Black music sucks right now brehs

[pete clemenza]

Whites is killin' the R&B/Soul sound right now

 

[Danie84]

Thank god for the 90s...when Black Music produced its last waves of classics.

I'm typing this while listening to the Electronica band Fluke.

 

[#1 pick]

I'm an old head so nobody cares what I think about this. Will say that I really try, and I think there is some good black music out there. But even with that, there is a dearth of it. Black music used to be deep.

I think we're seeing the results of a few things. Its hard to blame labels because that's what they've always done. Read anything on older artists during their day and labels have always been manipulative and greedy. I think the depth problem has come from other things.

Culturally, I think black music is simply where black people are. That can't be overlooked. Black music until the last few years was truly rebellious. Not in the content per say. But rather in that it was an off-limits thing to the non-black world. It didn't get mainstream airplay at the same levels. The few Black stations, few shows, few labels were catering to black people, about black life and there was a solidarity. I remember back in the 80s, radio was pretty much totally segregated outside of say Lionel Richie, Stevie Wonder or Michael Jackson. TV was even more dramatic outside of award shows. It was even more segregated with hip-hop. I think this resulted in music that was made in the tradition of a soulful sound. You were making music for black people. Messages could be more rebellious because it was being made for black people. Even dance music retained the sound, even when the sound was new. We see now, that even white people loved this music even if they didn't seem to at the time. The world loved this music. This reflected the culture, which was still more segregated. I think black people weren't living for a mainstream image in life at all the way we have to now.

That move to the cultural mainstream overall(American blacks moving into the middle class rapidly) has also resulted in more religious experimentation, less religious participation overall and like the rest of America, a polarization of career choices. From the religious angle, popular black music and so-call gospel music have kept the same roots and have often crossed paths throughout black American history. You're simply losing that sound tradition for better or worse(not making a judgement). You're not only losing the home grown singer that grew up singing in church, but also the musicians who often were able to practice their craft and sound in church. The mega-church model of today is also contributing to this loss. The career polarization is happening in a huge way in the black community and the rest of America as well. Colleges are specializing more and there is a stigma to anything outside of more vocational fields. You're losing some would be artists. The result of this at earlier ages are less kids picking up music outside of school programs. Its interesting. I look at my peers and even relatives around my age. A few of us played in the band back in school. Otherwise, we have a few wannabe rappers and a couple of professional DJs. Looking back at my parents generation and older, there were several church organists, saxophone and trumpet players and some nice singers. Some even had small professional music careers. They learned in church or from people just teaching them. They were usually discovered or tried to get into local clubs to play. People wanted to be stars but they were really into what they were doing in a different way than now. Fame was more important than money I guess. Running with the big dogs at the craft was most important. Listen to older interviews of people wanting to be as good as their contemporaries. Just a different culture now. Getting into music is just not that organic anymore.

So if you don't want to read all that, basically black America is moving away from the things that made our music great and deep. The organic process is just over and black people are moving rapidly towards the center. The fashions of America are blending. The goals of Americans are blending. The lives of Americans are blending. Its no wonder that black music would be a victim of that. I make no judgement about that. I miss the depth of artists out there, but I make no judgements, just observations. The mechanisms that made the greatness of the past isn't there anymore.

Elite post.

 

[TLR Is Mental Poison]

dumb nikkas continue to validate these award shows, and then complain about how they represent their culture, and their music...

this is the point of the whole internet, affording people the oportunity to not only be heard as artists easier, but also for fans to be more selective about what they listen to and promote, anybody on here COMPLAINING about the grammys, that actually watched them really just reinforce the idea that they should continue to decide what music should be awarded.

Music is representative of society at large.........

We live in a microwave society.... if it can't be completely consumed in one bite people don't want to deal with it. This is why dudes like 2 Chainz are at the forefront of the genre.

It's deeper than rap......

 

[call_me_step_daddy]

Everybody who says music nowadays sucks, its pretty much shows that ya'll gettin . Same shyt your parents used to say about the shyt ya'll listened to in the 80's and 90's. Same shyt your grandparents used to say about the shyt ya'll parents listened to in 70's. The cycle continues.

naaa breh..music of today is trash,period.

I didn't grow up during the 60's or 70's, but when I hear that music from that era, I can understand why the old heads would think that today's r&b can't be compared to it

Same with hip hop..late 80's & 90's hiphop is the best era,period.

 

[#1 pick]

naaa breh..music of today is trash,period.

