Non-Urban Music If you had to pick your ONE favorite artist, who would it be and why?

[Casey]

I think everyone knows what mine would be.....His Purple Greatness.

Why? Because the man is probably the most talented musician of all time - in terms of technical ability he is up there with composers like Mozart, his proficiency on guitar, keyboards, drums and the 20+ other instruments he can play is fucking mindblowing.

It's easy for people with great skill to basically just jack off on how skilled they are by playing crazy mad complicated shit (think Yngwie Malmsteen, etc) - but Prince never lost the ability to fulfil the HARDEST task there is in music - the ability to write a 3 minute hit pop song.

He has made nearly every genre of music under the sun, and is easily the most diverse songwriter I can think of. No-one is fucking with him. And he's prolific.

He has made damn near 50 albums in 30 years, with probably at least the same amount of unreleased material, if not more. There's no-one more prolific than P. And he has conquered all of the genre's he's made, had number 1 rock hits and albums, r'n'b hits and albums, and pop. He defined the 80's more so than other artist and influenced nearly every successful pop and rock musician since, whether it's Timberfake trying to swagger jack him all over his new album, or Foo Fighters covering Darling Nikki and Purple Rain.

Added to which, Purple Rain is one of the greatest music movies ever made and set the tone for every music movie since, from 8 Mile, to Outkast's Idlewild.

Oh, and he gave one of the best Superbowl performances of ALL TIME in Feb.


I could go on forever.....so let's all hail the His Royal Badness!!

Who's your favorite and why?

 

[Mo_Murda]

I'm assuming this is favorite non rap artist..

I would have to go with Red Hot Chili Peppers, i love their music, they're very creative and i can't think of a bad CD they have, classic songs like (Under the Bridge, Scar Tissue, Californication etc they are to me, the best non rap group on the planet.

 

[Illuminattile]

Green Day. They got me into music.

 

[Tha_Wood]

rage against the machine or disturbed

 

[Glockmatic]

Bob Dylan of course. I first got into Bob Dylan when I heard a classmate talk to one of my professors about the documentary No Direction Home and holy shit, you think Tupac changed peoples lives and how they thought? Dylan was a voice of a generation (even though he denies it) and played a major role in changing American domestic policy. 31 albums in his 45+ year career with still touring at the age of 65,

He got me into playing guitar, which has seemed to taken over my life since college is out right now. His singing may be bad (Hey, I like his voice from 60s-mid 70s), but his lyrics are like poetry.

http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7007232453

And hes freaking out children

 

[hizzle?]

For the same reasons the guy above me said...

HE changed music. HE was the first one to talk about society and politics in music. and he was the voice of generationS.

I love this guy, and I'm about to kill myself for not buying tickets for his show.



By the way, Glockmatic, you are repped.

 

[Chronic]

His singing may be bad

From what I read that also changed the music scene. It showed that people who didn't have conventionally good voice could sing. Not to side track the topic but what 1-3 Bob Dylan albums should I definitely get? I have The Times They Are A-Changin', Highway 61 Revisited, Blonde On Blonde and Blood On The Tracks.

Wish I could answer your question Militant but there's no definite artist that sticks out for me.

 

[SicC]

Rage is one of my favorite groups of all time.

pz

 

[Little Skittle]

Saves the Day. Read the lyrics to "This is Not an Exit". My favorite song of all time, off of my favorite cd of all time. Chris Conley has never stayed the same on any album. Every album is CLEARLY different from one another, yet his song writing never stops amazing me. When he was younger he focused on tangible things and relationships, while now he focuses on life and death and abstract things. In my opinion, the best musician of the 90's/new millenium.

 

[Glockmatic]

From what I read that also changed the music scene. It showed that people who didn't have conventionally good voice could sing. Not to side track the topic but what 1-3 Bob Dylan albums should I definitely get? I have The Times They Are A-Changin', Highway 61 Revisited, Blonde On Blonde and Blood On The Tracks.

True about this voice. His live performances have gone downhill though since 1965, he was tired of all the attention he was getting and was bored of singing the same songs the same way every night so he changes them up.

