ok who are the biggest sellouts in popular music.
we are talking about musicians who lost their funk and fire they were known for.
my list would be:

lionel richie-once a funky saxophone player and
very funky singer and keyboard player is now former shadow of himself mostlu known for his slow balads.

eric clapton-hard rocking heavy blues player first
one ever to use wah wah now is stuck in his pattern of
weak imitations of great great blues players.

santana-from heavy fusion latin rock jazz to hip hop records
with santana as a guest star on his own album

michael jackson-once a great soul singer now he is...

bar kayes-from funk to synth pop

mnichael bolton-from hard rovck singer to sappy slow balads singer
what would be your choice?

I don't care what genre of music you're in, when you sign a record contract, you are a sell-out. Matter of fact, you have to sell out to survive. You as a musician, singer/rapper, songwriter, producer are in the business of making money, and if that means trying to appeal to a mainstream audience, then so be it.

thatruth said:

Agreed. This whole "sell-out" term when it comes to pop music is stupid.

But I guess Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic by Prince can be counted as a sellout, because he went back to a big label and enlisted a host of guest stars?

Frank Zappa was the first to use the wah wah. Not Clapton.

Let's not kid ourselves. The Music Business is all about getting paid.

Just ask Gene Simmons.

http://www.youtube.com/wa...sER5rsge5o
[Edited 4/18/09 4:29am]

A Sellout is when an artist change their style to appeal mainstream audiences for the money?

That term has confused me for so many years now...

I don't see how a pop artist could be considered a "sellout".The term "pop" is short for "popular".These people want to reach the widest audience possible and there's nothing wrong with that.

SoulAlive said:

the bar kays? lol whatever

the albums they put out in the 80s are my favorites anyway

The ones who came up with the "sell-out" term are the SAME ones who suffer from a "crabs in a barrel" mentality(CRITICS!!!).

They can't play a note or sing a lick,,,,,but they sure as stone hell have it in themselves to tell others how to sound like and what is supposed to be "relevant".

Prince with his latest album. Where is the funk and fire? Gone, I say.

thebanishedone said:

Not sellouts.....age got all of them.

kenlacam said:

co- Completely soulLESS.

Anyone willing to either "water-down" their music so it can "get played" is who I consider a sell-out. But being a "music sell-out" isn't always a bad thing either - a muh'fucka gotta eat!

Exactly!



I'd have more respect for them if they got on the corner and sold ass for food before I'd respect them for selling out musically.

Well, normally I would say that Shitney Houston is the biggest sellout in music history until someone brought up a very good point to me. She couldn't sellout if she was never funky to begin with. If she's always been a little pop princess goodie two shoes, black Paris Hilton barbie doll cheerleader of her day, that never had an ounce of rhythm or funk in her since the day she was born, then she never sold out because being a dull ass was just in her to begin with and she couldn't do no better than doing some stale ass adult contemporary pop. She should have still put her foot down and hollered..."I don't want my music played on black R&B radio because I'm a little goodie two shoes pop princess".

vainandy said:

To me, selling out would be an artist who starts out doing more uncommercial stuff but changes to something they don't really like just to be successful. It's not someone who always did pop commercial music.
An example would be Liz Phair when she did that Avril Lavigne like album with the Matrix or Jewel when she tried to do a dance record.

thebanishedone said:

I didn't know that Santana made some hip-hop records. Name some songs.

LL cool J

Snoopy Dog Dog

I don't exactly understand the disdain for Lionel. He just wanted to do something else, and wasn't exactly in his teens anymore when he decided to switch styles. The Commodores themselves didn't continue making the same type of music anyway, so with or without Lionel the sound would have changed - most 70s artists changed during the 80s in a very drastic way. Just think of David Bowie or even Miles Davis. Hell, even most of the old members from 70s prog bands were making AOR stuff by the 80s.

But I mean, "Can't Slow Down" is an excellent record for its own kind. It serves its purpose perfectly, and still sounds good to my ears on a nice, slightly worn-out vinyl. You can put it on the turntable on a sunday evening, make some coffee for yourself and imagine you're making love to a 50 year old woman.

santana-maria from his supernatural album is hip hop

angel345 said:

He has worked with rappers on his last three albums,but I don't know if I would call those tracks "hip-hop" songs.He keeps his signature latin sound.Sometimes the results can be exciting (Lauryn Hill rapping on "Do You Like The Way") or downright embarassing ("Since Supernatural" with Wyclef and his crew).

novabrkr said:

Nothing wrong with 'Can't Slow Down' at all.I love that album,and the solo album that came before it.I just didn't like the 'Dancing On The Ceiling' album Not because the music is "sellout" music.I just think the songs suck,lol.

music changed,funk changed but it didnt vanish.
look at the cameo,prince,time.
lionel lost every ounce of funk he had.
you just cant go from look what you've done to me from commodores to dancing on ceeling.
lionel stoped being black and become white artist.
lionel isnt black since he left the commodores-chris rock

speaking of Lionel...I recently heard his latest single.I think it's called "Let's Get Away" or something like that.It was horrible Sounds like one of those lousy T-Pain or NeYo songs....shit hop garbage!

^ Just Go , featuring that talentless loser akon
what a fucking embarrassment

Dewrede said:

That's the one! Truly AWFUL song! Lionel needs his ass kicked for recording this crap.

Dewrede said:

Completely akonish song, No lionel richie twist...

The lyrics Prepare your meal
[Edited 4/21/09 7:28am]