That's really *not* the only real answer though. That's a bullshit answer that you're playing as a strategic move to justify your own (subjective) belief that he is a "more creative" artist, something that can't be quantified, at least not in any substantial degree.

>Someone mentioned above that he's making music we've never
>heard before.
>This is true. This also makes him "inaccessible" in such a
>depressingly formulaic climate.

See above. People are talking like Bilal's on some John Cage shit... he's really not. He's not *that* "weird." I agree that his shit doesn't fit contemporary formats, but it's not because his music is *soooooo* next-level that nobody, like, you know, *really gets him*....

>I tend to share the opinion that Bilal is just as talented
>and, truth be told, more creative
>than D'angelo (not sure how anyone could deny the "more
>creative" part), because
>Bilal COMPLETELY CREATES something new. As I stated before,
>Black Messiah sounds
>like Sylvester Nelson & Revolutionary Family. I really dig
>it, but it's an obvious stew of
>influences with a personal spin on it. You can't say that
>about Bilal's stuff. He really does CREATE.

I think I see what you're hearing here in terms of "derivative," but it's a terribly imprecise word for a rather awful measure of comparison. I think you're right that you can hear D's influences more immediately, more clearly, for sure. But D's not playing an imitation game in his work (at least beyond Brown Sugar) ... the influences are filtered, reworked, and ultimately spun into something strikingly new. (For all the claims of derivative that folks like Payton might make, there really aren't many songs out there that *actually* sound like anything D's put together on Black...).

Ultimately, they make two very different types of creations. And ultimately, they are two very different types of artists. It's depressing that an accomplished musician resorted to x > y arguments and in the process overlooked that fact. This thread is about as unnecessary as they come, but the Lesson has always liked a good x is better than y post, even if know (deep down in our heart of hearts) that ranking artists that most acknowledge are good is a fool's errand... fun, maybe, but far from "intelligent music discussion" ... precisely because you have to rely on attempts to measure things that cannot (and should not!) be measured (like "creativity").

-thebigfunk

~ i could still snort you under the table ~