The Future of Black Music

What is the future of Black Music?

There's been a huge debate about Soulja Boy, and it seems that a bullseye has been put on his back as the face for the "Downfall of Hip-Hop". That's not necessarily fair, but that's a part of fame and success.

But, it's more than just the Rap/Hip-Hop. R&B is a lost art, too. The talent just isn't there. You have a few stand outs, like your Ne-Yos and your Chris Browns. But, they're just clones of a man only 5-10 years older than them, Usher. At least when Usher came out, he only borrowed from Michael Jackson, not just tried to be a clone, and at least he didn't come out as a contemporary of Mike.

There's a significant lack of talent, plain and simple. I remember 15 years ago, SWV was on the charts. And, the general consensus was that they weren't the best singers, but they entertained. They would CRUSH the competition today. It seems like we have so many artists who just really can't sing that well, but are just pushed through a sound board and BAM, they're stars. Yes, they're all just following the Mary J Blige path: Get a song with a catchy beat that speaks to people, and give her tons and tons of hype. (Mary is actually a infinitely better singer than she was in her Real Love days, and her popularity is waning.) You have Rhianna, who can't sing. Ashanti, who can't sing. Keyshia Cole (the Mary J Clone) who actually can sing, has gotten a lot better between albums, but still doesn't have enough control over her voice to sing effectively. But, on the other side, you have talented artists like your Letice, and Crissette Michelle who aren't getting the props they deserve.

Then you have the Rap side of Black Music. Soulja Boy had a big year. Congrats to a brother for doing well. But, Ice-T is right about the music being crap. But, a lot of the Rap out here is crap. You've got artists like Hurricane Chris, T-Pain, Akon, Plies, and tons of other artists. You've got rappers with talent putting out less than their best, like Jay-Z. But, if you ask a "fan" their opinion, the first thing they say to the defense of the music is "The beat is hot!". That's ridiculous. So, that basically means that any kid could be found in a mall(a la Kris Kross), given some sunglasses, and some ghost written lyrics, and as long as Timbaland wrote the track, and MTV tells you to like it, it'll be a hit, and people will defend them for making crap music? So, the soul--the lyrical content--is gone from music? The lyrics aren't important anymore??? This is a mess. You have talent out there, like Kanye West, or Lil Wayne. But, with people's short attention spans, Kanye's albums came and went, and we don't even get to hear the quality music from Lil Wayne. All we hear is "Lolipop". That's a bunch of crap, and this is what we're listening to nowadays.

I compare Black Music to the rise and fall of Def Comedy Jam. For those who don't know. Def Comedy Jam was a comedy showcase show founded by Russell Simmons in the 90's. It helped to launch the careers of most of the comedians you see today: Steve Harvey, Jaime Foxx, Martin Lawrence, Cedric "The Entertainer", and many others. It was a hilarious show! Yes, some jokes were crude, some were not politically correct, but all in all it was good comedy. But, as time went on, the jokes and the comedians changed. The quality of the comedians dropped, but instead of upping the quality of the joke-makers, the jokes became more crude and more raunchy. Eventually, all Def Comedy Jam became just a show with tons of people just cursing. It became a mess, and the show went away. That is where I think we are at in Black Music.

So, what does the future hold? Will the quality artists regain their foothold on Hip-Hop and R&B? Or, will it just be more and more disintegration of the art form? Will talent and lyrics shine through silly dances and good beats? I'm concerned to say the least.