Ask 411 Music 04.06.09: Age Limits, Kanye West and the Jetsons, and Singers turned Actors/Actresses
Posted by Joshua George on 04.06.2009
How old do you have to be to make it in the hip hop/rock industry, are Kanye West and Rosie from The Jetsons romantically involved, and can variety shows make it? Get the answers to these and more inside!
Questions, Videos, and Pimpin OH MY! Stick with me folks as we dive into yet another edition of one of your favorite columns IN THE WORLD. Askk 411 Music with Joshua George. If you want to have your questions answered or your reader mail published in the column, all you have to do is SEND THEM IN NOW!
Here come the...
Ask 411 Music Reader Questions
From JLAJRC,
In Kayne West's "Heartless" video, what's the deal with the Jetson's appearences? Is Kayne or the animators fans of them? I ask because it seems to come out of nowhere and the animation style of them doesn't fit with the rest of the video.
Hey, a newbie to the column. Welcome to Ask 411 and hopefully we'll continue to hear from you in the question department. I've done quite a bit of searching and wading through Google search results to find basically the same thing from many many sites. I even wasted a little over 6 minutes of my life watching an interview with Kanye West in Singapore hoping he'd mention it, and he of course didn't.
It appears that there are a couple of reasons behind the use of The Jetsons. Firstly, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that as a child he watched The Jetsons. That's a pretty safe bet considering I was born in 1981 as opposed to his 1977 and I watched The Jetsons like it was my job. When I was a kid The Jetsons was the shit. Everyone wanted to watch it because we all dreamed about what the future would be with flying cars that fit into briefcases and some crazy bullshit like that. Everything would be automated and we wouldn't have to do a damn thing. We could teleport places and have 3D hologram phone calls. This was the dream, and back then we were all SURE that it would be by the year 2000 because that seemed so far away then. It was more of a potential peek at what we thought for sure the future would be. I think this has to be a part of why he would include something in a song like that. Given the use of the auto-tuner during this song which gives it a "futuristic" feel, I'm sure The Jetsons was just something that popped into his fucked up head when he made this video for a "futuristic" sounding song; why not make the video have the same feel?
Second, most of these websites confirm that Kanye has drawn inspiration from a series of cartoons by an artist named Ralph Bakshi. One of the things that you might remember from him would be Cool World as that was his last film done back in 1992. After film he turned to television, but Kanye took his inspiration for the video of "Heartless" from Bakshi's film American Pop which used a techique called rotoscoping. In this technique they record actual people and then have a team of animators draw over them. I don't know this shit, it's just what I read here. Coincidentally, you can also see the video for "Heartless" there. Bakshi was all about Pop Art, and that brings us to our third point.
Kanye is big on Pop Art. He wants to be the biggest star of this generation and hopes that in the future people look at HIM as the rap artist most like The Beatles (hahahaha). With this, he's trying to keep things as cutting edge and futuristic and new/fresh as possible. He commissioned artist Burton Morris, who retains the style of Andy Warhol, to paint the portraits of the Jetson family. These paintings hang in Kanye's house to further prove (in my opinion) that it was a show he followed and really stood behind. This is basically a lot of information that I derived from about 20 different websites all over the internet, so take it for what it's worth. This is just the best answer that I can possibly give you, and given Kanye's slightly fucked up mind, you could probably take that into consideration. If you don't remember why I'm saying that Kanye has a fucked up mind other than his ALL CAPS BLOG ENTRIES, check my column from a few weeks ago. Point made, I believe. So there you have it! Thanks for asking.
Sending a question to me is one of the easiest things to do. You send it, and I answer it... that's how this shit works! All you have to do to get a question answered is SEND THEM IN NOW! Variety is great in this column, I think we can all agree, so do me a solid and SEND THEM IN NOW!
Eric Whitesides,
Do you think an "Ed Sullivan show" or American Bandstand could survive today on today's air waves? Do you think a variety show like that could sustain, despite the likes of American Idol and other talent contest shows?
