from 411.mania

THE 25 THINGS THAT HAVE KILLED (and are still killing) URBAN MUSIC

(by nOvaMatic, April 22, 2008)


1. The end of the EVENT ALBUM



There was a time when albums encompassed an era that included a look, a feel, and a style that informed an artist's videos and live performances for as long as they (or the label) could squeeze revenue from a project by releasing singles. The "event" album can chiefly be credited to Jacksons Michael and Janet, who have entire timelines built around the idea of a "Thriller Era" or a "Rhythm Nation Era."…when you have artists that are too scared to release music with a healthy 3-5 year gap in between, the lines to between albums begin to blur, and the eras become indistinguishable, rendering them null.



FACT.

This all stems from the fact that labels don't know how to promote albums anymore. They just want that quick money so their throw shit out real fast without taking the time to actually build an artist up. While they did do a decent job building up Maxwell and Sade's respective long awaited comebacks, in Hip-Hop, the closest thing we had to an event was Kanye's GRADUATION vs. 50 Cent's CURTIS. I know we could do better.


2. Big-name hip-Hop Producers



With respect due to the beatmakers that introduce a track with the name of their production imprint, ad-lib all over it, and insert themselves as guest rappers 50% of the time, they overshadow the actual vocalist of a song…when an artist has to do an inventory of who produced her project to qualify it instead of telling us what the album is about, we have to take exception. Reality check: If you're trying to goad me into a purchasing your album because you have a Pharrell beat on it and I'm a Pharrell fan, then that's the only song I'm buying. Your album has to have legs of its own.



FACT.

Look…most of my favorite Hip-Hop artists happen to be in-demand producers, so I am guilty of paying more attention to the work of those producers than I have the actual vocalists on them. However, all this would be better if a) the vocalist had an idea of what kind of sound they're going for, and b) the producer knew how to give a distinctive sound to fits each vocalist. That way, there'd be no need for an artist to "do an inventory of who produced [their] project to qualify it instead of telling us what the album is about". Look at Ghostface, for instance. Here is a man who know what he wants his albums to sound like and makes sure most of the producers he works with curtail their sound to fit what he wants.


3. The murders of 2Pac & Biggie



You can probably draw a direct line from the deaths of Biggie and 'Pac to the current state of Hip Hop. The two of them cultivated a style that even a decade later is re- and misappropriated to the nth. Perhaps if they were still alive, they'd have pushed the genre forward. Or maybe they'd be wack and irrelevant. Hey, at least they died while they were still good.



FICTION.

To me, it wasn't them that ruined the scene, but the whole atmosphere surrounding them…an atmosphere that I didn't particularly care for.



This…

The entire East vs. West fiasco took away from the music and made it become more about tabloid bullshit (something that Hip-Hop is still suffering from today). "Who got beef with who? WHO'S SIDE ARE YOU ON?! Either you are WITH US or AGAINST US!" Because of that, the music suffered, as it played the back in favor of all this set-trippin' bullshit. And in the end, both sides lost…




4. Neo-Soul



We understand the emergence of the "neo-soul" genre as a response to the growing commercialization of modern R&B. But even the artists lumped into this category began to the see that the term was as much a marketing ploy as the very things they eschewed. The language used to describe these artists ranged from "organic" to "avant garde" and any press materials would claim that he/she looks up to Stevie, Marvin and Donny. And don't stand too close to the stage lest you get burned by the candles and frankencense!



FACT.

Blame Kedar Massenburg.

You see, many artists like D'Angelo, Badu, Maxwell, and Chico DeBarge have made a splash in R&B returning to the artistry of R&B's past after years of being far removed from it (the early 80's Electro-Funk and Synthed-R&B, The New Jack Swing, etc.) Kedar saw this and treated it as a separate genre of music and capitalized off it, dubbing it as NEO-SOUL. BIG MISTAKE. With Kedar acting like Christopher Columbus discovering something that was already there, he jinxed the only opportunity to bring R&B to a different direction. No wonder that everyone who has ever been lump into that title absolutely HATES it.


