Do today's Black artists have soul?

[Tetris v2.0]

Having those chops required some form of training and tutelage. Most of that came from the church, but it was also the mentality that you would not be taken serious, if you didn't have chops.... Audiences had been trained to accept a certain standard

Fast forward today's audience will not take you seriously if you claim to HAVE chops and are proud of it. And labels arent even developing talent anymore, they just go with what sticks so it's been devalued to the point where training is pointless and instead focused 1000% on branding and image

Blind leading the blind, sadly

 

[Legal]

If we're being honest, the difference is in the creative process.

Before, artists were able to generally take their time forming their musical identity, and crafting an album at their own pace, for the most part. As a result, a lot of the music was about stuff they were truly familiar with, or lived through/with. It was also common for artists to spend lengthy amounts of time getting a single track laid down the way they wanted it.

That's not happening now. Music isn't made as much as it's produced. Nearly every artist drops the anecdote that they have hundreds of songs stashed somewhere when they do whatever promo their doing for their next release. All of these artists are being driven to essentially bulk produce songs, which will naturally drain it of any soul or personality.

 

[Commish]

OP...

All Black artists have soul, but not all Black artists make soul music.

 

[CASHAPP]

if you're signed to a major, you have to use their algorithms, everybody does.

i've posted about this numerous times it's not a conspiracy theory

I don't know how your post got dapped breh. The thread says "black artists" yet every clip you posted was of white pop artists. Plus alot of those songs were during the early pop era of this decade. Genuinely cheesy pop music has not popular in the past several years

 

[Booker T Garvey]

I don't know how your post got dapped breh. The thread says "black artists" yet every clip you posted was of white pop artists. Plus alot of those songs were during the early pop era of this decade. Genuinely cheesy pop music has not popular in the past several years

did you even watch the first video my dude? frank ocean, alicia keys, chris brown all featured and all considered top R&B artists

and this is one of the top pop songs in the country right now, it's got everything those videos mention - the millenial whoop too:

 

[Booker T Garvey]

Y'all gotta understand something too - a lot of the music we loved in the 60's-90's came from BLACK LABELS, distributed on BLACK RADIO, and marketed on BLACK TV/BLACK MAGAZINES

all of that is gone now thanks to the telecommunications act of 1996
Telecommunications Act of 1996

in layman's terms it meant that all of our outlets were able to be bought out by the billion dollar corporations whereas before they weren't


for example - Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis owned PERSPECTIVE RECORDS; these artists/songs came from there





when these songs released, they released exclusively on BLACK outlets...
most white people didn't even know they existed unless they were just being nosy or loved our music

that day is dead...now every black artist has to cross over, there are no "black" outlets or a "black" market any more - i believe this helped kill the "soulful" flavor in our culture as well.

 

[Booker T Garvey]

That Milliennial Whoop shyt used to piss me way off
Then after that article came out they stopped that shyt immediately
Coincidence?

I still hear it, it's just more subtle.

 

[Days of Future Piff]

I dont think any of the factors you bring up can be ignored but are we preserving our traditions or leaving them by the way side to chase the next wave?
Are we letting R&B go stale out of apathy?

That's a good question. I wasn't sure how to answer that one, until I read an interesting reply later in the thread...

The 1996 telecommunications Act. Killed the "keepers of the flame". Took our control from our music. You can tell the difference between black music before and after 1996.

I never knew how much the big companies had bought out smaller black owned radio stations and record labels, so thanks for putting me on as far as that goes

If we're being honest, the difference is in the creative process.

Before, artists were able to generally take their time forming their musical identity, and crafting an album at their own pace, for the most part. As a result, a lot of the music was about stuff they were truly familiar with, or lived through/with. It was also common for artists to spend lengthy amounts of time getting a single track laid down the way they wanted it.

That's not happening now. Music isn't made as much as it's produced. Nearly every artist drops the anecdote that they have hundreds of songs stashed somewhere when they do whatever promo their doing for their next release. All of these artists are being driven to essentially bulk produce songs, which will naturally drain it of any soul or personality.

From the record label's perspective, it's all a matter of power, influence, and control. It's easier to find some lame-o off the street with no talent, and market that person as the "next big thing" than it is to search far and wide to discover once-in-a-lifetime talents like Whitney Houston and Luther Vandross. Especially when it comes to cultivating that talent, coaching them to be better, and investing time/money/etc.

On top of that, these new millennium lame-o's off the street are puppets and will go along with anything you tell them as a record label executive. They have no real talent themselves, so they're helpless without the executives and the producers working for the label. They don't have the business sense to buy up publishing and flip it for billions like Michael Jackson did. ( ) They're not smart enough to see through the racism of the industry and call it out like Pac and Prince did. All in all it's a win for the suits and a loss for the consumer because the suits are controlling the narrative completely.

 

[FeverPitch2]

From the record label's perspective, it's all a matter of power, influence, and control. It's easier to find some lame-o off the street with no talent, and market that person as the "next big thing" than it is to search far and wide to discover once-in-a-lifetime talents like Whitney Houston and Luther Vandross. Especially when it comes to cultivating that talent, coaching them to be better, and investing time/money/etc.

On top of that, these new millennium lame-o's off the street are puppets and will go along with anything you tell them as a record label executive. They have no real talent themselves, so they're helpless without the executives and the producers working for the label.

Artists with true talent tend to know their worth and will speak up if they feel the art is being compromised.
The record companies dont want these public or private battles with artists anymore
Like you said, grab a wet behind the ears kid and keep threatening him that he's lucky to be there and it can be taken away instantly
That kid will do what you say

Or you can find a genius talent who doesnt want to rock the boat like Dre
Dre will keep quiet and do whatever Jimmy says as long as Jimmy keeps him safe, rich, and out of trouble

 

[FeverPitch2]

Luke James

Let's talk about Luke James then
He can sing
Girls like him
Playing Johnny Gill in the NE movie increased his visibilty a hundred fold
He's signed to a major label
Why is he not selling records by the truckloads?

 

[FeverPitch2]

dead all the quack theories it's about to be 2020 folks moving different.........if you prefer old music there is more than enough to last you a lifetime but things change & that's something you gotta accept*

All change aint the same. There's leveling up and there's husting backwards. What are Black musicians doing right now, IYO?

 

[Sbp]

Let's talk about Luke James then
He can sing
Girls like him
Playing Johnny Gill in the NE movie increased his visibilty a hundred fold
He's signed to a major label
Why is he not selling records by the truckloads?

Label isnt promoting him

 

[FeverPitch2]

Label isnt promoting him

The question is why? when he seems to be a sure bet.

 

[frush11]

Brent Faiyaz
Jhene Aiko
Frank Ocean Channel Orange is a great album
Sonder

only ones i can think of at the moment

Faux Soul

 

[frush11]

dead all the quack theories it's about to be 2020 folks moving different.........if you prefer old music there is more than enough to last you a lifetime but things change & that's something you gotta accept*

Bruh it even that deep.

We got artist that legit don't know how to actually sing out here. The sad thing is they have good voices, but don't know how to sing.

Shiit ain't right