vainandy said:

Wowugotit said:

I disagree. I think an artist like Teena Marie should stay contemporary. How sad would it be to be stuck in the 80's.

Better to be stuck in the 1980s than stuck in the 1990s which is what today's artists are. Mainstream R&B has not changed one damned bit since the 1990s. Everything is still midtempo, adult contemporary, and shit hop just like the 1990s were.

I like the '90s R&B but I have to agree. The genre sounds bored now.

Timmy84 said:

Asking for someone to "funk it up" doesn't mean she has to be "stuck in the '80s". And why would she wanna go "contemporary" especially if that "contemporary sound" is as boring as two nuns hosting a disco party and telling everyone to "just listen rather than shake your groove thing"?

Her late 1970s and early 1980s midtempo recordings > Her current shit.

Exactly! I have always been one to change with the current trends and used to get into them and buy the latest jams quicker than the general public. But when current becomes something dull as hell like adult contemporary and shit hop, no....never! It's fine for things to change but don't change to something BORING. I'd rather see R&B singers go a completely different route and do something like hard rock or heavy metal before I'd like to see them change to fit today's R&B sound. Hell, Judy Garland sounds better than THAT shit. The disco era got us (gay people) away from that slow weak shit and now the straight motherfuckers are trying to drive everyone back into it.

Timmy84 said:

vainandy said:

Better to be stuck in the 1980s than stuck in the 1990s which is what today's artists are. Mainstream R&B has not changed one damned bit since the 1990s. Everything is still midtempo, adult contemporary, and shit hop just like the 1990s were.

I like the '90s R&B but I have to agree. The genre sounds bored now.

The only thing I liked about the 1990s was Prince and also the house/dance music that was mainly played in the black gay clubs. But if you turned on the radio in the 1990s, it was overrun by folks like Brandy (adult contemporary) and Notorious B.I.G. (stripped down slow to midtempo shit hop). In other words, the same type of shit that's all over R&B radio today. The 2000s just altered and updated it a little bit but it's no major change. Nothing like the transition between the 1960s to the 1970s, the 1970s to the 1980s, and the 1980s to the 1990s. Those were complete style changes.

vainandy said:

phunkdaddy said:

I thought it was a good album. I didn't like the second single choice but

i felt it was a solid album. I think the misconception is that Teena has always

been this knock down kick ass funk artist when the truth of the matter is

80 percent of her albums have always been mostly midtempo. Even her 80's

output has been mostly midtempo with a few funk tracks on it with Starchild

and Emerald City among the few exceptions.

That's why I stopped buying her albums after "Starchild". It was decent and so was "Robbery" before it, but they were nothing to compare to her Motown albums. She did have some hard funk on the Motown ones.

It Must Be Magic mostly

vainandy said:

Timmy84 said:

Asking for someone to "funk it up" doesn't mean she has to be "stuck in the '80s". And why would she wanna go "contemporary" especially if that "contemporary sound" is as boring as two nuns hosting a disco party and telling everyone to "just listen rather than shake your groove thing"?

Her late 1970s and early 1980s midtempo recordings > Her current shit.

Exactly! I have always been one to change with the current trends and used to get into them and buy the latest jams quicker than the general public. But when current becomes something dull as hell like adult contemporary and shit hop, no....never! It's fine for things to change but don't change to something BORING. I'd rather see R&B singers go a completely different route and do something like hard rock or heavy metal before I'd like to see them change to fit today's R&B sound. Hell, Judy Garland sounds better than THAT shit. The disco era got us (gay people) away from that slow weak shit and now the straight motherfuckers are trying to drive everyone back into it.

vainandy said:

Wowugotit said:

I disagree. I think an artist like Teena Marie should stay contemporary. How sad would it be to be stuck in the 80's.

Better to be stuck in the 1980s than stuck in the 1990s which is what today's artists are. Mainstream R&B has not changed one damned bit since the 1990s. Everything is still midtempo, adult contemporary, and shit hop just like the 1990s were.

I don't mind midtempo with a good r&b feel as long as there are at least

3 non infused hip hop funk jams on an album. I don't get it with these old

school artists either trying to appeal to an audience that's not really hip to

them or barely know them.

phunkdaddy said:

vainandy said:

Better to be stuck in the 1980s than stuck in the 1990s which is what today's artists are. Mainstream R&B has not changed one damned bit since the 1990s. Everything is still midtempo, adult contemporary, and shit hop just like the 1990s were.

I don't mind midtempo with a good r&b feel as long as there are at least

3 non infused hip hop funk jams on an album. I don't get it with these old

school artists either trying to appeal to an audience that's not really hip to

them or barely know them.

Again, I say it: it's sucking corporates' dicks. Real rebellious artists wouldn't just go along to get along.

Timmy84 said:

daPrettyman said:

I know what u mean.

"Here's Looking At You" and "If I Were A Bell" are perfect examples. Those songs are better than anything on her last 2 or 3 albums....and those were on her last Sony/Columbia album.

