40 years from now...

[Pitty]

Off the top of my head, I can't think of a single Kanye West song.

I am not a fan of The Beatles, and off the top of my head I can probably name 30.

Kanye West will never be iconic. His music is not broad enough. I suppose he will be 'remembered', but I guess I was thinking bigger picture on this topic.

The Beatles have also been around for 50 years, and are the most popular airplay artist of all time. I don't see how a comparison can be made between a mythic band and someone who is only 5 albums into their career.

Let's get real here, saying that you can't name one Kanye song is hyperbole, or you live under a rock. Seeing a criticism of an artist based on arbitrary generalizations such as "his music isn't broad enough" when he has multiple #1 singles just doesn't make any sense,

As of May 2011, West currently has 4 songs above the 3 million mark with "Gold Digger" selling 3,086,000, "Stronger" selling 4,363,000, "Heartless" selling 3,742,000 and "E.T." selling 3,157,000 making him the top selling male digital artist of all time.

What exactly is the definition of broad? The guy is selling across all demos and is one of the most critically acclaimed artists in the world.

[Woy]

Eminem didn't go full retard? Everything after his first two albums are fucking awful. Jay-Z? Hasn't made a quality album since The Black Album. Artistic legacy isn't made on a couple of catchy songs Leftwich, but even if it is, Kanye has had enough top 10 hits to make your argument asinine.

Nah, American Gangster was a great album (a lot agree with me here) and The Blueprint 3 was solid (not as many agree with me here lol). You're right about Em now, but even so Em will most certainly be remembered in 40 years time because of his impact. I'm kinda embarrassed I didn't bring his name up earlier.

The two sure-fire locks from hip-hop to be remembered IMO would be Kanye and Em.

[Houston]

Rick Rubin will go down as one of the best producers ever.

[MvP]

Some of you are forgetting that Jay-Z has transcended past the title of "rapper", and will most likely be remembered for his business success equal to or even more so than his musical success.

[Leftwich]

Eminem didn't go full retard? Everything after his first two albums are fucking awful. Jay-Z? Hasn't made a quality album since The Black Album. Artistic legacy isn't made on a couple of catchy songs Leftwich, but even if it is, Kanye has had enough top 10 hits to make your argument asinine.

Look at it this way Pitty, if i listen to any song on a classic rock station I hear their most popular songs. When I hear Pink Floyd I hear "Time" and not "Us and Them" when I hear Led Zepplin I hear "Stairway" and not "Going to California".

The point I'm trying to make that the most popular songs by an artist last the test of time and in my honest opinion songs like "Gold Digger" and "Heartless" weren't nearly as popular as equal hits by Eminem or Jay Z. I understand your point about their legacy isn't made by their catchy songs because both Kanye and Eminem have songs way better than their mainstream shit on Mixtapes and albums but in 40 years, my kids and your kids aren't gonna know a god damn thing about them.

[leaffan]

Nobody has said Dave Matthews yet? Really?

You all are focusing too much on rap and too little on the rock of today or the past 10 years. We all know I hate Nirvana, but Nirvana will be remembered, as well as Pearl Jam and I'd even say the Goo Goo Dolls.

Dave Matthews music is horrible...

now that I got that out of my system I will agree with your second statement to a point. Pearl Jam is more of a generational thing but I doubt the goo goo dolls are going to be remembered for anything huge.

I will throw this out that music these days is kinda odd. I'm not up on my rap/pop music (mainly because i dislike it) but really most of the legends in rock/metal are bands that have been around for like 25+ years. Iron Maiden, Metallica, Ozzy ect will be standing the test of time (i think anyways) then what most are talking about in this thread.

[Warner2BruceTD]

The Beatles have also been around for 50 years, and are the most popular airplay artist of all time. I don't see how a comparison can be made between a mythic band and someone who is only 5 albums into their career.

Let's get real here, saying that you can't name one Kanye song is hyperbole, or you live under a rock. Seeing a criticism of an artist based on arbitrary generalizations such as "his music isn't broad enough" when he has multiple #1 singles just doesn't make any sense,

My point is i'm not a fan of either, yet I could rattle off most of the Beatles catalog and instantly recognize any of their songs. I honestly could not think of a single Kanye West song off the top of my head. This frustrated me to some degree, so I googled, and yes, I knew all of the songs, I recognized the them as hits, but for most (if not all) of them, had somebody asked me who the artist was I probably would not have known.

To be memorable or 'remembered', I would think your music is instantly recognizable by most people, even non fans.

What exactly is the definition of broad? The guy is selling across all demos and is one of the most critically acclaimed artists in the world.

My definition of broad is the "man on the street" test.

Most people wouldnt know Kanye West if they tripped over him on the sidewalk. Play his top 5 songs in a room full of 1,000 people, and do you think those songs would be instantly recognized by 99% of them as legendary Kanye West hits? Hold up his picture, how many would instantly recognize his image?

Now go try that with The Beatles or Madonna or The Rolling Stones or The Beach Boys or Nirvana or Elvis or even people like Brittany Spears or Eminem.

And critically acclaimed means nothing. The Velvet Underground is perhaps the most critically acclaimed musical act ever, and less than 1% of the population could pick them out of a lineup or name a single song.

West is a star within his bubble. His music does not have broad appeal and he will never be a mega star.

LIke I said earlier though, maybe i'm taking the idea of the thread to far. I guess you dont have to be iconic to be "remembered'. I feel like if West stopped making music tommorow, he'd largely become a footnote and nobody would be listening to his songs 10 years from now, let alone 40.

[Warner2BruceTD]

That's because musical taste shifts with time. I bet people in the 60's were saying the same thing as we shifted into hippie rock, or from rock into disco, or disco into new wave, etc.

Right.

Now name an iconic, memorable disco or new wave act.

During those eras, all of these genres were producing people who were very popular in their time and had critical and commericial success. But as their "bubble" faded, so did they.

Hi, Kanye!

[leaffan]

Right.

Now name an iconic, memorable disco or new wave act.

During those eras, all of these genres were producing people who were very popular in their time and had critical and commericial success. But as their "bubble" faded, so did they.

Hi, Kanye!

The Bee Gee's....

I agree with most of your arguement btw.

[Leftwich]

My point is i'm not a fan of either, yet I could rattle off most of the Beatles catalog and instantly recognize any of their songs. I honestly could not think of a single Kanye West song off the top of my head. This frustrated me to some degree, so I googled, and yes, I knew all of the songs, I recognized the them as hits, but for most (if not all) of them, had somebody asked me who the artist was I probably would not have known.

To be memorable or 'remembered', I would think your music is instantly recognizable by most people, even non fans.





My definition of broad is the "man on the street" test.

Most people wouldnt know Kanye West if they tripped over him on the sidewalk. Play his top 5 songs in a room full of 1,000 people, and do you think those songs would be instantly recognized by 99% of them as legendary Kanye West hits? Hold up his picture, how many would instantly recognize his image?

Now go try that with The Beatles or Madonna or The Rolling Stones or The Beach Boys or Nirvana or Elvis or even people like Brittany Spears or Eminem.

And critically acclaimed means nothing. The Velvet Underground is perhaps the most critically acclaimed musical act ever, and less than 1% of the population could pick them out of a lineup or name a single song.

West is a star within his bubble. His music does not have broad appeal and he will never be a mega star.

LIke I said earlier though, maybe i'm taking the idea of the thread to far. I guess you dont have to be iconic to be "remembered'. I feel like if West stopped making music tommorow, he'd largely become a footnote and nobody would be listening to his songs 10 years from now, let alone 40.

Heard of them but can't name a song.

Another person/band that will be remembered is Snoop Dogg... for Gin and Juice mainly.

[NAHSTE]

I know 40 years from now I'll still be listening to Nas and OutKast.

[strahanfan92]

Will Frank Sinatra be listened to 40 years from now?

[NAHSTE]

It will be interesting to see what an oldies station sounds like in two or three decades. Is Blink 182 and Rob Thomas going to be considered "classic rock"?

If so, kill me now.

[Houston]

Heard of them but can't name a song.

[relaxedanderson]

My definition of broad is the "man on the street" test.

Most people wouldnt know Kanye West if they tripped over him on the sidewalk. Play his top 5 songs in a room full of 1,000 people, and do you think those songs would be instantly recognized by 99% of them as legendary Kanye West hits? Hold up his picture, how many would instantly recognize his image?

Now go try that with The Beatles or Madonna or The Rolling Stones or The Beach Boys or Nirvana or Elvis or even people like Brittany Spears or Eminem.

And critically acclaimed means nothing. The Velvet Underground is perhaps the most critically acclaimed musical act ever, and less than 1% of the population could pick them out of a lineup or name a single song.

West is a star within his bubble. His music does not have broad appeal and he will never be a mega star.

LIke I said earlier though, maybe i'm taking the idea of the thread to far. I guess you dont have to be iconic to be "remembered'. I feel like if West stopped making music tomorow, he'd largely become a footnote and nobody would be listening to his songs 10 years from now, let alone 40.

Pretty much the point I was coming in to make.

All I'll add is that in order to be remembered and revered in the long run you have to do one of two things:

1) Die young

2) Survive your inevitable catastrophic fall from fashion.

Number 1 is always an option but number 2 is very difficult to achieve. Every artist with any sort of mainstream profile will at some point go through a period where they are regarded as a joke; where people are embarrassed to admit in public that they ever listened to them.

At the end of this period every last thing that the artist built their career around will have been stripped bare and all that is left is their music. If this music is good enough then it will be rediscovered and they will be reborn and live forever. If it isn't then the only way they will be remembered is as a joke.

The problem with current music is that the vast majority of it is image-based and these sort of acts don't tend to do very well when the lean times come around. Just look at how much effort goes into the sculpting of persona in pop, hip-hop and R&B; the music is almost an afterthought.

The clothes, the videos, the interviews, the attitude etc. WILL all look ridiculous in a few years time, it's unavoidable. In 15 years time Lady Gaga won't be looked upon as a great style icon of the 2010s...she will be laughed at, mercilessly. Kanye West WILL be regarded as a crushingly uncool twat (rather than just a twat like he is now), mainly by the children of the people currently worshipping him. Then the music will have to stand on its own two feet for the first time, and from what I've heard I'm not optimistic.

I'd say we're generally looking at the 2010 versions of Kajagoogoo or the Bay City Rollers.