Timmy84 said:

Also, maybe it's just because they're also so typecasted in what they appear to be to the public that to branch out would confuse a lot of folks. Like can you imagine Mary J. Blige doing a full fledged rock album? People would think she lost her damn mind.

I think her doing something like that would be more odd than what Usher is doing because Usher always had a little pop in him IMO.

Timmy84 said:

aardvark15 said:

She's definetly not changing at all in her career

Yeah after 20 years of the same thing, I can see why. She's of the "if it ain't broke, I ain't fixing it" types and maybe her style of music is the only thing she can do.

That just brings me to another point: maybe there's some artists who are one trick ponies that only know how to do one genre maximum.

Like remember when Lil Wayne tried a rock album? Uh yeah it didn't quite work.

I never knew he tried rock. Well it's kind of obvious why I never heard of it

babybugz said:

Timmy84 said:

Also, maybe it's just because they're also so typecasted in what they appear to be to the public that to branch out would confuse a lot of folks. Like can you imagine Mary J. Blige doing a full fledged rock album? People would think she lost her damn mind.

I think her doing something like that would be more odd than what Usher is doing because Usher always had a little pop in him IMO.

Good point.

aardvark15 said:

Timmy84 said:

@aardvark15, there are black female rockers... of course you don't hear much of them but they're out there.

But you get what I'm saying. Usher tried to branch out and lost money, fans, and positive reviews. I'm sure other people are scared that something like that might happen to them

Its one thing to experiment its another to completely deviate from being artistic to being generic.

Usher was trying to push to make more cash not to experiment, its a difference.

aardvark15 said:

smoothcriminal12 said:

Music has become to intermixed to really claim that something is "too white" anyways.

Eminem's the most successful rapper for God's sake

Beyond that, historic traits in black music such as improvisation, polyrhythms, syncopation, etc, are now abundant in white music, and many things that were found predominantly in European music influenced and were often mixed with black music. It's so mixed that no genre can be called purely white or black.

Timmy84 said:

smoothcriminal12 said:

Music has become to intermixed to really claim that something is "too white" anyways.

That still ain't stopped folks from saying that though regardless of how we "progressed". Also ignorant black folks would go "why are you listening to this white shit?"

[Edited 6/17/12 18:22pm]

That has been said to me in the past lol

Timmy84 said:

smoothcriminal12 said:

Music has become to intermixed to really claim that something is "too white" anyways.

That still ain't stopped folks from saying that though regardless of how we "progressed". Also ignorant black folks would go "why are you listening to this white shit?"

[Edited 6/17/12 18:22pm]

I've been called white washed just for exploring music outside of R&B and hip-hop.

aardvark15 said:

Timmy84 said:

Yeah after 20 years of the same thing, I can see why. She's of the "if it ain't broke, I ain't fixing it" types and maybe her style of music is the only thing she can do.

That just brings me to another point: maybe there's some artists who are one trick ponies that only know how to do one genre maximum.

Like remember when Lil Wayne tried a rock album? Uh yeah it didn't quite work.

I never knew he tried rock. Well it's kind of obvious why I never heard of it

I mean he wasn't even trying to attempt to do it seriously either.

Like I said maybe it's a case of folks being one trick ponies. But then again, artists of all races suffer from that. Only few can manage to do other genres without embarassing themselves (Isley Brothers, Michael, Prince, Zappa, Parliament-Funkadelic, etc.).

babybugz said:

Timmy84 said:

That still ain't stopped folks from saying that though regardless of how we "progressed". Also ignorant black folks would go "why are you listening to this white shit?"

[Edited 6/17/12 18:22pm]

That has been said to me in the past lol

Yeah someone told me that when I was on the bus going home from school when I was listening to a friend's Aerosmith CD. I just rolled my eyes and kept playing.

smoothcriminal12 said:

Timmy84 said:

That still ain't stopped folks from saying that though regardless of how we "progressed". Also ignorant black folks would go "why are you listening to this white shit?"

[Edited 6/17/12 18:22pm]

I've been called white washed just for exploring music outside of R&B and hip-hop.

You're not alone

smoothcriminal12 said:

Timmy84 said:

That still ain't stopped folks from saying that though regardless of how we "progressed". Also ignorant black folks would go "why are you listening to this white shit?"

[Edited 6/17/12 18:22pm]

I've been called white washed just for exploring music outside of R&B and hip-hop.

lol people turn militant whenever they see your CD collection. It's like "do I really need a lesson?"

babybugz said:

smoothcriminal12 said:

I've been called white washed just for exploring music outside of R&B and hip-hop.

You're not alone

Hell white folks get their piece in too. When I listen to R&B around some of them, they call it "weird" music.

Timmy84 said:

smoothcriminal12 said:

I've been called white washed just for exploring music outside of R&B and hip-hop.

lol people turn militant whenever they see your CD collection. It's like "do I really need a lesson?"

