It all sounds very different at a club, in primetime, after several drinks than it does at noon in front of a computer.
There is a LOT of bad rap music out.. but there is also good rap and hip hop out too. It's just harder to find.
Direct Music Service - Most music is just bad
- Thread starter Dessicant
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It all sounds very different at a club, in primetime, after several drinks than it does at noon in front of a computer.
There is a LOT of bad rap music out.. but there is also good rap and hip hop out too. It's just harder to find.
Notorious BIG had some good Rap. Will Smith too. Nikki minaj- not so good IMO.
Chance the Rapper, Kendrick Lamar, Childish Gambino, Lil Dicky is super clever... I tend to listen to different stuff for clever flow and lyrics which tends to not be as danceable.
The band on this kills it, and I think Chance does a great job:
I like some of Eminem, Drake, and Macklemore .. not a whole lot of the others, but I still play them as needed.
People like what they like. I wouldn't want it any other way, but I am just noting that now that I feel an obligation to listen to all the new stuff as it is released, I am noticing how much amateuristic trash is being recorded and dropped on us. Pretty damned bad. But, I will say that I can go through it all while I am doing my appraisals so I don't have to waste too much time on the bad stuff. I click "next" a lot. I am liking the DJ pool known as Direct Music Service. They drop the new stuff every weekday, so it's easy to cue it up while I am doing other things, and an occasional good song materializes. Then you download it, and over time I will accumulate a huge inventory of stuff that I want to play. A lot of it is remixed, but it is remixed in such a way as to be useful to DJs trying to maintain a dance floor. And they have a great back catalog of stuff from the 1960s-2000s. So the other day a remix of the song Faith from George Michael came across. Nice oldie, good for baby boomer events. Well, the intro to that song contains a spell of dance-floor killing church organ music. So the remix that came across deletes that intro and substitutes a dance beat. The rest of the song is pretty faithful to the original and will not offend someone at a party who wants to hear it. So that makes very it easy to cue and play without having to set a manual cue past that damned church organ. I like that. And they've done that with most if not all of the back catalog. So you almost don't need to review a song on your headphones in advance to set up a cue point past a bad intro. It's already done. Very nice. And only $450/year for unlimited downloads. Worth a look. I might add Promo Only at some point because I like that one too, and it seems to be better for new music.
Yeah, I think that aside from all the "I don't have to know how to sing anymore auto-tune crap" and today's rap crap (I'm 51 and even I like some of the old school rap that was kind of catchy), I think that what gets me the most is how they can stretch a song out to 4 minutes yet only say a handful of different words. The constant repetitiveness of the beats and the same words is mind numbing and shows a total lack of talent.
Even back in the day with repetitive basic three chord rock and roll, at least in most cases the lyrics were diverse enough to make it worth listening to!
Even back in the day with repetitive basic three chord rock and roll, at least in most cases the lyrics were diverse enough to make it worth listening to!
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It's bad enough they can't sing without auto tune, now they can't even rap without the aid of auto-tune? Pathetic!
The video shows what is supposed to be a rebellion against a company called "generic records" yet the so called artists in the video who are trying to rebel against that generic concept are no better, LOL!
Back in the day (ya ya I know), it was just as much about the music as it was the image.
Now with a lot of today's so called music, it's more about the image and the music is secondary.
I don't know if that double edged sword known as social media is to blame for the way things are now, but back in the sixties, you rebelled against an entity like "the establishment", or in the 70's it was "corporate rock", which lead to the rise of the indie movement in the 80's.
Today, at least with a lot of "club music" it's more about dissing individual people just to create drama to try and get a bigger following on social media. Very very sad!
Not to be unexpected I guess, as many "club people" tend to be very shallow plastic phony trendy faddy type people (is that enough description, lol) who are only there to be part of "the scene" where the rest of the so called "cool people" are, and the music is only an accompaniment to that scene, not the prime reason for being there.
Any club jocks reading this, please don't take offense as it's not meant to be a reflection of your talents, but I think anyone that's played the club scene for any length of time knows what I mean.
You can be the best club dj ever, but if enough people think that some other club is the "new hotspot", or there are more so called "hot looking people" somewhere else, your club will empty faster than rats deserting a sinking ship. That's why clubs tend to come and go so quickly. That and many of the time it's because the owners are putting the profits up their nose.
