if the previous generations have had the likes of Stevie Wonder, Brian Wilson, Rolling Stones, Prince, Paul McCartney, Bob Marley, Michael Jackson and others, what does this generation offer in terms of musical virtuosos, artistic visionaries and super talented live acts?

Artists who have a unique sound OR have innovated [broke new grounds] in a certain genre:

St. Vincent (art rock)
Esperanza Spalding (jazz)
Radiohead (alternative)
Aphex Twin (electronic)
Vampire Weekend (alternative)
Kamasi Washington (jazz)
Kanye West (hip hop)
Janelle Monae (art pop/R&B)
Bjork (experimental)
Micachu (experimental)
M.I.A. (hip hop)
Grimes (electronic)
Daft Punk (electronic)
Timbaland (hip hop)
Thundercat (soul)
André 3000 (hip hop)
Animal Collective (experimental)
Kendrick Lamar (hip hop)
Crystal Castles (electronic)
D'Angelo (soul/R&B)
Kevin Parker (psychedelic)
Pharrell (hip hop/pop)
Frank Ocean (experimental)
Todd Terje (electronic)
Erykah Badu (soul/R&B)
Madvillain (hip hop)
Big Boi (hip hop)
FKA Twigs (electronic)
Miguel (R&B/rock)
Skrillex (electronic)
Justin Vernon (folk)
Death Grips (industrial)
Flying Lotus (experimental)
Jamie xx (electronic)

Best live acts today (From this generation/Some 90s acts):

Janelle Monae
Florence + The Machine
Radiohead
Tame Impala
Beyoncé
St. Vincent
The Strokes
Portishead
Flying Lotus
Jack White
Arcade Fire
The Black Keys
Mitski
LCD Soundsystem
Bruno Mars + The Hooligans
Alabama Shakes
Lady Gaga

I'll be happy to add any names to the list. This should be a reference to all the folks who wanna discover some good music from this modern age OR wanna go see an intriguing live show.

I hardly see any artistic innovators in the last 20 years. Maybe it's my fault, because I don't dig enough in 90's and 00's music and artists or I'm not enough familiar with certain genres (like hip-hop). Of course I give my full support to every musician out there, because the talent of lots of them is undeniable in terms of writing good songs or serving great vocals. Lenny Kravitz once said: 'everything in music was already done.' And I can agree with these words. Although we've had some nice game-changing artists, but to change the course of music - I can't see it yet if we speak in terms of the Stones, the Beatles etc.

I agree with your lists of talented performers Shawy89. I also loved the performances of Britney and the Backstreet Boys. Especially with BSB, I don't think they got the credit they deserve, even now they are a great stage act and in their prime they were smokin' good with all that moves and vocals, the Boys got pipes.

Shawy89 said:

Radiohead (alternative)
Kamasi Washington (jazz)
Kanye West (hip hop)
Janelle Monae (art pop/R&B)
Bjork (experimental)
Timbaland (hip hop)
André 3000 (hip hop)
Kendrick Lamar (hip hop)
D'Angelo (soul/R&B)
Erykah Badu (soul/R&B)
Madvillain (hip hop)
Big Boi (hip hop) OutKast (I understand why both MCs are listed here), but LBC made a solid point to me in another thread that they generally should be considered as a group.

I'd go with these, and also add MF Doom (whose work outside Madvillain has been innovative and spawned some high-profile imitators), as well as Van Hunt, The Bad Plus and Jazzanova.

Other talents to watch out for include Anderson .Paak, The Internet and Hiatus Kaiyote.

Hiatus Kaiyote

Lianne LaHavas

Childish Gambino/Donald Glover

Mononeon

Earl Sweatshirt

Gorillaz

Jay Electronica

The Lounge Lizards

J.Dilla

Jill Scott

When I think of artistic innovation, as far as music is concerned, I think of Wagner's "Tristan chord," or
Miles Davis' modal approach to jazz, Schoenberg's twelve-tone system, or Coltrane's "changes." Yet, I
do not see too much of the same happening today. This is mostly because our pop musicians are theo-
retical neanderthals as the genre does not call for one to be learned in music theory in order to survive
or maintain a career.

Otherwise, the lists in this thread are really just examples of some pop recording artists who aren't easily
categorized and who go against the grain and who we think ought to be more popular than they are in
the face of perceived mediocrity.


(I freely admit that I am being waaaaaaay too strict here with my definition of "innovation")

Janelle Monae is just doing the "in daddy's shoes"/James Brown imitation stuff with an irritating voice. (live performance) I don't see innovation.

Even the field that was supposed to be the new realm of innovation *(electronica) is mainly doing repetition.

[though I don't listen to enough to broadly cast that net, I'm talking about what I've heard in the past 10 years] - might rate for a separate forum -electronica.... that way I can avoid it

Dasein said:

Otherwise, the lists in this thread are really just examples of some pop recording artists who aren't easily categorized and who go against the grain and who we think ought to be more popular than they are in the face of perceived mediocrity.


(I freely admit that I am being waaaaaaay too strict here with my definition of "innovation")

Up until the last clause I think that's a fair take, at least for me.

The question not only called for "innovators" but "talented performers" as well.

namepeace said:

Dasein said:

Otherwise, the lists in this thread are really just examples of some pop recording artists who aren't easily categorized and who go against the grain and who we think ought to be more popular than they are in the face of perceived mediocrity.


(I freely admit that I am being waaaaaaay too strict here with my definition of "innovation")

Up until the last clause I think that's a fair take, at least for me.

The question not only called for "innovators" but "talented performers" as well.

Yes, and I purposefully did not mention anything about "talented performers" because that is too
subjective. For example: D'Angelo is not a talented performer, and that is a matter of opinion. But
discussing any artistic innovations he's contributed to music is not the same.

Dasein said:

namepeace said:

Up until the last clause I think that's a fair take, at least for me.

The question not only called for "innovators" but "talented performers" as well.

Yes, and I purposefully did not mention anything about "talented performers" because that is too
subjective. For example: D'Angelo is not a talented performer, and that is a matter of opinion. But
discussing any artistic innovations he's contributed to music is not the same.

That's fair!

Dasein said:

When I think of artistic innovation, as far as music is concerned, I think of Wagner's "Tristan chord," or
Miles Davis' modal approach to jazz, Schoenberg's twelve-tone system, or Coltrane's "changes." Yet, I
do not see too much of the same happening today. This is mostly because our pop musicians are theo-
retical neanderthals as the genre does not call for one to be learned in music theory in order to survive
or maintain a career.

Otherwise, the lists in this thread are really just examples of some pop recording artists who aren't easily
categorized and who go against the grain and who we think ought to be more popular than they are in
the face of perceived mediocrity.


(I freely admit that I am being waaaaaaay too strict here with my definition of "innovation")

Way too strict,yes but you might be absolutely right, agree with you.

DJ Screw - I'm not really into "chopped & screwed" other than 2 or 3 songs, but he basically created it.

if Innovation equals Improvement, than this list should be empty.

There's a group called Koop that made their songs completely from samples. Not in a Puff Daddy way, but from thousands of short segments like a drum hit. It sounds like a jazz band is playing, but it's all sampled. This is a long slow process.

MickyDolenz said:

There's a group called Koop that made their songs completely from samples. Not in a Puff Daddy way, but from thousands of short segments like a drum hit. It sounds like a jazz band is playing, but it's all sampled. This is a long slow process.

They did. Waltz For Koop is an electronica classic. I didn't dig Koop Islands.

funkaholic1972 said:

That's soo fuckin cool, i love it, thanks