Death of Jay-Z’s influence
July 8th, 2009 by Ben Westhoff in Music newsJay-Z used his appearance at last month’s Summer Jam concert to perform the first single from his upcoming The Blueprint 3 album, “D.O.A (Death of Auto-Tune).” The beat is nice, particularly the improv jazz-style opening and squealing electric guitar hook, and hell, I suppose Jay’s many years of hit making give him the right to compare himself to Sinatra.
The song’s premise is dubious, however. By denouncing the robotic-sounding vocal effect that’s ubiquitous on hip-hop radio, Jay is clearly trying to stay ahead of the curve. But in the process he’s demonstrating how out of touch he’s become.
For starters, it’s clear that Auto-Tune isn’t going away just yet. Many folks have noted that Hot 97 — Summer Jam’s sponsor — was playing Auto-Tuned tracks within a half hour of “D.O.A.”’s debut. One of the song’s producers, Kanye West, is one of Auto-Tune’s biggest proponents, for chrissakes.
Still, there’s no doubt that Auto-Tune will die off eventually. As with disco and nu-metal, it will inspire a massive backlash and we’ll all get on with our lives. Personally, I’ll miss it; I’m a huge 808s & Heartbreak fan and think that, when used right, the effect can make a track bigger and more fun. I don’t think it’s a panacea for rap’s problems, but I strongly disagree with those people, like Jay, who maintain that it’s somehow harming the genre.
Saying Auto-Tune is bad for hip-hop is like saying Hammer pants were bad for hip-hop. Sure, both are gimmicky, easily-caricatured and won’t (or haven’t) aged well, but so what? They’re fun and harmless quirks of their respective eras, which is why our kids will one day play T-Pain songs at their ironic parties and have a good laugh. Just like snap music didn’t kill off hip hop, Auto-Tune won’t either.
But back to “D.O.A.,” which is clearly less about the current state of mainstream rap than Jay’s (increasingly irrelevant) place in it. Don’t get me wrong, his recent deals with Live Nation, Atlantic and Sony show that he’s going to be a business force to be reckoned with for some time. But trends aren’t on his side. He’s about to turn 40 — pretty much uncharted territory for commercially-viable rappers — and most everything he represents is on the outs, be it lyrically-minded east coast hip-hop, drug-dealing stories, or “concept” albums.
“D.O.A.” shows Jay grasping at straws and struggling to maintain his relevancy. Only a few years ago, when he was 36, he was claiming “30 is the new 20.” That was annoying enough, but he’s since morphed into a crotchety old man yelling at rambunctious children in front of his house. “Get off my lawn!” he screams, secretly envying their youthful spirit.
Jay-Z with Ciara and Fabolous. $53-$253. 7:30 p.m. Sun., July 12. Chastain Park Amphitheater. 404-733-4900. www.livenation.com.
July 9th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
It appears that you must be an autotune lover. I believe hip hop needs some sort of catalyst other than a voice altering tool to sell records. What ever happen to originality? When it returns so will record sales, concerts and respect for ALL artists. Lastly, how do you diss a living icon? Please…… Jay not a trendsetter? Who do you think brings the ruckus every time he releases a single? Open up your ears my friend, turn down your radio and give props where its due! One love………..
September 17th, 2009 at 1:30 am
While you may be familiar with pop culture, your article makes it clear that you are very much unfamiliar with hiphop as well as the artist in question, Jay-Z.
Since his 1st album, Reasonable Doubt, which debuted in 1996, Jay has estabished himself as one of the best hiphop artists to date. Brands that he covets see increases in sales, producers featured on his album rise from obscurity and artists who throw dirt on his name via song soon turn to dust. How could you say that he’s not a trendsetter or better yet relevant?!
For over 10 years, he’s dropped albums with multiple hits featuring known and unknown hiphop artists, as well as artists outside the hiphop realm. And in case you haven’t noticed, those tracks are hot.
As hiphop has gained commercial popularity, it has also been slow to evolve. Large companies continue to sell as much as they can, however they can. What does that mean for hiphop? It encourages artists to use whatever gimmick they can to sell records, which is good for business, but not necessarily good for the progression of hiphop itself. The gimmick known as auto-tune, resurrected by T-Pain, has run a muck around 2005. Hiphop and autotune have made some great memories together and now its time to move on, not just because Jay says so, but because people are tired of hearing it all the time. D.O.A. is simply reflection of that sentiment.
In the future, write about topics that you do know well, and do better research. Or as Jay would say “stick to the script”.