Dude needs some ritalin or he broke into his pops liquor cabinet. Somebody shoot him in the neck with a horse tranquilizer.

The argument isn't that Lionel richie is some shuffling sellout, or he betrayed all black people. Its that in the obvious money grab of the 80's he went for the gusto in ways that even Peabo and Kool and the Gang didnt go.

His music is in the 80's is totally devoid of damn near any negrocity. Those 80's songs could have been easily made by Billy Joel, Elton John, or the like. Those are all great artists, but their 80's music was un-fuckin-listenable. They made their legacy in the 70's. I would listen to Sting or Phil Collins output in the 80's over Lionel Richie any day of the week. In the Air Tonite STILL gets played in 80's mixes in clubs and mega mixes on the radio. Them drums hit harder than anything Lionel touched from appx. 1979 till today. Why? Because there was some evidence of some gonads in that music. Lionels shit was safe, Gordon Gecko/Elvin Tibideaux elevator music. I dont hear All nite long or Penny lover anywhere unless its a dentist office. Lionels 80's output sounds like the soundtrack to TGIFridays ABC programming

As much as Jeffery Osbourne and Kool and the Gang's music paled in comparison to their 70's joints, they still had that unmistakable NEGROCITY that said ok this is soul music. Jeffery O' had some slap bassist and some other tweaks in his songs (such as stay with me tonite) that said "im tryna make this money but dont get it fucked up".

That being said Lionel stopped being the voice of young black America in say....1976. Dude was 35 during his musical solo prime. I remember as a shorty in ATL, Boston, and DC, that cats was breakdancing in the early mid 80s off of shit like 7 minutes of funk, planet rock, Jam on it, Friends, Apache.....Maybe niggas in west bubble fuck Virginia were pop locking off of dancing on the ceiling, but niggas was mean mug the shit out of a nigga popping a lionel richie tape in the boom box.