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Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Don't let me down.

Letdowns.... They're pretty awful, aren't they? There have been so many times that I've gotten all hyped up about someone or something, only to realize that things were never as rad as they once seemed. More than anything, I've been fucked around by the music industry. Blame whatever you want, there have been so many times that I've been all amped about an artist, and that artist goes and pisses on all of my hopes and dreams about their career.

Here are some of my biggest music letdowns ever:


1. Jay-Z - Kingdom Come
This one's obvious, but how awful was 'Show Me What You Got'? I was so jazzed about that album that I could barely sleep before it came out. I bumped Jay-Z every day and every night like it was my fucking job, and now I can barely make it through a single Black Album track without shaking my head and turning it off. Let's hope Hov doesn't try to have another clown-ass comeback in the future, because I'm convinced that he's lost it for good.

2. Lupe Fiasco - Food and Liquor
Lupe was an unfortunate victim of over-hype. Prior to his studio-album release, things seemed so promising. His mixtape cuts were insane, and it seemed as if the guy was pretty set to release something above-average. People talked about Lupe like he was going to start some sort of revolution. Cut to the day of his release, where everyone had already heard 'Kick, Push' so many times that buying the album seemed pointless. That being said, I just heard a cut off of Lupe's second release, and there may still be a glimmer of hope.... Maybe.

3. Snoop Dogg - Tha Doggfather
From 1993-1996, I pretty much spent all of my time walking around the neighbourhood with Chucks on my feet and 'Doggystyle' in my walkman. I knew all of the lyrics and was fucking stoked when I heard about a new album coming out. I owned 'Tha Doggfather' for a total of three days before I traded it at Recordland for Dancemix '96, which was clearly the better choice. Since 1996, it's been one shitty track after another, and although I don't hate Snoop as a person, the guy doesn't have a hope in hell of redeeming himself musically.

4. Outkast - Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
Although I was never a 'Ms. Jackson' fan, I honestly liked most of their early shit, and 'B.O.B' and 'So Fresh, So Clean' gave me high hopes for Outkast's next release, until I learned that Andre 3000 and Big Boi would be doing separate albums in a duo set. "Uh-oh", I thought to myself, "This can't be good". I was right. Nowadays, I feel like everything Outkast does is full of pretension and false confidence. Are you cool enough to be making fucking cartoons, Andre 3000? For real? Didn't think so.

5. Guys cutting off their hair.
Luda and Busta trimmed their hedges this year.... If ?uestlove loses his 'fro, I'm done for good.

6. Overplay.
This is the demise of so many great tracks. The worst feeling in the world is when you hear something so outstandingly fresh, but know deep down that you're only going to enjoy the glow for a few weeks, before every car that drives by has it blaring from their speakers, and it gets to the point where you find yourself sitting down when they play it at the bar. Weak.

7. Live shows that don't measure up.
There have been more than a few times where I've gone to see someone live, and realize that there's a lot to be said for 'studio magic'.


I guess, more than anything, there are lessons that can be learned from all of this: don't get too excited about anyone's new release (because anyone, no matter how perfect you think they are, can get caught up in weak-ass samples and boring rhymes, except for Ghostface), don't believe the hype (when someone is trying to tell you that something is going to be good, realize that most people have no idea what they're talking about), and realize that most love-affairs with songs and/or artists are like your last summer girlfriend.... Sweet and exciting for the first little bit, tapering off to a bitter taste in your mouth when you realize that they're really not all you thought they were cracked up to be.

~sarah p.

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