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Wow...you're not lying about that market correction issue. And it is so funny how that can happen to an artist with any kind of warts like he has. Not to mention, he's little and he never looked 'young'. Then, he got washed away by people he might've inspired.
He is probably better in the role he's in now anyway. There's nothing aggressively suggesting that he had anything else to say on his own. But he's thrown some jams on Bey..that's for sure.
Side: those suites tho! Body Work --> F\/ck my brains out!?
>It also seemed like the more excellent his solo albums got - >I recently listened to the Bandsplain podcast episode about >him and was so disappointed that they spent so much discussing >the vengeful darkness of his music that they didn't spend a >single second discussing that his cult following wasn't just >the oddly specific songwriting and ridiculous hooks but his >dedication to making the better parts of his albums >practically inseparable suites - the more difficult he got >with suits and collaborators for a while. Though I did enjoy >the very brief thought experiment of The-Dream either old >schooling it and writing EVERY J. Holiday song or even simpler >just looking and singing like J. Holiday. The only missing >piece of that level of late-2000s R&B nerdery was a Ryan >Leslie reference. > >I don't remember all the specific surrounding 1977 anymore but >I was definitely shocked it's wound up on streaming services >these days (though sadly without arguably its best track, that >cover of Deneice Williams' "Silly" > >But in any case, I say all that as a card carrying member of >the love the art, hate the artist, and that's fine club. He >slunk far enough into the background that it makes sense he's >still getting big songwriting nods because he was/is that >talented, but if he'd been a bigger deal on his own than the >one R&B artist Animal Collective fans decided to nerd out >about the accusations from Christina Milian and girlfriends >further back would've probably fully tanked him. > >I'd also bet that the Def Jam A&Rs were getting tired of >visiting him in the studio and being told he wanted to keep >this or that song for himself...and re-reading one of my last >PopMatters reviews >(https://www.popmatters.com/172004-the-dream-iv-play-2495753153.html) >I'm also reminded that he got market corrected incredibly hard >by Frank Ocean, Weeknd, and others that were still dark and >introspective but could harness a sort of star quality (or in >Tesfaye's case, plain sing) that always eluded Dream. He tried >to match the darker vibe of those Weeknd mixtapes in >particular - and remember that the label that won those Weeknd >bidding wars, Republic, was quickly expanding into a new >tentpole for Universal Music while Island Def Jam was >struggling to stay relevant and ultimately got chopped back up >into premium vanity labels for which Dream was likely held >somewhat accountable - and if I trust my response at the time >it didn't do his solo writing's dark themes and questionable >humor any favors. > >The-Dream cult was built around insanely fun music propping up >absurdly specific and sometimes weirdly morose lyrical >hangups, and that "alt-R&B" shift I'd probably argue he had a >strong hand in readying the critics for also probably put too >much pressure on him professionally and more generally most >people just liked being able to relate to a questionable >singer like Frank Ocean, and if you wanted to be an alt-kid >that loved R&B more and more options like Miguel, BJ the >Chicago Kid, Elle Varner, Mayer Hawthorne, The Internet and >James Blake were there while more critics were giving white >kids permission to love Rihanna, Beyoncé or Trey Songz beyond >the confines of their own lonely late night living rooms, >which they could actually share with people in public instead >of having to constantly say something like "well, you probably >remember Shawty Was the Shit, right?" or "if you thought >Umbrella was catchy, wait until you hear (insert song just as >or far catchier than Umbrella with a quarter of Rihanna's >vocal swagger)!" > > >~~~~~~~~~ >"This is the streets, and I am the trap." � Jay Bilas >http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517 >Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz
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