Black-Eyed-Peas, the future of modern music?

These guys have been around for quite awhile now and are quite cohesive (very few lineup changes), so it really surprises me when some people react to them as "new crap". Some of their music is quite good, and I would say they are not only the future but have achieved enough to be considered a solid part of the past and the now.

Their recent song "I Gotta Feeling" (not The Beatles tune with similar name) is a pretty darn good piece of modern pop music. I think I read it is the most or second most downloaded song in Itunes history.

I have the cd they did with Sergio Mendez of Brazil 66 fame.
It is quite diverse with a variety of artists.The sonics are first rate and the blend of latin, hip hop and rock etc. is quite a treat. Some tracks will also remove accumulated dust from you woofers.

I dont like their latest songs at all...i dont see a future with them on music...

question diversity

But if the only acts that can afford to put on shows like this are pop bands for 12 year olds then what's the point?

I was focusing on the live performance aspect of this band. They are breaking new ground with this current tour's production presentation. It hasn't been done like this before and could be quite possibly the wave of future.

In my opinion, the future of modern music will be as diverse in the future as it is now. The Black Eyed Peas is jusr one band that is paving the way.

I find that culturally significant music has the ability to get you up and dancing. IME, this may be the critical difference between thriving genres and dying genres.

I made Fergie pee

Hunterg,
There you are on to something. LG can sing too.

I'll take Lady Gaga over the 'Peas any day...seriously she's far more entertaining.:)

If you like the music check out the man behind it: David Guetta.

Srwooten, I'm glad she's loving the music, but it'll be interesting to see if it's as much fun for you guys to hear your, say, 4-year old daughter sing along with 'My Humps' in a few short years.

I don't doubt that they put on an amazing show. And Fergie is hot as hell.

Bottom line for me is that pop music has lyrics, and lyrics are about something.

That's where BEP is a complete and epic FAIL.
Good music, sure, and phenomenal production...all delivering lyrics which actively, calculatedly celebrate the worst in us without a even the slightest whiff of irony. It's music which is blind and stupid at best - and purposefully evil at worst.

My Humps. Enough said.

IMO. YMMV.

Mapman: yes, and I am a huge fan of minimalism, for example. However the aforementioned commercial crap posits no interesting or profound qualities in the wake of the absence of traditional misical elements.

Always a pleasure MM

My 30 month old daughters' favorite. She like the long keyboard note with wide off key bending on BOOM BOOM POW. Says it sounds like a doggie. Ya, that's some real fine music.....

"Rap has rhythm but ignores melody and harmony. "

A lot of highly regarded 20th century classical music has none of the above.

I think what one considers art versus pap is largely just a matter of perspective and hubris. Some art can just be fun and even a bit off color and not taken too seriously.

Tupac's just an example, no sell out there and his melody and harmony underly the profanity and violence, it a shocking contrast. A black sex pistols maybe? A lot of rap or hip-hop which BEP purports to be ends up selling out. Most 'rap' I cant stand, but there are a lot of great artists in the genre that arent addressing your 14 year old (or in this genre a future gang banger), some of the more 'accessible' being RATM, the Beasties, Cyprus Hill, even emminem.

If you want to hear something interesting, try Super Furry Animals, Mogwai, Fruit Bats, Cat Power, MGMT, Mogwai, Dwight Yoakam (especially his earlu stuff), Mostly Other People do the Killing. How many genres is that?

But what do I know, I happen to think Norah Jones -The Fall may be the best album of 2009. ;-)

Chasmal,
I couldn't have said it better myself.
BEP ( add Beyonce, Britney Spears, Kanye West (easily the worst out there)), falls strongly in the same category, with a little more diverse "musical" content, but still...
As to their live performances, I think all these costumes, dancing, visual effects, etc. just a cover up for the lack of quality and substance.
Imagine them doing the same, standing still and wearing casual clothes- that would be about 20% left, if that. IMHO.