5. Reality TV



Aside from the manufactured Pop idols that are struggling to stay signed within their prize contracts, we have to question the motives of Sean Combs, Robin Antin and Missy Elliott, who have all aped the reality television format to generate acts for their own stable of artists. To be sure, reality TV has replaced proper Artist Development as a means for these entrepreneurs to cash in, stroke their egos and embarrass people who, 9 times out of 10, deserve it.



FACT.

Ever since the start of American Idol, my biggest problem with that show and shows like it was that is cultivated a whole bunch of voices (of varied quality), but no one around to mold and shape them into better artists. You're pretty much left with a whole barn full of chickens running around with their heads cut off. When it came to Puff's various attempts at "Making The Band", it just hurts watching these unsuspecting people get treated like shit. Puff would've never made it past the first round picks if he were ever put into their position.

Plus, I have a deep loathing against Reality TV in general, as it makes it so that any fucking idiot can be a star with no talent or effort. I mean, who in the hell are Jon & Kate, and why should I care how many kids they have?


6. Lazy A&R Departments



Did you know that A&R people are also responsible for Artist Development? Probably not, since these days a newly-signed artist is more likely to be stripped of their identity and given one that falls in step with what's popular or, even worse, none at all.



FACT.

It seems like the last A&R guy that truly gave a shit was Dante "The Scrub" Ross, who worked with KMD, Del, De La Soul, and Leaders Of The New School. In fact, he was the one who made the decision to make Busta a solo artist!


7. Scarface and The Untouchables



Okay, rapper, we get it, Scarface and The Untouchables are the greatest movies ever made; your life in celluloid, even. But, if you look close enough, you'll come to learn that you are neither Pacino or De Niro and should stop emulating them by using audio clips from the films in your interludes and the script in your lyrics. Too many of you are still doing this after all these years. Also, tell members of your crew to stop calling themselves "Ness" and "Nitti." Just, please, cut it out. Thank you.



There was this episode of The Cosby Show where Mr. Huxtable (Bill) was comparing himself to the dog OL' YELLER ("AAAARRRAAARRRFF!"---"Watch out--Ol' Yeller lives over there!!") After he finishes stroking his ego, the wifey Claire had to break it to him:

"You know, at the end of that movie…they shot Ol‘ Yeller!"

In other words, FACT.


8. THUGS



Not only do we have "Studio Thugs" that use [films like Scarface] to inform their image, but there's the "Corporate Thug" (robs an artist of his publishing and signs him to a hellified contract he could never fulfill) and the questionable "R&B Thug," which happened somewhere between R. Kelly and Jodeci and continues to this day. Along the way, labels got the bright idea that the way to a woman's heart was by selling drugs and beating up people. Sexy! This trend has also given rise to something else we'll never understand: "R&B Beef," in which two singers talk trash about each other to the media.



FACT.

You remember the last days of 80's Glam-Rock, where it seemed that EVERYBODY had to have big hair, tight leather pants, and lipstick? Where every song had to have some imitation Motley Crue sound with the sneery-voiced lead vocalist, and every album featured that one girly-girl Power Ballad for the ladies? Well, the THUG phenomenon has become Urban music's equivalent to that. It's funny how an image that was supposed to symbolize rebellion has become so…corporate. Urban music as a whole is now in the same exact spot that 80's Glam Rock was in right before Nirvana came out of nowhere and made them all irrelevant.


9. Crime:



"Between violating probation, not paying child support, being pulled over and caught with an ounce of weed or cocaine, assaulting nail technicians, shooting people, tossing concertgoers off the stage, committing perjury, tax evasion, and urinating on minors, we have to wonder if being a good artist means being a bad citizen.



FACT.

I know that there are people that have actually lived this lifestyle--even James Brown ran the streets during his early years…but when it gets to the point where the controversy surrounding you overshadows your music, you end up with shit like #3.


10. Ringtones



"Real Music Ringtones" were created as a way to distinguish your ringing cellular from someone else's while also bringing you closer to your favorite artist. Unfortunately, the labels realized this was the only way to generate revenue and started making music for the sole purpose of selling ringtones. Now, we have stripped-down keyboard beats and grunts and "yaahhs" instead of lyrics. Is that my cellphone ringing or yours? We'll never know, because we both downloaded Soulja Boy.



