What Are You Fussy About In Music?

[OGBama]

In Shoutbox @Iron Keys said he is fussy about Rap, I'll admit that I've always been discerning about many things especially music, as it is a form of communication and not everyone wants a deep relationship with it. I'll keep it real and say that the obvious unpracticed nature of today's new (c)rappers is why I don't give what floats in the mainstream my time, though truthfully every era of music had its duds, and many times it was from artists that were later deemed legendary.

Insane thing is rap has historically been a singles genre, so it shouldn't surprise anyone that many in the current generation can't put together a musically cohesive body of work that an album used to represent to capture a moment in the artist's time. I also think shortening of attention span kills the challenge of making and listening to an album.

I'm fussy about from a rapper perspective:

Rappers who refuse to treat their voice as an instrument
Rappers who don't read which in turn limits their subject matter
Rappers who let image overshadow the music

From an untrained singer perspective:

Singers who don't emotionally vibe with their instrumental(s)
Breathy singers
Indie girl or guy voice
Vocal Fry
Lack of background harmonies

I still have the attention span to listen to an album but were I a pro artist I wouldn't create any, period.

 

[Iron Keys]

I also think shortening of attention span kills the challenge of making and listening to an album.

I think streaming and individual song downloads is what mostly killed the album tbh.

The thing I think people will miss out on the most as a result, is the 'album track', one of those songs you kinda skip past the first month of listening, then after the first month you kinda get a bit tired of those 'grab-you-immediately' tracks and the song you usedto skip past becomes your favourite.

I don't think many will return to albums to kinda re-experience those songs and discover new faves, due to the disposability of music now as when you get bored of those songs you can just go searching for new 'what hits you immediately' ... immediately.


Society has changed how it consumes music, so how music is made has to change (but this can mean change how it's made in a way to encourage how it's consumed)

 

[2GooD Productions]

Everything. Period.

 

[thedreampolice]

I got WAY tired of the auto tube crap. Kanye did some interesting stuff with it but for the most part it was a pretty terrible fad. I did a track with Gift of Gab, imho one of the best wordsmiths and emcee's in the game and people (not here) were saying it would have been so much better auto tuned. I was like FUCK OFF, I'm not auto tuning of the the all time greats. That and as much as I love 808's they don't need to be in EVERY damn song. Some variety would be nice. I also get pretty tired of the same old "we in the club fucking bitches lyrics." That is sooo played out but people seem to like it. At least Kendrick is forging new ground and saying something interesting at the same time.

 

[Fade]

Everything. Period.

 

[OGBama]

I @thedreampolice tired of those lyrics since late 90s onward.

 

[quapr]

Insane thing is rap has historically been a singles genre, so it shouldn't surprise anyone that many in the current generation can't put together a musically cohesive body of work that an album used to represent to capture a moment in the artist's time. I also think shortening of attention span kills the challenge of making and listening to an album.

Not entirely convinced of this - look back at the greats, right back to Public Enemy, Wu-Tang, Tribe Called Quest, all the way up to Kendrick and Kanye (although I disagree that Kanye can put out 6 tracks totalling 24 minutes and call it an album) - the rap album separates the men from the boys, so to speak. Some of the greatest rap albums aren't just the greatest rap albums, they're the greatest albums - period. I may well be quoting the "mainstream rap artists" here - but this is also backing up my point - the albums made them the mainstream, they sold units, they became popular.

Aside from maybe the singles from those albums, I couldn't really rattle off a list of singles that have stuck in my head.

I still have the attention span to listen to an album but were I a pro artist I wouldn't create any, period.

I'm very very much an albums guy - so I guess I could be heavily biased. I like buying vinyl - I love everything about a new album. The build up, preordering, waiting for it to be released/delivered, then sitting and just listening to it. I think there's a culture for this sort of thing.

But you're absolutely right - I've been gearing up for a techno release for one of my other projects this year and have done a lot of reading and research into releases in 2020/the future and the truth of the matter is that todays music consumption and drive, marketing, promo etc etc etc is all geared around a track at a time. Not even AA sides, or a track and a remix, or anything, just one track dumped on spotify, so that the next one can keep the drive going, and then the next one. Its a travesty really. Even albums that drop have already had three single tracks released "as a single". Wild times.

Anyway I guess I'm quite fussy and opinionated on the release of albums rather than singles that aren't even really singles. :biggrin:

Also I touched on it a bit before - short tracks and short albums...

Short tracks are one thing, they can be skits, filler, and maybe certain songs don't need to be three minutes - of course you don't want to be dragging songs out for the sake of them, I get that.
But when listening to a lot of rap/hiphop/trap these days, I feel like verses are getting shorter and less frequent in number. Two verses and no hook done in 1:30 on track A by Artist X... OK, thats cool. Then track B is the same, and track C... whats the deal? Artist Y is doing that too - have I missed something? It gives me the impression of minimal effort, churning tracks out for the sake of churning tracks out and to keep building that soundcloud play count...

I'd rather have something with substance, or at least some variation.

Short albums can fuck off as well. I've got single tracks in my collection that are longer than some of the albums dropping nowadays.

 

[2GooD Productions]

@quapr i dont think hip hop has been historically a singles genre either. When I got into hip hop we listened to whole albums.
The first hip hop album I heard was Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation Of Millions, it was always on loop at the youth club and any time I think back to the youth club days, my first thought is that album.
It was the internet and mp3s that changed the game. After that it was the label execs that decided that singles were the future, quick return on investment with minimal investment. We have come to a middle ground where EP's are now the way to go.
Many years ago, I did a few compilation CD's with my favorite tracks from all the albums, but it was so good a compilation that I went off a lot of hip hop for quite a while as it just wasnt good enough, I spoiled myself with the compilation CD's.
Albums used to be more good singles than filler, then they became more filler than good singles. Now albums are 1 single and the rest is filler, with a few exceptions. Thats just my opinion on how things have evolved over the years

 

[quapr]

Yeah, one hundred percent. Those early days were all about the LP... Nation of Millions, Illmatic, Low End Theory, even the Beastie Boys and Jay Z. Some real stand out, all great tunes, full length releases.

I think the last good hip hop album that I bought that was start to finish brilliant - no skipping any tracks, still listen to this day etc was The Impossible Kid by Aesop Rock... 2016. Harsh times...

Or maybe Czarface Meets Metal Face, that was cool too, and I should probably listen to that more than I do.

 

[Fade]

The other issue is everyone's attention span. To sit down and listen to an entire album today is unheard of. They might have it on their playlist and listen to the album over time but not in one shot.

Singles are good but I like to hear albums because I get to hear what else the artist can do. And most of the time it's the lesser known songs that end up being my favorite.