsible for getting Bernard And The Genie onto Britbox, The Real McCoy back onto the BBC and Gold or Way Upstream streaming on Netflix? Possibly. I was one of the first to call attention to these forgotten gems, but then again, are three releases a worthwhile achievement worthy of the time spent penning and illustrating this website for several years?

Regardless of this possible accomplishment, respect to anyone famous who ever retweeted or reposted, or even liked one of my 234 articles about them, and that includes in no particular order: Eddie Pepitone, Denzel Curry, Que Hampton, Guz Khan, Mark Silcox, Joseph Bishara, Anthony Atamaniuk, The Doppelgangaz, Geechi Suede of Camp Lo, KRS-One, Heather B, White Al of Camouflage Large Clique, Now Born Clique, Jak Frawst of Derelect Camp, Crank Lucas, Spiz The Prophet, Kenny Parry of Colonel Bagshot, Laurene Landon, Swilliamism, Rifftrax, Snaggapuss, Labba, Illa Noyz, F.T. (Fuc That), Fierce, Ill Knob, Large Professor, Jaz-O, Panama P.I.’s family, and whoever is in charge of Bill Hicks’ tribute Twitter account. Plus thanks to all my readers (occasional and avid) and all my followers. Keep listening to dope underground music and keep watching underrated movies.

Peace out.