For as long as I have been aware of pop music, I have noticed a particular decline-and-fall-and-reinvent cycle for failed rock stars. As their rock careers either begin to fade or never get started, they merge into country “artists.” Of course, even more country stars gave up on the rock bit as soon as it was obvious they didn’t have what it takes, before anyone even noticed they were ever rock-wannabes they move to country.
Why? Because country music is a much less competitive field of music and you can get away with a lot less talent, creativity, or attractiveness. In fact, you can be seriously old and ugly and still be a country star, at least if you’re male. An article about the motivation for this career path was explained in a Houston Press article describing that Aaron Lewis’ “rationale for going country was a smart one. After all, country fans are some of the most loyal when it comes to purchasing music and listening to terrestrial radio.” You can certainly point to seriously skilled musicians and vocalists who have moved to or stayed in the country genre, Brad Paisley for example, but those exceptions are proving the rule. As always there are monster players in the studio background regardless of genre.
When your music trends change on a glacial pace, it’s hard to become obsolete in one lifetime. Check out this partial list of pop/rock-to-country stars:
- Beyoncé
- Bob Dylan
- Bon Jovi
- Brett Michaels
- Carrie Underwood
- Cindy Lauper
- Conrad Twitty
- Darius Rucker
- Don Henley
- Elvis Costello
- Jelly Roll
- Jerry Lee Lewis
- Jessica Simpson
- Jewell
- Kenny Rogers
- Kid Rock
- Lionel Richie
- Michelle Branch
- Nelly
- Post Malone
- Ray Charles
- Shania Twain
- Steven Tyler
- The Byrds and Roger McGuinn
- Tiffany
- Tina Turner
- Tom Jones
- Van Morrison
- Ween
- and the plethora of singer-songwriters who have skirted both genres for their whole careers; Jimmy Buffett, for example.
So it goes for hip-hop/rap, without the fading and restarting part. Skipping the hassle of learning to play an instrument, obtaining some kind of vocal ability, rap allowed some serious no-talents to jump the fence from spectators to “producers” without any wasted time learning a “craft.” So, the 2nd comparison is between soul/R&B and rap/hip-hop. If you don’t have the chops for the first, you might be over-talented for the 2nd.
You can like this, laugh at it, or hate it as “racist” or intellectually unenlightened. I don’t care and you have a right to and might be right in your opinion. Country music is largely less sophisticated, far less innovative, and less difficult than comparable pop/rock branches (heavy metal vs country metal, for example). Rap is a tiny fraction as musical as R&B. 50 Cent couldn’t do any part of Seal’s musical act, but anyone who can read fairly quickly can pull off a 50 Cent vocal performance. And Kanye West’s total failure to “sing” any part of Bohemian Rapsody (Rapshoddy?) pretty much put the nails in the coffin that carried his self-image as a singer.
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