The Jukebox No.3
Musings on music and the recording industry
Ajitpaul Mangat, staff
Last year will ultimately be remembered as the year that brought significant changes to both the public’s music tastes and the recording industry that had been parasitically mired in the tedious status quo. Industry-wise artists began to take Web 2.0’s evolution to its obvious, autonomous conclusion, by independently releasing their own music (see: Jukebox No. 1 online). Musically, there were prophetic signs of new, exciting styles and sounds dominating future music charts, which are as desultory as ever (see: Jukebox No. 2). With this in mind, look for 2008’s breakthrough artists to mirror and further the progression begun by 2007’s trendsetters.
No song in 2007 was as fresh or invigorating as Rihanna’s timeless pop anthem, “Umbrella.” Julianne Shepherd points out in Immigrant Sounds, her 2007 Pazz and Jop essay, that “the distinctive melodies that (“Umbrella” creators), emergent Atlanta songwriter Terius “The-Dream” Nash and producer Christopher “Tricky” Stewart, jammed out this year will be emblematic of an era, in the same way Ginuwine’s “Pony” handed Timba-land the late ’90s and ODB’s “Got Your Money” predicted the Neptunes’ early-’00s dominance.” But as dominant as these eras were, they all had their creative foils: Timbaland had Max Martin and the Neptunes had Just Blaze. The team of song-writing collective the Clutch and producer Danja (Timbaland’s protégé) appear poised to emerge in 2008 as this music era’s other seminal tastemakers, with long-time the Clutch member, Keri Hilson, leading the way. Known best for her guest appearance on Timbaland’s “The Way I Are,” Hilson already had the required pop-friendly looks and voice, but now she has the lead single; “Henny and Apple Juice,” featuring Snoop Dogg and Ludacris, which echoes Britney Spears’ “Gimme More” with its chopping and screwing of the Timbaland sound; it is sure to be one of 2008’s biggest singles. Perched on the brink of pop superstardom, the approaching release of Hilson’s debut album, In a Perfect World (set for an early 2008 release), makes her an artist to watch for this year.
The once distinct boundary between indie music and the mainstream grew even slighter in 2007. Indie rock darlings Arcade Fire saw their album, Neon Bible, reach number two on the Billboard charts. Indie pop siren Feist was plastered on television advertisements even more than usual. And Amy Winehouse’s remarkable Motown-era soul and R&B found countless more ears. But most pleasantly surprising was the success of Sri Lankan musician, M.I.A.. Where her 2005 album, Arular, reached a paltry 190 on the billboard charts, her latest effort, Kala, rose all the way to 18. M.I.A.’s mainstream success may be the most important of this past year, as her cacophonous melding of Bollywood, anachronistic punk, and Third World strife-inspired lyrics is about as unconventional as music can get.
Prepared to emerge in 2008 through the narrow-minded walls shattered by M.I.A. is Santogold. The Philadelphia native fantastically meshes larger-than-life Philly brashness (think: Spank Rock), with new wave sensibility (synths on top of synths) and discordant “M.I.A.-esque” world music into an engaging kaleidoscope of eccentric sounds. Using that modus operandi as a sonic template, Santogold displays an impressive versatility on her first single, “LES Artistes”/“Creator.” On “LES Artistes,” she brazenly blasts pompous hipsters over refined, minimalist guitars, while “Creator” finds her contemplating her “place on the radar” over a menacing bass line, and an assemblage of echoes, hums, and hisses. Santogold has always been ready for the big-time, 2008 may finally be the year that the music world is ready for her.
R.I.P. The Rap Star. Few of rap’s heavy hitters will have anything but ill memories of 2007. The likes of 50 Cent’s Curtis, Jay-Z’s American Gangster, and T.I.’s, T.I. vs. T.I.P., released commercial failures. Chad “Pimp C” Butler, one half of Southern rap pioneers UGK, died tragically after releasing one of the best albums of the year, UGK (Underground Kingz). And an incapable rapper, Soulja Boy, released the most memorable rap track of the year, the vomit-inducing “Crank That (Soulja Boy).” In totality, rap sales had by far the largest decline of any genre (30 per cent) this past year. The lone bright spot was Kanye West whose Graduation was able to garner both critical and commercial success. West’s hipster rap, with samples referencing the obvious — Daft Punk and Ray Charles — to the esoteric — Labi Siffre and Can — has been, for the past five years, the most cutting-edge and innovative of the genre. This progression has led to a more dynamic and expansive rap landscape, allowing exciting artists like Spank Rock and Lupe Fiasco to get signed and succeed. The most likely artists to emerge from West’s large shadow in 2008 are the “black version of the Beastie Boys,” the Cool Kids, with their slow flows, pithy raps, and heavy on the bass beats (listen to: “Black Mags”), and B.o.B., whose Amy Winehouse sampling “Grip Your Body” sounds like it could fit perfectly well on any Kanye album. Look for the declining mainstream popularity of rap to be countered by a more creatively fertile genre in 2008.
Umbrellas folded away for shots of Hennessey, congenial Bollywood bhangra making way for that aggressive Philly sound, and Soulja Boys stepping down for the Cool Kids. This year is just one-month-old, but it sounds like its music could be a lot of fun.
