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Album Review: Chrisette Michele’s Epiphany

tigger500 — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 12:31:43 +0000

Chrisette Michele is one of those artists who suffers from the bifurcated way black music is marketed and sold—and consumed. She’s too good a singer to be a pop star. And too young and hip hop-inspired to be relegated to the neo-soul, adult contemporary section of the record store. (Is there even an AC section on Itunes?)

Or so we are told.

Because she is in a not-so-enviable position, her record label tried to position her on her first album, I Am, as a torch singing sentimental by releasing two torchy ballads—“If I Have My Way” and “Best of Me”—leading many people to think that was all that her debut had to offer. Even though I Am was as varied a debut we’ve seen, boasting better than expected production from will.i.am, exceptional work by Salaam Remi, and a rejuvenated Babyface, it seemed that audiences and critics were reacting to Island Def Jam’s marketing of Michele, not the music on her album. By the time “Be Okay” came around and won Michele a Grammy, Island Def Jam was already sending Michele out, new haircut and all, to remind people that she is only 26, likes to have fun, and isn’t just a “singer.”

At first blush, Epiphany, with its executive production by industry darling Ne-Yo, would seem to be Michele’s studio-crafted and approved official coming out party—an apology of sorts for saddling the record-buying public with too much emotion and nuance the last go-round. But Epiphany is not all that different from I Am.

Go read the rest at Popmatters.

Is Kanye West is the new King of Pop? Kanye West thinks so

griffn — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:28:18 +0000

The new King of Pop is Kanye West, according to sources named Kanye West. Apparently, this was said a month ago– on June 29– but Bossip picked it up off an obscure website yesterday, and it’s just now making the rounds on the blogosphere. It should be noted that there are some doubts that this story is for real. But there are also some legit publications running with this, publications that have a better fact-checking department than we do. Anyway, here’s Kanye on Kanye:

“You know everyone loves and respects Michael but times change. It’s so sad to see Michael gone but it makes a path for a new King of Pop and I’m willing to take that on. There’s nobody who can match me in sales and in respect so it only makes sense for me to take over Michael’s crown and become the new King,” said West. “First there was Elvis, then there was Michael, now in the 21st century its Kanye’s time to rule. I have nothing but respect for Michael but someone needs to pick up where he left off and there’s nobody better than me to do that. I am the new King of Pop.” …

West has reportedly tried to make contact with members of the Jackson clan to obtain official permission to use the title but has thus far received no response. It is believed the family is mourning the death of their loved one and have given little thought to the line of succession.

I promise you, I Googled and re-Googled this, I even checked Snopes, because I just can’t believe this nonsense went down four days after Michael Jackson’s death. On June 29, I was still in a daze, with Human Nature playing on a loop on my laptop. Apparently, Kanye was busy phoning the Jackson family in the midst of their funeral arrangements to lay claim to a fake title. Put that autopsy on hold and wipe away those tears, Janet, I’m calling you to confirm that I’m the new Mayor of Munchkin City.

It’s true that Mike likely bestowed the title King of Pop on himself (according to his Wikipedia entry, Elizabeth Taylor popularized the term at an awards ceremony). But when he did it, it was already obvious that he was. There were no challengers. No one had the ammo to say, “Yeah, you made Off the Wall, Thriller, and Bad, but I made…” When Michael Jackson took the King of Pop title in the late ‘80s, everyone’s reaction was, “Oh. Well, yeah, obviously.”

Which brings me to the King of Pop Rule for all future applicants: If it isn’t obviously apparent who the King of Pop is, then there isn’t one. This isn’t a title that should be awarded by default; I say Mike keeps the title until someone takes it from him. And that someone is not Kanye West– a talented rapper and performer (though not the best in the biz at either), but a horrific singer, even with the aid of Auto-Tune.

True story: I downloaded Love Lockdown (*cough* legally) back when that song was blowing up the air waves. I listened to it for ten seconds and stopped. Kanye was so badly out of tune, I literally thought I had downloaded an MP3 of some dude singing in his basement and trying to get some shine by labeling his song under Kanye’s name. I went back and downloaded another (*cough* legal) version of it and it sounded exactly the same. Slowly, the realization hit me. Kanye West is a really terrible singer, and we simply do not have the technology to fix it.

