Justin Timberlake - "Can't Stop the Feeling"

[Bear 7,515]

3 hours ago, StrawberryBlond said:

It blows my mind how there are female artists coming out with masterpieces that can't crack the top ten and yet, a male artist makes a forgettable song in which he doesn't even need to try, he could have written in his sleep. And it becomes a big hit. How do male artists get away with releasing such s****y material? And actually get hits with it? HOW?!

I disagree about the quality of this song and Can't Feel My Face, but in general I have noticed the point you're making before in other song situations and I agree, it is interesting. It seems to me there is a small, but not insignificant bias in sales for artists that aren't 'gender locked' to the majority (i.e Drake's album selling way more than anticipated). I feel like as a general trend females more readily accept music from male artists than males do of females, and as a result no matter how sh***y a song is it has a wider market if the artist is male.  I mean in my own experience, I'd be hard pressed to find a guy who would admit to buying an album by someone like Ariana/Selena (either out of embarrassment of how it makes them look or just taste), but on the reverse side of the coin it would be much easier to find a female who would admit to buying an album on a similar level but male (The Weeknd/Nick Jonas).

To be honest I hope I'm completely wrong, I'd like to think it wasn't based on gender but that is what is seems like to me.

[malazam 15,710]

Generic af

I really like his music but not this one....

[Fiona Apple 13,006]

He is my daddy but that's quite generic

[StrawberryBlond 14,898]

6 minutes ago, Hooker said:

I disagree about the quality of this song and Can't Feel My Face, but in general I have noticed the point you're making before in other song situations and I agree, it is interesting. It seems to me there is a small, but not insignificant bias in sales for artists that aren't 'gender locked' to the majority (i.e Drake's album selling way more than anticipated). I feel like as a general trend females more readily accept music from male artists than males do of females, and as a result no matter how sh***y a song is it has a wider market if the artist is male.  I mean in my own experience, I'd be hard pressed to find a guy who would admit to buying an album by someone like Ariana/Selena (either out of embarrassment of how it makes them look or just taste), but on the reverse side of the coin it would be much easier to find a female who would admit to buying an album on a similar level but male (The Weeknd/Nick Jonas).

To be honest I hope I'm completely wrong, I'd like to think it wasn't based on gender but that is what is seems like to me.

This is always one of the biggest questions! But I do love to answer it. From a pop perspective, I obviously, I love Gaga and Lana Del Rey is a very close second, followed by The Pretty Reckless. They're my current top 3. I also like Paloma Faith, Imelda May, Caro Emerald. As for new, current artists of the moment, I'm liking Ariana Grande, Little Mix, Rachel Platten and Aurora. I also like a lot of singles from Madonna, J.Lo, Rihanna and Katy Perry. I also really like the old material of Britney, Xtina and Pink. As for genres in general, my top favourites are pop, rock and rap. You've seen my pop favourites listed above. For rock, I like mostly old stuff like AC/DC, Meatloaf, and Led Zepplin, but some 00's stuff  too like Evanescence, Within Temptation, Marilyn Manson and so on. And for rap, I like the biggest names from the 00's as well as 90's classics, so Eminem, Lil Kim, Immortal Technique, Ice Cube, 2Pac, Notorious BIG and so on. There's music in every genre I like. The only ones I really have very little time for is country and EDM. I decided to review albums because I can listen to pretty much any genre. I can enjoy fun pop music with the best of 'em. I just demand high quality in music and I take it very seriously. I think we're way too lenient on artists and expect far too little. Don't get me wrong, I really hate being so negative towards new music all the time. But what can I do when I'm repeatedly being served mediocraty? Thing is, I don't even think my standards are all that high. I just want good music. So, I'm amazed, out of music reviewing, how few good albums there are out there. I've only found 2 I think are above average this year.

Oh, I don't like Rihanna and Beyonce as people and I think their work can be very hit and miss, but they have plenty of good moments too. I was just trying to find examples of good music this year and I liked half of Beyonce's album, so I said that as people would understand what I meant without having to research it.

I'm not surprised DW didn't make it big because it's too good for the public to accept, that's just the way it is. I'm not saying that the songs aren't well known - I was just listing examples of good music released this year and why it was better than Justin's new song, which was deemed better than 95% of music released this year. No, I'm from the UK, but I only reference the US charts because most members here are American, so it's easier for them to understand and more relevant to them. But yeah, I despair for the US charts. What was with Work having all those weeks at the top? You can't be that hard up for good music over there, surely?

34 minutes ago, djBuffoon said:

I was just thinking the same thing. ARTPOP, for example, incorporated some elements that sounded vaguely like what had been on the radio at the time and was labeled "generic" by fans here.

Meanwhile, JT releases a song that is extremely akin to what a couple major male artists did over a year ago, and it's a "bop." 😭 If Gaga ever released something that was this on-the-nose, she would never hear the end of it. 

Oh, totally. I notice people are much harder on females and call them out when they're too generic, jumping too much on trends, rehashing old material, etc. But a male artist can be as generic as he likes, jump on every trend going and give us the same beats and themes over and over and he's called a genius. What makes it even worse is that a lot of them can't even sing or play an instrument (or they can, but only basic notes). But they get a whole army of fans and the critics praise them. Ariana, who can sing amazingly, was dragged heavily for releasing a song that sounded too much like her biggest hit single, the critics noted it too, the song failed on the charts, she had to start her era over again with a new lead single. Drake releases a song that sounds like everything he's made for the last 5 years in which he sings terribly and the public download it in their millions, the critics praise it, he can release his album without a hitch. It's so unfair and borderline sexist.

