MsLegs said:

Hotlegs...is that you??!!

Just went over to the Rick James, they definetly have no love for Prince, they even seem to prefer Michael Jackson to him and that's really saying something.

SoulAlive said:

In the flesh.

MsLegs said:

Welcome back I didn't even know you were still here.We used to chat alot,but I had a different username back then

FuNkeNsteiN said:

Actually, it's not a hip hop sounding album...It's very quiet storm, jazz-funk...I'm not really head over heels for it, but at least Rick was still recording music to the very end...

Well, it's got those weak shit hop sounding drum machines that everyone else has these days. Sounds like shit hop to me.

I've listened to the new album and...I don't hate it I mean,it's no masterpiece,but it's not quite the disaster I thought it would be.I love the title track,and I like "Taste" and "Funk Wit Me".These days,if I can find an album with more than one good song,I consider it a winner,lol.

Maybe because my expectations were low to begin with,I'm not terribly disappointed.

Now you know me. If an album has even the slightest resemblance to shit hop or anything resembling today's so-called artists, my dislike for the music automatically turns to hate. I come closer to tolerating Shitney than tolerating shit hop. At least she has talent....she's just boring as hell.

vainandy said:

Vain...I think u need to come up with a new term brother...That Rick album has no traces of shit hop (meaning hip hop) in it...lol....In fact, it's more of a soft jazz, quiet storm R&B record...I mean, the man has a song with Howard Hewitt and Johnny Gill....Where are you hearing "shit hop"????...Not everything that has keyboard drums can be labeled shit hop...If that's the case, the '80s music was littered with shit-hop beats...I think the term "plastic" fits the bill....
[Edited 6/11/07 10:53am]

Never! It's my trademark. It's part of who I am. It's what makes me "me". Giving up the term "shit hop" would be like giving up the term "Shitney Houston".

I'll make a deal though. If shit hop will ever go out of style and we start throwing down again, I will stop using the term.



Shit hop isn't just songs that have rappers on them. Shit hop is a sound and those weak drum machines are a huge part of the shit hop sound. I agree that Rick's new album might have a few elements of jazz on it, but underneath it are those damn shit hop sounding drum machines that ruin the whole sound.

As for the 1980s, you know good and well that those drum machines from that era sound totally different than the ones from the 1990s and today. I don't hate them because they are drum machines. It's the type of drum machines people have been using since the 1990s and the sound of them that I hate.....the kind that just barely tap and sound extremely fake sounding. The drum machines in 1980s music pounded hard, the drum machines of house music also pounded hard, hell even new jack drum machines pounded harder than shit hop ones. As I said before, shit hop is a sound and those weak sounding drum machines define that sound.

Rick definately had those type drum machines in every single track on the album. It was definately a sell-out album from start to finish. Prince, himself, is guilty of selling out like that on particular tracks such as the horrible shit hop sounding "Incense and Candles".....but he at least comes back strong and funky on other tracks like "Lolita" and "Love" (which is why I don't drop him for his sell-out attempts on particular songs). Listen to the sound of the drum machines on Prince's "Love", compare them to the drum machines on Rick's new album, and you'll see they have a totally different sound. Hopefully, you'll see what I'm trying to get across to you then.
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[Edited 6/11/07 14:45pm]

vainandy said:

That happens at a lot of fan sites. You disagree with someone about an artist or band, you get hit with all kinds of slurs(like the morons at youtube). They're nothing but a bunch of keyboard gangstas.

uPtoWnNY said:

[Edited 6/11/07 21:30pm]

vainandy said:

For the most part,most Old School funk artists don't really make funk music anymore.Yeah I know it's sad,isn't it? Even Teena Marie's recent CDs don't contain alot of hard funk.I remember in 2000,buying a new Gap Band CD ('Y2K:Funkin Til 2000 Comes') and being really disappointed.That damn CD was filled with hip-hop,and guest cameos from Snoop Dogg I've accepted the fact that these artists have left real funk behind.If we wanna hear the real funk,we have to stick to the old albums.