Anyway, back to the King of Pop title. Some people think it’s Usher. Chris Brown’s name was thrown around the discussion before he threw Rihanna around his car. I think Justin Timberlake has a legit claim to the throne– if the ladies and gentleman of the jury would consider his brilliant musical and comedic work on Saturday Night Live. But if we’re being serious, the new King of Pop is most likely a Queen of Pop. ‘Cause Beyonce is probably the most current artist who’s even approaching the sales and swagger and artistic diversity of Michael Jackson. But is she “Oh. Well, yeah, obviously” the Queen of Pop? Not as long as Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey are alive.

New Music – Ledisi, Teedra Moses, Usher

tigger500 — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 15:36:11 +0000

There are a few songs floatin out there that are just dope.

Ledisi, Trippin

This song is produced and co-written by Chucky Thompson (of Mary J. My Life fame). Song’s gotta nice midtempo groove and Ledisi’s vocal is tight as a whip. Looks like she’s really gonna switch things up on the new album, which drops in a couple of weeks.

Teedra Moses, Everybody Rock

Teedra Moses is that chick everyone seems to love and yet she’s still an “unknown.” Teedra been rockin this 80’s synth thing for a year or so now, and this song is good, but doesn’t quite match the dopeness of last year’s So Kool and Put It In The Wind. Here’s to hopin the new album drops soon.

Usher, Certified

Yup, this is Pharrell giving Usher the MJ treatment, but really Ursh is the only one who can get away with this — even though at this point he really doesn’t need to. Song is good though. Now that wifee is bout to get gone, I’m sure women will forgive and make Monster, you know, a monster.

Lost in Translation: What Exactly Did We Learn from the Greats

tigger500 — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 04:26:11 +0000

I’ve been thinking a lot about the state of popular music in the weeks since Michael Jackson died, trying to wrap my head around why we are where we are and how we got here.

We have all watched the news and read the articles about how much of a huge impact Mike had on an entire generation of artists. It has been repeated ad nauseum.

And yet, while I see it, it feels like something is missing.

Michael Jackson, Thriller era

I can hear Off The Wall repeated over and over in Ne-Yo’s three albums, but though the song structures are very very similar (damn near ripped off wholesale), the feeling I get when listening is just different.

I can listen to Lloyd, Chris Brown, Mario, J. Holiday and hear elements of Mike’s phrasing, but none of his nuance or preternatural ability to wring pure emotion and joy out of a lyric.

And it’s not just Mike.

Early Britney videos ripped off whole sections of Janet’s choreography and video persona, but never managed to convey that pure sense of joy in discovering one’s sensual self and youthful determination to challenge popular assumptions that Janet had. And Britney’s recent makeover into Madonna hasn’t yielded any sense that she’s holding a mirror up to her audience and daring them to see the best and worst of themselves in her music the way Madonna did.

This all begs the question:

What exactly did my generation and the millennial generation hear when they were listening to Mike and Janet and Madonna, and to a much lesser extent, Prince?

My sense is that younger generations think the power these artists wield lies, not in their artistry, what their music was designed to convey or what their personas were designed to portray, but in the trappings. In the spectacle that was built up around their art. In a sense, to an entire generation Mike is nothing but the Moonwalk, Janet is nothing but a slut with some dude’s hands on her breasts, and Madonna is a vain provacateur.

This has never felt right.

In our quest as critics to decipher how Mike, Janet and Madonna rose to heights that no one else had before, I think we failed to adequately assess and appreciate the strength of the music. The art. Even, to a lesser extent, the artistry of their videos.

Madonna performing Like A Virgin

This irony of this fact is greatest, I think, with Madonna, who is probably the most interrogated, discussed, and thought provoking artist ever. And yet, you don’t get any sense that these young women, like Gwen Stefani, Lady Gaga, late-era Britney, listened to a single word that Madonna wrote. Or compared what she was singing with what she was doing in the videos.

Madonna was a provocateur, but her music always seemed to be saying something. To be reflecting, to some degree, the values and mores and idiosyncracies of American culture.

