Male...JACK WHITE, without a doubt

-

Female...I dunno

But will David Lynch cast her in Twin Peaks Season 3?

>

CynicKill said:

Female: Lana Del Rey

Male: Beck

mjscarousal said:

You can still be a "artist" while being mainstream. Just ask Michael Jackson, Prince, and the Beatles. They had Top 40 quality pop hits and wrote and particpated in the artistic process of making a song and album during the height of their careers. The problem with today's mainstream pop stars is that they are not artists. They don't write, produce, arrange their music nor do they participate in the creating process in creating an album. An artist is about creating and personal expression, not taking a completed song and switching one or two words around Janelle Monae is an artist, Jack White is an artist, Bruno Mars is an artist (I know some find his songwriting cheesy but he does everything a artist does, write, arrange and creates etc so he deserves the title.)

That is TRUE however now the problem is OUTPUT. Because there is NO competition at all for artists, there is very little growth in the mainstream, or challenge, it really is just rehashing to sell something. NOW that is not saying that talent isnt there, because Bruno and Taylor and others have talent, but they are oversaturating a market with really no music, its a new day because these artists faces are all over social media, if they fart its on instagram, if they fall its on Facebook, so the challenge to out do ONE in the music arena doesnt exist. KATY PERRY can release 7 singles and go top 10 with them all and set records and no one knows the album.

Back in the day MAINSTREAM had a lot of competition, The Beatles would try to ONE UP a Rolling Stones or Beach Boys album by trying a new sound or technique or anything, and vice versa. I mean Donna Summer, Diana Ross these two battled, The Motown days we know the fierce battles all out at the same time, the 70's rock bands all competition Led Zep Sabbath Queen... Go into the 80's and you have power houses with MJ and PRINCE and MADONNA and SPRINGSTEEN and George Michael and tons of others all with albums out at the same time, now things are so spread apart cause an artist does a record, then they do promo then they do a clothing line then they do a movie etc...the focus is NOT on your craft.

The artistry exists just in new forms now, as good as some you mentioned are I cant get anxious when they have something new.

Male: Jack White

Female: Janelle Monae

[img:$uid]http://neosoulcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/kamasi-600x403.jpg[/img:$uid]



[img:$uid]http://www.billboard.com/files/media/st-vincent-glastonbury-2014-billboard-650.jpg[/img:$uid]

lastdecember said:

mjscarousal said:

You can still be a "artist" while being mainstream. Just ask Michael Jackson, Prince, and the Beatles. They had Top 40 quality pop hits and wrote and particpated in the artistic process of making a song and album during the height of their careers. The problem with today's mainstream pop stars is that they are not artists. They don't write, produce, arrange their music nor do they participate in the creating process in creating an album. An artist is about creating and personal expression, not taking a completed song and switching one or two words around Janelle Monae is an artist, Jack White is an artist, Bruno Mars is an artist (I know some find his songwriting cheesy but he does everything a artist does, write, arrange and creates etc so he deserves the title.)

That is TRUE however now the problem is OUTPUT. Because there is NO competition at all for artists, there is very little growth in the mainstream, or challenge, it really is just rehashing to sell something. NOW that is not saying that talent isnt there, because Bruno and Taylor and others have talent, but they are oversaturating a market with really no music, its a new day because these artists faces are all over social media, if they fart its on instagram, if they fall its on Facebook, so the challenge to out do ONE in the music arena doesnt exist. KATY PERRY can release 7 singles and go top 10 with them all and set records and no one knows the album.

Back in the day MAINSTREAM had a lot of competition, The Beatles would try to ONE UP a Rolling Stones or Beach Boys album by trying a new sound or technique or anything, and vice versa. I mean Donna Summer, Diana Ross these two battled, The Motown days we know the fierce battles all out at the same time, the 70's rock bands all competition Led Zep Sabbath Queen... Go into the 80's and you have power houses with MJ and PRINCE and MADONNA and SPRINGSTEEN and George Michael and tons of others all with albums out at the same time, now things are so spread apart cause an artist does a record, then they do promo then they do a clothing line then they do a movie etc...the focus is NOT on your craft.

