Logan Sama
BestThereIsAtWhatIDo
This reply is going to go round the houses, up onto the north circular, link up with the m25 and back again, but I shall get back... so bear with me.
I actually decided to stay and take part in this forum because I like to discuss music. I've liked to discuss music long before I was a dj. I've liked to discuss music long before I played on Rinse. I liked to discuss music long before I had any sort of weight behind my name in this scene.
The reason I am on this forum as opposed to one of the many other forums I could choose to waffle endlessly about music is because the community that makes up this forum is generally far better educated in music as a whole and has a wealth of experience and factual references to back up it's opinions. Also I don't have to sit through endless "YeR kAnOs EvVY" "nAH BLUD HES FULLY SWAG!!!1" debates.
However I have noticed that people are getting a little carried away with the classic message board mentality of absolute opinions. There's a stubbornness about some of the points made in here which is evident in some of the undertones of the replies. Instead of stating your opinion, it seems it needs to be backed up with reasons why the person you disagree with is not capable of coming to the supposed right conclusion.
And this is all relevant when it comes to my opinion on Lady Sovereign. Lady Sovereign is a musical act signed by a major label who will release tracks to the public with the hope of them selling. There are no set pre-requisites for someone to sell, otherwise every one would follow the EXACT same formula every time. And we know this to be true as formula driven acts such as One True Voice and Hear'say end up as failures. They however did have fans. They didn't come out and not sell a single record. And while some people might have said "One True Voice are bound to fail as they are cashing in on the Pop Idol formula and lack the fundamentals to succeed and survive after the initial hype dies down", others may have disagreed wholeheartedly and stood by them until the death? I believe Lady Sovereign does not posess enough talent or the unique quality of someone such as Kano, Dizzee or even Wiley, who's album was a failure in terms of sales, to survive on the back of this scene longterm. That is not saying that she has zero appeal to her music. that is not saying that I believe she is destined to be a complete flop. I could quite plausibly see her branching off into other genres of music after her initial release if she gains some success from it in order to continue her career, tenuously similar to the way Daniel Beddingfield managed to do well for himself long after Gotta Get Through This was forgotten.
I don't like Lady Sovereign's stuff so far. I feel utter empathy for her music and I really only comment on her out of boredom while sitting at home doing far more boring paperwork. Everyone else who has ever mentioned her that I know in the scene has expressed similar opinions, often far more derogatory, but would work with her in order to further their own career due to the exposure they might receive from it. The comment that "so what if she hasn't paid her dues" is amusing. No one has any problems with anyone "paying dues". It's not like people are sitting holding tickets waiting for their numbers to be called and this spritely young lady has leapfrogged the queue. The beauty about this scene is that people get noticed due to them doing something right. Sovereign's manager, and Sovereign herself have managed to put her over as an act that major labels see as marketable, and she portrays herself as a tongue in cheek fun act. nothing wrong with that. But artists within the scene don't take her seriously. Again, nothing wrong with that either. The average Joe Bloggs living in Romford watching MTV Base wouldn't know that Tinchy Stryder has been graftin on the underground for years as opposed to Lady Sovereign unless he was told. When you get to the mainstream audience, underground credibility really counts for very little. it is the product you release and how it is marketed which matters. When people are shown an act that is labelled as "the biggest thing *on road* right now" and hear it foten enough from enough sources, they will end up accepting it. I read a press release for The Mitchell Brothers which said they released a 1000 copies of their mixtape and it was the biggest thing on road. I'd never heard their name mentioned before in my life before I was posted the Brother tune they did on The Beats.
Anyone can sell. I hope Sovereign sells fantastically well with many featured artists and guest producers on her album, then goes off and says she makes music, not grime, and the people who have come through the underground can represent the stuff properly.
This knee jerk reaction at my genuine concern that grime might end up fizzling out like UK Garage being some sort of protective hating is wrong. I play this music because I love it. I made a point of solely playing vocals on my show and my cd so that the artists can shine, not the producers and DJ's. I believed that was the way to help make the scene grow, and over the past 18 months of doing so it seems to have been proved correct, as it is the artists who have taken the music further afield, as opposed to the producers taking the lime light as it was in the Underground Garage scene.
Anyways, nothing against Lady Sovereign, I just can't bring myself to listen to her music without wanting to turn it off quickly. That's just my opinion, and I don't believe it to be any more important than anyone else with a username on these forums or any other person in the world. If you like her, make sure you support her releases when they come out.
