Geffen Pulls A Houdini

I don't think anyone knows (or cares) that Mos Def released a new album -- well he kind of sort of released one. The newest LP titled Tru3 Magic was put in stores and pulled right back out by Geffen, Def's label.

Geffen said the release was a "pre-release" at an attempt to counter an early online leak. Mos Def only had to release one more album on Geffen before he could cut the connection between the two.

After seeing low sales and thinking of what they actually did, Geffen and Def agreed to pull it out of stores and plan a re-release.

A total of 11, 004 copies were sold according to SoundScan. The "pre-release" only featured a CD in a blank jewel case -- no artwork or packaging. The second and hopefully brighter release will see the light of day in spring of 2007.

This story had me thinking though. Imagine how great it would be if I strolled into my local CD Warehouse and saw a new Ghostface or Kanye release sitting on the shelf. Obviously, the artist would want to make an attempt at selling copies, but if artists wanted to put little releases into stores without saying anything, anyone who'd see it would buy it in a second. Talk about bragging rights the next day.