Eric, welcome back to the column. Glad to have you again as usual. Tell your friends about it and maybe we can get some more people to send in questions so you don't have to carry everyone else anymore. I think we HAVE seen a variety show sustain in America's Got Talent. You remember that show right? It had David Hasselhoff, Sharon Osbourne, and Piers Morgan (adding Brandy Norwood in 2006) as judges and was quite a fun show to watch. Here's a couple of vids for you if you never saw it:
For the pervs in the audience I'll include the video of Lilia Stepanova, gymnast and archer... you can thank me later.
Now, granted we haven't seen it for a while, but I assure you that it's coming back as it's Wiki page touts a Tuesday, June 23rd premiere of Season 4. I also am aware that this is a music column and you were talking more along the lines of a music variety show, but remember that this show also has musical talents that make it very far in the show. I think if this show weren't going to make it they would've cancelled it after one or two seasons. It's a concept that everyone in America can really get behind because it involves people that they know doing some crazy shit that no one else they know can do. Then they get in the contest and they get to meet David Hasselhoff (which is whatever), Sharon Osbourne, and Piers Morgan (woohoo, right?). Then the big moment comes. Jon Bob Billy-Joe Smith gets up on stage and does his 1,000 pig calls impression but only gets to about number 10 before he's buzzed off stage by the judges and subsequently humiliated and booed off stage by the crowd. Despite the booing, they have to remain to hear from the judges what is usually another verbally brutal reasoning as to why they didn't make the cut. Off the stage they go. What isn't entertaining about that? It's a modern-day gladiator's arena.
Hopefully that answers your question, but I wanted to make a point to say that I don't believe that more than one good variety show can exist at a time. I know the old days had plenty all across TV, but in today's times people can only watch one theme-show at a time. Sitcoms are different, as are the dramas and "dramedies" that they show on network TV these days. They provide story and plot and people who like that genre can stick to that genre and follow many different stories all based in the same category. But if you love variety shows, you watch them and immediately can decide which one you like better. You won't watch the other ones because YOURS has the coolest talent, the best failures and the greatest format. So, can a variety show exist in today's world? Yes. Can two? Nope. The end.
If you want to have your questions answered, it's easy. The best way to do it is to SEND YOUR QUESTIONS IN NOW!
Another from Eric Whitesides,
Many singers, such as Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and Madonna have tried to make it on the big screen and have a music career. Has anyone ever had an equally successful career in both music and movies?
Eric, there are many many many people that have gone from singing to acting. Let's make a list (and I'm not going to include everything for everyone):
Britney Spears - Crossroads
Beyonce Knowles - Austin Powers in Goldmember and Dreamgirls
Eminem - 8 Mile
Mariah Carey - Glitter and Wise Girls
Mandy Moore - Dr. Doolittle 2, The Princess Diaries, A Walk to Remember, and Saved!
Mark Wahlberg - Renaissance Man, The Italian Job, and Boogie Nights
This is just a short list. There are many many others that have done such. Cher did her fair share of acting and such as well as more stars. Now you ask yourself if anyone has had an EQUALLY successful career in both music AND movies? I think that Will Smith can safely say he had an equally successful career in both. Many people would say that Will Smith wasn't so great in the music industry, but with his hits on the charts, you can't deny that he was a success. So let's say Will Smith and even though I'm sure there are plenty of others, we'll stick with him for my answer. Crossover artists aren't few and far between, consider Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. I know he doesn't want to be called "The Rock" anymore, but fuck him on that. That's what got him where he is, he should be happy about it. Think of Jack Black. Again, there are plenty of singers that have been successful in movies too.
Let's get some more questions from you, the readers. I like to have reader mail and things to post, so all you have to do is SEND YOUR QUESTIONS IN NOW!
One last question before we break into the fun stuff:
From Eric Whitesides,
It seems that if you are over 25, you cannot play pop songs? Is there an actual age limit for someone to become a rock/hip hop star?
That's a funny question. As far as I'm aware there isn't really an actual age limit for someone to become a rock/hip hop star. I think it's more about whether or not your image can fit into the mold that makes everyone go ape-shit in today's industry. If you're 70 can you break into the rock industry? Probably these days, considering all you really have to do is play 3 chords on a guitar and scream into the microphone. We've talked about where I think the rock industry is headed in previous columns, so I'm not going to get into that anymore right now, but the point is that I think you can really break into the rock industry at any age. I don't believe there's much of a limit because, worst-case scenario, you're old and people look at you as old-school/old-time rock and they respect that most of the time. Can you sing about doing drugs, buying whores, and drinking a lot? Then you can probably make it in today's rock industry as long as the tunes are catchy. Look at Metallica still going strong, though some would say that they sold out right around St. Anger. Old men, while unable to really fit the "looks" part sometimes, are still able to rock... for that matter and for equality sakes I'll say the same for Old Women though I can't really give you any examples of OLD women in rock music.
