Lil Nas X comes back and teases new music

[Night Vision 3,068]

3 minutes ago, TortureMeOnReplay said:

Gaga had the vocal ability to actually back up her antics though. I guess if you call not being able to hold notes and issues with breath control subjective then I guess to certain people he could be a well rounded artist. 

 

As for the "gay black performer", that's you boxing him up, not anybody else here. Nobody mentioned anything about his race or sexuality. But we can talk about it. I listen to plenty of black artists. And yes I have criticisms for them too. Just like I do with white artists. I'm not expecting either to be perfect, nor do I feel that I'm being particularly harsh on either race. I feel that if an artist can't perform their own work then it's a huge turn off. For example, Gaga's 911 performance was off-putting and I can't listen to the song without thinking about it. As for the gay portion, I've always wanted a gay artist to really become successful. Yes there's guys like Elton, but it's not quite the same as he isn't a typical pop star nor somebody that represents my generation. 

 

LNX had the longest running single before coming out because of Tik Tok and his multiple remixes. Yes the song was catchy and it was "good", but one song doesn't make an artist either. Let's not act like 7 sold that well. Rodeo, despite featuring Cardi B and then being remixed with Nas, peaked at #22.  Holiday, the single following 7, peaked at #37. Sun Goes Down peaked at #66. 

But again, debating his skills as a performer has nothing to do with the debate on him only being successful due to "shock value", I'm not sure why you think it's relevant. It's a subjective opinion, you may think he's not a good performer, other people do. And please don't try to lecture about "boxing him up", when none of the white, straight artists on the scene right now are being accused of only being where they are because of "shock value", it's giving gaslighting

[Future Lovers 6,926]

10 hours ago, TortureMeOnReplay said:

I'm so very tired of this forum hiding an artist behind their minority label every. Single. Time. there's some sort of criticism about them. I don't get why there wasn't even a single question before saying that it was just homophobia. You know Lil Nas X has used more things for publicity than just his sexuality right? The SNL ripped pants, the Satan shoes and lawsuit, etc. Every week it was something else with him in the news, but the man simply cannot perform live whatsoever. Unless he's doing something with some sort of shock value, his music isn't selling. And that's evident from his music video views. 

He's had plenty of success without shock value though? The album sold very well on the strength of two hit singles, only one of which proved to be controversial in any way. The album earned widespread critical acclaim which is not something that every artist can say, especially a male artist, and especially when his most commercially successful song received incredibly mixed responses critical.

Now he's gone on to secure himself major Grammy nominations, earn multiple songs with over a billion streams, is one of the most listened to artists in the world despite not being in the news at all for a few months now, has a song not only still in the top 10 but reaching a new peak despite him being MIA as it was happening. 

I really don't see how you can look at all of that and say that he has nothing without the shock value when he's outdoing most of his peers male and female alike in pretty much every department? 

Also, the music video views thing is a tired argument as everyone's video views are down significantly and have been going down for years. Looking at the biggest artists in the world right now: Dua Lipa, Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, The Weeknd, of them not a single one of them has been able to hit 600 million views on the videos for their biggest recent songs (Levitating, Blinding Lights, ATW10MV, Happier Than Ever). The closest of all of these  is Blinding Lights with 561 million views. Are those poor figures by any stretch? No, not at all. Would one expect it to be higher considering it's the longest running top 10 hit of all time that has been universally acclaimed by audiences and critics alike and is one of the most streamed songs of all time? Yes, you 100% would. 

Videos are not things that general audiences pay much attention to anymore, it's rare that a video for a big current hit pulls in the sort of views that videos for big current hits of even just 4 or 5 years ago did. The only videos hitting a billion views now are songs that are years old. People primarily look to streaming now, music video stats are quickly becoming an irrelevant metric. 

[AsleepOnTheCeiling 6,417]

13 hours ago, Night Vision said:

But again, debating his skills as a performer has nothing to do with the debate on him only being successful due to "shock value", I'm not sure why you think it's relevant. It's a subjective opinion, you may think he's not a good performer, other people do. And please don't try to lecture about "boxing him up", when none of the white, straight artists on the scene right now are being accused of only being where they are because of "shock value", it's giving gaslighting

Sorry if my comments came off as gaslighting, that wasn't my intent. I definitely have criticisms about white male artists as well, although they're not the topic at hand. 

6 hours ago, No Way Home said:

He's had plenty of success without shock value though? The album sold very well on the strength of two hit singles, only one of which proved to be controversial in any way. The album earned widespread critical acclaim which is not something that every artist can say, especially a male artist, and especially when his most commercially successful song received incredibly mixed responses critical.

Now he's gone on to secure himself major Grammy nominations, earn multiple songs with over a billion streams, is one of the most listened to artists in the world despite not being in the news at all for a few months now, has a song not only still in the top 10 but reaching a new peak despite him being MIA as it was happening. 

I really don't see how you can look at all of that and say that he has nothing without the shock value when he's outdoing most of his peers male and female alike in pretty much every department? 

Also, the music video views thing is a tired argument as everyone's video views are down significantly and have been going down for years. Looking at the biggest artists in the world right now: Dua Lipa, Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, The Weeknd, of them not a single one of them has been able to hit 600 million views on the videos for their biggest recent songs (Levitating, Blinding Lights, ATW10MV, Happier Than Ever). The closest of all of these  is Blinding Lights with 561 million views. Are those poor figures by any stretch? No, not at all. Would one expect it to be higher considering it's the longest running top 10 hit of all time that has been universally acclaimed by audiences and critics alike and is one of the most streamed songs of all time? Yes, you 100% would. 

Videos are not things that general audiences pay much attention to anymore, it's rare that a video for a big current hit pulls in the sort of views that videos for big current hits of even just 4 or 5 years ago did. The only videos hitting a billion views now are songs that are years old. People primarily look to streaming now, music video stats are quickly becoming an irrelevant metric. 

I was specifically talking about his music videos, I know there's no sense in talking about videos from years ago. Take for example Industry Baby vs. Sun Goes Down. But I will say Sun Goes Down is doing really well. Thanks for being respectful and bringing a great argument. 

[Fanta 5,019]

Nas is good at what he does, but he pretty much does rely on 'shock factor' to sell his image. In a way, a lot of it is unwarranted because it's only 'shocking' because he's gay (sexy performances but it's men with men, naked gay man, pregnant man meme) - and he uses it to his advantage instead of letting it bring him down. I'd say good for him, he built himself up amidst all the ridicule and the unnecessary critiques.

However, when all is said and done, you have to be able to provide substance to back up and solidify all the theatrics and the drama. What made Gaga stand out was her immense dedication and immersion into her craft, throughout all the different fields in her career. Nas does a lot of things simply because, well... "shocking!". And for that reason alone...

[ThisGuyTony 30,727]

King of gay rap coming to save the charts.

[djBuffoon 12,123]

22 hours ago, Babel said:

Hopefully he has improved his craft and it’s not going to keep being based only on shock value. 

His most recent album scored critical and commercial acclaim. Your opinion is your opinion, but I'm not sure what metrics you're basing this on.