Should the music industry stop hiring people like Rihanna?

[Prismatic 4,789]

3 minutes ago, Enigma said:

That is because she has charisma and is overall very popular with young people, but this doesn't really have to do with her musical skill. She is good for business though.

If she doesn't have any music skills (her voice is one), then she wouldn't even be hired to begin with. Music is business. Looks won't last forever, so off course she have some kind of talent to back her up. Everyone who's mainstream is about business. 

[PopBitch 1,218]

12 hours ago, Enigma said:

The thing is that Rihanna did not make anything. For all of her hits, a producer made her instrumentals, a songwriter wrote the lyrics, and other musicians are playing the songs live. The only thing she does is sing the songs, and this would not be a problem if only she had a great voice. There is no doubt that she is very popular, but when the only thing you do is sing, you should at least be great at it (at least in my opinion anyways).

I love Rihanna's distinctive vocals.   She takes a song and makes it her own and gives it flavor.  You don't like her vocals, fine, but I prefer her vocals any day over lots of pop belters.  Someone else could never make some of her songs hits.

[androiduser 7,438]

in the end - talent or no talent, it's these performers who give the music a certain flavor and it's these performers who sell the music.
It's not all just marketing and management, as there have been numerous (talentless) performers who never made it, because they didn't have any charisma.

[Harry 26,836]

On 12/11/2015 at 9:10 PM, StrawberryBlond said:

I totally agree. I have no problem with pretty faces getting famous or making fun songs, but they have to serve talent with it. You can be hot and make fun music and be talented. I'm looking for the full package (though the looks don't matter, you know what I mean) but so few artists today have it.

About the looks, this one really irks me. I see so many untalented females getting record deals and amazing music opportunities based on their looks but here's the thing...a lot of them don't even get success or have one hit then fade out. And they're never album sellers. They usually end up dropped. This makes it so much harder for talented women because the industry never takes the right message away. They should be thinking: "Maybe if we signed talented women, their music might actually sell." But no, what they're actually thinking is: "If this stunning beauty can't sell, what hope does a plain jane stand of selling?" And the same for the music's quality - they think if generic rubbish won't sell, serious music definitely won't. This is why females really struggle to sell music these days - the untalented ones are getting all the right breaks with dire music and the good ones aren't getting signed or getting promotion. It's the same for male artists too, albeit, not quite as harsh. I think it's because women have a tendency to find a plain guy attractive if he sings a cute love song, so they still sell even if they're not a dreamboat.

And about the music...You know that phrase: "music can sometimes just be fun"? What follows on from it is the implication: "sometimes, music can just be bad and that's ok." The word "fun" just seems like another way of saying "bad" now. The suggestion is that because it's fun, it doesn't need to be good or have any talent behind it, which is ridiculous. There are plenty of fun songs made by talented artists. You'd think talented artists can only be serious and untalented artists can only be fun or something. It's so limiting. It also takes a real comparison to see how bad some of the generic music today is. The Edge Of Glory is an example of good mainstream music with talent behind it. As is Uptown Funk. So, I look for other fun songs around today at that level and it's very hard to find. It seems to be that a lot of artists can't do fun music without dumbing things down.

I notice a lot of people are picking up on your point about BBHMM (I don't want to quote them as I don't want to start arguments), asking you for examples that sound just like it. I think it's sad that you're being hounded about this because I find it really frustrating when people ask me examples but I just can't select a specific one. Because I review music, there's so many songs going around in my head and because I'm listening to new music all the time, things can sound samey to me but they don't to the public because they don't listen to much outside their favourites. I like BBHMM (it grew on me, though), but I totally think it sounds like a lot of other urban tracks out there. I can't think of exact specifics, it's all generalised. But that doesn't mean that we don't have examples. I eventually thought of these:

Notorious B.I.G - Gimme The Loot

Lil Kim - The Warning

Rihanna - G4L (yes, even Rihanna copies herself)

Lady Gaga - Cake Like Lady Gaga (probably the only one that sounds similar to the beat)

Dr Dre - Deep Water

I hope that helps make your argument more credible. I know not all these songs sound just like it but it's all about the themes and asthetics. I listen to urban albums all the time and they're loaded with songs like BBHMM (which is why they're nearly all rap examples). Almost every rap album has a song about going to get someone who hasn't paid for their drugs with repeated references to having someone tied up in the trunk of the car. And of course, there's always songs about how somebody better watch out or they're going to get dropped. So many interludes in rap albums actually involve the sound effects of someone being pulled out of a car, threatened and then getting shot in the head, maybe followed by dragging sounds of the body being pushed into water. Rihanna just spouted cliche after cliche with that song from every rapper in history. She's not a rapper but she's the most urban pop artist around and takes heavy inspiration from rap, so I think the examples I provided are relevant. I hope that helps make your argument more credible for the doubters.