FACT.

This is Microwave Popcorn Music [© DJ Premier] in its purest form. No wonder today's R&B has become such an unlistenable mess, since it's done for the sole purpose of fucking ringtones.


11. Lack of Music Programs in Schools



Programs like GarageBand have not only made producers lazy, but undercut the importance of immersing young would-be musicians in music history as well as basic composition. Unless a popular musician was trained in the church, they probably lucked into a contract without knowing how to write, play an instrument, or worse, sing a note.



FICTION.

I had to think long and hard about this one.

History has proven that anyone who is hungry enough to be a musician will find a way to make music one way or another. If you look back on a lot of past time greats, most of them had no formal training. They either came up through the church or taught themselves. With segregation regulating Blacks to the shittiest of schools, R&B singers didn't have the options that would be available today…yet the work spoke for itself. Why? HUNGER. When the music programs started getting cut from inner city schools during the 70's, that lead to a lot of people looking at those old turntables and dusty records and use THEM as instruments. That's how Hip-Hop was created. If an artist is hungry enough, they will find a way. It's not that there aren't any opportunities…it's just that a lot of artists today lack the hunger.


12. BET



BET (and by extension its corporate owner) is on a mission to not only destroy urban music, but poison the perception of Black people in the process. If we were to use this network as a guide (and people unfortunately do), we would believe that "drug dealer > rapper > pimp" is a logical career path, alcoholic beverages can be used as bodysplash, women of exotic or indeterminate race are the standard of beauty, darker-skinned women are only valuable if they have a big ass and a tiny waist, a person's worth can only be determined by what they drive and what they wear, you ain't sh*t if you're over 30, and a week's worth of debauchery and decadence can be undone with a Sunday marathon of religious programming. It's funny because it's true.



FACT.



There was once a time when it wasn't like this. When I first started watching BET, it was Donnie Simpson of VIDEO SOUL and Madeline Woods of VIDEO LP interviewing various R&B singers and playing their videos. On the Hip-Hop side, it was Chris Thomas, Prince Dejour, The Prime, and Big Lez hosting RAP CITY, competing with YO MTV RAPS! And you also had BET News with Tavis Smiley, and Teen Summit to talk about the issues. Now, with all those people and programs gone, and both R&B and Hip-Hop becoming interchangeable, to say that BET is a shell of its former self is a misnomer, as it implies that there's some semblance of a 'former self' left.


13. The Radio



Used to be, you would turn on the radio and hear a variety of artists with a variety of sounds. But due to the "Clear Channeling" of Urban Radio, you'll hear a T-Pain song followed by 15 minutes of commercials, followed by a song featuring T-Pain, some shucking and jiving by unbearable radio personalities for five minutes, then something that resembles a T-Pain song, but isn't because just about everyone sounds like T-Pain now. And it's probably a commercial.



FACT.

You know what's sad? Replace the name "T-Pain" with the names Lil' Wayne, 50 Cent, Ja-Rule, Nelly, Juvenile, DMX, and Master P, and you would've described the radio over the past decade. Radio stations need to show some balls. Sadly, with Clear Channel gripping a chokehold on the industry, it's a fat chance that we'll ever have another Stretch & Bobbito or Wake Up Show unless you throw up some money to Satellite Radio (and hopefully catch DJ Premier's show LIVE FROM HQ).


14. Spineless Club Djs



If you're going out to a club, you might as well sit in the house and blast the radio instead of paying the inflated cover charge. Once upon a time, DJs were tastemakers, but now so many of them are afraid they'll clear the floor by spinning something new that they just play album versions of songs people are tired of but are too drunk to notice. Then, they add insult to injury by showing off their "skills" with poorly-timed scratches, blends that don't line up and screaming over the music. And consider yourself lucky if you happen upon a DJ with ACTUAL! VINYL! RECORDS!



