The Year Hype And Imaging Took Over Critical Reviewing-2002 Music
Jan 11 '03 (Updated Jan 12 '03)
The Bottom Line This is my attempt to assess 2002 as objectively as possible.
2002 was a mixed blessing for me. On the one hand, hip-hop elite (with some newcomers) dropped albums that are sinfully listenable and solidly crafted. Scarface dropped the album of his career with The Fix. Newcomers Blackalicious not only made a stellar album, but are absolutely brilliant live. Played for 3 hours and I swear I didn't notice. Nas finally gave us what would have been the other 2 stars for the 3-star I Am with The Lost Tapes, adding fuel to the argument that bootlegging really did have a negative affect on an artist. This is the first year in I don't know how long when I spent more money on hip-hop than any other genre (underground notwithstanding). If you don't believe me take a look at mad's list. Hip-hop resurged this year, magnificently.
And on the other hand, music criticism finally bowed to the powers that be. Marketing and hype. Never before have I seen respected critics licking so much a**. The critical lauding of the "Anti-Britney's" is just offensive. A chick picks up a guitar and strums a few chords and I'm supposed to swoon? A girl digs into her collection and adopts the overused style of Alanis Morrisette and I'm supposed to hail her as the next big thing? An ex member of a decent enough boy band can't decide if he's hard or Michael Jackson or Stevie Wonder and I'm supposed to weep over the new wave of blue-eyed soul?
I don't think so.
I've never had much faith in critics before but this insane collective a**kissing of moderately talented people is really ridiculous. Essentially, they are just ushering in a new trend of music. It's the same thing they did with the teen pop boom. Keep it in the public conscious so that they buy it. Only now they are saying the music is good. So much more ridiculous. So they play acoustic instruments? Who cares. They don't play them well. So they write their own lyrics? Not nearly well enough. But it's the music we want people to buy. It brings together the indie rock types and the teenyboppers. It's "real". Gimme a break.
There was this article in the September 10, 2001 issue of Entertainment Weekly about Kurt Cobain's influence and the whole issue of trends. The writer came to the conclusion that his influence is really wrapped up in the insipid "alt-rock" trend left in his wake. Few if any of Cobain's contemporaries are still around, but plenty of the poseurs are. So what really did Nevermind accomplish? But the blame never really falls on the artist; Kurt would have hated most of the bands that aped his style. The blame falls on critics and the industry who take one person's style (or a group or area) and turn it into a "thing" and "trend".
Same thing is happening here. Most of these little girls would probably like Britney, except Avril who seems angry just to be angry. And the music is exactly the same except for the fact that they are using acoustic instruments and arent' dancing. Same generic teen girl ramblings and journal-like whimsy about love and heartbreak. So if there is no difference why is everyone swing from their crotches?
Simple. Media.
Anyway, I just had to get that off my chest. It's been buggin me for a while. 2002 was a very good year for music. Here's my two cents.
BEST ALBUM—Meshell N’degeocello, Cookie, The Anthropological Mixtape
I’ve always been a fan of Meshell, but there was always a personal dimension missing to her work before. But with Cookie, it is all there. This is a complex work. Built out of and around written works of everyone from Angela Davis to Gil Scott Heron, Meshell has charted black academic thought through music. And she manages to do it without pretention. Almost no one can say that in recent years. The analogy is astonishing from the retro feel of Dead N*igga Blvd to the funk of Pocketbook. It’s so complex that I’m running out of ways to really describe it. Meshell never falls to the back even though she sings more background and does more instrumental work than lead vocals. Her tracks reform and reshape the written word of each person and you rethink what those words mean. It’s a dangerous experiment, especially with such revered black scholars, but it works.
Runners up:
2. Scarface, The Fix
3. Raphael Saadiq, Instant Vintage
4. Heather Headly, This Is Who I Am
5. Nas, The Lost Tapes and God’s Son
6. The Roots, Phrenology
7. Slum Village, Trinity
8. Red Hot Chili Peppers, By The Way
9. X-ecutioners, Built From Scratch
10. (tie) Heather B Eternal Affairs TLC 3D
WORST ALBUM—Lauryn Hill, MTV Unplugged 2.0
Politically this album is a mess, and everyone has said that. But more than that, this album is a stunning example of what fame, self-loathing and insecurity, and a bad taste in revolutionist literature can do. Lauryn Hill paints herself a victim and she may be right. Fame is a b*tch. Lauryn Hill paints herself as reborn and she may be right. Too bad all this self examination is cast over half-baked musicianship, underwritten lyrics and genuine hate. It’s astonishingly bad and I don’t really want to say anymore.
Runners up:
2. Anything Puffy touches
3. Jaheim, Still Ghetto
4. Avril Lavigne, Let It Go
5. Kelly Rowland, Simply Deep
MOST DISAPPOINTING RELEASE—Justin Timberlake, Justified
Now that I’ve heard the record, I don’t exactly remember what I expected. But this definitely wasn’t it. And to make matters worst, this is one of the most critically lauded releases of 2002. It’s so very very dangerous. Once again, we are whitewashing the theft of black music and no one seems to care. The boy can sing. The boy can write. He just didn’t do it on this album.
Original review--http://www.epinions.com/content_81190817412
Runners up:
2. Kelly Rowland, Simply Deep
3. Eminem, The Eminem Show
4. The Strokes, Is This It
5. IndiaArie, Voyage To India
BEST NEWCOMER—Heather Headley, This Is Who I Am
Girl can SANG. And I wish that was enough to convince you because, in truth, there is nothing big, or dramatic, or revolutionary about her debut. There are no huge names, save Jimmy and Terry, and there are no real musical innovations. And that is where the beauty lies. Its just superbly crafted contemporary soul music. But what I loved about it was she found new ways to interpret the eternal themes of love. Every song is sung with such feeling, such emotion. Pick this up!