Rap has rhythm but ignores melody and harmony. That would be alright if it was done in an interesting or sophisticated way, but to me it just comes off as an ignorant attempt at poetry done by someone with a low IQ. I would venture to guess the same about the audience, with notable exceptions of course.

Mickeyf, yes I have heard most of what 2pac has done. Compared to what most
people think of rappers, he was a surprisingly well-read guy. Some of his stuff is
too aggressive for my taste, and the violence and aggression in his personal life
was beyond the pale in some cases, but he had 'skillz.'

I've heard all the stuff on the list. Have any y'all played any Tupac?

Tupac? Was he assassinated, or did he just get shot?

I prefer Tupac. ;-)

At 56 yrs old, BEP is not the popular music of my generation, that said, I have their last 2 records and while all of it doesn't floor me, I dig a lot of it. Not to mention, from an AUDIO point of view, the music sounds great!! Imma be listenin' to it right now!!;)

Mapman-

I haven't bought anything by any of those 'artists', thanks,
don't need it, not good.....

finski

I have booked this band for many years and can tell you that they are very nice people away from the stage. I think that Fergie absolutely stole the show away from Jagger during the R & R 25th Anniversary Show and she will be doing a solo concert tour with Slash playing a mixture of covers.

"Has anyone here who dismisses BEP decided 'against their better judgment' that someone else, also similarly dismissed, was actually worth listening to from time to time?"

Brittney Spears
Christine Aguilera
Elvis
The Monkees
AC/DC
Chumbawomba
BEP
Three Non Blondes
Queen
Beyonce
Little River Band
Dr. Hook
Three Dog Night
Chicago

BEP have their place. Not all music has to be enlightening or cathartic - and BEP is certainly entertaining at times. I have listened to a bunch of their older stuff (pre-Fergie and with) and some of it is outright great. Watching their evolution has been interesting. The BEP can be great in concert. Fergie has a great voice and it's a real treat when she uses it as in Shadorne's clip, and she can be a commanding presence on stage. And as a group, they really seem to enjoy making concerts special experiences for concert-goers.

Has anyone here who dismisses BEP decided 'against their better judgment' that someone else, also similarly dismissed, was actually worth listening to from time to time? For me it was Eminem, but after spending some time listening, I'm in the 'I'll listen' camp rather than the 'I'll dismiss' camp. Serious people over the past many decades have similarly dismissed jazz, Elvis, the Beatles, all manner of hip hop, punk, funk, you name it.

It is great to have an open mind... I've discovered so much interesting stuff that way that 'serious' people have tried to warn me off... Plus, it is so much better doing the Oprah block party dance in my living room to BEP than to Glen Gould... And geez... who in their right mind would not have wanted to be a part of that? That would have been so much fun, and the first time I saw it I got the shivers.

I echo the "hope not" sentiments but with that said have realized that well performed music regardless of genre can at least entertain even if not enlightening or cathartic.

Audiogon does not appear to be the best site for 'newer music' to be discussed, a large proportion of contributors here (my opinion only) seem to be stuck in the 70's. So very sad, as there is a huge wealth of incredible new music to heard if one is prepared to expand ones mind out of the back yard and into the horizon.
Said he who is listening to Ry Cooder-'The UFO has Landed',
at the moment, but is itching to play the Bat For Lashes cd 'Two Suns'.

"Fergie apparently was a meth addict for a while and has had a total facial reconstruction to fix the damage from those years."

They did a nice job.

She looks to be in fit dancer shape as well these days! Congrats to her for turning things around apparently!

Mickeyf,

You are not THAT Mickey who has worked for Disney all these years are you?

Your assessment reminds me of my assessment of The Disney Channel, which is my 8 year old daughters favorite fare!

As a sidenote, she does happen to have a very keen ear for music for an 8 year old I must say!

Fergie apparently was a meth addict for a while and has had a total facial reconstruction to fix the damage from those years.