I'll let DJ Premier handle this one for me:


"Aiyyo, what the FUCK is this shit that y'all are listenin' to nowadays on the radio man? You call that shit hip-hop? THAT'S SOME FAGGOT BITCH SHIT Y'ALL ARE LISTENIN TO! All you DJ's are letting' the program directors handcuff you and sit there and tell you how to mix?! YOU FUCKIN' ROBOTS!! FUCK Y'ALL!!!"



FACT.


15. Mainstream Hip Hop Publications



Back in the '90s, holding one of these rags in your hands was like holding a monthly Bible to all things Hip Hop and R&B. Now, they've all been relegated to chasing blogs and reiterating things we already knew weeks ahead instead of properly utilizing the print medium to do something unique. Changes in personnel and ownership aside, they were already marching towards irrelevance. Even the covers suck now, but you probably won't get the damn thing delivered on time in order to find out.



FACT.

In the feature, there's a cover of Benzino's shitrag, Hip-Hop Weekly, which is designed as a tabloid magazine. In my opinion, that's appropriate, because like I said in #3 and #9, Hip-Hop has become a tabloid-driven mess. Unless the people running the various Hip-Hop magazines grows some balls and start taking some chances (like reporting on artists and music scenes that people don't know about instead of the same old shit), they will NEVER come anywhere close to the early 90's Source Magazine (back when James Bernard and Reggie Dennis were running things).


16. Bloggers



Guilty as charged! Trifle few of us are qualified to be writing about music with any authority, especially since most of the people behind blogs haven't been alive long enough to have a healthy perspective on the subject. Although it can be argued that record companies rely on blogs for buzz, most of the music championed by popular websites is the same music that would've gotten attention anyway. Also, we have to point out that the commenting system has turned discussions about music into an unholy war of "haters" versus "stans," where everyone is an expert on what they hate or love, but have no concept of anything else including real life.



FICTION.

"Opinions are like voices--we all have a different kind." --Q-Tip

First of all, everybody has this misconception of internet writers that they are just a bunch of snotnosed kids sitting in some cubicle somewhere. It's like this: I have been a follower of music since 1979, with the latter days of Disco (why else would I do a feature on SHALAMAR?) I have watched the music world change over several times, from Disco to Electro-funk and Synthed-out R&B, to Jam & Lewis' Minneapolis Sound, to The New Jack Swing. Around the halfway point, I shifted my focus on to Hip-Hop and watched the various times it changed over (The West Coast invasion, Marley switching from the JB records to Jazz records, the East vs. West Fiasco, the Rawkus era, the Dirty South invasion).

So trust me, I HAVE been alive long enough to have a healthy perspective on the subject. I may not be the most grammatically correct writer on the planet, but I get by. Besides, if we are to only give credibility to professional writers, that means that we have to accept that Tribe Called Quest's first two albums--PEOPLE'S INSTINCTIVE TRAVELS and LOW END THEORY--are both SHIT SANDWICHES. Why? Because ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE said so!

Not too long ago, ?uestlove made a Twitter post saying that Beyonce will make the same exact impact on music and culture that Michael Jackson did in the 80's. If that opinion had come from some random ‘net writer, people would see that shit as ridiculous. But since it came from The Roots Drummer, does that make it any less ridiculous? No, it doesn't. A few years ago, Prodigy of Mobb Deep typed up this MASSIVE, headache inducing, poorly written BLOCK OF TEXT talking about all the rappers that he thinks are garbage. If it had come from some random poster, people would call him an idiot…but since it's the guy that "Got you stuck off the realness", that makes it less idiotic? HELL NO. So please, miss me with that "If you ain't in the business, you shouldn't speak" bullshit, because some of the opinion from the artists themselves can be just as hair-brained.

If there's anything in #16 that qualifies as FACT, it's HATERS vs. STANS. Simply seeing those two words makes me want to murder somebody.


17. YouTube & MySpace



On the Internet, everyone is a star (thank you, thank you). But while sites like MySpace and YouTube can provide mainstream and indie musicians with a means of cultivating and connecting with an audience, it becomes a chore to sort through the muck of people with a webcam and a login classifying themselves as "artists." And damn you all to Hell for having the crap you made in Grandma's basement on auto-play.