Runner up:
2. Blackalicious, Blazing Arrow
3. Norah Jones, Come Away With Me
FULFILLMENT OF POTENTIAL…FINALLY!!—Heather B, Eternal Affairs
It’s really too bad that people only know Heather as the sista from The Real World because she’s been puttin’ it down for a very long time in the rap game and she’s just never been able to pull it out. And more often than not, it had nothing to do with her. Public perception’s a b*tch and what she did on Eternal Affairs is ignore it. And behold, the best album of her career and a classic.
MOST OVERRATED ARTIST—Avril Lavigne and the “Anti-Britneys”
It blows my mind that people are falling for this crap. I say it again. Bad angry girl music is the same as bad teen pop. If you don’t agree then essentially you’re admitting that image is what attracts you. Which is really not a bad thing. It's fine, really, it only becomes a problem when you're argument against teen pop is that it's image based. Then you're a hypocrite. There is nothing all that great about her music. It’s banal (Skater Boi) and kinda silly (Mobile). I’m With You is sublime, but one song does NOT an album make. As far as Vanessa Carlton and Michelle Branch go lets just say this. Branch couldn’t hang with Santana, and although few can, it is proof that the accolades are a little premature. Sure her stuff is mildly catchy, but just as innocuous as Britney. Again, I’m not saying they aren’t talented, but we are talking about the product. They are probably equally as talented as Britney, but since they are doing “real” music how good or bad their work actually is has no meaning. They are different from the past 5 years and we all want something new right. All hail insipid rock chicks! The new Britneys!
2. The Strokes
3. No Doubt
4. Creed
5. Jay Z
BEST SINGLE OF THE YEAR-Truth Hurts, Addictive
It's honestly the most thrilling thing I've heard all year. I love the sample (even if they didn't clear it, hey, but who does). And I like Rakim's verse even if he reused a few bars. It's infectious in the best sense of the word and it's danceable without being mindless. That's saying something.
MOST ANNOYING SONG OF THE YEAR-Creed, Stand Here With Me and One Last Breath
I'm looking at those titles and I swear I have them wrong. Creed's latest work is so banal and heavy that I can't tell them apart. I liked the singles from Human Clay because I really thought they were passionate songs. But everything I've heard sounds exactly the same, but oddly, without the same kind of conviction. Are they manufacturing the image? Most likely not. But they are having trouble sustaining it musically.
GUILTY PLEASURE OF THE YEAR—Christina Aguilera, Beautiful
I hate myself for liking this song. It’s shamelessly manipulative and trite. And Christina’s not doing anything all that great vocally, but it gets me. Perhaps it’s the video. More than likely it is just an honest attempt at doing something meaningful. It doesn’t really work, but I gotta give her some love for even trying.
MOST SLEPT ON ALBUM OF THE YEAR—Raphael Saadiq, Instant Vintage
It could be that you didn’t like Tony Toni Toné. It could be that you side with Dawn and consider him a money hungry slug who kept all the money from Lucy Pearl. Or perhaps you missed Instant Vintage because it had almost no marketing behind it. To date, one video. For an artist of his caliber and track record that is just wrong. But really, it doesn’t matter because Saadiq has crafted a very good album that manages to not overuse anyone style of music. It’s not a very personal album in any conventional way and that distance makes it hard to listen to at times, but there is no mistaking that Saadiq is here to stay.
2. Heather B, Eternal Affairs
3. Scarface, The Fix
4. Heather Headley, This Is Who I Am
5. Blackalicious, Blazing Arrow
BEST HOLDOVER FROM LAST YEAR—Nas, Stillmatic
I won’t say much because Nas is dangerously close to overexposure, but this album is still going strong on my playlist and it was released so late in 2001. It’s almost as if Nas dropped 3 albums in a year. Never has a prolific artist had this great a year. Kudos
BEST REMIX—Meshell Ndegeocello, Pocketbook featuring Redman and Tweet remixed by Rockwilder
BEST VIDEO OF THE YEAR—Meshell Ndegeocello, Pocketbook
The remix is really nothing more than a good verse from Redman and Rockwider's bassline, but that's enough to take a more introspective song and make it a genuine clubbanger. Her tongue in cheek video spoof of all the bling bling and self promotion of music video is just brilliant. It's been done (most notably by The Roots), but watch Meshell frolic with scantily clad girls with shirts that say BUY MY ALBUM. It’s hilarious, self-deprecating, and a fitting concept for the song. Nuf said.
WORST TREND OF THE YEAR—Artists screwing up and public’s self-righteous indictments as a result.
Never has a year been more ugly in terms of the pedestal-tossing of celebrities than 2002. Unfortunately, it’s been a ridiculous year for our former idols and media darlings. Mariah continues to kill her career, Whitney wipes white stuff from her nose and we aren’t supposed to notice, R. Kelly fights a disgusting sickness, and Michael Jackson continues to be the best example of how detrimental a life in the spotlight as an insecure black man really is. And the media and public is right there with their righteous indignation. It is almost as if we, collectively, were personally assaulted by these artists' screwups. I've never heard such hate coming from people, critics, listeners and artists alike. It's really really disgusting. Are they all guilty of something? Well, yes. But the only reason why anyone has anything to say is because we love to knock down a celebrity. And I’m sure I’ll get hate mail. But it’s true. What right have we to judge blah blah blah. It’s hard being in the spotlight blah blah blah. I just realized I’m fighting a loosing battle.
Runners-up
2. The solo debuts of members of vocal groups.
So that is the year. I can’t really say much else, except that I hope some of this is informative. I hate concluding reviews…
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Epinions.com ID:
tigger500
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