PSSSHT get a grip.

And none of those songs sound like BBHMM at all. Just because the theme is similar doesn't mean jack in regards to her originality. Let's go back to the first ever song that was written about love and write off the hundreds of millions since it's been done before, right?

So no, that does not make his argument more credible at all and yes you should be criticised if you make such a bold statement but can't back it up with anything.

[SEANGT 4,905]

Gaga has also said that she doesn't judge other artists' writing processes if they have teams or whatever. I think she just wants more recognition for people who do hard work in general. Not to say her contemporaries don't deserve fame. 

[StrawberryBlond 14,102]

8 hours ago, Harry said:

PSSSHT get a grip.

And none of those songs sound like BBHMM at all. Just because the theme is similar doesn't mean jack in regards to her originality. Let's go back to the first ever song that was written about love and write off the hundreds of millions since it's been done before, right?

So no, that does not make his argument more credible at all and yes you should be criticised if you make such a bold statement but can't back it up with anything.

See, you started an argument, so you just proved my point. You're the type of person who criticises someone for starting an argument but then get stung when they ignore you. You told me not to talk to you anymore, so I didn't. Now you're quoting me to start up arguments again. I can't win with you, can I? It's my birthday tomorrow and Christmas is almost here - can't we be civil for this period?

I never said the songs sounded alike, but it's clear that the whole asthetic has been inspired by gangsta rap, all the cliches are there (bitch better have my money, balling bigger than LeBron, kamikaze if you think you're gonna knock me off the top, i call the shots like brap brap brap, your wife in the backseat of my brand new foreign car, pay me what you owe me, turn up to Rihanna while the whole club f*****g wasted, in my drop top doing hundred y'all in my rearview mirror racing..). As someone who listens to urban music all the time, these lyrics are as clche as it gets. You don't even think Cake Like Lady Gaga sounds kinda similar? I actually thought back to this when Rihanna released BBHMM, actually, because I thought it strange how Gaga's was seen as a joke because she's a white popstar, but for Rihanna, it's taken seriously because she's a black urban pop star. But that's a whole other story. It's difficult to get a song that sounds just like it, of course. To me, it sounds like a lot of other stock trap beats that have been floating around for the last 2 years. That little ice cream van melody followed by a darker tone, the warped man's voice at the end with the toned down outro, it's all classic trap instrumentals that I heard during the trap craze (type "trap mix" into YouTube - there's lots of stuff that sounds just like BBHMM - ironically, the first video in the line up starts with a remix of the song!), it's nothing new. Still good, some of the best of its kind, but nothing new.

Does this back it up for you better?

[Harry 26,836]

1 minute ago, StrawberryBlond said:

See, you started an argument, so you just proved my point. You're the type of person who criticises someone for starting an argument but then get stung when they ignore you. You told me not to talk to you anymore, so I didn't. Now you're quoting me to start up arguments again. I can't win with you, can I? It's my birthday tomorrow and Christmas is almost here - can't we be civil for this period?

I never said the songs sounded alike, but it's clear that the whole asthetic has been inspired by gangsta rap, all the cliches are there (bitch better have my money, balling bigger than LeBron, kamikaze if you think you're gonna knock me off the top, i call the shots like brap brap brap, your wife in the backseat of my brand new foreign car, pay me what you owe me, turn up to Rihanna while the whole club f*****g wasted, in my drop top doing hundred y'all in my rearview mirror racing..). As someone who listens to urban music all the time, these lyrics are as clche as it gets. You don't even think Cake Like Lady Gaga sounds kinda similar? I actually thought back to this when Rihanna released BBHMM, actually, because I thought it strange how Gaga's was seen as a joke because she's a white popstar, but for Rihanna, it's taken seriously because she's a black urban pop star. But that's a whole other story. It's difficult to get a song that sounds just like it, of course. To me, it sounds like a lot of other stock trap beats that have been floating around for the last 2 years. That little ice cream van melody followed by a darker tone, the warped man's voice at the end with the toned down outro, it's all classic trap instrumentals that I heard during the trap craze (type "trap mix" into YouTube - there's lots of stuff that sounds just like BBHMM - ironically, the first video in the line up starts with a remix of the song!), it's nothing new. Still good, some of the best of its kind, but nothing new.