@Hooker

Yes, look at what I just said above. We just accept male artists better. Women are under so much pressure to create masterpieces (and even then, they get judged much more harshly) whereas men are not. And indeed, there's no shame in buying a male's music, so they get double the sales they would've got if they were female. That's why most women struggle to sell music. But it's not like there's much excuse considering that digital downloading enables you to buy whatever music you want without embarrassment in record shops and with headphones, no one needs to know what you're listening to. But still, there's a stigma around like female artists. Males are also generally seen as more cool whereas women are not. Apart from Beyonce, there's really no female artist who the public view as "boss." But there's loads of male artists that command respect, JT being one of them. It means that we're more conditioned to think of their music as good regardless of how bad it actually is. Me, I don't filter any kind of music through the subconscious like this. If you're good, you're good, if you're bad, you're bad. I don't care who you are. So, when I just speak my mind about music from these respected male artists like this, most people are taken aback because I've challenged the status quo of respecting the output of male artists. You don't see surprise like that when it's females.

[Spock 20,290]

12 hours ago, StrawberryBlond said:

The tastes of the public really baffle me. This is mediocre at best and sounds like the equally mediocre Can't Feel My Face. Why do people like this dull, bland, cheesy music? And more to the point, why would they actually want to dance to it? There's no story here, nothing exciting, it doesn't go anywhere, just mindless banality from start to finish.

It blows my mind how there are female artists coming out with masterpieces that can't crack the top ten and yet, a male artist makes a forgettable song in which he doesn't even need to try, he could have written in his sleep. And it becomes a big hit. How do male artists get away with releasing such s****y material? And actually get hits with it? HOW?!

Apologies for the meltdown, but OMFG you are SUCH a fun sucker. You LITERALLY manage to suck the fun out of everything. I get it's not to your taste, but do you REALLY have to make whiny posts for almost everything everytime? God. This is a song for a CHILDREN'S movie about trolls. Where you expecting some Kane West sized ****? Please, for your sake and ours go watch Pewee or something and consider your outlook on life

[JEWRJEWR 5,663]

10 hours ago, StrawberryBlond said:

The tastes of the public really baffle me. This is mediocre at best and sounds like the equally mediocre Can't Feel My Face. Why do people like this dull, bland, cheesy music? And more to the point, why would they actually want to dance to it? There's no story here, nothing exciting, it doesn't go anywhere, just mindless banality from start to finish.

It blows my mind how there are female artists coming out with masterpieces that can't crack the top ten and yet, a male artist makes a forgettable song in which he doesn't even need to try, he could have written in his sleep. And it becomes a big hit. How do male artists get away with releasing such s****y material? And actually get hits with it? HOW?!

says something is mediocre

 

has a lana del rey pic

 

 

lololololol

[shiptowreck 179]

I'm already demanding justice for Into You tbh 

[GagaMyBlood95 9,915]

It's really good, so JT style, I love it!

[StrawberryBlond 14,898]

10 hours ago, Spock said:

Apologies for the meltdown, but OMFG you are SUCH a fun sucker. You LITERALLY manage to suck the fun out of everything. I get it's not to your taste, but do you REALLY have to make whiny posts for almost everything everytime? God. This is a song for a CHILDREN'S movie about trolls. Where you expecting some Kane West sized ****? Please, for your sake and ours go watch Pewee or something and consider your outlook on life

I don't know if you're just joking or you're being genuinely rude. But that was very uncalled for. I don't do this to be mean, I'm just exercising my right to free speech, just like you. I don't care if it's for a kid's movie, that's no excuse for a song to be bad. There's no reason not to take a kid's movie seriously and I don't see why kids aren't required to have good songs in their movies as it can partly help the parents enjoy the film too.

9 hours ago, JEWRJEWR said:

says something is mediocre

 

has a lana del rey pic

 

 

lololololol

Personal opinion. Go look it up. Though I don't know how you can call a haunting voice, soaring beats and an artist who writes all her own work "mediocre."

[SychosSoChic 9,995]

I feel like we've heard this before

[Mister Gaga 22,931]

This is a huge mix of Get Lcuky + something that Maroon 5 would do + Feel So Close + Treasure + Back Together

[PopBitch 1,218]

I always love me some JT.  I really enjoyed it once I didn't watch the video and just focused on the song with no distractions. .  His voice sounds great and  a  great summer bop for sure.

But it's not his best.  It does make me want to go back and listen to Justin's last albums.  I haven't in a while.  

[JEWRJEWR 5,663]

2 hours ago, StrawberryBlond said:

Personal opinion. Go look it up. Though I don't know how you can call a haunting voice, soaring beats and an artist who writes all her own work "mediocre."

Her voice isnt anything impressive or out of this world, and her lyrics are the pits. I do appreciate when artists write their own stuff, but when it's good...

[CannaeDrive 3,412]

He has done better. Forgettable song.

[StrawberryBlond 14,898]

16 hours ago, JEWRJEWR said:

Her voice isnt anything impressive or out of this world, and her lyrics are the pits. I do appreciate when artists write their own stuff, but when it's good...

Look up her cover of Nirvana's Heart Shaped Box and check out her hold that long note live. She can do extended semi-operatic notes too. She's got a good voice when she performs for her fans. And I really wouldn't call the lyrics from Off To The Race, Gods And Monsters, West Coast and Honeymoon to be "the pits." She's one of the best songwriters around.