I actually decided to stay and take part in this forum because I like to discuss music. I've liked to discuss music long before I was a dj. I've liked to discuss music long before I played on Rinse. I liked to discuss music long before I had any sort of weight behind my name in this scene.
The reason I am on this forum as opposed to one of the many other forums I could choose to waffle endlessly about music is because the community that makes up this forum is generally far better educated in music as a whole and has a wealth of experience and factual references to back up it's opinions. Also I don't have to sit through endless "YeR kAnOs EvVY" "nAH BLUD HES FULLY SWAG!!!1" debates.
However I have noticed that people are getting a little carried away with the classic message board mentality of absolute opinions. There's a stubbornness about some of the points made in here which is evident in some of the undertones of the replies. Instead of stating your opinion, it seems it needs to be backed up with reasons why the person you disagree with is not capable of coming to the supposed right conclusion.
And this is all relevant when it comes to my opinion on Lady Sovereign. Lady Sovereign is a musical act signed by a major label who will release tracks to the public with the hope of them selling. There are no set pre-requisites for someone to sell, otherwise every one would follow the EXACT same formula every time. And we know this to be true as formula driven acts such as One True Voice and Hear'say end up as failures. They however did have fans. They didn't come out and not sell a single record. And while some people might have said "One True Voice are bound to fail as they are cashing in on the Pop Idol formula and lack the fundamentals to succeed and survive after the initial hype dies down", others may have disagreed wholeheartedly and stood by them until the death? I believe Lady Sovereign does not posess enough talent or the unique quality of someone such as Kano, Dizzee or even Wiley, who's album was a failure in terms of sales, to survive on the back of this scene longterm. That is not saying that she has zero appeal to her music. that is not saying that I believe she is destined to be a complete flop. I could quite plausibly see her branching off into other genres of music after her initial release if she gains some success from it in order to continue her career, tenuously similar to the way Daniel Beddingfield managed to do well for himself long after Gotta Get Through This was forgotten.
I don't like Lady Sovereign's stuff so far. I feel utter empathy for her music and I really only comment on her out of boredom while sitting at home doing far more boring paperwork. Everyone else who has ever mentioned her that I know in the scene has expressed similar opinions, often far more derogatory, but would work with her in order to further their own career due to the exposure they might receive from it. The comment that "so what if she hasn't paid her dues" is amusing. No one has any problems with anyone "paying dues". It's not like people are sitting holding tickets waiting for their numbers to be called and this spritely young lady has leapfrogged the queue. The beauty about this scene is that people get noticed due to them doing something right. Sovereign's manager, and Sovereign herself have managed to put her over as an act that major labels see as marketable, and she portrays herself as a tongue in cheek fun act. nothing wrong with that. But artists within the scene don't take her seriously. Again, nothing wrong with that either. The average Joe Bloggs living in Romford watching MTV Base wouldn't know that Tinchy Stryder has been graftin on the underground for years as opposed to Lady Sovereign unless he was told. When you get to the mainstream audience, underground credibility really counts for very little. it is the product you release and how it is marketed which matters. When people are shown an act that is labelled as "the biggest thing *on road* right now" and hear it foten enough from enough sources, they will end up accepting it. I read a press release for The Mitchell Brothers which said they released a 1000 copies of their mixtape and it was the biggest thing on road. I'd never heard their name mentioned before in my life before I was posted the Brother tune they did on The Beats.
Anyone can sell. I hope Sovereign sells fantastically well with many featured artists and guest producers on her album, then goes off and says she makes music, not grime, and the people who have come through the underground can represent the stuff properly.
This knee jerk reaction at my genuine concern that grime might end up fizzling out like UK Garage being some sort of protective hating is wrong. I play this music because I love it. I made a point of solely playing vocals on my show and my cd so that the artists can shine, not the producers and DJ's. I believed that was the way to help make the scene grow, and over the past 18 months of doing so it seems to have been proved correct, as it is the artists who have taken the music further afield, as opposed to the producers taking the lime light as it was in the Underground Garage scene.
Anyways, nothing against Lady Sovereign, I just can't bring myself to listen to her music without wanting to turn it off quickly. That's just my opinion, and I don't believe it to be any more important than anyone else with a username on these forums or any other person in the world. If you like her, make sure you support her releases when they come out.
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