But Lady Gaga just seems to enjoy being a visual conundrum, missing the sense of irony that made Madonna’s visual persona, at its best, so beguiling and complex. And Gwen has got Madonna’s propensity to rip off minority cultures down, but it feels truly violent and paternalistic because she does it earnestly, failing to capture Madonna’s (albeit inconsistent) ability to be completely conscious of her whiteness.

Janet Jackson’s early success was tied to her dogged desire to destroy America’s idea of what a young Black female pop artist was supposed to be. It may be hard to imagine, but there wasn’t anything like Janet before Janet. Here was a woman who declared her independence (Control), turned around and made a message /dance record (Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation, 1814), discovered that she was hot and invited you to discover it with her (janet.), and then let you see just how painful and sad being a Jackson truly is (The Velvet Rope). Her artistic points of reference were Marvin Gaye and Joni Mitchell.

I don’t think any of these young ladies performing in Janet’s shadow now would even know that.

Because there is none of that audacity, none of that lyrical nuance or conceptual daring in any of the young women who are biting Jan’s style. Ciara came close with her brillliant Like A Boy song and video and Aaliyah would probably have been able to do that had she not died so young, but none of these other young women seem to understand that what made Janet unique was that she always felt like a real person even though she was Janet Jackson.

Rhythm Nation remains a peerless pop oddity; a shining example of one woman’s attempt to make sense of the world she lives in. No other female artist like her has done anything like it, before or since.

That’s sad.

But it is no different from the countless young men who think they will be the next Michael. In a way, that no one gets the soul of Mike is precisely what makes him so singular. Ne-Yo, Chris Brown, J. Holiday, Mario, and the like can ape his phrasing, his vocal tics, even some of his dancing flair, but they only make it abundantly clear that who and what Mike was was intrinsic to him and him alone. He seemed to do what he did for the sheer love of it. These new jacks seem to just want to be like Mike.

That’s clearly an oversimplification, but the point I’m trying to make is that Michael Jackson had his influences and you knew what they were, but you didn’t immediately see it when he performed or sang. He didn’t take Fred Astaire’s dance style wholesale. And his voice, especially post-Off The Wall, seemed to spring fully formed from his imagination and exist outside of any vocal lineage. Even the Moonwalk, which was popularized by street dancers on Soul Train years before, didn’t look like its forebearer.

But you see all of Mike in these young cats, even Usher, who is the closest thing this generation has to a Mike-like, Janet-like, Madonna-like, pop star. None of them is vocally anywhere near Mike and though their dancing is good and well-rehearsed, it feels workmanlike and you find yourself wondering who choreographed it.

You never wondered who did Mike’s choreography. Didn’t occur to you.

Something got lost in translation for us or we weren’t listening or watching closely.

Janet performing Control

None of these artists heard in Billie Jean or Smooth Criminal an artist who wanted to fuck with your assumptions, they just heard catchy songs and loved the cool videos. None of them heard The Knowledge or Rhythm Nation and thought that dance music could also be deep and, in doing so, wouldn’t detract from the urge to dance. And none of them seem to get that Madonna’s blond ambition was about deconstructing the myth of pure white womanhood.

All of this isn’t to say that there isn’t good music in these artists or in my generation. Usher and Aaliyah (at least who she was starting to be) are the closest thing to full-bodied, artistic geniuses in the Mike/Jan/Madonna tradition, but it may be too soon to truly tell. Ne-Yo is worth listening to because when you do, you realize that at least he understands how to write a melody.

And I don’t write this to lionize Mike, Janet, and Madonna, all of whom have more than enough crap in their catalogues. Because, to be fair, they each bought their own hype too (particularly Janet who is ruining what little goodwill her fans have with vapid attempts to be 21 again). But, in their own way, they earned the right to rest on their laurels; they changed the fuckin game.

But the point is: it doesn’t feel like any of these new jacks have learned to take a damn chance. It doesn’t feel like any of these artists I’ve mentioned are really interested in shocking their audience. They don’t seem at all concerned with making a statement, or reflecting their times (other than by riding the latest trend), or commenting at all on what is going on in the world. They confuse outselling their peers with achieving greatness artistically. And we aren’t challenging them as a record buying public or as critics.

But maybe we aren’t supposed to ask for more. Maybe we got our fill with Mike, Janet and Madonna. I don’t know. I don’t think I have.

Have you?