Friday, August 02, 2002
last night, at the bowling alley, they had the music set on a "top hits" channel (like from digital cable), and over the course of 2+ hours, I realized quite thoroughly that this is the worst year in EONS for top 40 radio.
start with nelly, who represents every single thing bad about hip-hop in 2002. he's the "thug" version of m.c.hammer, and hammer at least had some good samples (c'mon, he sampled prince on "pray"!) and better fashion sense (mock if you must, but I'll take genie pants over facial band-aids any damn day). fortunately, I also expect nelly to have the shelf-life of hammer. hope he's investing well. his lyrics are vapid ("hot in herre" is made for strip clubs and "best bikini" contests at frat bars), his production is worse (the neptunes have a few things to answer for this year, their n.e.r.d. record aside).
then there's the new teen-"rock" (and I use that term very loosely) girl brigade, led by avril, michelle, and vanessa. apparently, we're supposed to love them because a) they write their own songs, and b) they're not britney. unfortunately, a) their songs are pretentious journal scribblings, b) at least britney's honest: what you see is what you sweat. from britney, you can at least get a cheap thrill, not to mention that she's made a number of perfect pop records. whenever I hear one of the new girls, I'm reminded how much jewel has to answer for. the lilith fair brigade is getting its revenge, folks, and it ain't over yet. this is what you get for buying all those limp bizkit records.
mario, bow wow, b2k and the rest of their ilk aren't worth a mention, other than that (and we all knew this already) little black girls need teen idols, too. bet's "106th and park" has become "trl."
chad kroeger and nickelback make me want to commit suicide. I feared that creed would "influence" other bands, but never imagined it would come to this. and you're right, chad, only a hero can save us. and it ain't you, or default, or puddle of mudd, or tobey maguire for that matter. [side note: is it just me, or is tobey on the verge of becoming his pal leonardo? think about it.]
last year at this time, we had "bootylicious," "get ur freak on," souldecision, great u2 singles, and the start of the ascent of alicia keys (and that's just the radio stuff). what went wrong??
start with nelly, who represents every single thing bad about hip-hop in 2002. he's the "thug" version of m.c.hammer, and hammer at least had some good samples (c'mon, he sampled prince on "pray"!) and better fashion sense (mock if you must, but I'll take genie pants over facial band-aids any damn day). fortunately, I also expect nelly to have the shelf-life of hammer. hope he's investing well. his lyrics are vapid ("hot in herre" is made for strip clubs and "best bikini" contests at frat bars), his production is worse (the neptunes have a few things to answer for this year, their n.e.r.d. record aside).
then there's the new teen-"rock" (and I use that term very loosely) girl brigade, led by avril, michelle, and vanessa. apparently, we're supposed to love them because a) they write their own songs, and b) they're not britney. unfortunately, a) their songs are pretentious journal scribblings, b) at least britney's honest: what you see is what you sweat. from britney, you can at least get a cheap thrill, not to mention that she's made a number of perfect pop records. whenever I hear one of the new girls, I'm reminded how much jewel has to answer for. the lilith fair brigade is getting its revenge, folks, and it ain't over yet. this is what you get for buying all those limp bizkit records.
mario, bow wow, b2k and the rest of their ilk aren't worth a mention, other than that (and we all knew this already) little black girls need teen idols, too. bet's "106th and park" has become "trl."
chad kroeger and nickelback make me want to commit suicide. I feared that creed would "influence" other bands, but never imagined it would come to this. and you're right, chad, only a hero can save us. and it ain't you, or default, or puddle of mudd, or tobey maguire for that matter. [side note: is it just me, or is tobey on the verge of becoming his pal leonardo? think about it.]
last year at this time, we had "bootylicious," "get ur freak on," souldecision, great u2 singles, and the start of the ascent of alicia keys (and that's just the radio stuff). what went wrong??
# posted by Thomas : 6:05 AM
