J-Lo
Mariah

They come to mind immediately, because they are both currently in heavy rotation on MTV. How do these people manage to keep recycling the same tired ass music? Why do so many "so called artists" avoid singing songs with any depth? There was a time when I could stomach these folks, but that time has passed. These women in particular are my age (35) or close to it, and yet they have nothing to say. How does that happen? You have all that power and a captive audience and you could literally change lives with your voice, and what do you decide to say? "It's like that cha'll....that cha'll....tha tha tha..like that cha'll....."

Check out Lisa Marie Presley's music. Now there's a female who knows how to put pen to paper and say something in a way you never heard.

"I'm sorry children, you don't have a choice. Your parents they gave you somethin way back when. There's nothing wrong with you, it's easier...to give you this so you won't embarrass them."
---from TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN (regarding medicating children)

I understand what you mean. Somehow the industry's corporate business model has turned to hyping the mediocre. But let's remember where the cultural shift is too - everything is about youth. You can't see Aerosmith or Tina Turner on MTV anymore. It's all teenagers getting Punk'd in the Real World. And because the young don't have the money and minds to decide what's made of quality, they fall prey to the lie that they have to like what the record companies are pimping. Or be really uncool. But when I first started buying music, my favorites (Madonna and Prince) were 30 years old. Twenty years older than me. The other artists I loved weren't much younger, either. It was such a treat to hear the adult themes I couldn't understand. For some reason, the Beyonces and Britneys are supposed to be cooler because they were doing their thing at 17. But how, if they're singing songs they haven't really lived out? Who cares? It's what the shareholders want. And everyone else like J-Lo and Mariah had better jump on the bandwagon if they want to have anything in common with the modern music audience. If it's empty sophmoric schlock that sells, they'll serve it up and ask if you'd like a scantily clad new look with your order.

WhamBamGlamSlam said:

One of the problems I see is in the marketing of music. As you said earlier, our favorite artists were older than us and were people we could look up to and maybe aspire to be like at some point in time. When I first really started getting into music as a young teenager, the average age of the artists I listened to (Michael Jackson, Prince, Madonna, Duran Duran, Def Leppard, Run DMC) was about 24 years old. Some were a year or two younger, and others (like Bruce Springsteen and Don Henley) were in their 30's. The one major difference I see in today's artists is that most of the big stars (Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Beyonce, Usher, Hilary Duff, Jesse McCartney, Lindsay Lohan, Ashanti, Avril Lavigne) are either teenagers or started out their careers as teenagers. There are few artists over the age of 25 which young people look up to, and most of those artists are hip hop acts. I remember when both Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey came out with their first records, and the fact that they were only 20 years old at the time they released their first albums was considered to be rather extraordinary. In contrast, both Alicia Keys and Kelly Clarkson were 20 years old when they released their first albums, yet they were considered to be more mature artists amoung the young crop of singers.

One of the reasons that American Idol raised the age limit of contestants from 24 to 28 was because they felt that an older contestant could bring their life experience into their vocals and sing with more emotion. Unless you've had an unusually dramatic life, it's hard for someone just barely out of high school to sing passionately about adult heartbreak and raising kids alone while the boyfriend/husband is out hustling or cheating on them, etc. Without that type of life expeience, people can usually see through the artist and determine them to be fake, even though they may have a technically great singing voice. That's why most of today's current music is about going to clubs, partying and hanging out, or about not yet being a woman, because most of these artists don't know what it's really like to have real drama in their lives.

On the other side, you have artists like Janet Jackson and Mariah Carey who are older and should be singing more adult themed music at this point in their careers, but they are pressured by their record companies to sell millions of albums, so they keep pushing them for that next big hit single. As a result, they end up composing some generic song about going to clubs or having sex, which instead of coming from a mature place, it sounds like something a thirteen year old would think about. (That's a major reason why both Glitter and Damita Jo flopped.)

I'd be anxious to see if some of our current Iraq War veterans who are musically inclined put out some music of their own. I know for a fact they could sing or rap something more compelling and more brutal than anything 50 Cent could dream about.

Well said, Huey. And now that I think about it further, the timing is interesting. Look at how the biggest stars with tons of influence have tried to change the system in the last 15 years. The solution to the record companies now is to start the artists off young when they have no business saavy. That way you don't get dissent from people like George Michael, Prince and Courtney Love. How the content of the product suffers in the meantime is irrelevant.

Fleshofmyflesh said:

the answer is simple, my friends don't buy the cds, don't listen to radio stations that play that crap & stop watching EMPTY-VEE!
What should I do?
1. Buy cds of artists that really turn you on, whatever style or genre.
2. Listen to NPR, College Stations, Satellite Radio-whatever.
3. Don't watch "Pop-lifestyle" kinds of television programming.
4. Most important, write Mtv, Vh-1, your local radio station etc. & tell them what you DO want to hear & see.

MrRedbell said:

I like Mariah and I don't consider her boring at all

but I understand your point.Too many "pop stars" have absolutely nothing to say in their music.They just recycle the same ideas over and over and over.I mean,let's be honest,is the new J-Lo CD any different from her last one? Is there really anything deep about Ashanti's lyrics? And have you noticed that nearly EVERY R&B song is either about love or sex? With so much going on in the world right now,you'd think that these people would have something more substantial to say besides "Only you can take me there,only you can take me there"

DavidEye said:

I think the production is the main problem. After all, production and melody, not lyrics, are what make great pop songs.

I hate the way verses are structured too at the mo'. Most songs are just too quiet. They have no top at all. Anyone know what I mean?

where is Lauryn Hill when we need her?? She's an artist who writes and sings songs with depth.

there aint nothing wrong with a nice simple r&b song from time to time, which i think mariah does well (well recently).
[Edited 4/25/05 8:55am]

mancabdriver said:

Fine.
So name one other song she's done that's not about a relationship.

Fleshofmyflesh said:

i dunno what that has to do with making a decent r&b song but in answer to your question:

-make it happen
-petals
-can't take that away
-through the rain

i'm not a huge mariah fan so i'm sure there's more.