Has da 'Strut had a real discussion...
gambit
906 Posts
... about the neo-Elvis effect of Justin Timberlake? Robin Thicke's topping the R&B charts - first time since George Michael. Folks like Amy Winehouse are selling out shows in the U.S. without even a proper single blazing the radio. Is there a trend popping off here? Is R&B/Soul music making a serious comeback to the top of the charts?We can't say that JT is ruining music from a racial standpoint. It's not like he is not getting help from the culture he extracts his muse from.I don't peep the forum every day, so excuse me if this has already been a 10-pager already.
Comments
I have heard people argue that JT is not genuine. They say making okay records without, for lack of better phrasing, any real credility that pertains to his craft takes away from the music itself. A black artist who does the same will not get the same attention that JT gets, which is pretty true. But it's not like Timbaland's not getting his, plus... it's not that the music isn't embraced by folks of all races, creeds and the like. While it can be debated if the music is any good, but that's not what being an Elvis is all about.
Thing is, is anyone else making music these days like the JTs and Robin Thickes? I would argue, regardless of skin color, they are going to put pressure on R&B artists to step it up.
Christina Aguillera ... did the Rap-n-Bullshit deal with her one disc. She sold more units than most of her peers. Have sales gone up for Beyonce and other that do the same stuff? I'm wondering if there is any trickle-down effect with this current trend.
One of my co-workers was telling me that Amy Winehouse sounds better than Joss Stone, but he'd rather listen to Joss since she's killing Amy in the looks department every day and 10 times on Sunday.
not sure if wjlb is playing him.
although they'll probably play some garbage like that rewrite of spandau ballet 'true', or 'she's like the wind' instead.
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vs.
ummm. yeah.
gettin play on both coasts. while i was back east last month, lots of stations were playin sexyback/billie jean blends and one (hot97) took that and blended that other jt beat, (if i wrote you a symphony...) not sure of the name.
but yeah, he's gettin play east and west, down south too, at least when i was down a few month ago.
I guess your probably right - wjlb, 955 & 103 all seem to play the exact same shit, & play it to death( I never want to hear akon ever again...)
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I saw him at MSG. The band is incredible. The entire show was really on point, and despite his lackluster voice his showmanship and stage chops are the real deal.
I wish people would stop it with Timberlake, I mean he is a pop star so I'm not sure what people are looking for. The cat makes some really enjoyable music, and I'm not sure how he's any worse than pop stars of the past.
Basically should Jon B consider a comeback?
'piano as crediblity booster'
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I think his existence is good. I am not looking at it from a racial perspective though.
He is an R&B artist for sure.
jt is responsible for this...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dmVU08zVpA
...which makes me a fan!
genius.
I dunno, if it were me, I'd consider it a draw. Winehouse has this "gap-toothed-Sarah-Silverman" thing going on that I find appealing.
The first time I had ever seen Amy Winehouse, I thought she looked a bit like Gabby of Luscious Jackson.
When did it disappear? And charts these days dont tell the whole story anyways.
What are you going on about?
Your primary language isn't English is it? I can't really account for this series of posts if it is.
Do you really think Alan Thicke is raising the bar in Rhythm & Blues?
Damn, I was doing so well I thought. I make it a point to not incite any malicious response from you in any of my posts, faux. Actually, I try to make that a point with anyone on this forum. I'd rather not fling insults towards people I don't really know on the internet. I had gotten in 700+ posts before any sort of biting remarks from you. I'll take that as a personal accomplishment.
Anyway, I apologize if I seem like I'm rambling. I am actually working on a piece for the online hip hop magazine that I write for.
Call me disconnected, but I actually do think that Robin Thicke has got talent. I am really not into most contemporary R&B though. Raphael Saadiq, D'Angelo and a couple others are pretty much all I can take.
I think folks that use rap instrumentals to make R&B should listen to Thicke's album and rethink their approach for the sake of their genre.
Those videos are souless mall r&b. If that's your cup of tea, mediocre singers w/ MOR music. Do you.
Gettin asshurt about Singing over Hip Hop instramentals is about 20 years too late.
Inform me about this "neo-Elvis effect". As far as I know, Justin Timberlake considers himself a pop artist. He dabbles in what one could categorize as "soul", but are you suggesting that people are going to think that Justin Timberlake will be considered the king of soul music? I would think that even he would reject the notion.
Are you suggesting that people like Timberlake and Robin Thicke are making it hard for "authentic" soul singers to make it through? If this is this case, then how does one make that judgment? Vocals? Quality of the songs? Songwriting? Skin tone?
Personally, what hit me first was the songwriting. I could not care less about the N*SYNC vs. Backstreet Boys feud, that was hype. But N*SYNC's songs seemed to be a bit more mature, in that it was written with more than teens in mind.
Can one say that Justin Timberlake is filling a void? If so, why? If there is a void, what are fans missing? White guys singing slow jams? Or just a good slow jam? Or do you feel that the industry is purposely putting up white singers because the suits don't feel black vocalists have the kind of longetivity that a white singer tends to desire? If so, who said one desire is greater than the other?
I remember when Timberlake put on an animal suit (plushie style) and played bass for the Flaming Lips. People thought he was nuts. His Grammy performances had him playing guitar (or at least holding it) and piano. One side will say "wow, he's trying to add a bit more to his game" while others are saying "fucking sellout, trying to show what he can do when he can't". Thus, would this be part of the "neo-Elvis effect"?
There are a lot of singers out there with a game plan, if record labels were willing to assist in the start of that plan. But if one has to question any neo-effect, one also has to question the motives of the industry as it stands, which seems to be more confused about how to stay alive than about "artist integrity", "album integrity", or "music" for that matter. Record labels have given themselves up to people who could care less about music, and therefore those who still care are running impressive indie labels. It has a lot more to do with commerce and whose trust fund is growing rather than "Timberlake is part of a conspiracy to take away income from singers who actually deserve it". If Timberlake had a conspiracy plan, I'm not so sure he would be working with Timbaland or Pharrell. If there was a conspiracy, I'd like to think that Timbaland would not be foolish enough to work. But money pays bills, money generates interest, and one or two songs can lead to more work.
Is soul/R&B making it to the top of the charts? It depends how much you want to believe in the chart system. A lot of what is called "R&B" today is shit, it seems that all of the songs are being written by the same five people. It's less about personal experiences, and more about how much status and glory you have when you have a couple of brand names on you. I don't know what I was listening to, maybe Case's "Touch Me, Tease Me", and really, what is Foxy Brown's second verse about? The song is called "Touch Me, Tease Me", and every line is an itemized want list of things she wants from Amazon. I get sick and tired of hearing songs about ringtones, telling me I should go to their website to get theirs, or in order to be someone, I have to have a cell phone. R&B is lost in consumerism and cliches, and right now its feasting on the waste coming out of its own anus. Oh look, there's the corn and peanuts now in the form of R. Kelly. We now put more faith in "television singers" than singers who may be into the music.
Yet we still ask if there's still good music out? When there isn't, we quickly want to shift blame on Justin Timberlake. He makes decent songs, he has a good team promoting him, where is he at fault? Why is he at fault? Because he's taking away the glory and fame someone like Jill Scott rightfully deserves? Destani Wolf? Noelle Skaggs?
Look at someone like Maxwell, and all of those "gay album" rumors that leaked a year or so ago. Maxwell himself didn't rush to record a new album, now did he? Was it a promotional tactic that backfired, or was Sony at fault? Actually, neither. It was Timberlake's fault.