Couple of things I've seen online that make me go hmm (or unnhhh, for you Gulf Coast cats):
Brandy and Ray J are doing a duet album. See this kinda bullshit almost merits an open letter to B-Rocka asking her if she lost her ever loving mind. I know she gotta take care of Willie, but this is above and beyond the call of duty. Nuf said on this mess.
Next up, one of my favorite music blogs, SOHH Soulful, interviews Jon B (you know, the good white boy doing black pop). It's pretty standard, intermittently boring even…until this bon mot of crazy:
This album is definitely going to sync in with the younger audience becaue I was so heavily influenced. I definitely have to give it up to cats like T-Pain and Kanye West and The-Dream and people like Lloyd and Ne-Yo for bringing back the rhythm and melody, that's what really defines where r&b is right now because people love the rhythm of the lyrics but they have to hear some kind of melody. I had to learn to simplify, so cats like The Dream and T-Pain helped me to simplify and make it more about the beat, the lyrics are very important, but the rhythm of the lyrics doesn't have to necessarily be a crazy melody. (emphasis of the crazy added)
There just aren't words for all that is wrong with this. But it does explain why Jon's last album, Stronger Everyday, wasn't as strong as his previous three. Tryna keep up with these young new jacks with no talent is a recipe for disaster. Jon is way too talented to worry about emphasizing track over melody. Boo.just.boo.
Lastly, Ne-Yo is developing a biopic on his road to stardom. Really? I can't get my head around my generation of artists who think after two or three years in the game, a retrospective of their "journey" is necessary. Let's get the damn Tupac biopic done first.
