A sellout is anyone who willingly dumbs themselves down in the pursuit of profit. In the music industry this can be related to going mainstream and losing your core and original audience. The term has become a label of disrespect from the original fanbase in response to the new material being put out. Over the years, many artists and groups have succumbed to the term as their output quality decreases and their bank account figures increase.
Properly defining a sellout requires a collective viewpoint on the subject’s current and past releases. The easiest musical act to fulfill this role is the Black Eyed Peas. Listening to 30 seconds or less of any of the records pre-Fergie/ the “Elefunk” album, one can see the major change in the quality of music. Unlike most people’s views, Fergie cannot be considered the downfall of the group. She is a talented singer whose solo album was successful and appreciated. The problem comes from the core group (Will.I.Am, Taboo and apl.de.ap) changing to a more pop oriented sound that alienates the original fanbase.
This alienation of course causes the old fans to rebel. Songs concerning “My Humps” and considering people “so 2000 and late” have now replaced the music they have come to like and appreciate. The Black Eyed Peas also demonstrate a drastic change in the music quality. Most artists who become sellouts slowly advanced to the stage of total alienation. Unlike most artists, the Black Eyed Peas slapped their fans in the face with a pop album faster then they could comprehend. Yes it’s true that “Elefunk” is about ten times less pop/ techno filled as “The E.N.D.,” but compare “Elefunk” to “Behind the Front” and “Bridging the Gap” to really see the giant leap the group took.
Can you blame the Black Eyed Peas and other “sellouts” for changing their musical styles to more commercially acceptable ones? No. Although it is possible to be eclectic while still making a living, not everyone is capable of doing it. Perhaps many of the groups who have sold out to the mainstream pop culture machine did so more out of necessity than pure greed and want. The desire to do music and also support a lifestyle may be more important to some than doing quality music and living from paycheck to paycheck.
The main problem with selling out is that it totally destroys the brand. Fans of “pre-Fergie” Black Eyed Peas will never like the “post-Fergie” outcome. No matter what type of music is released, the original Black Eyed Peas brand is destroyed. Will.I.Am could take a year off and attempt to re-create “Behind the Front,” but the fans won’t buy it the same way they previously did.
So the next question is, is it possible to sell out without destroying the brand? Yes. The answer is very simple and pretty self-explanatory: kill the brand. Selling out equals killing the brand, so is it so bad to speed up the process? Instead of waiting for the fans to abandon and hate a brand, it is much easier to burn everything down and start over. If the Black Eyed Peas stopped and released “Elefunk” under a different name, would we still consider them sellouts? Probably, but the Black Eyed Peas name would not be as tarnished as it is now. The Black Eyed Peas would still be looked at as an alternative hip-hop group while the members would be looked at as the ones who changed.
Whether selling out can be properly defended or not, it exists and will continue to exist no matter what version of Media we enter. It is possible to sell out on vinyl, cassette, CD and mp3, so the world of mainstream music will continue. Whether artists learn the true value of their brand image and names will later be determined. Although its not required to change the name as much as Diddy, it may just save the last bit of respect available.
No comments:
Post a Comment