Taylor is a media invention that her family created, and it worked. Songs are cute. Some are good. Young girls can relate. She has no singing range. But, her albums sell, so..what do we know, right?

Kanye- he invented his own persona. He makes people think he is good.

Billy Eilish- her brother is the genius. Their stuff is different. Not bad, just different. Reminds me of French coffeehouse stuff from generations ago.

Beyonce- all marketing. Again- her family.

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like you do not get artists who change up the music scene and push boundaries.

Enjoy your boy bands and standard musical templates.

Oooh..you are so edgy and cerebral...we are just rubes.

Maybe it's your taste in music that is missing. Music is promoted and marketed, maybe you are just vacuumed in and made to think you have better judgment.

So while I get Kanye is an a** and isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, he isn’t overrated. If you actually know/understand what goes into making music then you would know he is extremely talented and hard working. Plus he has produced so many songs for other artists he is probably listed on a song you do actually like.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Taylor Swift - her music is so boring and so trite
Harry Styles - what is this mess?
Ed Sheeran - I don't really know his music but his face just makes me so angry
Nicki Minaj, Doja Cat, everyone who does this lazy style of "music". It's trash.

I don't get the hype surrounding him either. A lot of people claim he's hot, but he's funny looking. And then there's the whole "he pushes gender norms" thing. OK, he wears some ugly women's clothes someone's great aunt threw out and is labeled a "revolutionary"? LOL please

You should watch a video of him performing live. He has a lot of charisma and magnetism that doesn't come across if you're just looking at a pic of him dressed up on the red carpet. He's got the "It" factor. I don't love all the clothes he wears but he does combine things in interesting ways and make things that you wouldn't normally see a man wearing look quite attractive.

I’ve seen videos of him performing and I’ve never been amazed. He’s average.

Taylor Swift wins this thread. Her music and “talent” are beyond basic. And that’s exactly why she is popular.

Bruce Springsteen, Queen, and The Beatles.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting how many of the stated artists are female.

I'd have to say Justin Timberlake, a lot of the bro country guys, and Drake.

Drake's singing/rapping is vocal diarrhea.

This is the best description of it that I've ever read.

Anonymous wrote:Interesting how many of the stated artists are female.

I'd have to say Justin Timberlake, a lot of the bro country guys, and Drake.

Yes! I don't listen to country so can't comment on the bros there, but JT's music is grating. "Sexy Back" is such an annoying song. Drake is a coddled momma's boy who (unsuccessfully) pretends to be tough.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:K-pop.

You’re calling an entire country’s music overrated. I wonder if they think the same of American music.

K-pop is just the Korean version of Boy bands. K-pop is not THE music of Korea its just the only music you have heard. Its pop tart music, good but not good for you and doesn't take any real skill to create. One Direction would fall under this umbrella too.

I will keep my response in the ‘That I just don’t get’ vein because I fully acknowledge that some of my picks are talented and most of them are not overrated. I just can’t stand to listen to them and don’t understand their musical appeal:

Madonna: I grew up in the 80s. Loved her impact on fashion and female confidence. Cannot stand her music.
Phoebe Bridgers: acknowledge she has song writing talent. Her vocalizations and actual music are a snooze fest. I feel this way about Lucy Dacus too. But I LOVE Julien Baker.
100 Gecs: My kids love them. The atonal frenetic style makes me want to go out and beat people up
Bob Dylan: I actually do understand the appeal for some. His voice hurts me.
Celine Dion: Don’t enjoy her style of music, but more than that, she is just slightly off key to my ears
Grateful Dead: I assume you either love them or hate them. I hate them.
Ed Sheehan: really and truly don’t understand his appeal to anyone

For those who aren’t fans of Kanye, go back and list to the full Graduation album. He’s so talented. How can you deny a line like “I’m like a fly Malcolm X, by any jeans necessary”?! And Beyoncé— listen to the full Lemonade album and watch the video too—wow.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bob Dylan

This!

As a singer, yes he's terrible. But he's pretty talented as a songwriter.

I feel the same about The Beatles. None of their voices are interesting to me. But lots of the songs are great.

I see your point but Bob Dylan is on another level of terrible.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bob Dylan

This!

As a singer, yes he's terrible. But he's pretty talented as a songwriter.

I feel the same about The Beatles. None of their voices are interesting to me. But lots of the songs are great.

Agreed about The Beatles as a band, that said I really like the members individually. Especially love George Harrison, and Paul McCartney.

Anonymous wrote:Dolly Parton

She's probably one of the most talented musical artists, for sure still alive, but also in the top 10 to have ever lived. Her talent is boundless.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Taylor Swift. The songs are fine, some very catchy, and I get why many girls and young women feel they identify with her via the songs. But the treatment of her as a songwriting genius and performer for the ages...is far out of proportion to the actual content of her songs and albums. Not every solid singer/songwriter also has to be held up as some kind of genius.

Yeah. I actually like her music, but I don't understand why she's won so many Grammys -- especially all those Album of the Year awards.

I know! She's now won THREE Album of the Year Grammys (for Fearless, 1989, and Folklore). The only other performers with three Album of the Year Grammys are Frank Sinatra, Paul Simon, and Stevie Wonder!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think a reason many of these artists people are listing are underwhelming is that they are pop artists and pop still leans heavily toward the success of singles. If anything, streaming has made the success or failure of singles much more important to an artists overall popularity.

Pop artists, even the best ones, tend to only make a few really, really good songs and the rest of the album is a disappointment. This has been true for 50-60 years. It's the rare artist who can make a full album that is excellent, and there's a reason those artists, and those albums, withstand the test of time.

But yeah, I like individual Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Lana Del Ray, Beyonce, Ed Sheerah, etc. songs. But when I've tried to listen to entire albums, I'm very underwhelmed. Adele is someone else in this category.

This is one reason why, although I have very eclectic musical taste and can enjoy a lot of pop music, I gravitate towards indie rock (which isn't really "indie" anymore but the sound is distinct), because the creative process for those bands yields more consistently good music, IMO. Like you know who never disappoints? Courtney Barnett, Slater Kinney, Vampire Weekend, Radiohead, etc. Even when an album is subpar, I never have the response I sometimes do to the B tracks on pop albums where I just think "Oh wow, this is hot garbage."

This is interesting because I'm a Taylor Swift fan, and I very much feel the reverse. Her singles are fine, very catchy, but underwhelming compared to the album tracks where I feel like she does more interesting songwriting and storytelling.

Totally agree.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In the country realm... Jason Aldean. He's ugly, his songs all sound exactly alike, they're not good (and I love country), and he's such a gross personality. His voice is so awful and I literally flip away anytime one of his songs comes on.

No I like his music. Luke Bryan is terrible.

See I'm not a Luke Bryan fan either, but I "get" why he's popular. His voice is comfortable. He's good-looking, come across as a funny guy having a good time with what he does. While I don't love his songs, there is variety.

Aldean just seriously comes across as a not that bright, proud to be ignorant, and trying way too hard to be... whatever is supposed to be cool. I mean, really, who looks more genuine here?