The point is, it all comes back to the "depth" of people as to what has staying power, and I think that much of today's "disposable music" is a direct reflection of that lack of depth, so they have to resort to image and drama to stay "in the light", as the music has no staying power on it's own.
Now with a lot of today's so called music, it's more about the image and the music is secondary.
I don't know if that double edged sword known as social media is to blame for the way things are now, but back in the sixties, you rebelled against an entity like "the establishment", or in the 70's it was "corporate rock", which lead to the rise of the indie movement in the 80's.
Today, at least with a lot of "club music" it's more about dissing individual people just to create drama to try and get a bigger following on social media. Very very sad!
Not to be unexpected I guess, as many "club people" tend to be very shallow plastic phony trendy faddy type people (is that enough description, lol) who are only there to be part of "the scene" where the rest of the so called "cool people" are, and the music is only an accompaniment to that scene, not the prime reason for being there.
Any club jocks reading this, please don't take offense as it's not meant to be a reflection of your talents, but I think anyone that's played the club scene for any length of time knows what I mean.
You can be the best club dj ever, but if enough people think that some other club is the "new hotspot", or there are more so called "hot looking people" somewhere else, your club will empty faster than rats deserting a sinking ship. That's why clubs tend to come and go so quickly. That and many of the time it's because the owners are putting the profits up their nose.
The point is, it all comes back to the "depth" of people as to what has staying power, and I think that much of today's "disposable music" is a direct reflection of that lack of depth, so they have to resort to image and drama to stay "in the light", as the music has no staying power on it's own.
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Now listen to something like this. There is more music in 30 seconds of this than the entire catalogue or rap released in the last 3 years.
PLAY IT LOUD! And note the forward motion as they move through it. Motion that is totally absent in the vast majority of detritus washing up on our musical shores.
And not one tit was exposed, not one ass was laid bare, not one dick slid into a warm wet place, not one cop killed, not one spouse cheated on, not one drugged out trip taken, and not one request for goodbye sex before parting meaningless ways...
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4VZLnsUrow
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Most jazz is still decent .. though I'm not much of a jazz fan. Jazz fusion I like (loved Spirogyra back in the day) and I used to run sound for a Billboard smooth jazz artist.
I dig it. Just because I'm defending hip hop doesn't mean I think that is somehow the only decent genre of music. I love Dave Brubeck, Gregory Porter... growing up playing drums I loved anything Buddy Rich.
Appreciating classical versions of music talent doesn't mean I have to ignore other places I see talent. I can appreciate a Smithsonian art gallery, and also appreciate artistic, well-done graffiti. They're not the same, and shouldn't be judged the same. But there was talent required for both.
My wife and I went to see Spiro Gyra along with Strunz and Farah at the Theatre in the Round in Houston when we were dating. GREAT music. I don't like going to concerts much, but that was a really good time. And there were no bad seats in that place because it only went up 20-25 rows, and the stage would eventually rotate toward you, so you'd have Center seats... off and on.[emoji4]
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Buddy Rich.... now you're talking. I'm no fan of Rap, mainly because I find the subject matter to be mostly irrational and indoctrinated. But I concede that some of the performers are talented. Especially the battle rap which is much like a poetic form of jazz with the improvisation and ad libbing. That definitely takes talent.
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What annoys me is people trying to put out mainstream "radio" songs with needless explicit lyrics. Maroon 5's "Sugar" for example.
Not just mainstream songs, any songs. There is no need for profanity in music. It's usually the stupidest way of expressing a sentiment, or even a protest. It's a confession of impotence, lack of education, lack of sophistication, and especially a lack of class.
I agree... Are these performers (who use profanity) so stupid they don't realize their profanity-laced songs limit SALES??? Money they are losing??? The profanity lost its shock value YEARS ago, so what's the point? I was just watching "Epic Awesome Videos", and they're not.
One of the videos was Iggy Azalea's "No Bounce". They bleeped it, but it was clear she was repeatedly saying "mother f'er". The song (if you can call it that) had no redeeming value I could determine whatsoever. Certainly not "Epic Awesome". Are the available tracks so bad, this is the one they choose to play? Won't be in my library.
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The recording industry hacks out product and throws it against the wall to see what sticks. As with any business, the bottom line is king. Do it as cheaply as possible. You don't spend a thousand dollars on a hundred dollar act.
Not every track released to music services will sell. The industry execs know this. They're banking on the one or two that stick to the wall.
Not every track released to music services will sell. The industry execs know this. They're banking on the one or two that stick to the wall.