What a busy time it is for Calvin Harris. Hit singles, 8 successful JamTV episodes, the world’s first human synthesizer, regular high-profile festival slots and a new album Ready For The Weekend released only last week. So, you would think that Harris has little to complain about. Wrong.
Ready For The Weekend has been the recipient of generally negative reviews (Day and Night’s own John Meagher gave it one star) and Mr. Harris couldn’t take it any more. Rather than call up his mother for a boo-hoo or have a quiet mumble about the music press at home, he turned, in a fit of anger, to Twitter for an all-capitals Kanye-style rant:
“THIS ENTIRE INDUSTRY IS FULL OF RICH PEOPLE’S KIDS, EVERYWHERE. RICH PEOPLE’S KIDS GETTING GOOD REVIEWS BECAUSE MUMMY F**KED THE JOURNO IN THE 80S,” he tweeted, clearly blood boiling before steadying himself with some resolve. “F**k you rich people you will not break me. I don’t give a fuck. I have nothing to lose. You are only rich people.”
He followed that with a more subdued update. “Imagine the buzz of making something that you love, and after two years you finally have something you can’t wait for other people to hear,” he asked. “Then imagine that CD landing on the desk of ‘snide rich person’s kid’ or ‘pathetic London scene-FACE’ then them skipping through the tracks on their lunch break, and saying ‘Well it’s Calvin Harris isn’t it? Two stars, he’s a dick head’”.
It was a moment of weakness that we rarely see from our pop stars these days and one that would have been unheard of a few years ago with labels, managers and PR people in charge of every word from their mouths. With Twitter offering an instantaneous and unfiltered means of communication, it’s something we’re seeing more of.
The ability for followers to offer an instant reply to such an outburst is also worth noting. It gives the fans an opportunity to support or knock back the rant almost as it happens, like this reply from @Momotempo which puts Harris’ rant in perspective. “Imagine crafting something you love for years and having nobody to hear it at the end.” Suck it up Mr. Harris.
