What's hot?

[God]

I know this sounds like a dumb question but it's worth asking - since you never know what's out there. (Yes, yes - I know your record is hot, but TRENDS people... or anything going on socially with music... what's hot?)

For example, learning about hyphy before hyphy went mainstream - that was found out by asking a similar question.

Learning about the backpacker movement when it was still in its infancy - that that was found out by asking a similar question.

Learning that girls in the teen demo want an "Avril Lavigne" of hiphop - that was found out by asking a similar question. (Guess who is trying to fill that role.)

What are you guys hearing... what's going on? What city is hot now? What country is hot now? Are we using Japanese pop samples in hiphop?

Millions of dollars are spent on "youth demographic research" where companies are paid for "business intelligence" on similar shit.

But what's hot? Does Boston have an Irish/Jamaican M.C. spitting lyrics in triplets over bongos?

What's hot?

EDIT: Please don't say that "Lil' Wayne" is hot, or Auto-Tuning vocals is hot right now. We ALL know that. I'm talking about what's under the radar... like a trend with Chinese MC's - or using 90's big beat with symphonic music that's a trend in BFE, Alabama.

This could also be a discussion for exchanging ideas with all the cats in Illmuzik. I remember when rappers started wearing rocker clothes. That shit was known instantaneously as soon as it hit NYC.

Illmuzik could know about trends BEFORE they happen. SHARE ideas...

 

[classic]

I dont know if its a trend but im noticing more and more Live instramentation .. i see it more and more these days espically with the whole sample thing, seems like everything is going back to its roots..... Does that count?

class..

 

[Kontents]

^^^

word. I think a new trend would be smart people.. and politics.

 

[KurtisRich]

This is what I'm noticing. Ofcourse, definitely more synths for sure. More catchy hooks. More collaborations rock, hip hop, r&b, pop.. etc. More classic dance/house samples. Throwback sounds of the 50's & 60's era. I notice the music is getting more creative, crazy,& more intense. I'm noticing a lot more artists are putting in work instead of just rapping/singing... they're actually producing everything. I also notice a lot of songs have a 80's feel to it but with a new millenium twist... and more futuristic. Oh yea... and a lot of throwback artists are putting out new albums and they actually sound good and getting a lot of plays in the clubs. Artists such as Brandy, Slim, Q, and Raphael Saadiq just to name a few. A lot of people r switching over from analog to digital.


Oh yea.... Wayfarers sunglasses are also hott lol

I feel music is unpredictable at the moment. It's changing too damn fast.

 

[God]

I dont know if its a trend but im noticing more and more Live instramentation .. i see it more and more these days espically with the whole sample thing, seems like everything is going back to its roots..... Does that count?

Classic:

class..

Live instrumentation a la The Roots - or something else? I assume you're talking about live instrumentation on the tracks themselves... but NOT sampled tracks.

That's good. I'm thinking a full album with live instrumentation. A take on that would be done that's also dumbed down enough for Top 40. It would be refreshing to hear a good studio drummer instead of a Motif-crafted beat.

I like the idea.

^^^

word. I think a new trend would be smart people.. and politics.

Kontents:
As much as I agree with you - there are two ways to take this.

First, you can say that an act like this would be in the vein of Public Enemy or NWA. That would be refreshing indeed.

Secondly, Top 40 rarely touches politics, it's like a third rail. If the rapper or group would have a different "sound" to them instead of just being political - maybe it would be different. If it doesn't, it just sounds like pandering to WANT to sound political.

What's crazy is in hard economic times, people actually want to hear lame shit, like love songs or bubblegum type shit. But I think there's a definite opening for a Public Enemy-type group.

Good suggestion.

This is what I'm noticing. Ofcourse, definitely more synths for sure. More catchy hooks. More collaborations rock, hip hop, r&b, pop.. etc. More classic dance/house samples. Throwback sounds of the 50's & 60's era. I notice the music is getting more creative, crazy,& more intense. I'm noticing a lot more artists are putting in work instead of just rapping/singing... they're actually producing everything. I also notice a lot of songs have a 80's feel to it but with a new millenium twist... and more futuristic. Oh yea... and a lot of throwback artists are putting out new albums and they actually sound good and getting a lot of plays in the clubs. Artists such as Brandy, Slim, Q, and Raphael Saadiq just to name a few. A lot of people r switching over from analog to digital.


Oh yea.... Wayfarers sunglasses are also hott lol

I feel music is unpredictable at the moment. It's changing too damn fast.

What do you mean by "switching over from analog to digital"? Practically everything you hear is made on a digital workstation. Don't think I understand, please elaborate.

 

[classic]

Live instrumentation a la The Roots - or something else? I assume you're talking about live instrumentation on the tracks themselves... but NOT sampled tracks.

That's good. I'm thinking a full album with live instrumentation. A take on that would be done that's also dumbed down enough for Top 40. It would be refreshing to hear a good studio drummer instead of a Motif-crafted beat.

I like the idea.


.

Shamless plug.. well im working on something like that right now, Me(pianist/ producer) and my good friend Seon(guitarist/songwriter) have been working on a live instramentation album for a couple of months now..We call ourselves Nicoluas Kopernicus(inside joke) and We incoperated alot of studio musicans and drummers in this project while keeping the hip hop funk asthetic.....

Now yea ive noticed alot of other producers atleast on the underground circut going this route.. All in all i think the real musical cats who are not in this for the money are fed up and going back to the basic's. Sample clearance, etc.. just aint worth it so alot of cats around here(brooklyn) are just buddying up with a guitarst or pianist and doing there own take on hip hop...