As far as hip hop goes, I think there is a certain age you have to be in order to break into the industry. Once you're in, you can be in for as long as you can make quality shit that people will listen to. Look at Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre. They're two of the biggest examples that I can think of that are up there in age and still putting out and producing quality shit. You'll be hard up to find someone that disagrees with me on that. Unfortunately I think a 50-year-old man or woman trying to rap couldn't likely break into anything right now unless their lyrical prowess was COMPLETELY unparalleled. Many guys breaking into the rap industry now are 18 or younger and really pressing the limits. Of course you can be in your 20s and make it, but once you start hitting 30s plus right now... it's hard to really make a name for yourself. If your name has already been made, you can go til you're dead. If not... tough shit I guess.
It's time for...
Joshua's Rant of the Week
How about the current craziness with piracy. I know you're saying that it's not current, but the absolute idiocracy that's happening in the music industry is driving me fucking nuts. What's the big deal here? I know the recording industries are losing the most here, but let me explain what I would do if I downloaded music. If I downloaded music I would download it as soon as the CD hit shelves if not a few weeks prior (if that's possible, I'm not really sure). After downloading the music (if I did that kind of thing), I would then listen to it from top to bottom twice at least. It's at that point that if I were to love it and believe it was worth the investement I would buy it to support the artist and the label. This makes plenty of sense to me because it a "try-before-you-buy" concept. If you like it, why wouldn't you be willing to support the artist and the label. What I don't understand is why the ARTISTS are getting all uptight about the piracy thing.
I understand the labels and the big corporations getting angry about piracy, but when artists are stepping out saying that they don't condone internet piracy because it's STEALING is fucking ridiculous. I've seen this image around the internet and it says EXACTLY the things I want to say so I'll finish with this...
Would you like to share a rant with me and all of our readers? Want me to post what YOU think about a certain music related topic? All you have to do is Send me your rant NOW!
Who wants to hear something new???
Things You Should Hear
Do I have anything fun for you to listen to this time?
1. This one is for our favorite reader Lexibug. She is certainly hung up on Lady Gaga - "LoveGame":
2. Here's one for a guy named Jim that I work with. He's big into contemporary christian music, so let me include Jars of Clay - "Flood":
3. Here's another one for Cliff from Pinfall Recall. It's UC Berkely's DeCadence - "Bitches Ain't Shit (As Performed By Ben Folds):
4. Let's move from one comedic act to another for our Number 4. Here's Richard Cheese - "Chop Suey!" (the video is the original for System of a Down):
5. Here's one for my friend Samantha that I work with. It's an oldie but a goodie, Kanye West feat. Jamie Foxx: "Gold Digger":
6. Let's go to a completely different genre. Samantha requested this one too, Rehab - "Sittin' At A Bar":
If you'd like me to post your band or a band that you particularly love, all you have to do is Send me the YouTube link NOW! I'd like to start including some of your personal bands clips, or other bands that you think people should be hearing.
So who wants to get pimped? If you have a website that your band hosts, or something that you think the general public would enjoy checking out, please send me a link and a SHORT description and I may include it in the pimping section of next week's column!
Make sure you check out my reviews. You can see my profile with my blog and all of my reviews/columns here.
Also I'm a co-host and co-founder of a professional wrestling podcast. My friend and I have been running this show and our website for a little over three years now, and we'd love to have more listeners and since I get my own column now, I feel good about pimping it out. If you want to listen to the most recent show, you can usually find it (along with the most recent news which we get from a variety of other sites MOST NOTABLY the amazing 411Mania Wrestling News Section) at www.pinfallrecall.com. If you'd like to spend your days on our forums talking about how this might be one of the most ridiculous and boring Wrestlemanias of all time, like all of us, you can do that on The Pinfall Recall Forums.
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