Miguel
Rock & Rant: short and sweet bits on music industry related topics.
Until recently, I had only heard of Miguel in passing. I didn’t know any of his songs or even what he looked like. I saw him perform his latest single, “Adorn,” on a talk show and I was immediately intrigued. Listening to his interview, he had an affinity for 70’s R&B and had been compared to Prince (I wasn’t sure if it was because of his eccentricities or music, however). I enjoyed the performance and planned to check out his new album, “Kaleidoscope Dream.” I eagerly listened, expecting the record to be as refreshing as his TV appearance, but I was disappointed to hear tacky lyrics over intoxicating musicality. Miguel was giving me the same mindless, romance-less, childish, over-sexualized banter that other male R&B crooners, like Trey Songz, have been giving me. I’m not sure what killed R&B, but something did. The days where mainstream R&B was memorable, innovative and affecting seem to be gone at moment. Most current R&B albums are generic, basic and unmoving. It’s almost as if they’re built around 1 or 2 commercially-appealing singles and the rest is a wash. They sound like no real effort is put into the production or lyrics, not to mention most of talent is mediocre. Records by the males are all about arrogance and one-night stands and the females sing about cute clothes and broken-hearts. Some argue that the integration of R&B into contemporary pop and hip-hop in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s saturated the sound and the genre lost its way. What do you think?
Until recently, I had only heard of Miguel in passing. I didn’t know any of his songs or even what he looked like. I saw him perform his latest single, “Adorn,” on a talk show and I was immediately intrigued. Listening to his interview, he had an affinity for 70’s R&B and had been compared to Prince (I wasn’t sure if it was because of his eccentricities or music, however). I enjoyed the performance and planned to check out his new album, “Kaleidoscope Dream.” I eagerly listened, expecting the record to be as refreshing as his TV appearance, but I was disappointed to hear tacky lyrics over intoxicating musicality. Miguel was giving me the same mindless, romance-less, childish, over-sexualized banter that other male R&B crooners, like Trey Songz, have been giving me. I’m not sure what killed R&B, but something did. The days where mainstream R&B was memorable, innovative and affecting seem to be gone at moment. Most current R&B albums are generic, basic and unmoving. It’s almost as if they’re built around 1 or 2 commercially-appealing singles and the rest is a wash. They sound like no real effort is put into the production or lyrics, not to mention most of talent is mediocre. Records by the males are all about arrogance and one-night stands and the females sing about cute clothes and broken-hearts. Some argue that the integration of R&B into contemporary pop and hip-hop in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s saturated the sound and the genre lost its way. What do you think?
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