OdysseyMiles said:

I don't think there's anything wrong with blending genres, but record labels do. Labels have very little tolerance for vagueness these days. If Van Hunt had done a lot of genre mixing, he probably wouldn't be signed. Unfortunately its not up to the artist as much these days. I think that's a BAD thing, but I don't run the majors. My point is that he is working the SH*T out of the soul genre, becoming better as opposed to different.

thedoorkeeper said:

Well, kinda...at least on one song-"Seconds of Pleasure"

oh well God forbid he should be different...what's wrong with being both better and different?

BlaqueKnight said:

Van is great and I agree with Blaque on all points. I sound like a broken record, but he's a good artist in his own right.

thedoorkeeper said:

U might be thinking of Sleepy Brown. Cause this cat sounds nothing like Curtis.

intha916 said:

Listen to "Seconds of Pleasure." Van was channeling Curtis's vocals all throughout that song!

BlaqueKnight said:

[I believe Van Hunt is the first Van Hunt. Maybe there'll be more to come?
[This message was edited Wed May 5 7:57:06 2004 by BlaqueKnight]
[/quote]
Thats a better answer
now i will shut up
Btw Van hut is pretty good

I wouldn't mind listening to Van Hunt. I've heard of him before this thread so it'll be cool to hear him. I must say there Blaque Knight, you sure do have a way of getting people to your thread. LOL

Nope Van Hunt is boring. Nothing "new" or creative about this dude. Just another neo soul dude who won't be around in a few years.

Thumparello said:

i wouldn't go that far...

BlaqueKnight said:

BlaqueKnight, I do so like your style!

he looks like a poor mans Rockwell / Maxwell... Not impressed

FiveFootNine said:

Judging an artist's musical abilities based on his appearence or perceived economical status is almost as silly as using Maxwell & Rockwell in the same sentence other than to point out that both names end in "well". It is an opinion, though. Regardless of how ill-based, shallow and off base it may be. One is definately ENTITLED to it, although I'm not sure as to how many would actually CLAIM it.


[This message was edited Thu May 6 9:04:02 2004 by BlaqueKnight]

BlaqueKnight said:

Agreed on all points. I remember not digging Prince when I was little because he looked like a girl though I dug his songs. And to think what I would have missed had I not paid better attention.

I still fall into that trap of judging a book by a cover with new artists. Glad I didn't this time.

I hope you actually hear Van's music FiveFootNine, you will likely be impressed.

Blaque, I actually love "Dust," he goes Steely Dan by putting a depressing song to breezy, soulful music.

And he's not really neo-soul because no rappers appear.

namepeace said:

you mean, he's not really hip-hop because no rappers appear.

namepeace said:

I didn't catch the Steely Dan until you mentioned it. Good call, Namepeace.


He does that on a couple of songs like "Down Here In Hell With You" and "Who Will Love Me In Winter" which in my opinion is one of his better songs (LYRICALLY) on this disc. He is deeply influenced by blues and old soul music. A lot of his songs deal with pain and he's not afraid to admit his shortcomings and personality flaws in his music (peep the lyrics of "Down Here In Hell With You") and he seems to write from the perspective of pain in a lot of his songs.
I here a lot of influences on this record - TTD, Donnie Hathaway, Marvin, SMOKEY (big time), Bernard Wright, SLY (big time), Stevie, Prince, Shalamar, and even Bilal and D'Angelo. Still, he's unique and very expressive. Some folks don't understand the limitations of the word "influenced by". On this site, I've seen it taken to ridiculous proportions when it comes to Prince. He's got a good record and I hope he's able to continue to drop great discs.

But if one doesn't support new music, then music itself will die.

mochalox said:

Yes, and no. 90% of the neo-soulers, even the very good-to-great ones (Badu, Bilal, D'Angelo, etc.) have used recycled beats or rappers on their records. I love hip-hop, but would like to see the musicians not lean on hip-hop as a crutch to sell records of fill albums.
[This message was edited Thu May 6 11:25:43 2004 by namepeace]

BlaqueKnight said:

Thanks. You're right. I don't play a lick of music, but his material seems to be "informed" of a lot of blues and soul artists, and he actually plays his music. He resists co-opting hip-hop in his music, which is refreshing. I detect very few breakbeats or drum machines on the album, and no rhyming detected, which is great. I wish sometimes musicians would leave hip-hop alone and play. But I digress. So far, it's the best album I've heard this year.

namepeace said:

ok. I see your point. I'll concur, then.

mochalox said:

Not impressed with this guy. He's not as good as Prince on a bad day. I don't care much for Princes new lp but it's better than what I heard from this wanna be.

I got a headache half way through this thread...A lot of you wouldn't know good soul music if it jumped up and slapped your momma Someone gave me this cd and it sat around for a few weeks. Upon first listen I wasn't diggin' it. But then I through it on again and hit "Shuffle" to break it up and then I fell in love with it. That is how I discover if something is good, break it up and mix it with your other favorite discs. You'll be surprised at how it fits into your repetoire. I had the same experience with Cree Summer's Street Faeirie cd. I wore the cd out...and all of my friends loved it also when I turned them onto it...

Peace, Serveitupfrankie

just listened on his website. i know what i'm buying this weekend.

oh and i doubt Prince views him as a threat. it's pretty standard grooves but wicked grooves nonetheless.

Thumparello said:

IMHO, Hunt's set is better than Musicology, but that doesn't mean Hunt is on Prince's "level." Few artists are. Hunt may not ever be. But this new album is promising. Reasonable minds can disagree . . .

Luv4oneanotha said:

that's not too bad... I mean if you search for a penny in a room - even in the dark - you should be able to find it eventually.
A needle in a haystack however, not that's a different matter all together.

like you said, hes more in tune with princes influences.... i dont think he sounds like prince (or dangelo) really at all though. and he's tons better than dre 3000.

BlaqueKnight said:

actually, i think he does work a lot of different styles, its just more or less within one genre. but i think van has 70s pop, funk, soul, rock, even blues (which few new 'soul' artists seem to work into their songs) all in his music.

andre 3000 is way overrated though.
[This message was edited Sat May 8 10:40:49 2004 by funkbabyandthebabysitters]