FACT.

I'll let J-Zone tackle this one:


Oh boy. Talk about a double edged sword. Never has it been so easy to get your music heard. If I make a dope beat, I can put it on my myspace page and it's up in an hour (depending on the servers, it may be "processing" for about 3 years). No more spending money and wasting time for records and test presses. Now people in Arkansas that only have MTV and the internet can hear my music. Limited distribution isn't as big a problem as before. Everybody is almost equal, shit we all have myspace pages.

But look at the flipside. Everybody is almost equal, shit we all have myspace pages. There is so much shit out and the internet lurks with a million people doing the same thing, it's virtually impossible to stand out. Back in the day, you had to work your way up in the business. Havin a record was in most cases a privilege and a reward for your hard work. Catalog meant something. We're in an MP3 world now, and somebody in their bedroom is on an equal plane with somebody that's paid dues and worked hard. That's great for the kid with talent and no vehicle to get heard. That sucks for the no talent hacks on myspace that post advertisements for their wack music on your comments page.



A double edged sword indeed…


18. Singing Rappers, Acting Rappers & Rapping Athletes:



We'll keep this short. Every now and then you'll happen upon someone that has been able to organically transition from one career to another. Will and Latifah come to mind. To everyone else (coughCurtiscough), stay in your lane. Again, we don't begrudge anyone the chance to make some extra ends; it just shouldn't be at the expense of the audience.



FACT.

Still AWED by 50 Cent's 'riveting' performance in GET RICH OR DIE TRYING The Movie? Are you still wondering why the shark ate Sam Jackson but not LL Cool J in DEEP BLUE SEA? Still wondering why Shaq came out of nowhere and dissed Skillz for no reason? Nothing more needs to be said here.

By the way, I love Q-Tip to death, but he should never be allowed to SING or ACT ever again.


19. The End of Real Singing Groups



Once upon a time, you not only had singing groups that weren't put together by a reality show, but wherein each member contributed a distinct voice or purpose to the group. Sometimes they had members that barely sang a note, but who actually produced or wrote the song. Point is, throwing a bunch of strangers in a house with one phone and giving them makeovers doesn't create synergy.



FACT.

People today are clueless when it comes to group dynamics. They think that every singer has to sing overtop of each other in order to be a REAL GROUP. One of the things that made the Temptations a great group was the myriad of voices (Smokey Robinson used to call them THE FIVE DEACONS because of all the types of voices in the group.) Some groups like the Stylistics had one primary lead (Russell Thompkins) with one of the other member doing a lead every once in a while. A group like the Manhattans ("Kiss and Say Goodbye", "Shining Star") had two primary leads--Gerald Alston doing the lead vocals with Blue Lovett doing the monologues. The Whipsers also had two primary leads--twin brothers Walter & Scotty Scott, while group member Nick Caldwell, while not a lead singer, wrote a lot of the ballads. The O'Jays also had an interesting dynamic, as it had two leads (Walter Williams & Eddie Levert) and only ONE backup man (the late William Powell, and then Sammy Strain, then currently Eric Grant) While one of the leads do the lead duties, the other sang with the backup man.



Just because a member isn't hogging the camera doesn't necessarily make them useless…but you can't tell that to today's audience. Now, you have a bunch of knuckleheads doing KC & JoJo impressions with no timing and no synergy whatsoever, soundling like a bunch of hyenas.


20. "Kanyitis"



A temporary, yet frequent, illness that afflicts singers and rappers alike, wherein an artist waits until the precise moment they are in front of a camera, microphone or reporter to say something shocking and stupid, which will then be quoted by bloggers and searched on YouTube ad nauseum. Then the artist has to explain what they "really" meant, but by that time everyone already thinks they're nuts and doesn't care about a retraction.



FACT.

A lot of people think that a person's opinions, no matter how hair-brained and stupid, has more validity simply because they're celebrities AND YOU'RE NOT. In response, reread my third paragraph in #16.


