Showing posts with label rap. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rap. Show all posts

Saturday, July 19, 2014

Random Pet Peeve

Time for a random tick. You have to love people with a delusion of grandeur. The security guard who truly believe he's a cop, the ugly person who thinks they're a model, and something that's been on my mind for a while is the karaoke singer who thinks they are the front man for the next big band. You know the types I'm talking about.

Now we all have friends and family with good singing voices. I'm the first to admit mine sounds like a dog that's still awake while getting castrated. Yup, it's that bad. Luckily I have other talents to make up for it. However a while back, alright way back,  I met a guy at work who said in his off time he's a singer for a local band. To protect the embarrassment of the group, I won't list it's name and we'll refer to this guy as Red. But I digress. So Red's a singer right. And of course we challenge him to sing something for us. He tries, and fails with some poor excuse. And we all write him off. 

A couple years later, Red pop's up again. Our workplace is making some big fuss about him because he's going to a karaoke championship. I'm thinking, "great, he can sing if he's reading." My kids can do that while playing Rock Band, big deal. And it turns out, he did pretty good. Proving, yes it's easier when you can just read the words instead of having talent. At this point Red and I are both leaving for other business ventures, and he disappears. Out of sight, out of mind.

So fast forward to a couple months ago. My wife and I take a nice long weekend to Buffalo Thunder to get away for a little while. We're walking around and who do I find? You guessed it, here's Red and his band playing at one of the clubs at this resort. So Erica and I do what comes natural, we sit down, place an order and listen to them for a while. Overall the band isn't bad. The drummer is wailing on his kit, the bassist is walking around and killing it, the guitarist isn't great but they're getting the job done, there's a female singer that knows what she's doing and has a good voice, then there's Red. 

Red's trying to move with the dancing skills of a toddler, trying way to hard to act like a rock star, and I'm thinking to myself, "What The French Toast" For all he's worth, he can't get two feet from his mic stand. You may be asking what's the significance of that? Well he's holding a mic, it's not on the stand. The stand has an iPad holder with, that's right sports fan, an iPad! He's reading every stinking word! And very obviously at that! He's treating it like a karaoke machine! Song's that are very well rehearsed by the band, and one song being the same one he bombed all those years ago when we challenged him. He can't do anything without this stinking tablet!

Here's the pet peeve. As I've mentioned in the past, I grew up around musicians. My dad being one. Myself, being one. And many friends being musicians. If you're in a band, let alone singing, you take some pride in the fact YOU KNOW THE MATERIAL! A set list, with one or two notes is no big thing. But know the material. If you're standing in front of a tablet, you are not a musician. Red you're a hack! I don't care if you're sing the national anthem, learn it, take the heat and grow from your mistakes, or get the stage! There is one time it's okay to read the music if you're performing in front of a crowd aside from being in school, it's called being in an orchestra. Red, it's time for you exit, stage right. 

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

What happened?

Whatever happened to rap? Now I'm not a big fan of it, but it's really changed over the years. Think about it. Back in the late 70's, and the 80's is where it became a recognized entity. And it was fun. Sure, it's had controversy about it's messages, but so have other major forms of music. For instance Rapper's Delight. To this day it's become a staple of the beginning of the rap industry. It's one of those songs that you don't know, and don't really have to know the lyrics to enjoy. It's catchy and takes you for a ride.

The delivery methods started to change quickly, as did the beat and sound mix it was put too, however it stayed true to its roots up until the 90's. MC Hammer, and Vanilla Ice were the big hitters that everyone loved at the time. Sure, now they'll claim they didn't, but it's garbage. Especially when it comes to Vanilla Ice. Even DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince where success stories. While many will pan the Fresh Prince today (aka Will Smith) he's stayed loyal to his roots as well, and is just about having a good time.

But then the sun began to set. The new heavy hitters came to play, and they were looking for an outlet to bring attention to where they came from. Ice Cube, 2Pac, Notorious BIG, Snoop Dog, Dr Dre. 2Pac I especially like to point out as a person of interest here, because he was a huge part of the transition. He went from the late part of the early era with Digital Undergound to this new era as a solo artist. While there was some fun and games here, the tone became dark. Instead of talking about good times, they began looking at where they came from. Hard hitting streets filled with drugs, alcohol, and violence. It was different, edgy, and hard hitting. An overnight sensation saw the birth of gangster rap. There were few alternatives to this style without leaving the genre.

Then came what I call the dark days, which we are still in. Ever since these few stepped of to the challenge and made the gamble to fall flat on their face, few have actually had the intestinal fortitude to follow suite. A few players have come and gone from the game like Will Smith, Ice T, LL Cool J, but they don't have much left for the music world, and certainly have enough other things on their plate. ICP, and Eminem have brought their own moves to the game, but overall the boat has run derelict, and is lost at sea.

There's nothing new being offered up. Basically people are just following a set template, and mimicking what's already been done. Really it's at varying success as well as what the money men want to cram down our throats. Some artists, shouldn't even be called artists in my opinion. They offer little more than back up, "yeah" or "yea-uhhh" or some stupid word(s) that don't add, but can certainly takes away from what is out there.  And they're as fake as it gets. The irony being they rap about getting rich from crime, but raise hell about pirated music. It's called karma you fake musician!

While I'm not a fan of modern rap music, it's not to say I've never been a fan or don't have respect for the artists. I have been a fan, and occasionally come across something I like. But these days it's very rare indeed. As a one time musician myself, and growing up in a musicians house, I know how hard it can be. What I do want to see, and what I am saying is that it's time for a new era. Originality, and creativity need to come back. Ludacris has offered a glimpse of some of that, as have few others. Sadly, most are gone before they even really get started in the industry though. Meanwhile we get more garbage building up.

The sheep continue to be herded.