Sam Oliver
A New York-based rapper has taken the phrase "demo unit" quite literally, saying that he parked himself at Apple's SoHo store in Manhattan five days a week, for sixteen weeks, so he could use the store's display computers to record a full-length album.
Going by the name Prince Harvey, the little-known Dominican artist told The Daily Beast that he was forced to hatch his Apple Store plan after one computer broke down and another was stolen.
"I had a date, and I wanted to go to Chinatown to buy squid and I was rushing, and left the hard drive with everything plugged in, and when I came back, it was gone," Harvey said. "That's when I realized I need to step everything up to, like, maximum intensity— as far as motivation and desire [to complete the album] goes."
Harvey added that a pair of SoHo store employees were sympathetic to his plight and helped him get the time he needed. To preserve his editing sessions, he would e-mail files to himself, save them to a thumb drive, or hide them in the OS X trash — Â which is apparently not emptied when the store's display computers are reset.
With no musical training, Harvey paints himself as a pure artists who just wants to make a living doing what he loves and performing for anyone who will listen.
"But I do want money. I want to tour. I want to perform for different people," he added. "Shit, I'll go to Antarctica for the penguins if they're feeling it."
The Apple Store in SoHo is something of an artists' hub, as it is home to the popular series Meet the Filmmaker and Meet the Musician. In years past, Apple has also hosted full-fledged concerts there in the past, including Maroon 5 and Linkin Park back in 2008.
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60 Comments
Why do I have the feeling a story similarly titled to, "NBA player blames nagging arm injury on larger-screened iPhone 6 Plus", will be coming to AI later today? I am surprised the story has not been picked up and blasted around the world accusing Apple of high treason for causing the basketball player harm by releasing a 5.5" iPhone. CNBC? CNBC? Can you help me out here? CNBC?
So where's a link to the video? Did I miss it?
[quote name="leavingthebigG" url="/t/187080/rapper-recorded-album-by-posting-up-at-nyc-apple-store-every-day-for-4-months#post_2744670"]Why do I have the feeling a story similarly titled to, "[COLOR=0D4D7C][URL=http:/2015/07/06/matt-bonner-iphone-injury/]NBA player blames nagging arm injury on larger-screened iPhone 6 Plus[/URL][/COLOR]", will be coming to AI later today? I am surprised the story has not been picked up and blasted around the world accusing Apple of high treason for causing the basketball player harm by releasing a 5.5" iPhone. CNBC? CNBC? Can you help me out here? CNBC? :lol: [/quote] Link doesn't work.
You know something. This could be a brilliant idea from Apple. Create Apple Libraries where people can come in and do work on Apple computers for little or no cost. Could help low income people without computers. Could also institute classes for learning the computer and programs.
Talk about being cheap. This rapper sounds like a PC user.
The dude lives with 20 roommates and has to sneak around in Apple stores? 20 roommates? WTF?
While in the process of an eviction from a Bushwick, Brooklyn loft that he shared with 20 roommates and was eventually demolished to make way for luxury apartments, Prince made the Apple Store a second home, befriending a pair of employees who would bend corporate rules to help him record the album.
Those two Apple employees should be fired.
Apple can't have any rude people jumping up on tables in their stores! This rapper should be banned from all Apple stores. It's never been cheaper to make and create professional sounding music than it is today in 2015.