Right. I like what I'm gonna like.

Timmy84 said:

babybugz said:

That has been said to me in the past lol

Yeah someone told me that when I was on the bus going home from school when I was listening to a friend's Aerosmith CD. I just rolled my eyes and kept playing.

Exactly.

smoothcriminal12 said:

Timmy84 said:

lol people turn militant whenever they see your CD collection. It's like "do I really need a lesson?"

Right. I like what I'm gonna like.

I been listening to "white artists" since I was a kid. It's not going to change

babybugz said:

smoothcriminal12 said:

Right. I like what I'm gonna like.

I been listening to "white artists" since I was a kid. It's not going to change

Exactly.

I think regardless of what race you are... if you step out the box from listening to the stereotype music of a specific race or what is current you will get bashed or teased. If your Indian, people will expect for you to like Indian music, White- rock, Black- rap, etc.. Its really ignorant but thats how people are. They want to stay comfortable and listen to what they know and be accepted by peers.

I've gotten weird looks before (I'm white BTW). Just last week I was playing Luther's Power Of Love on my ipod when I went to Walmart and some white bitch just stared at me

aardvark15 said:

I've gotten weird looks before (I'm white BTW). Just last week I was playing Luther's Power Of Love on my ipod when I went to Walmart and some white bitch just stared at me

aardvark15 said:

I've gotten weird looks before (I'm white BTW). Just last week I was playing Luther's Power Of Love on my ipod when I went to Walmart and some white bitch just stared at me

babybugz said:

Timmy84 said:

Also, maybe it's just because they're also so typecasted in what they appear to be to the public that to branch out would confuse a lot of folks. Like can you imagine Mary J. Blige doing a full fledged rock album? People would think she lost her damn mind.

I think her doing something like that would be more odd than what Usher is doing because Usher always had a little pop in him IMO.

Mary covered Led Zeppelin's ''Stairway to Heaven'' live on Oprah in 2010--and she rocked it! I would be down with a full-fledged rock album from her.

Terrib3Towel said:

Because they like the big mansions they're staying in.

Not everybody cares about making "deep, meaningful" music. It's about money. I know if I was an artist out today I would have Lil' Wayne, Drake, and Nicki Minaj featured on every track because thats what the kids like.

The org would hate my music.

Most people are creatures of habit and feel comfort from being in a rut. Those of us that venture outside the rut from time to time are often looked upon with disdain.

Just look how folks have a damn cow when Prince does it...they still haven't forgiven him for disbanding the Revolution a hundred years ago,

I can remember when I was younger I used to call people like Britney Spears and Backstreet Boys "white people music" and I flat out refused to listen to them. I was raised in a predominately black town that was really small, so anything diverse = white. So anybody who didn't listen to Lil Bow Wow or who talked a little too proper was shunned and ridiculed and called "white" or "white acting." Now that I've gotten older, I realize it's basically being small minded/ignorant to think that way. I admit I've changed and there are some white artists I like (like Adele), but current pop music just doesn't do it for me. It's not because most of the people are white, I just don't enjoy it. So you'll never see me jamin to Maroon 5 or Katy Perry, not because they're white but because I think they suck.

[Edited 6/17/12 19:26pm]

There are black artist out there doing creative things, its just a matter of sorting thru all the bull crap.

Identity said:

babybugz said:

I think her doing something like that would be more odd than what Usher is doing because Usher always had a little pop in him IMO.

Mary covered Led Zeppelin's ''Stairway to Heaven'' live on Oprah in 2010--and she rocked it! I would be down with a full-fledged rock album from her.

Me too! I think she has a great voice for it and so does Fantasia!

Good topic. I think most black artists are afraid to explore different genres for several reasons. The main one being that their image doesn't allow it. The second is the fear of being called a "sell-out". Keep in mind that many labels control the image of the artists we see out now so I think even if they wanted to explore, they wouldn't be allowed to.

It's the fans mostly. If we're talking specifically Black artists, hip hop and RnB are basically ossified genres and have been for a long time IMHO. The mainstream audiences seem perfectly fine w/ that. If they weren't, we'd hear diff sounds and see more diverse artists because at the end of the day, what people buy is what these artists make.

The better question is, how to open the mainstream audience's ears to more diverse sounds and ideas?

^^ I agree.Record companies won't take a chance on someone who's really "out there".These days,an artist like Prince (a black artist who plays many different styles) would never make it.He would probably be dropped by the label.

Someone mentioned Mary J.Blige doing a rock album.That's exactly the type of thing we need! Black artists getting outside of the "box" that their label puts them in.It would be interesting to see.

Why do they have to be afraid to try new things, maybe - shocking and strange I know - but maybe they just like RnB and Hip Hop?!