21. Death of Aaliyah



Not that Aaliyah took an entire genre of music with her to the grave, but it can be argued that her passing made way for a wave of young, pretty dancers with okay voices and no personality. Only difference between them and Aaliyah is, Aaliyah had personality along with talent, ideas and a willingness to experiment. Also, she wasn't so full of herself.



FICTION.

The industry ALWAYS had a tendency of trying to make carbon copies of whoever is hot at the time. In many cases, they never had to wait until their deaths if the artist is popular enough, but the moment the subject does die (see #3) they kick into overdrive with the clones. It's always been like this, so I don't agree that it was the death of the industry because of it. When the industry serves up an army of clones, an artist needs to do something to make themselves stand out.


22. Money



Even worse than artists releasing garbage because they know it sells is the audience's obsession with how much an artist makes. Unfortunately, we've given lack of artistry a pass because someone's "making that paper," which totally undermines the hard work of true creative talents that are constantly writing, recording, and performing.



FACT!

There was once a time when "Sellout" was the worst thing to be called. But then the sellouts started running things, and suddenly, it didn't matter how many times you tell people about their lack of talent, you always get the response, "U JUST A HATER!" or "U JUST JEALOUS!" Right…I'm NOT jealous of Oprah or Donald Trump, or Bill Gates--three people who have more money in their POCKETS then most of these knucklehead BIG MONEY rappers have in their bank accounts. No--I'm jealous of your no-talent ass. Go fuck yourself.


23. Products & Brands



Whether rappers and singers are inserting the names of designer alcoholic beverages into their lyrics or cable companies are inserting rappers and singers in their ad campaigns, things come to a point where we need to start realizing how owned these artists are. There's a thin line between businessperson and corporate slave. We'd also like to reiterate a fact that has been pointed out time and time again over the past 10 years: If you can't pronounce it, why should we care that you're wearing it, driving it, or drinking it?



FACT.

This is a byproduct of #22. One of my biggest annoyances when it came to the Hip-Hop of the md-to-late 90's is that EVERYBODY was throwing around brand names, and how everyone was trying to be the next top Versace Model or the next Cristal spokesman.

Then, to show that God is indeed a comedian, the makers of Cristal went on record a few years ago saying that they didn't particularly care about having all these rappers name-checking their product…which led to the biggest Cristal spokeman on the planet, Jigga, to throw a Kanye-fit and call them RACIST. I haven't had such a good laugh in years!


24. People That Aren't in Any Way Associated with Music



Opportunities in the industry are built on connections and there's almost never been a time when someone didn't rise to stardom on someone else's coattails. But now, things have gotten way out of hand. Why be an actual artist when you can be someone that danced in videos, screwed a bunch of rappers and got a book deal? Or, you can be a butler or Executive In Charge of Umbrella-Carrying? Or, worse, be the "Fifth Mic" guy on stage and reliable instigator? Who needs a recording studio?



FACT.

Sadly, this is something that Reality shows have made worse, as it produced a whole slew of people not associated with ANYTHING in the entertainment or sports business becoming celebrities. As long as you do or say some dumb shit in the eyeshot of a camera, YOU CAN BE A STAR, TOO! Talent has now officially become OPTIONAL.

And finally…


25. Teenagers



Young people have always had the power to determine trends in all genres of music, which is why corporations defer to them. However, today's teenagers seem to be slightly more insipid than they were in previous generations and definitely have a shorter attention span. Whether it's the teens themselves driving the garbage labels are releasing, or the labels that are leading teens down a path of ignorance, is totally up for debate. It's the chicken/egg question in its purest form.



FICTION.

I know the writer wanted to cap it off by making a bold statement, but this is just wrong. Kids and teenagers don't just make stuff up on the fly. No…they get it from watching adults. You'd be surprised at some of the stupid shit that kids catch adults doing, even when you think they're not looking! "Today's teenagers seem to be slightly more insipid than they were in previous generations…" Of course they are. However, looking back at everything covered throughout this list, is there any wonder why?

Say it loud
Look what we handed down
Does that make you proud?
Look what we handed down…

I was just going to run off 25 Rihanna or Akon songs.

You forgot about Auto-Tune.

