Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your eyes,
I don't claim to be a connoisseur of fine music and art. I mean I can probably recite or recognize music going back as far as the 1950's, (mainly due in part to my mother exposing me to every single genre of music, except country) but I am in no way ready to compete on "Don't Forget The Lyrics." But is it me or has the music industry gone GREEN and started recycling everything from beats, to content, to lyrics? I know, I know, my last two blogs have been about music, but music seems to be the universal language of the world at this moment. Hip Hop, excuse me, please forgive me REAL Hip Hop fans, I mean, Rap has corrupted what was once a glorified invention of rhyme and sound, R&B has gone "gangsta," and country has gone hip hop. Right now if I want variety, uniqueness, creativity, and realness, I have to put on a classic 70s CD or old school hip hop CD. I definitely can't listen to the radio. Why? Because everything sounds EXACTLY alike.
Don't believe me? OK, example: Irreplaceable...Chris Brown's song, I need you girl, or whatever. Damn that beat sure sounds alike. As a matter of fact, every time I hear it I want to say, "To the left, to the left." Instead I hear, "I need you boo, I need you girl, and something something something all over the world tonight." Huh? They did not just give him the same beat and expect us not to notice. Are you hearing this little girl with the goo goo eyes, staring wildly at the radio as if she is watching his video? Hello? I guess not.
Along the same lines, NeYo, (by the way I am a big fan of his) wrote "Irreplaceable," and Rihanna's "Take a Bow." Correct me if I am wrong, but are they not the same song with a different beat and lyrics. I know that doesn't make sense, but think about it, both songs are about a woman who has caught their man cheating, he is trying to get back in and ask for forgiveness, but they have wised up and moved on. Now they are bragging about all the stuff they gave him and how much he has lost. Both are hits, don't get me wrong, but c'mon NeYo. Really? And I guess no one else has noticed this.
Well let's see if you agree on this then, rap music, why are all the songs today still focused on the same ole, one, two snap? One, two, snap. Why the hell are we still snapping? Laffy Taffy, OK, that was unique. A breath of fresh air after we all got in shape and had heart attacks from being Crunked to death, but damn. Now I have worn my index finger and thumb to the bone snapping to every rap song. I never thought "thugs" were the snapping type. Fooled me. It's bad enough most rappers sound alike now, (Rocko, Young Jeezy), now they are recycling each other's beats, content, and features. C'mon, I know he's talented, but if I have to hear T-Pain's distorted voice on another rap song or R&B dance record I am going to...hell probably listen. Is it that hard to get a hit that you have to have the same person on each song? Between him and Lil Wayne they could have done platinum albums off just their features (that probably would have been a better album for Wayne than the Carter III). Which T-Pain made apparent at the BET Awards when he orchestrated his string of features for his set. He didn't have to perform not one of his songs. As a matter of fact for the best rap song category he was featured on all except one of the songs that were nominated. Same for the best male R&B songs. REALLY? And if I have to hear Lil Wayne's half freestylin self again... Seriously, it has gotten so bad that I was happy to hear and look forward to hearing more from Hot Styles (Lookin Boy). At least it's different. Even if their beat is the same as Laffy Taffy, I Bet You Can't Do It Like Me, and I Think They Like Me.
Before the late 80's all music was different. An R&B singer could swoon any girl off their feet with a love song that was totally different from the guy before him. If you went to a concert then, you got a show that was all different. Now you might as well put them on all at the same time because they are basically using the same beats. Just keep the same record going. The music industry is lacking on creativity, (thanks Diddy), and interest. R&B singers are talking about screwing in the club, are you serious, you really want to screw in the club? Wow ladies if you really think that's sexy. They don't know anything about love. Chris Brown thinks it's sexy to gyrate the stage to death while he takes his lady down. They want to be pimps and rappers now instead of making songs that babies are made from.
A ray of light is at the end of the rainbow, at least they have The Dream, Kanye, NeYo (when he is not bored), Trey Songz, The Neptunes, Timbaland, etc to provide a difference.
Until next time, remember, don't throw away your trash, one artist's hit is another one's hit, and another artist and another artist and another...
1 comment:
You are too funny. This is sad but true. Remix and sample have been taken to new hights. Its a shame when you have to say hey that new Jay-z is the old De La Soul which is the old Parliment. ( just an example). Who did the hitmakers back in the day get their beats from? Let's call some of them up if they are still living and make some new sounds. I have to admit though, the Neptunes come up with some pretty hot stuff.
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