Despite this,I like Rick's new CD.Vocally,he's on point.His singing is strong.The title track has become a minor hit on urban radio stations,which is nice to see.It reminds me of those summers in the 80s,when Rick was all over R&B radio with a strong single.It's great to see him getting airplay again.

murph said:

I agree,there really isn't alot of hip-hop elements on Rick's album.It can best be described as Quiet Storm/contemporary R&B with a touch of jazz.I was actually expecting it to be filled with rappers and hip-hop beats,but I'm glad that it's not.

Prince still does. He's the only one left with balls.



It's a damn crying shame.



Cameo and The Barkays finally sold out also. I've accepted the fact that these artists don't have the guts to throwdown anymore. However, I don't support them in any way anymore except for their old stuff.



Except for a few brave cool folks like Jamiroquai.



Now, you know I could care less about vocals because they aren't what makes my ass wanna move. As for Rick's new single getting airplay and becoming a minor hit, that's what I don't like. If an old artist sells out to today's weak sound and is successful at it, they will continue selling out on the next album (of course we don't have to worry about Rick doing that since he's gone). When real artists sell out, I want to see them bomb out on their ass and lose their shirt.

I could have told you there were no (c)rappers on the album. However, I hear those weak shit hop sounding beats all over the album. That's the main reason I can't even listen to one song straight through.

That's one thing I love about Jamiroquai.They make music as if we're still back in the late 70s There are NO hip-hop elements in their music at all.

vainandy said:

so you're not gonna give the album another chance?

Exactly. Music is never going to change for the better until all traces of shit hop are abandoned by the majority of the artists. Weak shit has ruled for too long. It's time for people to start shakin' asses again and lose some of that fat that they gained in this 15 year snoozefest that has dominated.

vainandy said:

What do you think can be done,to make this happen? I think that we need a new record label for these Old School artists....where they can make REAL FUNK MUSIC again and not have to worry about appealing to youngsters.Their albums could be geared strictly to their longtime fans.If Prince didn't have such a bad track record with Paisley Park Records,he would be the perfect candidate to create a label like this,lol.

I've tried several times to listen to it straight through and I just can't. I think I get more pissed than anything else that yet another great artist has bowed down to the bullshit that is dominating the airwaves. I mean, this ain't just any old R&B/funk band that sold out, this is Rick James, a man that used to absolutely do his own thing and not give a fuck whether anyone liked it or not. When I read the interview before his death where he surprisingly gave props to Prince for being the only one still making funk, I had hoped that he would have followed suit. Rick also said in that interview that cocaine was a hell of a drug but apparently, money is even more a hell of a drug.

vainandy said:

I have to wonder though....is 'Deeper Still' truly the album that Rick would have released if he were still alive? I know at the time he was recording it,he was planning to make it a 2-CD set.The released album feels like it was hastily thrown together.....as if they just took some of his recent recordings and compiled it into an album.Some of these songs would not have made the final cut,if Rick had been around.For example...the remake of "Guinneverre".

Record labels are a problem but they aren't the biggest problem. Huge corporations that own up all the radio stations and media outlets are the biggest problem. In this day and age of CD burners, artists could burn their own CDs to get back on their feet (of course you need a label to distribute and promote) but the public would be unaware that they exist because the media refuses to play their music.

The real problem is, these record labels and radio stations are monopolized by a bunch of old buzzards with no interest in music whatsoever. These youngsters are making impotent music (soft and lifeless) to bring back money to their pimps (the old buzzards running things who lost all "hardness" years ago). I think all the soft impotent motherfuckers need a huge dose of Viagara so they can get hard and start jamming again.

I think we're hearing part of the 2-CD set right now. I think it was a sellout move on everyone's part to make money. Rick had smoked up a lot of his money so he needed to make money, regardless if his music and reputation as a musician suffered. Since he died and there is no chance of any further new material being made in the future, I think whoever is in charge of releasing his music probably split the 2-CD set so they can profit in the future.

vainandy said:

His family will also be working closely with Motown/Universal to remaster the old Rick James albums.I heard that there will be "deluxe editions" of several albums.Could you imagine a 2-CD Deluxe Edition of 'Throwin Down'? Or 'Bustin Out Of L7'?

I want one of "Fire It Up" so I can get the 12 Inch version of "Love Gun" that sextonseven has. If they don't release it, I'm going to find out where he lives and break into his house.

vainandy said:

Vainandy, you're always looking for a 12" Love Gun.

I'll even settle for a 7 Inch.

preemptive warning

vainandy said: