I don't think there is any way, or value to be blunt, to answer this correctly. Bands like The Beatles and Nirvana weren't really viewed as visionaries, or pioneers, or really anything beyond the new "thing" during their time. Heck, the year Abbey Road came out, Sugar, Sugar was the #1 song. Everyone ragged on Paul McCartney's solo music as the worst thing ever made. And people thought Beatles For Sale was going to mark their downfall. People familiar with Grunge knew that Nirvana was nothing special, they were just a streamlined and radio-friendly Mudhoney. The real visionaries like Mother Love Bone, Tad, and The Melvins never achieved near the level of fame. Similarly, a lot of the "trailblazing" The Beatles were credited with had been done by Zappa beforehand. Remember, Freak Out! came out before Sgt. Peppers. And to take it back even further, the common people weren't listening to Mozart or Beethoven, that was the music of the very upper crust of society. The common people were more likely to be entertained by local minstrels or vaudevilles (which admittedly Mozart did participate a in a bit). But because there was so much money thrown at Mozart and Beethoven their works survived and were preserved. This isn't to say they aren't amazing and groundbreaking artists, but they were a huge outlier in a world of a very different kind of music. "Classical" (to keep it simple) was never the common and general style of music. So which artists will be remembered? The most popular who can be easily tagged onto a movement. I love Kanye, but I imagine he'll be tagged onto the Alternative Hip-Hop movement that toppled Gangsta Rap in the early 00's. He didn't necessarily trailblaze, but he was original, fresh, and most importantly, insanely popular. Similarly, Jack White, while not really doing anything new or very special, will likely be tagged as popularizing the Garage Rock revival. tl;dr: it comes down to a combination of popularity and timing. If you're popular enough at the coming tide of a new sound, you'll be remembered.
'Nother thing about Kanye was that he made it cool to be a sensitive rapper in a male, misogynistic, violent genre of music. Without Kanye, there'd be no Gambino, and the other artists that followed. That being said, while Kanye will forever be immortalized in hiphop, JayZ will probably be remembered in future generations by more than just intense hiphop listeners. I also vote Michael Jackson.
Michael Jackson and Prince without a doubt. And you're definitely on point with Kanye, emotional rappers like Drake and Kid Cudi, may've been doing it at the same time, but definitely wouldn't've been so popular without Kanye. Even with the ego, he showed an emotional, insecure, and hypocritical side that a lot of rappers would've avoided. Personally, I love both styles, but I probably wouldn't've gotten into the genre without his influence. I also agree with Jay-Z, with the only stipulation being that his spotty discography may be a bit of a black mark. However, The Who and Queen have atrocious discographies and they're still remembered fondly.
Agreed on Mike oh and Prince. Edit: added oh and Prince.
Honest question: Why do people enjoy Kanye? I really like Gambino, but I just can't take Kanye seriously when his lyrics include "I Am A God, Hurry up with my damn massage ... hurry up with my damn croissants". Maybe that's the point and I'm just missing it?
Shit is smart, yo. It's not always smart and it's not always good. But I think that's part of the hook. I also think a lot of young African American men may feel like they are able to relate to Kanye. This is a shot in the dark however as I fit only the descriptor of "young" above and cannot expect to accurately know the experience of this collective group of people or its members. "Oh my god is that a black card?" "I turned around and replied "Why yes, but I prefer the term African American Express"
Thank you for your response, and I didn't even think about the common folk of the past not having access to artists like Mozart. I think that has a lot to do with the "disposable" nature of music today. Anyone from a millionaire to a poor college student has access to such a vast variety of artists, that things are only "popular" for about a month, then forgotten. (Gagnam style for example)
I would almost argue that music of their time was even more disposable, just in a different way. The common artists had no way to record, and usually didn't have the education to write it down. So music lived and thrived in a live setting, but could then be forgotten. As much as I love music and the physical medium, something about that just seems so special. Every performance is different and original, and definitely improvised upon. It's been awhile since my music theory and music history classes, but we had an extensive portion on secular music during medieval and renassaince times, and it was so different; the sound was really more comparable to Bluegrass or squaredancing. Although, I dunno, I'm iffy on big picture questions about art, like this. It's fun to discuss and analyze, but I'm also afraid it will color people's opinions more than it should. In the end, it doesn't matter if an artist is a trailblazer or totally disposable, if it's entertaining or it speaks to you, it's important. I don't mind my CD case having Chopin's complete works sit next to Katy Perry's Prism. They both have their own place and importance, and I wouldn't give up either. EDIT: To clarify, I think beyond analyzing certain trends, art is much better discussed on an individual basis. I don't like terms like "disposable" because they can so easily invalidate the opinion of someone whom that song deeply touched, silly as it may seem.
Yeah man I totally get what you're saying, something disposable to me may be a most coveted artist by another. I happen to love anything, and to use your example, dont mind my Cannibal Corpse album followed by my Johnny Cash album, followed by my Deadmau5 album. It is a personal thing.
That is what I miss the most about having a physical media for music. 33,000 songs on an iPod is cool, but staring at a wall of CDs/Vinyl just has this majestic nature to it.
Moving was a bitch, but I'm glad I kept them. 4 bookcases of CDs, a rack of tapes, and several milk crates of vinyl make my favorite room in the house. I just wish I could afford a decent speaker setup beyond an old guitar amp... And hey, at least you can organize your iTunes and make it all pretty! Physical media aside, I spent a week doing that and am so glad I did.
>old guitar amp... Haha, I've been there. I think speaker set up also has a lot to do with situation. When I have a cook out at home, I have an old crappy mono speaker radio on my deck. The quality sucks, but the tinny crackle of the speaker, while enjoying a beer, and grilling some food just sets the mood perfectly. I also have a $330 Sony speaker system inside, so when I want to hear the whole piece, I still can.
Our house has a pretty open floor plan, so I've got the amp set in an end table (which it fits snug in, thankfully) with an old 100-disc CD changer and tape deck on top of it in our living room. My wife and I will load up the CD player (25 mine, 25 her, and so on) and let it play all day. The sound quality isn't bad, but it'll be so nice when we can finally get a real speaker setup. Someday, but it's hard to reconcile A) less music, better sound or B) more music, the sound we're used to. I'm not great with money.
That is a tough one, but I think I'd go with option B.
>Now I just need the audio cable replaced for the 3rd time on my record player. Damn rabbit. Kids too man. I built a $2100 laptop, only to have my 2 year old son at the time think it was a good idea to grab my large cup of orange juice all over it.
Oof, thankfully our 1-month old isn't quite a hellion yet. But this rabbit has caused us to replace 7 phone chargers, a hair straightener, several video game cords, 2 alarm clocks, and who knows what else in the past year. Seriously, never get a rabbit without severely bunny-proofing your house. Thankfully we learned.
Luckily I can't own any rodent due to the smell driving my pet python crazy, but the cat has a good time with all of my cords too. Congrats on the new baby!
Our cat goes crazy hunting down the rabbit, but thankfully he's a Flemish Giant, so he can take the cat. And thanks!
Holy shit! If I saw that thing I'd definitely think twice, as a human!