The artistry exists just in new forms now, as good as some you mentioned are I cant get anxious when they have something new.

LD, you kinda lost me with this post.....why are you buying into the story that today's
Billboard chart recording artists are wholly discrete from those who charted in the 60s, 70s,
80s, and 90s? The only thing that has changed in the record/music industry is the marketplace
and the business model. It's still the same: you have those recording artists who are mostly
the product of a manufacturer's desires to profit from the taste and spending habits of the
populace; you have those recording artists who are more artistically autogenous than the
former; and then you have some recording artists orbiting any of those poles or are in the
middle somewhere. Those recording artists who focus on craft (Van Hunt, Ndegeocello, etc)
primarily cannot eke out a living like they could two or three generations ago. Those recording
artists who are not primarily concerned with craft will do what they've always done: make forays
into other mediums. There is nothing new under the sun; nothing.

And Carousal's definition of "artist" is so freakin' arbitrary and biased! It takes just as much
talent, work, effort, dedication, and desire to sing, record, and perform a song that another artist
wrote, produced, and arranged. There are different levels of engagement when it comes to
music talent and the talent required to entertain/perform. Some recording artists do not have
the ability to conceive of an album thematically and produce it themselves, and are just able to
perform what another has created - should they be slighted because of this? Of course not.
Carousal's post is just another attempt to derogate contemporary recording artists because she
prefers a previous generation.

duccichucka said:

lastdecember said:

That is TRUE however now the problem is OUTPUT. Because there is NO competition at all for artists, there is very little growth in the mainstream, or challenge, it really is just rehashing to sell something. NOW that is not saying that talent isnt there, because Bruno and Taylor and others have talent, but they are oversaturating a market with really no music, its a new day because these artists faces are all over social media, if they fart its on instagram, if they fall its on Facebook, so the challenge to out do ONE in the music arena doesnt exist. KATY PERRY can release 7 singles and go top 10 with them all and set records and no one knows the album.

Back in the day MAINSTREAM had a lot of competition, The Beatles would try to ONE UP a Rolling Stones or Beach Boys album by trying a new sound or technique or anything, and vice versa. I mean Donna Summer, Diana Ross these two battled, The Motown days we know the fierce battles all out at the same time, the 70's rock bands all competition Led Zep Sabbath Queen... Go into the 80's and you have power houses with MJ and PRINCE and MADONNA and SPRINGSTEEN and George Michael and tons of others all with albums out at the same time, now things are so spread apart cause an artist does a record, then they do promo then they do a clothing line then they do a movie etc...the focus is NOT on your craft.

The artistry exists just in new forms now, as good as some you mentioned are I cant get anxious when they have something new.

LD, you kinda lost me with this post.....why are you buying into the story that today's
Billboard chart recording artists are wholly discrete from those who charted in the 60s, 70s,
80s, and 90s? The only thing that has changed in the record/music industry is the marketplace
and the business model. It's still the same: you have those recording artists who are mostly
the product of a manufacturer's desires to profit from the taste and spending habits of the
populace; you have those recording artists who are more artistically autogenous than the
former; and then you have some recording artists orbiting any of those poles or are in the
middle somewhere. Those recording artists who focus on craft (Van Hunt, Ndegeocello, etc)
primarily cannot eke out a living like they could two or three generations ago. Those recording
artists who are not primarily concerned with craft will do what they've always done: make forays
into other mediums. There is nothing new under the sun; nothing.

And Carousal's definition of "artist" is so freakin' arbitrary and biased! It takes just as much
talent, work, effort, dedication, and desire to sing, record, and perform a song that another artist
wrote, produced, and arranged. There are different levels of engagement when it comes to
music talent and the talent required to entertain/perform. Some recording artists do not have
the ability to conceive of an album thematically and produce it themselves, and are just able to
perform what another has created - should they be slighted because of this? Of course not.
Carousal's post is just another attempt to derogate contemporary recording artists because she
prefers a previous generation.

