The Stupid Sh*t Artists Say About Their Music

Out of respect for our great nation's election day, I wasn't even going to post today. But after returning from the polls, I was browsing my Google Reader and came across this Billboard article on Akon and his new LP, Freedom. The article, written by Mariel Concepcion, indicates that on his new album, Akon's going to be coming back with a different sound. He says,

"We changed the sound up a lot. Everyone adapted to the 'Konvict' sound already, so we had to switch it up. Now we're bringing the whole Euro-club sound. That's where we're headed with it."

The article seems to indicate that Akon's new single, "Right Now (Na Na Na)," is an example of this more Euro sound, a more dancy and more technoish feel.

Has anyone actually listened to this song?

That shit is so not Euro club anything. Not that I'm a real expert on that particular music, but it doesn't take a genius to know that someone who really makes European club music– whether it be techno, house, trance, whatever– would laugh at that track. And I dig what he's trying to do, which is take certain elements of Euro club music and incorporate it into a more accessible form of making a pop record. Still and all, I just don't really see why he should be classifying it as such. Listen to the song, that's more Flo Rida by way of 2 Live Crew than it is techno or house of club or whatever kind of dance music you want to call it. Just because you used some "dance" synth preset on the Motif, does not make it that. But it's almost like, if a song is over 120 bpm, or it's got a steady "4 on the floor" drum beat, it's automatically techno.

Which really makes me feel like if I actually was a producer or artist who made that kind of music, I'd be pretty insulted. It's kind of like Lil Wayne walking around with a guitar on stage, calling himself a rock star, when he can barely play 3 notes of anything. A guy who really plays guitar, he's gonna be pretty pissed about that. Of course, he can't do anything but bitch while Wayne dominates pop culture, but just saying.

I guess if I was a super talented soul singer, like say Leela James, I'd probably feel the same way about Amy Winehouse.

But I digress.

I think artists and producers in urban music are the biggest culprits of talking out of their asses about other genres of music, even the ones who are DJs. They are the least informed, and have the biggest mouths. They know the names of like 4 rock bands and just rotate them in and out of conversation. I mean seriously, rappers admitting they like Coldplay is like a rapper saying he's also got a clothing line coming out. It's standard rhetoric at this point.

My point being, if you really don't know what a certain type of music sounds like, and your music isn't going to accurately represent that sound in a clear and identifiable way, then just don't talk about it in that context at all.