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Yo, before anybody checks this let the first thing I say be, I'm a backpacker. Let the second thing I say be this, I use the term as it's mean to be used. Yeah I like backpack rap, I love the underground, but that's not all there is. The underground has just as much crap in it as the mainstream and I'm saying this from the bottom of heart, first and foremost, I like good Music.
Now saying that, I love the Black Eyed Peas, but I'm also devoted to the fact that the first album they dropped was an embodiment of lyrics, beats, and dancable rhythms. I think that they've sold out.
Why, you might ask after for nearly 5 yrs I listened to and lauded the abilities these three emcees (and now a vocalist) had, I feel disappointed that they've simply forgotten about their fans with their new music. I'll tell you. BEP released two, even three albums whose intensity was matchless. Even peerless in musicality, in strength of lyricism and beats, but "Elephunk" and "Monkey Business" have simply lacked those. Comparatively, it's the lack of intensity, after having listened to Dashboard for a year, "A Mark, Amission, A Brand, A Scar" was released. Not to say that Dashboard had sold out, but it simply wasn't the same.
BEP, however, according to an interview, read from OKP (Okayplayer), Will.I.Am, BEP's frontman, has made a concious decision to make music that is more radio friendly. This is not a direct quote, the interview has been removed from the site, however Will's intention with the addition of Fergie and the release of their third and fourth albums was to move musically away from what made his fans love them in the first place, and to an extent away from simply creating good music.
Let's all face the fact, that BEP has moved on from the lyrical intensity, that once brought songs like "Joints&Jam" to life. Consider that BEP shows once were a nn-stop festivus of b-boy breaks, and lyrics to go. Why now, have they lost this? It's not the addition of Fergie that's changed their music, but the fact that they've made a decision to change their style.
According to Will, the fact that he was aging has simply increased his want to make money. Does that mean everything Will touches will be crap. HELL NO!
Timeless, the new Sergio Mendes album, is a beautiful production, and Will, and BEP, are a large part of that. I love Will, as a producer, Will's production is top notch. The guy is nuts on Protools, but the fact is just beats are not enough to make an album.
I know that BEP sold out for one reason. Regardless of what they've made in the last two albums, their ability to lyricize has not disappeared. "My Humps" has as much poetic talent on it as a Vogun publication, but "That Heat" has one of my favorite Will lines since Behind the Front.
This my compatriots, is totally selling out. Everything that it's about. The death of musicality but not the loss of it.
 Caz_Nova · Tue Apr 11, 2006 @ 09:35pm · 3 Comments |
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