>

And here is where I'll defend Lana and Frank, because no matter what you think of them or no matter how much input you think they have in their music, they both are heavily influential in the sound and style of their records.

CynicKill said:

duccichucka said:

LD, you kinda lost me with this post.....why are you buying into the story that today's
Billboard chart recording artists are wholly discrete from those who charted in the 60s, 70s,
80s, and 90s? The only thing that has changed in the record/music industry is the marketplace
and the business model. It's still the same: you have those recording artists who are mostly
the product of a manufacturer's desires to profit from the taste and spending habits of the
populace; you have those recording artists who are more artistically autogenous than the
former; and then you have some recording artists orbiting any of those poles or are in the
middle somewhere. Those recording artists who focus on craft (Van Hunt, Ndegeocello, etc)
primarily cannot eke out a living like they could two or three generations ago. Those recording
artists who are not primarily concerned with craft will do what they've always done: make forays
into other mediums. There is nothing new under the sun; nothing.

And Carousal's definition of "artist" is so freakin' arbitrary and biased! It takes just as much
talent, work, effort, dedication, and desire to sing, record, and perform a song that another artist
wrote, produced, and arranged. There are different levels of engagement when it comes to
music talent and the talent required to entertain/perform. Some recording artists do not have
the ability to conceive of an album thematically and produce it themselves, and are just able to
perform what another has created - should they be slighted because of this? Of course not.
Carousal's post is just another attempt to derogate contemporary recording artists because she
prefers a previous generation.

>

And here is where I'll defend Lana and Frank, because no matter what you think of them or no matter how much input you think they have in their music, they both are heavily influential in the sound and style of their records.

Cynic, I'm not sure about Lana Del Ray because I don't listen to her music (my wife was digging
her back in 2012), but you could be onto something here. But speaking to your overall point,
yes, I agree that both artists you mentioned seem to be just as interested in craft as they are
with commerce.

lastdecember said:

mjscarousal said:

You can still be a "artist" while being mainstream. Just ask Michael Jackson, Prince, and the Beatles. They had Top 40 quality pop hits and wrote and particpated in the artistic process of making a song and album during the height of their careers. The problem with today's mainstream pop stars is that they are not artists. They don't write, produce, arrange their music nor do they participate in the creating process in creating an album. An artist is about creating and personal expression, not taking a completed song and switching one or two words around Janelle Monae is an artist, Jack White is an artist, Bruno Mars is an artist (I know some find his songwriting cheesy but he does everything a artist does, write, arrange and creates etc so he deserves the title.)

That is TRUE however now the problem is OUTPUT. Because there is NO competition at all for artists, there is very little growth in the mainstream, or challenge, it really is just rehashing to sell something. NOW that is not saying that talent isnt there, because Bruno and Taylor and others have talent, but they are oversaturating a market with really no music, its a new day because these artists faces are all over social media, if they fart its on instagram, if they fall its on Facebook, so the challenge to out do ONE in the music arena doesnt exist. KATY PERRY can release 7 singles and go top 10 with them all and set records and no one knows the album.

Back in the day MAINSTREAM had a lot of competition, The Beatles would try to ONE UP a Rolling Stones or Beach Boys album by trying a new sound or technique or anything, and vice versa. I mean Donna Summer, Diana Ross these two battled, The Motown days we know the fierce battles all out at the same time, the 70's rock bands all competition Led Zep Sabbath Queen... Go into the 80's and you have power houses with MJ and PRINCE and MADONNA and SPRINGSTEEN and George Michael and tons of others all with albums out at the same time, now things are so spread apart cause an artist does a record, then they do promo then they do a clothing line then they do a movie etc...the focus is NOT on your craft.

The artistry exists just in new forms now, as good as some you mentioned are I cant get anxious when they have something new.

This is another good point too.