Does this back it up for you better?

No it doesn't.

Have a nice birthday.

[Katsuki Bakugo 9,788]

On 12/13/2015 at 3:59 PM, Enigma said:

The thing is that Rihanna did not make anything. For all of her hits, a producer made her instrumentals, a songwriter wrote the lyrics, and other musicians are playing the songs live. The only thing she does is sing the songs, and this would not be a problem if only she had a great voice. There is no doubt that she is very popular, but when the only thing you do is sing, you should at least be great at it (at least in my opinion anyways).

this is an outllandish claim though. She has written lyrics and helped out in production MANY TIMES. Read the booklets or look on wikipedia. 

Tell me she has a bad vocal range and pitch and control in this video? If you say yes, then you are completely delusional.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_S1hCYgsmCk 

I feel like you just hate Rihanna for no real reason- Sorry she is successful without doing "anything" as you put it

. Looks like Gaga and her have that in common now. 

The fact is Rihanna works just as hard as any other artist but she is recognised for her work. how many number 1 singles? How many Grammy's??? An Icon award before alot of other iconic performers? ( these are just a few) 

Judging people/artists doesn't define who they are it defines you. 

[imwoahvicky 4,248]

On 12/10/2015 at 6:35 PM, Harry said:

It's funny that you said Rihanna, Katy and Selena are the reason radio is so repetitive and bland but to me BBHMM, Roar and Good For You all seem like completely different songs. They are three very different artists...

Ugh, Selena has me hooked lately. I feel like she's brought some new interesting music to the table with her album 'Revival'. It's just completely different from her other albums (Stars Dance had me disgusted) and I like the new sound she has!

Good For You totally had me going for a few weeks there, since it just sounded fresh to me.

[Harry 26,836]

3 minutes ago, Scarlet said:

Ugh, Selena has me hooked lately. I feel like she's brought some new interesting music to the table with her album 'Revival'. It's just completely different from her other albums (Stars Dance had me disgusted) and I like the new sound she has!

Good For You totally had me going for a few weeks there, since it just sounded fresh to me.

Me too. I don't think she's a extraordinarily talented musician but she definitely has something and put out a very good album that does sound very fresh. I really like her voice too. I was completely impressed because I don't like any of her past music either.

[Quark 7,085]

On 12/13/2015 at 10:01 AM, PopBitch said:

I love Rihanna's distinctive vocals.   She takes a song and makes it her own and gives it flavor.  You don't like her vocals, fine, but I prefer her vocals any day over lots of pop belters.  Someone else could never make some of her songs hits.

Good for you that you love her. But I don't find her voice all that distinctive. I confused several other artists with her when listening to songs.

[JusKeepBreathin 19,311]

On December 10, 2015 at 6:40 PM, Enigma said:

BBHMM sounds like every other urban track popular at the moment (it even has very poor lyrics). Roar is the same thing Katy has been doing for years. And i could go on and on with examples.

Roar is Sara Baraeilles Brave. It's the same freaking song. It's a rip off. 

[Yanko 9,860]

rihanna has a great voice 

 

deal with it and stop being a pressed individual 

[Yanko 9,860]

On 12/11/2015 at 4:15 AM, Prismatic said:

Me and most other members knows that aside from Gaga, you hate everyone and think they're talentless. No need to be reductive and recreate the same threads over and over again bashing the same people for having great bops.

If my faves (Riri & Kathy) were here for their looks, then I'm sure other models that look better than them could succeed in the music world, but no. Looks isn't everything. People like them for their personality, their voice, the way they present themselves, their friendliness, etc, etc. 

Sure they might not have a legendary voice, but their voice is good enough for people to keep listening to their music. 

!!!

like enigma made 2 threads titled "is lana del rey boring?" 

[KURUSHITOVSKA 20,442]

YES. Talentless people don't deserve the recognizement they have. There's so much talented people that can even get a regular job. I kinda like having idols that can dance, sing, write their own songs and sing them with its full meaning.