And funny thing is when you ask some folks why older artists try to go to contemporary, it's always the same excuse: "I rather they get with the Joneses than do something 'dated'". I say fuck "dated" and just DO IT, you know? Stop being a zombie to trends. It was probably cool in the '90s but it's not so nowadays. It's just not the same.

I remember a Questlove interview where he talked about working with Earth Wind and Fire.He was producing tracks for them,but Maurice White heard a few of the songs and complained "This sounds like 1975" Apparently,Maurice was looking for songs that sound like today's music.

I'd rather have songs that sound like the past,as opposed to songs that feature rappers and production that sounds like all the other crap on the radio.

phunkdaddy said:

vainandy said:

Better to be stuck in the 1980s than stuck in the 1990s which is what today's artists are. Mainstream R&B has not changed one damned bit since the 1990s. Everything is still midtempo, adult contemporary, and shit hop just like the 1990s were.

I don't mind midtempo with a good r&b feel as long as there are at least

3 non infused hip hop funk jams on an album. I don't get it with these old

school artists either trying to appeal to an audience that's not really hip to

them or barely know them.

Exactly! Why try to appeal to an audience that doesn't care about you? The younger generation isn't gonna go out and buy your CD,no matter how hard you try to win them over.

SoulAlive said:

Timmy84 said:

And funny thing is when you ask some folks why older artists try to go to contemporary, it's always the same excuse: "I rather they get with the Joneses than do something 'dated'". I say fuck "dated" and just DO IT, you know? Stop being a zombie to trends. It was probably cool in the '90s but it's not so nowadays. It's just not the same.

I remember a Questlove interview where he talked about working with Earth Wind and Fire.He was producing tracks for them,but Maurice White heard a few of the songs and complained "This sounds like 1975" Apparently,Maurice was looking for songs that sound like today's music.

I'd rather have songs that sound like the past,as opposed to songs that feature rappers and production that sounds like all the other crap on the radio.

Jesus Christ, now I can kinda understand why some old folks always say "let's bring that old music back". With that mindset Maurice had, you're only gonna be seen as some unhip geezer.

SoulAlive said:

Timmy84 said:

And funny thing is when you ask some folks why older artists try to go to contemporary, it's always the same excuse: "I rather they get with the Joneses than do something 'dated'". I say fuck "dated" and just DO IT, you know? Stop being a zombie to trends. It was probably cool in the '90s but it's not so nowadays. It's just not the same.

I remember a Questlove interview where he talked about working with Earth Wind and Fire.He was producing tracks for them,but Maurice White heard a few of the songs and complained "This sounds like 1975" Apparently,Maurice was looking for songs that sound like today's music.

I'd rather have songs that sound like the past,as opposed to songs that feature rappers and production that sounds like all the other crap on the radio.

I remember he also stated in an interview after working with Al Green on his last project Al was

going on about how he wanted to work with Beyonce and Mary J. Blige. Questlove told him he

didn't need to do that because people love Al Green for Al Green and wanted him to stay true

to his classic sound.

Timmy84 said:

SoulAlive said:

I remember a Questlove interview where he talked about working with Earth Wind and Fire.He was producing tracks for them,but Maurice White heard a few of the songs and complained "This sounds like 1975" Apparently,Maurice was looking for songs that sound like today's music.

I'd rather have songs that sound like the past,as opposed to songs that feature rappers and production that sounds like all the other crap on the radio.

Jesus Christ, now I can kinda understand why some old folks always say "let's bring that old music back". With that mindset Maurice had, you're only gonna be seen as some unhip geezer.

To be fair to Maurice he did a little of both on the Illumination album but i found

Promise to be truer to the EWF sound.

phunkdaddy said:

Timmy84 said:

Jesus Christ, now I can kinda understand why some old folks always say "let's bring that old music back". With that mindset Maurice had, you're only gonna be seen as some unhip geezer.

To be fair to Maurice he did a little of both on the Illumination album but i found

Promise to be truer to the EWF sound.

phunkdaddy said:

SoulAlive said:

I remember a Questlove interview where he talked about working with Earth Wind and Fire.He was producing tracks for them,but Maurice White heard a few of the songs and complained "This sounds like 1975" Apparently,Maurice was looking for songs that sound like today's music.

I'd rather have songs that sound like the past,as opposed to songs that feature rappers and production that sounds like all the other crap on the radio.

I remember he also stated in an interview after working with Al Green on his last project Al was

going on about how he wanted to work with Beyonce and Mary J. Blige. Questlove told him he

didn't need to do that because people love Al Green for Al Green and wanted him to stay true

to his classic sound.

Glad he talked Al out of doing that. No offense to Mary by the way.

Timmy84 said:

phunkdaddy said:

I remember he also stated in an interview after working with Al Green on his last project Al was

going on about how he wanted to work with Beyonce and Mary J. Blige. Questlove told him he

didn't need to do that because people love Al Green for Al Green and wanted him to stay true

to his classic sound.

Glad he talked Al out of doing that. No offense to Mary by the way.