Jay-Z’s War On Auto-Tune
Despite delayed release dates and his split from Def Jam, one upside to HOVA’s much-anticipated Blueprint 3 (follow-up to Blueprints 1 and 2) is that the album promises to be free of Auto-Tune–the software responsible for T-Pain and Paris Hilton’s musical careers. Kanye West, one of the album’s many producers, told MTV News, “We actually removed all the songs with Auto-Tune off of his album to make the point that this is an anti-Auto-Tune album, even though I released an album that has all Auto-Tune.”
On that album, 808’s and Heartbreak, West used Auto-Tune on every track, a move the New York Times praised for it’s retro minimalism. But does Kanye’s love of robot-voice clash in-studio with Jigga’s desire to go au naturel? According to MTV News,
“It doesn’t matter to me,” Kanye laughed about Jay not wanting to incorporate the sound that is featured so heavily on Kanye’s 808s & Heartbreak. “It’s music; it’s just sonics. I like Auto-Tune so I do it, but you want the other thing — like you’ll wear a suit to a wedding and gym shoes to a basketball game. I think it’s a perfect moment for Jay to provide some gym shoes to a basketball game right now.”
Whatever that means. Hopefully Jay’s gym shoes kick Auto-Tune’s robot ass outta rap for good, or at least spark a brief return to humanity.
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2:32 pm
This is just an example of Yeezy running his mouth and the internet being bored. Has any one of these reports indicated that Jay himself used Auto Tune? I don’t think so. Hov’s voice just wouldn’t sound right with it, and I think he knows that. But I do have trouble believing Jay would keep some of the most successful people in hip hop right now (e.g. T-Pain, The-Dream) who do rely on Auto-Tune off his record just because of a promise to maintain “purity.” Jay-Z’s principles (Linkin Park anyone?) are not exactly legendary.
P.S. This whole debate about whether Auto Tune is “authentic” or “inauthentic,” given that it’s in the context of a genre where rappers regularly fabricate their street bonafides and vocals are recorded over prior-produced sample/beat collages, chopped and screwed, or sampled themselves, seems a little moot. What’s the more inauthentic part about “Maybach Music 2?” That T-Pain sings with Auto-Tune or that Rick Ross does none of the things he says he does? The answer is nobody cares because the track is awesome. Jay-Z can take or leave Auto Tune, but I think that decision will have little bearing on the album’s quality.
P.P.S. Why are Lindsay Lohan and Lil Wayne tagged on this post?
2:35 pm
Tagging was an oversight on my part. Thanks for catching it.
3:31 pm
What in the name of Roger Troutman and Peter Frampton is a goin’ on here??
Good…get rid of all that auto-tune bullshit other than T-Pain since that’s his style.
Jay wanna impress me, he should go winner takes all battle against Tarik Trotter (Black Thought of the Legendary Roots Crew), Black Dante (The Mighty Mos Def), Brad Jordan (The Infamous Mr. Scarface), Antonio Hardy (Juice Crew Giant, Big Daddy Kane), and Mr. Nathaniel Wilson (Corona Queens Don, Kool G Rap)
Run THAT gauntlet Jigga…Better yet, bring 4 mo, ANY 4, and run against my starting 5
3:55 pm
Wait. What year is it?
Also the talkbox used by Frampton is different from the vocoder used by T-Pain.
4:49 pm
Rappin ain’t the NBA; if you can GO, you can GO. And my starting 5 are known for tearing asses up. And since they are all in the same age range…
And it doesn’t matter to the average listener; both talk into a big ass straw and make weird sounds, which is the point. Only someone grasping for a minute point would make the distinction between the two.