The Bar is high for a Reason

Last night at Club Providence in NYC, I had a musical discussion with Connecticut's Dj Genius about the state of the business and the quality of currently hyped artists. It was basically a solid follow up the points made in a similar convo I had last month.

In late July I was invited to a BBQ thrown by Digiwaxx Media in Mt. Vernon, NY. I met my friend K there who’s a talent manager(among many things) out of CT and the person who invited me in the first place. She introduced me to her connects in the spot and all was lovely. Good food and drink along with observation of the crowd inspired much conversation.

Among a group of that included promotional people, dj’s, artists and producers, we went in on fashion trends like the skinny jeans (the ladies don’t approve guys), autotune, proper stage presence and more. The main topic that really brought out everyone’s passion for this music and culture was the overall difference between today’s artist and the artists of our generation, the 90’s. There were those in 100% support of today’s music scene, those in stark opposition and thus within the gray area. While giving full respect for his accomplishments both as a writer and actor, Drake, or at least the current manifestation of Drake was genuinely raked over the coals for having a severe lack of personality. While he does well at mimicking the styles of a Kanye, Wayne or Andre 3000, he doesn’t have the charisma, charm or presence of any of them. Adding the “Fail” that was his lead video for “Best I ever had” and it was agreed upon that his buzz is fading fast.

But at least Drake is getting face time and capitalizing off of his Young Money affiliation. We all found ourselves at a loss trying to find out what a Kid Cudi is. Outside of a few songs, his digitally created career has left many fans and industry insiders alike searching for his story. What is it that makes us want to listen to you? As I said to the collective, “We respect the talents of all these artists, but understand the time frame we came from. The bar is set very high and a lot of y’all have yet to even approach it.”

Let me describe the bar for you. The almost manic passion of DMX, the poetic force of Nasty Nas, the Inhuman Lyricism of Big Punisher, the refreshing originality of Wu Tang, EPMD, Brand Nubian, Ice Cube, Dungeon Family, etc….. The list goes on and on for a era of solid music. Not only due to there talents but the humble paths they took to get there. Maybe it’s just too early to judge and the truth is that a new lane is being created not to be compared to those before? Or maybe I’m trying to be less pessimistic……