1) Do you enjoy the music that is out today just as much as the music that you grew up on during your childhood and teens? If so why? If not, why not?

2) How are you drawn to new music? the radio, word of mouth, attending concerts, or the internet?

3) What do you listen for when searching for new music? What attracts you to new artists or established artists that you are discovering for the first time?

4) Do you listen to the radio as much as you did maybe 5 years ago? How does radio need to change?

5) What is your definition of a sellout? Can an artist or band attract a mainstream audience after a few years of being an unknown or underground, and still maintain it's core fanbase or even integrity?

6) Using a couple of examples of your favorite artists and bands that you grew up listening to, do you prefer that they maintain a certain musical style that you were initially drawn to, or are you open to them experimenting with other genres, themes etc..? Also, do you consider their careers over when they do so?

These questions have been on my mind, and I wanted to toss them out to the music fanatics and casual listeners, and find out your views on music. It's not meant to turn into a major debate over who listens to what or who has ruined music.


1) Do you enjoy the music that is out today just as much as the music that you grew up on during your childhood and teens? If so why? If not, why not?

2) How are you drawn to new music? the radio, word of mouth, attending concerts, or the internet?

3) What do you listen for when searching for new music? What attracts you to new artists or established artists that you are discovering for the first time?

4) Do you listen to the radio as much as you did maybe 5 years ago? How does radio need to change?

5) What is your definition of a sellout? Can an artist or band attract a mainstream audience after a few years of being an unknown or underground, and still maintain it's core fanbase or even integrity?

6) Using a couple of examples of your favorite artists and bands that you grew up listening to, do you prefer that they maintain a certain musical style that you were initially drawn to, or are you open to them experimenting with other genres, themes etc..? Also, do you consider their careers over when they do so?

1) Do you enjoy the music that is out today just as much as the music that you grew up on during your childhood and teens? If so why? If not, why not?

2) How are you drawn to new music? the radio, word of mouth, attending concerts, or the internet?

3) What do you listen for when searching for new music? What attracts you to new artists or established artists that you are discovering for the first time?

4) Do you listen to the radio as much as you did maybe 5 years ago? How does radio need to change?

5) What is your definition of a sellout?

A.Can an artist or band attract a mainstream audience after a few years of being an unknown or underground, and still maintain it's core fanbase or even integrity?

6) Using a couple of examples of your favorite artists and bands that you grew up listening to, do you prefer that they maintain a certain musical style that you were initially drawn to, or are you open to them experimenting with other genres, themes etc..?

Also, do you consider their careers over when they do so?

1) Do you enjoy the music that is out today just as much as the music that you grew up on during your childhood and teens? If so why? If not, why not?

No, I have a different appreciation for modern music because of my changed perspectives and alleged maturity compared to my childhood.

2) How are you drawn to new music? the radio, word of mouth, attending concerts, or the internet?

I never listen to the radio. Sometimes a video catches my eye and ears (the "Sexx Laws" video got me into Beck). But mostly through word of mouth and/or the internet.


3) What do you listen for when searching for new music? What attracts you to new artists or established artists that you are discovering for the first time?

Inventive lyrics and a compelling sound. A song or a recommendation from a friend is what helps put me on to a new/established artist.


4) Do you listen to the radio as much as you did maybe 5 years ago? How does radio need to change?

Until radio programmers quit monopolizing the rotations, I will continue to boycott it. I haven't listened to the radio in over a decade but for NPR and sports talk.


5) What is your definition of a sellout? Can an artist or band attract a mainstream audience after a few years of being an unknown or underground, and still maintain it's core fanbase or even integrity?

Wow, that one's hard. Suffice it to say one knows a sellout when one hears him/her. Rare is the artist who can walk the tightrope between mass appeal and underground/artistic credibility. Prince and handfuls of others fit that small category.

But, to flip the script, there are prolly several mainstream artists who later develop an underground/cult-like following.


6) Using a couple of examples of your favorite artists and bands that you grew up listening to, do you prefer that they maintain a certain musical style that you were initially drawn to, or are you open to them experimenting with other genres, themes etc..? Also, do you consider their careers over when they do so?

Listening to Prince in the 1980's, when he changed his style on virtually every successive album, I don't necessarily resist changes of pace among artists. But there's a right way and a wrong way to do it. For example, Prince doing a tune with Common or Chuck D. is one thing. Prince doing a tune with Tony M. or T.C. Ellis is another.

Look also at Beck. He went from a string of frenetic, eclectic albums to Sea Change. It was hard at first, but I grew to love the album and respect Beck more as an artist.

At the same time, that doesn't mean I really dig everything an artist does when branching out. For example, I don't really dig Me'Shell's new jazz experiment (yet). Coltrane's Ascension is kinda unlistenable to me.

