Doing It Alone| Successful Artists That Went Solo
March 20 | Written By Jessica Hart
Being an independent artist is no easy feat. Whilst it comes with more creative freedom and the ability for artists to fulfil their artistic visions on their own terms, there are still many obstacles to overcome. This being said, there are many successful artists who decided to go it alone and found huge success as a result. With digital distribution services and independent labels that give artists more control, artists now have the ability to release their own music without the need to be signed to a major label. Let’s take a look of some examples of artists that found more success by doing it alone.
Frank Ocean
Two time Grammy winning singer, songwriter, and producer Frank Ocean has found huge success as an independent artist. Frank Ocean began his career as a member of the alternative hip hop collaborative Odd Future, alongside artists like Tyler The Creator, Earl Sweatshirt and Syd. Ocean is a big advocate for independent artists. In an interview with W Magazine, he said: “In a lot of the contracts of today with the labels, there’s an expectation to turn in a set amount of albums. That’s really an arbitrary limitation. That’s not state-of-the-art. I hear rappers talk about their business savvy and their independence in songs. And I think the more of that, the better.” Frank Ocean famously departed from his label, Def Jam Records in 2016. Later that same year, he released his second studio album Blonde independently. With 276,000 equivalent album units, Blonde became the year's third-largest debut on the Billboard 200. Ocean has since released the hugely successful single Chanel and many other critically acclaimed singles such as Biking and In My Room.
Raye
English singer and songwriter RAYE has been very vocal about her choice to become an independent artist. RAYE publicly criticised her former label, Polydor, for refusing to release her debut album, despite having a four album record deal with the company since 2014. In June 2019, RAYE took to Twitter to tweet the following:
Tired of not being taken seriously, RAYE left her label a month after this tweet, going solo in July 2021. Fast forward to October 2022, RAYE independently released the hit single Escapism, featuring American rapper 070 Shake. The single, a hypnotic electronic hip hop track about running away from reality, was a huge success, going viral on TikTok and quickly becoming RAYE’s first ever number 1 single. In February of this year, RAYE released her first album, My 21st Century Blues, to widespread critical acclaim.
FKA Twigs
Genre-bending UK based FKA Twigs has found huge success as an independent artist. She is known for her unique blend of experimental R&B and electronic music, as well as her captivating live performances and music videos. FKA Twigs self-released her first musical project, EP1, via Bandcamp in 2012, which led her to discover a growing fanbase who loved her experimental style. Her second project, EP2 was released through the independent label Young Turks in 2013, which received widespread critical acclaim. Since then, FKA Twigs has released two albums through the same independent record label: LP1 and Magdalene. Magdalene contains one of FKA Twigs most acclaimed works, Cellophane, which received praise for its raw vulnerability and vocal performance. Her most recent project Caprisongs, is a mixtape with features from the likes of The Weeknd, Daniel Caesar and Jorja Smith.
For any creative, one of the most important things is having the freedom to share the art you want in the way that you want to. By going solo, these three independent musicians have had the ability to do this, and as a result have found huge success by breaking free and doing things their own way.
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