I didn't grow up during the 60's or 70's, but when I hear that music from that era, I can understand why the old heads would think that today's r&b can't be compared to it

Same with hip hop..late 80's & 90's hiphop is the best era,period.

I know right, I can tell no matter what era that Lebron James is better than Jim Paxson or Doc Rivers at Basketball. I didn't grow up with Big Daddy Kane or Slick Rick but they are superior rappers to Trinidad James and 2 Chainz.

 

[call_me_step_daddy]

I know right, I can tell no matter what era that Lebron James is better than Jim Paxson or Doc Rivers at Basketball. I didn't grow up with Big Daddy Kane or Slick Rick but they are superior rappers to Trinidad James and 2 Chainz.

I'm saying..just look at who's representing the the east & west coast today..asap & French Montana, and a lil weird nikka name Kendrick Lamar..

 

[tremonthustler1]

The "woe is us" mentality y'all have is ridiculous, as if this musical persecution is only going on in rap.

 

[TLR Is Mental Poison]

The "woe is us" mentality y'all have is ridiculous, as if this musical persecution is only going on in rap.

I am not sure anyone in here claimed the problem was exclusive to rap

 

[SuburbanPimp]

I agree, But I wouldn't use the Grammys as a measuring stick for that...

Great music goes under radar on a regular basis.

Killa Mike's R.A.P. album is easily one of the best of last year but I rarely hear it being discussed because he isn't one of the top mainstream artist while on the other hand Lil Wayne dropped on of the worse albums in the Carter 4 but yet he is constantly being talked about by everyone.

One think I really hate about Black Music now is that there are No groups. No Male R&B Groups, no Female R&B groups, No Rap groups (beside the Roots) or anything. All we get are these forced and unnatural collabs rather then getting dope music from people who have been working together for years and make music together in the same studio.

And I'm not talking about Record Labels, or Cliques like (GOOD Music, MMG, TDE, GBE)

I'm talking abouit like Bone Thugs, Wu-Tang, The Lox, Jodeci, En Vogue and groups like that

 

[tremonthustler1]

I am not sure anyone in here claimed the problem was exclusive to rap

It's always a "the white man has this agenda. Gays have this agenda. The industry has this agenda, and that's why Black music is struggling." So what's the excuse for metal, rock, even pop and alternative to a degree?

 

[TLR Is Mental Poison]

It's always a "the white man has this agenda. Gays have this agenda. The industry has this agenda, and that's why Black music is struggling." So what's the excuse for metal, rock, even pop and alternative to a degree?

On one hand, I dig + feel what you are saying. Ebro from Hot 97 broke down the radio game at least, and what we hear + see is literally what gets the most positive feedback from listeners

On the other hand, if you don't think the powers that be have any influence over the direction of the genre you're not being honest. Case in point, like Ebro mentioned, the new domination of metrics over anything else (but mainly variety) in urban radio. The model used is a feedback loop. And we sold the rights to damn near all our media vehicles to huge corporate conglomerates. So its complex.

 

[NvrCMyNut]

r&b was corny & wack by the 90's, lol @ wanting gay ass thug r&b groups back, let go of your child hood. ''no diggity''

 

[methaphorce]

We need a Black music townhall meeting. Time to get these controlling cacs out of hip hop and R&B.

Trey Songz making songs called "bytches and Drinks"
Frank Ocean getting to the Grammy simply because he's gay.
We got old n*ggas with Boyz In Da Hood hats and dressed like Zorro
We got Degrassi stars talking about catching bodies like that.
We got talentless whores as the biggest artists.
This can't be music, this is all terrible . Come up with some solutions to rebuild Black music?

I am not black and muzaek to me is universal, but i will give my 2 cents about that isht:

Muzaek is rebuilding itself through the underground, way beyond the "illuminati pyramids"...You got battles, indie artists creatin' jemz, bands and artist in the whole wide world carryin the torch, reprezentin hip hop....
Just switch off the tv and it'll all make sense!
How you gonna know who's a jedi if there is no dark side rising....

 

[keond]

It's sad too. I actually like the two whites(Thicke and Adele) over anything else in Hip Hop or R&B. It might be fair to say the two best singers in the game right now are Adele and Robin Thicke. It's a shame because one of our most talented artist in Chris Brown is regressing. Trey who really has good talent is just making sex songs and songs about bytches and drinks

Sodom and Gomorrah would be proud.

I would agree but Chris browns only talent is dancing. He is a You Go Served/Step up figurine with a mic in his hand. He sings through his nose and sounds like ass cheeks live. Besides that