My 2 cents

Jason

 

[skidflow]

whats hot right now is that artist are starting to incorporate an islamic type vibe with their tracks. Cats are gonna start using islamic ryhtms and melodies in their beats...we might see a surge in mc s coming from the middle east probably collabing with American hip hop artist...getting Arab money, wearing Arab type Louie V scarfs and shit. It has the mystique that people wonder about because Arabs are stereotyped as terrorrist.

 

[KurtisRich]

What do you mean by "switching over from analog to digital"? Practically everything you hear is made on a digital workstation. Don't think I understand, please elaborate.

lol yea i didn't really make it clear. what i meant to say is you don't need a lot of hardware anymore.. you just need a desktop or a laptop and some software to get you started on producing or dj'n or what ever else you want to do.

 

[Ash Holmz]

i think more and more track are gonna have the kick on every beat. I think is sound like a fusion of techno and rock, and dudes are gonna be rappin over that shit. Just watch.

as much as it may suck .. this is what its gonna start to sound more like:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oY8-mJB94oE"]YouTube - Kevin Rudolf Ft. Lil' Wayne - Let It Rock (lyrics)[/ame]

 

[KurtisRich]

[ame]www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TDoQcJ6jgE[/ame]

 

[shadeed]

I know this sounds like a dumb question but it's worth asking - since you never know what's out there. (Yes, yes - I know your record is hot, but TRENDS people... or anything going on socially with music... what's hot?)
Learning that girls in the teen demo want an "Avril Lavigne" of hiphop - that was found out by asking a similar question. (Guess who is trying to fill that role.)
What are you guys hearing... what's going on? What city is hot now? What country is hot now? Are we using Japanese pop samples in hiphop?
What's hot?

Well, G.O.D. based on my field research (a few hundred concerts/festivals/showcases this year), I'm really digging the hip-hop talent coming from the Carolinas. Similar to the Midwest, many of the artists have a fusion of styles that range from boom-bap hip-hop to music for the trunks/Heavy Chevys in the South.

Primo Starr from Lauren, SC is an prime example of this. His EP A Starr Still Shines is pretty solid too. His live performance is his trump card. In the clip below, he absolutely steals the show at a major hip-hop showcase. I was present during this filming and the last time I saw an artist "steal" a crowd in this fashion was when I saw Immortal Technique a few years ago.
Watch the clip below in its entirety and note the judges reactions at the end.
Keep in mind that 95% of the people in the crowd are fellow artists, and they had to acknowledge the performance as well.


Trends
On the technology side of music trends, these are things that are actually happening since a lot of my work is steering in this direction.

In terms of trends, you'll see more artists become web saavy and begin to use their influence to build their own web communities leveraging the Facebooks/Myspace/Friendster business model.

www.thisis50.com was at least 3-5 years ahead of its time and Interscope wasn't happy with how 50's staff was leaking tracks through the site. This trend spawned Luda's social networking site, and Jeezy's too.

Twitter.com is starting to gain traction and is the fastest growing social networking service of all time.
Its a revolutionary way for artists to connect, bloggers to reach new audiences, and established media (CNN, MTV) and businesses (Comcast, etc) to add a new level of "humanity" to its business processes.

In a nutshell, its the best way to learn about what people are talking about right now.
A large portion of my living is based on determining trends, and I learn a lot of this information from Twitter.

Branding/Marketing Trends for Artists

You'll also see artists start to build marketing/affiliate partnerships with the clothing and lifestyle brands that are dominant in their market. You're already seeing this in motion with Common Sense and Microsoft.

Also, what really excites me is the technology that will enable the viewer to instantly purchase
what they see on the screen in terms of an artist.
Real-World Scenario: Imagine watching a music video and a rapper has on a fly shirt, and being able to utlize a code to purchase that same shirt. Or Kanye wearing his Shuttershades and being able to purchase those immediately.

The Rise In Influence of Bloggers
You will start to see bloggers actually signing acts. Perez Hilton and others are literally breaking new artists and a mere mention of your work on their blogs will sky-rocket your career.
I know one hip-hop artist personally who benefitted from exposure on Perez's site.
You're already seeing blogs releasing their own mixtapes, sponsoring awards shows and eventually expanding into full entertainment entities/production companies.

 

[Relic]

i think more and more track are gonna have the kick on every beat. I think is sound like a fusion of techno and rock, and dudes are gonna be rappin over that shit. Just watch.

as much as it may suck .. this is what its gonna start to sound more like:

Oh no, please , god, no...


And Shadeed I was gonna say Charlotte , Greensboro ,Fayettenam, Winston, even I guess Raleigh should get in the mix.
That artist is good.. He'll never blow as a result. He's from round here. lol, I hope he gets out though for real.

 

[5th Sequence]

I agree with blogging being a trend that is really starting to make an impact. maybe not musically itself-- even though many artists do have their own blogs-- but promotion-wise.

I've discovered a ton of artists through blogs im starting to frequent, and have also realized that that is where I want my music to be everytime and anytime I have a release.

 

[shadeed]

Oh no, please , god, no...


And Shadeed I was gonna say Charlotte , Greensboro ,Fayettenam, Winston, even I guess Raleigh should get in the mix.
That artist is good.. He'll never blow as a result. He's from round here. lol, I hope he gets out though for real.

Artists from the "low country" have a great chance to succeed simply because they can roll back and forth to Atlanta and perform in talent shows and make those essential contacts.

But you have guys like DJ Chuck T (Charlotte), DJ B-Lord (Florence County), and Charlamagne da God (SC) who have worldwide names and are doing a lot to break new artists from the Carolina region. Having DJs who support your scene makes a big difference.

The manager of Diesel, who placed close to 7 tracks on the smash album The Carter 3 lives right there in your city, Relic and please believe he is looking for new producers and artists.
(He's the guy seated third next to Apex, Ringtone Guru in the clip I posted previously)

 

[Relic]

Had no idea.. lol..Thanks for the info.