I would add:

THE ARRIVAL OF THE BIG BOOTY

Used to be that you had talent, and then maybe someone noted you also had a big booty. Hell, for years, many people did not know janet jackson had a big ole badunkadunk. Selena had a huge booty and till didn't crossover. All of a sudden here came Jennifer Lopez and it became all about the ass. Beyonce and her ass. Shakira and her ass. Now half the time you can't tell the artists from the video hoe.

Whoever wrote this article needs to be commended for writing about all of the things that have been killing "urban music" for years. Especially "American Idol". All it is professional karoke music that churns out unabashedly horrible singers and performers and gas them into thinking they are "artists" including Fantastia. I'd rather listen to Celine Dion than listen to Fantasia who just screams and musially throw tantrums. As far as YouTube, there are many artists who I am fans of now just from watching them virally like (Chico Huff and Jeff Berlin, Jeff Lee Johnson and some female singer-songwriters) as well as budding instrumentalists some better than others. I have no problem with people using webcams to film themselves if they truly are talented, but corny singers who were to bad even for American Idol need to kill themselves.

I did not write this article. I gave credit at the top-it is from a site called 411.mania

scriptgirl said:

My bad. I thought the little "fact-fiction" points were yours.

"You know, at the end of that movie…they shot Ol‘ Yeller!"

In other words, FACT.




Tell 'em, Claire

Who is Claire?

scriptgirl said:

Claire Huxtable? Girl, you're the one who posted the article
[Edited 4/19/10 13:35pm]

how about shitty music ?

Harle, I'm doped up on Benadryl!

scriptgirl said:

Okay cool. It would have taken me 3 days to come up with
this stuff. On Blaque Knight's last statement Gay Songz
comes to mind.

Good article.

They should have just listed this one all by itself.

nice article.


BUT.


did this MF just say "Jam & Lewis' Minneapolis Sound"?

Where did the writer call out the Minneapolis Sound?

Well U could take a few of those 25 and insert them directly into the Pop genre the Rock genre and yes what they call the dance genre now.

and so many of the 25 we all have been saying for years so it seems someones ALARM went off too. Was there also the inclusion of "Stay in your fucking genre", the marriage of types of music may seem cool, but sorry, i dont desire a Barry Manilow/Jack White/Timbaland song, sorry.

The funny thing is that this is almost indentical to the "Russel Brand" list that i was laughing my ass off at, not the fact of the list, but the fact that some hack, not funny, no talent knows whats wrong with music and yet the industry doesnt.

The thing is that nothing will change till the mindset changes, and from what i see and hear, Snooki getting a record contract and shit like that, nothing is changing anytime soon. So stick with your faves, and let the fucking radio and video and labels crash, and leave the established artists standing

scriptgirl said:

did you even read the article you posted?

If anyone didnt already say it: bootlegging aka hustle man in the barber shop.

I read it-while doped on Benadryl. Shit is sparkly.

Harlepolis said:

AKA Phylicia Rashad. Damn script...

Did you not see that I wrote I was on Benadryl. Life gets real sparkly sometimes. Just as sparkly as those damn vampires in Twilight.

You didn't write it, you're just the messenger.

Yes, I even gave credit at the top from the blog I got the article from.

i would also add:


the "one night musical stand" between R & B and Hip-Hop

please..MAKE THAT SHIT GO AWAY!.come on, get the fuck out of bed already.

don't get me wrong, i like hearing it OCCASIONALLY if the two are labelmates then i guess the overlap is gonna occur but it shouldn't happen all the time. i know there are songs in which the two genres do a song together and it sounds really good.

examples:

The Blast-Talib Kweli feat. Vinia Mojica
Fantasy (remix)- Mariah Carey feat. O.D.B.
Got Yo Money- O.D.B. feat. Kelis

this "fling" started in the early 90's and it hasn't stopped since.

Even though it had been done in sporadic terms in the '80s, it wasn't until Mariah Carey's "Fantasy" with ODB that it turned. It needs to stop.

They forgot


not having artistic development
letting image override the work
thinking michael jackson is a musical genre
EGO

bboy87 said:

I think they mention lack of an A&R but yeah makes sense.