An excerpt

So, here is an excerpt of a recent reaction paper for my pop music class:

I had a hard time picking which video to write about this week as two of them really stuck out. However, my choice is for Justin Bieber’s video, “Baby.” On a completely emotional, “frank” level, I totally hated everything about this - the song itself, the video, the inclusion of Ludacris, and the general vibe I got. Everything about Justin Bieber irritates me to no extent, from his image, voice, and music, to how the general public seems to think that this is what musical talent is.

The music itself is catchy, but there is nothing that helps me distinguish it from any of the other pop song of today. Granted, I don’t listen to pop music other than what’s in my iTunes playlist or what I hear in public, but there’s nothing special about this. If I didn’t know better, I would’ve thought this was another pop chick. The interlude with Ludacris is awful. It doesn’t flow and I’m having a hard time trying to get what this collaboration is attempting to do. The video/song from last week, featuring Eminem and Rihanna was a successful collaboration for a variety of reasons, including the social issues both have dealt with, the juxtaposition of all of the male/female identities, etc., as well as the obvious musical/stylistic differences. Musically, I’m left wanting something that hasn’t been done 598,402 times already. Granted there are subtle differences between every song an artist does versus the massive compilation of radio playlists, but again, I don’t find enough to differentiate anything well enough for me to grasp onto and say, “Hey, who/what is that? That’s interesting.”

Vocally, I don’t find Bieber’s timbre appealing. I can see why some would, though - it has a seemingly innocent, pure sound. But, if I want a pre-pubescent male voice, I’ll listen to someone who can sing without fake intention and/or auto-tune; like the Vienna Boy’s Choir. I also find his delivery to be somewhat forced, fake, and overdone; is he even old enough to be singing about this type of stuff, to begin with? That’s a whole other topic, but roughly put, his image is a bit...too mature for him. The voice, style of music, and image just don’t add up in a cohesive way, in my opinion.

I can somewhat see the appeal of Bieber to a mass audience, but one can only wonder what’s going to happen in the future when he might grow up. Cheezy…

Just thought I would share that.

:-)