I’m still in a state of shock that Chinese Democracy is in the shops. I’m not sure I’ll even believe it until I walk into a record store and actually see it for myself. Amongst the rock crowd’s collective gasp Jimmy Iovine may have hoped the news that Hip Hop’s most anticipate, Detox, wasn’t going to drop this side of Christmas may go unannounced.
The good Dr. would do well to take a note of the reception that Chinese Democracy has received. I’ve not heard it yet but the reaction across the net seems to be one of resound mediocrity. Not something you would have ever associated with G’n’R in the late 80s. Nor is it something that anyone wants to hear from an album 14 years in the making. You want spine tingling, head nodding, juice flow inducing sounds. Can he (or more accurately the team of beat makers and ghost writers he surrounds himself with) really supply this?
Of course we’d all like to think so but the fact is that with every year that passes the bar gets higher. You simply cannot keep an audience waiting for a decade and expect them to cheer you when you hit the stage. This is the lesson that Mr Rose will be learning as he leafs through his press.
In Dre’s defence, unlike Axl Rose, he has played the waiting game before and with great success. 2001 redefined the sound of Hip Hop and for several years the west coast rapped in its shadow. But if he comes out with anything less than diamond edged excellence it will be a let down on an astronomical level.
It’s a gamble between taking an unprecedented step into the history books for reinventing Hip Hop on three occasions, or being painted as the sort of crazy ego-maniac that records for ten years to merely attain average. Either way, we’ve had enough waiting, the time has come for Dre to roll those dice.
Of course we’d all like to think so but the fact is that with every year that passes the bar gets higher. You simply cannot keep an audience waiting for a decade and expect them to cheer you when you hit the stage. This is the lesson that Mr Rose will be learning as he leafs through his press.
In Dre’s defence, unlike Axl Rose, he has played the waiting game before and with great success. 2001 redefined the sound of Hip Hop and for several years the west coast rapped in its shadow. But if he comes out with anything less than diamond edged excellence it will be a let down on an astronomical level.
It’s a gamble between taking an unprecedented step into the history books for reinventing Hip Hop on three occasions, or being painted as the sort of crazy ego-maniac that records for ten years to merely attain average. Either way, we’ve had enough waiting, the time has come for Dre to roll those dice.
Image by jereon020
2 comments:
Another good un - I wish I did more opinion posts on current things!
It's the way to go so i'm told. Got to have the time to write about it is the tough one.
Cheers
Post a Comment