Hmm, you guys are starting to piss me off now, man. Why is it that people who claim to like and KNOW music so much are misinformed about so much of it. Did I or did I not just spend 3 whole days with guys who kept telling me: That they stole that record from that guy? How did the O’Jays steal the melody for Backstabbers from Angie Stone? One record came out in like 1976 and the other in 2002. How did Teena Marie steal "Ooh Lalala" from the Fugees? Come on people. One record came out in 1996 and the other one in like 1988. How can you steal a record if the you recorded it first? Now I m not totally against sampling sometimes you can get a nice new record out of it. Kanye West prove me on this. For example he took Distant Lover by Marvin Gaye and make Graveyard Shift, also Spirit in the Dark by Aretha Franklin and made a nice record with it. But sometimes it s just a lack of creativity. I ll give it to the Southern rappers for not using samples that much and making their own music, but I ll take it away because the lyrics are mostly DOO DOO Du Jour. And sometimes the music isn’t that tight.
I don’t think the tirade is out of entirely out of place. I mean in all forms of music its not that good. And what is good is hard to come across. That’s why most of us spend so much time digging in the crates. You know DITC, right? Listening to vaulted records by masters of music. In my case it’s the 1970s, Curtis Mayfield, Marvin Gaye, Barry White, Al Green, Chaka Khan, Gladys Knight et alumni. Why or how could people still be interested in records made essentially 30-30+ years ago? It’s the melody, rhythm sections, the lyrics, the arrangements. Some of the new guys today can get there but its like comparing the Grand Canyon to a sinkhole in your backyard. Its something like it but…I can mention some of the new guys that are doing it well, but I wont because this is a tribute to the greatness of the musicians who came before.
Man, don’t get me started on Spanish language music. There hasn’t been a fresh idea in Tropicale since 1983. Everyone reveres the sound of Fania even though the artists of Fania left the decade broke as fuck. Some Jewish guy made off with all the masters which he owns to this day. And every royalty generated from radio airplay goes to him not the artist. Its one of them chicken home roosting things though. They were presented with the option of going to Gamble in Philadelphia International or Gordy at Motown. They chose not to be affiliated with a Black Label or the "Black Sound" and got robbed by someone who had their "best interests" in mind. And by the middle of the decade had to backtrack because the only guys paying were Casablanca and Salsoul in NYC, PI and Philly Groove in Philly, and Motown and 20th Century now in LA. Don’t think so? Listen to the arrangements on the disco records and the arrangements on "Calle Luna, Calle Sol" and "Smarty Pants". You can hear the similarities only real difference-stronger percussion section in "Smarty Pants" and stronger piano section in "Calle Luna, Calle Sol". Still call and response vocal section with strong lead vocals. People know. By the end of the 1970s the Philadelphia Sound was killing them out there. It had the same dance rhythm as Fania but lyrics that could be generally understood by most. Along with the harder percussion and short horn interludes it made the record easier to extend and mix in the danceteria. I know most latinos don’t want to hear that but cant prove otherwise. The premise is that Tropicale(Salsa) has been improved on since 1983, while it hasn’t. Musicians still use the same melodies that they were using 20 years ago with changing only the chord structures barely. Any Spanish language musician that attempts to progress the music is charged with selling out. And then came Reggaeton. Oh lord! Need I say more? This isn’t even good reggae. While in reggae they used dub plates so many artists could record a record using the same rhythm. OK, OK. But dammit every one in a while a guy cuts a new plate and they start over again. Why is it in Reggaeton every record sounds the same? And why are the lyrics so DOO DOO Du Jour? What can save Reggaeton? Easing its way back to rap en espanol. There are radio stations that program reggaeton all day. Here is a plug to 2 cool radio stations: WDAS 105.3 and WRNB 107.9 FM, Philadelphia. To date I know they have competitors but no does it better, which is odd because DAS is a Clear Channel unit and RNB is a Radio One operation. Usually these corporate stations can screw up anything with focus groups and marketing surveys. If you know a good station let me know.