Slipknot singer Corey Taylor recently claimed that there have been cases where he has written material for the Des Moines, Iowa nu-metal band, and other members of Slipknot have taken credit for his work.
At one point during a new conversation with Paste, Taylor talks about how his solo act allows him to show off his various musical tastes in style. The singer says that if he wants to write a “piano song that sounds like U2 meets Kings Of Leon,” he’ll do just that.
But along with having the chance to create music that reflects his array of interests, Taylor also views his solo act as a means of “setting the record straight” when it comes to him as a songwriter. Per Taylor, there have allegedly been instances within Slipknot where he wrote material for the band, but other members “gave [themeselves] credit for” said work.
Speaking about these past alleged incidences, Taylor shares the following:
“When Stone Sour first started, not only was I playing guitar constantly, but I was also the lead guitarist and main writer. Honestly, one of the reasons why I was very adamant about starting my solo thing is that there was a weird misconception around who was writing what for what band.
“Maybe this is where my ego comes into play, but I felt like I wasn’t getting the credit for the things I was actually writing. With Stone Sour, it was fairly obvious, but there were a lot of songs that I wrote that people thought [guitarists] Jim [Root] or Josh [Rand] wrote where that wasn’t the case at all. And then, with Slipknot, there was a lot of stuff that either wouldn’t have been written without me, or that I wrote that other people gave [themselves] credit [for]. As someone who takes great pride in sitting down and creating something from nothing—just from my imagination—that stuck in my craw.”
The singer then speaks to how his solo act represents a chance for him to show himself off as a songwriter:
“I’ve never shied away from giving credit to the people who deserve it. I’ve never taken credit for anything that I didn’t do, and I’ve always been the first to shine the spotlight on anybody else. I don’t necessarily get that in return. So this, for me, is setting the record straight and changing the narrative. Showing people that, ‘Oh yeah, he does write heavy shit. And country shit. And acoustic shit. And piano shit. And rock shit. Hardcore shit’—the gamut.”
Corey Taylor’s new solo album CMF2 is now available for all to hear.