Blood on the Tracks is personally my favourite album of his, he pours his heart out in 10 tracks. Other albums you should get are Desire , Biograph , and Modern Times . Many of his Bootleg Series are awesome too, especially Volume 4: The Royal Albert Hall which has the infamous "JUDAS!" shout. Volume 5: The Rolling Thunder Revue has some of his most energetic performances, go on youtube and look up "Isis" and you'll see what I mean.

 

[Glockmatic]

from the Guardian's review of Rhythm King (Prince biography)

Prince is the black Bob Dylan. Both men are from Minnesota; both have had some of their biggest hits through performances of their songs by others (in Prince's case: "Manic Monday" by the Bangles; "Nothing Compares 2 U" by Sinead O'Connor); both are very bad but somehow weirdly compelling film actors; both reserve the right on occasion to explore the limits of repetition (Dylan's interminable blues jams, Prince's interminable funk jams); and both are massively prolific and inventive musicians. Both are, to use the word with due care, geniuses.

http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,2082867,00.html

 

[Rahim]

I pick 2Pac because his music is great in everyway, not to mention that he is still a major influence to hip-hop and with other genres of music even to this day. With other artists you might find that only half or maybe even three quarters of their music is good, but with 2Pac, every single song is great!

 

[L.McG]

I pick 2Pac because his music is great in everyway, not to mention that he is still a major influence to hip-hop and with other genres of music even to this day. With other artists you might find that only half or maybe even three quarters of their music is good, but with 2Pac, every single song is great!

I second that :thumb: I also love Tracy Chapman and Bob Marley. Both of them for kinda the same reasons. They are very original, excellent at their own style, and both have amazing messages in their music. Tracy's style is so original and unique, and her way of telling a story is reminiscent of 2pac actually in my block for example. What a great collabo they would have been. Bob Marley.... Do I even need to explain. The guy just had the best attitude ever, and is a shining example to all young musicians in how they should conduct themselves. What a star. Not only that but his songs are the most uplifting thing I've ever heard. Coincidentally btw, both had a big influence on 2pac. The Bob Marley side doesn't show as much but the Tracy Chapman influence is clear for all to see in a lot of his songs. But as for my one favourite; 2pac without a doubt. Genius.

 

[hizzle?]

I doubt about 2pac... I'm not sure that today's rock bands are really influenced by 2pac as they are infulenced by Dylan or the Stones...

 

[Duke]

Only one? Woah, that's wicked hard. I could never pick just one favorite artists. I already have trouble picking one fav. per genre.

No, I refuse to answer the question.

 

[Tha_Wood]

With other artists you might find that only half or maybe even three quarters of their music is good, but with 2Pac, every single song is great!

imo rage against the machine has only 1 bad song and that would be settle for nothing the rest are good/great.

 

[hizzle?]

^^^Jimi Hendrix' songs are all great. Tupac's Whats your #? sucks major balls

 

[Casey]

/\ i fucking love Whatz Ya Phone #, but mostly because of the groove. It's based on an old Prince-written song by The Time, called "777-9311" - watch this video of them performing it live - the guitarist, Jesse Johnson is one bad son of a bitch:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iF5WBJCnm6o[/youtube]

 

[The.Menace]

I'm assuming this is favorite non rap artist..

Well, for Rap 'n' over all it would be 2Pac. Not Rap related it would be Pearl Jam. Why? Cause they have the ability to touch me for 10 years or so, I grew up with Pearl Jam as they grew up as a band, as they develloped their style (and they constanly do, I like that). Well, nothing more 2 say.

 

[Get In The Van I Have Candy]

Excluding rap I would have to say Freddie Mercury (Queen)

Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara; 5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991) was a British rock musician and songwriter, best known as the lead singer of the rock band Queen and often heralded as one of the best rock singers of all time. He is remembered for his vocal abilities and charisma as a live performer. As a songwriter, he composed many international hits, including "Killer Queen", "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Somebody to Love", "We Are the Champions" and "Crazy Little Thing Called Love". In late 1991, Mercury died of Bronchopneumonia brought on by AIDS.

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veTm1sZz2eo[/YOUTUBE]
Freddie Mercury's last musci video. You could see the AIDS virus had been progressing and would later die months later.
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOJPvxgkvn8[/YOUTUBE]