Love for Sale is the unreleased second album by the American singer-songwriter Bilal. It was recorded from 2001 to 2003 at Electric Lady Studios in New York during the height of the Soulquarians era, a period in the studio's history marked by the frequent and innovative recording activity of that musical collective, in which Bilal was a member. Written and produced mainly by Bilal, the album was a departure from the producer-driven, hip hop-influenced neo-soul music of 1st Born Second(2001), his moderately successful debut album for Interscope Records.
Bilal pursued a more raw and independent direction with Love for Sale, which he mostly composed on piano. At Electric Lady, he held improvisatory jam sessions with a live band featuring the trumpeter Leron Thomas, the drummer Steve McKie, and the pianist Robert Glasper, one of several former classmates the singer enlisted from New York's New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. With the assistance of a few select producers, such as Dr. Dre and Soulquarians member J Dilla, Bilal experimented with different recording techniques, longer free-form compositions, and arrangements drawn from jazz and the blues. The resulting music features a densely layered fusion of genres, including soul, funk, and rock, with unconventional song structures and rhythms. Bilal's varied falsetto vocal performances throughout the album include sensual and ecstatic expressions of romantic devotion and lovesickness, with lyrics reflecting a distaste for writing what he called "contrived love songs".
The album's dark and experimental nature was met with resistance from Interscope, who demanded Bilal record new music and delayed the release. The singer refused and continued to lobby Love for Sale while mixing the recordings in the studio. As he neared its completion and a prospective release date, an unfinished mix of the album leaked and circulated widely on the Internet in 2006, becoming one of the most notorious such cases during the rise of digital piracy. Interscope responded by shelving Love for Sales commercial release indefinitely, which aroused suspicion and controversy among Internet communities and exacerbated the label's conflict with Bilal, ending in his dismissal.
The leaked album quickly enjoyed an underground popularity and online acclaim, inspiring the distressed singer to tour performing its songs and continue his career in more artistically daring directions. Its growing mystique as an innovative but neglected musical work helped enhance Bilal's profile, as he was sought after for recordings by other artists, while several of the album's contributors went on to work on his future projects. A cult classic among black music fans, Love for Sale has since been considered by some critics to be Bilal's masterpiece and a forerunner of similarly progressive R&B music that developed by the end of the 2000s decade. Interscope retained control of its master recordings, and another company has held the publishing rights, although the songs remain available online.
Background
Bilal started his music career in 1999 while attending the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York City, where he studied jazz singing and practiced writing original songs. With his classmate and friend Robert Glasper, he frequented local music clubs such as the Wetlands Preserve, where he met members of the Soulquarians, a rotating collective of experimental black music artists who often collaborated on each other's recordings. A demo recorded with the musician Aaron Comess, who Bilal met at a jam session set up by New School professors, earned the singer a recording contract from Interscope Records and encouraged his exit from the school to concentrate on music professionally, including the projects of the Soulquarians.
Bilal's tenure at Interscope was marked by conflict, beginning when the record label disapproved of the alternative rock-style demos he recorded for his prospective debut album. With contributions from the Soulquarians amid pressure from Interscope for more high-profile producers, 1st Born Second was released in 2001 to modest sales but critical acclaim. It was recognized as a pivotal release in neo soul and earned Bilal comparisons to D'Angelo, his contemporary in the genre.