Dan the Automator’s solo album, finished years ago, will probably not be released for another few years, if ever. He’s scared to release it independently and he thinks it’s outdated. Link

It seems “Omakase” wound up a casualty of MCA’s 2003 merger with Geffen, which cost a number of artists their record deals and ultimately led the Roots to bolt for Def Jam. “It ended up being this two-year stalemate,” Nakamura says. “I delivered the record, but nothing happened, and I couldn’t get off the label. Before you know it, years have passed by, and the lawyers are getting involved.”

Nakamura is now free of Geffen, “but the record is old to me, so I have to revamp it.” He’s also unsure where to take the project. “There’s been a couple offers, and they’re good, but I’m a little afraid of it. When I do other records independently, the financial end is much better. On the other hand, you can’t get a really big record off independently.”