If you dig hip hop at all, even occasionally and casually, you’ve at least heard of the new Jay-Z track Death Of Autotune, the lead single from his forthcoming Blueprint 3.
The track itself is not among Hov’s best if you ask me, and that’s why we haven’t fussed much about it around here. But a story on Billboard caught my eye today; an interview in which Jay explains how the track’s co-producer Kanye West, the man behind last year’s controversial, envelope-pushing, heavily Autotuned yet thoroughly good 808s & Heartbreak, inspired it.
It’s not a dis track directed at Kanye. When Yeezy heard the beat, he said it was so hard, it had to be “against everything- no Autotune, none of that type of stuff.” Jay agreed, and he even scrapped an Autotuned track previously recorded for the album. Hov considered it his duty, claiming that once a trend becomes a gimmick, it’s the artist’s job “to get rid of it.”
In case you haven’t heard it:
Jay continues: “Now people are using Autotune even in Wendy’s commercials, and it’s like, ‘Oh no! That has to go!’ It’s become part of main culture. It’s the same thing like when the old lady in Oregon starts saying, ‘bling, bling.’ It’s like, ‘I’m never saying that again.’”
And those are words worth repeating. It’s a universal truth, not limited to Hip Hop. When the industry doesn’t know when to stop cloning a fad, when sell-out bands march in step with what’s hot to cash their chips in for the strippers and blow, that’s when we need the real artists to step in and do their duty. Kill the trends, go against everything. Do something new. Make an enemy out of the status quo. That’s what rock n’ roll is all about. That’s what our favorite music is about.
Blueprint 3 is due out the hot week of September 11th… Set to go head to head with the new 50 Cent album being released on the same day. On September 11th 2007, Fitty’s Curtis went up against Kanye’s Graduation, and Kanye famously prevailed after an epic, record-breaking showdown. If Jay delivers the quality he’s been promising, Mr. Cent may have an even harder time competing this year.
I dig Jay and respect his place in Hip Hip and all, but I just felt kind of ripped off as I heard a 30-second clip of this song on iTunes, as he sang “this ain’t for iTunes”. It’s like a punk band with programmed, quantized drums. Or something.
The track is terrible. Big a fan as I am, I’m not at all convinced that Jay’s gonna blow the roof off with Blueprint 3.
I’ve had a similar stance with this whole auto-tune thing that’s been running amok in the rap industry. However, I think the only one who’s established the auto-tune as a gimmick is this T-Pain fellow. No disrespect to him though, he’s actually a rather entertaining performer. But I doubt this is the “death” of Autotune. What’s stopping any other genres of music from using it to their advantage as an artistic means? Nothing.
I really dig this track though. I can’t wait to hear JZ’s new record.
From what I understand, T-Pain was the innovator when it comes to the heavy use of Auto-Tune prevalent in a lot of today’s hip hop. I’m not a big fan of the man’s music, but you’ve got to at least give him credit for that. And of course for I’m On A Boat.
I personally think that Jay is doing what he is best at and people should just quit acting shocked by his behavior, he is a legend, he has earned the right to do just about what he wants. Blueprint 3 is a killer album. Much respect Mr Carter.
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