True artists' careers are rarely "over," even if they take an artistic or commercial misstep Were that the case, Prince woulda been done after NewPowerSoul (artistic misstep) or Lovesexy (commercial misstep).

1) Do you enjoy the music that is out today just as much as the music that you grew up on during your childhood and teens? If so why? If not, why not?

Not just no, but HELL NO. I grew up on hard, slamming music that was fast and made for the dance floor, whether it was disco, funk, or house. Today's music to too slow and never gets past midtempo.

Today's music is also stripped down to nothing but a weak drum machine and some "talking" over it. Even the songs that are actually "sung" have that same weak drum machine. I love drum machines like Prince used in the early days, they beat much harder and Prince's music was a much faster pace. Today's drum machines just barely tap and the ones that thump hard, thump too hard to the point that they ground out the rest of the music.

I love bass also. Today's bass sounds fake and like some of the drum machines today, it also grounds out the rest of the song.

Another thing missing is handclaps, Either real or mechanical, music needs handclaps. Three things that make a song funky as hell are drums, bass, and handclaps and it's got to be at a fast enough pace to make your ass shake. In other words[i]....."You ain't got a good groove if it don't make your ass move."[/i]
Today's singers, the ones that actually "sing", are too overexadurated. They sound like they are trying to win Amateur Night at the Apollo. It don't take all that, just sing the damn song.


2) How are you drawn to new music? the radio, word of mouth, attending concerts, or the internet?

I'm not drawn to new music at all. I gave up on it years ago. The only reason I know about some of the new artists is because I'm forced to hear them when I flip through the TV channels, hear co-workers playing them, or hear them from passing cars. I took mainstream radio stations off my dial years ago.


3) What do you listen for when searching for new music? What attracts you to new artists or established artists that you are discovering for the first time?

I haven't searched for new music in years. I'm sure there may be some good underground music out there but that's just it, it's underground. If mainstream doesn't play it, how are you supposed to know it exists? It costs too much money to just buy an album and take a chance that you will like it.


4) Do you listen to the radio as much as you did maybe 5 years ago? How does radio need to change?

The only time I listen to the radio is in the car or if they have a special old school or disco night. For radio to change, the devil himself, Clear Channel, and other companies like it, need to be overthrown. They completely dominate what is played and have kept the same bullshit in style for 15 years. Before that, musical styles used to change around every 5 years. Clear Channel is keeping cheaply made music in style for major profit.


5) What is your definition of a sellout? Can an artist or band attract a mainstream audience after a few years of being an unknown or underground, and still maintain it's core fanbase or even integrity?

A sellout, to me, is someone that has the potential to do much better but doesn't. Or someone that has done much better but lowers their standards to sell more music. Underground music used to become mainstream, but soon went back underground. That happened many times in the past. It's different these days though, companies like Clear Channel are not going to let anything underground get above ground because it might threaten the cheaply made music that is making them a big profit.


6) Using a couple of examples of your favorite artists and bands that you grew up listening to, do you prefer that they maintain a certain musical style that you were initially drawn to, or are you open to them experimenting with other genres, themes etc..? Also, do you consider their careers over when they do so?

I'm all for change but I don't like for them to change when they are at the absolute top of their game. Prince is a prime example. He totally pissed me off when he changed his style after "Purple Rain". The work afterwards was fine but he should have kept his style for a few more years until it went out of style. It was like throwing down at a party real hard and all of a sudden, the police come in and raid the place, turn on the lights, and the party's over. Or like having sex and getting right to the point of orgasm and your partner gets up and puts their clothes on.

Rick James is one artist that I can truly say, stayed true to his loyal following and continued funk even after he had pop success with "Super Freak". His downfall, however, was his drug use and changing his style of funk because of his jealousy of Prince. Beginning with "Glow", which was right after "Purple Rain", Rick almost eliminated all the horns and started using more synthesizers, which worked well for Prince but not for him. It's almost like he was trying to follow Prince's path to success, he even started dressing like him. Prince, during that time, was on a trip to "La La Land", had a whole new audience, and had really gone off the deep end. Rick might could have made a big splash if he had continued his "own" style because many R&B fans were extremely pissed at Prince at the time.

The Barkays is a long time group that changed and adapted very well from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. They were constantly funky and changing with the times. Their latest CD, however, pisses me off, because they changed with the times. It's OK to change with the times if the times are good but if the times are shit, don't change with them. I had great respect for them in the 1990s when music was shit but they continued with hard jamming funk, even if it didn't get any airplay. I lost a lot of respect for them with their new album.
[Edited 4/15/05 4:55am]