Quote: ""I guess that if vacuous tawdry consumerism had a sound it would be like that. ""

You know when they sell out (um, 'let's get it started in here'? anybody remember that?), that it all goes downhill from there and just becomes about selling tickets and records to kids 14 and under.

Shadorne...Karl was killer too. 'It was a little bit frightnin'....

I highly recommend the Sydney concert of BEP's from the DVD Vegas to Sydney. Keith Harris on drums (serious talent) is awesome and it is a great recording.

This is a solo by fergie..those unable to recognize incredible talent can go on dissing them but they are awesome.

Here is a tribute to funk

If you don't get it then it is your loss...

I was having this discussion with my 15 year old daughter and we were trying to figure out which bands of the past decade would be hall-of-fame caliber. The BEP/Fergie have a very interesting intermixed style which is awesome on a few of their songs. I can appreciate the hits, which are great, but can't listen to the majority of an album like I can with many other bands that don't seem to have the hit power of the BEP.

As far as the 10 and 11 year old following, I wonder if the parents are really listening to the lyrics of these songs which are filled with foul language and very mature subject matter.

My guess is that they will not have the staying power and don't represent the future of modern music.

Finally, anybody that doesn't think Fergie is H-O-T should seek a professional consultation.

"she's hot, she can dance, she sings good enough and she's hot"

that about covers it.

[url]http://media.photobucket.com/image/fergie/gamasutra/Fergie.jpg[/url]

case closed.

"don't get the Fergie attraction"??

Let's see... she's hot, she can dance, she sings good enough and she's hot. What's a girl got to do to get appreciated around here?

don't get the Fergie attraction-, she probably has more plastics in her face than I have on my turntable.

Jaybo,

Is that Carol "Doctor's Orders" Douglas or Carl "Kung Fu Fighting" Douglas?

agree with bill....donna summer or carol douglas had 'more' going on on a bad day.

"I guess that if vacuous tawdry consumerism had a sound it would be like that"

Nice one Chasmal!

Like I said, perfect Super Bowl halftime fare!

They are entertaining live.

I have one CD of theirs. I'm a Dick dale fan and I liked their take on "Miserlou". The low end on their discs will shake the rafters for sure based on what I have heard. There is something to be said for that from an audiophile perspective. Also I do like Fergie in general.

Let's hope the future of modern music has a bit more to offer though.

Super Bowl halftime show next year anyone? Fergie can have all teh wardrobe malfunctions she'd like from my perspective.

Well, I am getting long in the tooth but I just do not get the hype behind this band. I know they are respected but I just could not take that commerical where that will i am guy is contrasted with Dylan about the future of music.

I also still almost weep when Michael Jackson and one of my idols Sir Paul is in that black and white video. I cannot get to the remote fast enough.

As for the future of music in a mainstream kind of way, my money is still on his purpleness, Prince still slays black eyed peas in my book.

But I am old so I will go back to my Beatle records now.

Its well-made music, and well-performed too.

Just like Hank Williams, or Queen, or Duke Ellington.

The TYPE of music is very subjective of course, but usually, in every fashion of music, there's well-done music, and there are wannabe-pros.

I don't think the Peas are the future of anything, but they are of their times, which is now.

Same was said of the Beach Boys in their days, and Olivia Newton John in her ''Let's get physical'' days.

If I was to take a wild guess as ''the future'', it would sound more like urbania-meets-life's challenges - or U2 in simpler terms. But it could all change in 6 months...

Glad you liked it....Mazel Tov

Yech. I never heard of these folks so I listened to a clip on youtube. I guess that if vacuous tawdry consumerism had a sound it would be like that. I hope you all know what you are getting yourself into.

Black eyed peas? Here's a case where 1+1+1+1=0

If the future of modern music is black eyed peas, I'm all for the return of disco.

Calling Gloria Gaynor, John Travolta, and Bee Gees......

'futuristic science vibe'....hawkwind