Arid Soul: On John Legend's "Green Light"
Just 38 seconds into John Legend's new joint, "Green Light," featuring Andre 3000 and I was pining for red. Legend's full and scratchy Ohio-grown voice, which I first got a taste of at live date with a pre-The College Drop Out Kanye West at New York City's SOB's, now sounds breathy and bland. It's not all uncommon for soul and R&B singers to oxygenate their vocals; Toni Braxton, Mariah Carey, Brandy, even Britney Spears, no longer belt, they puff and purr. But it's altogether annoying to willfully sap your instrument of all its density and distinctiveness. Black and many Black-influenced singers seem to think themselves only two options for success, blackening up their style to the point of caricature and/or vacating it of ethnic markers, both strategies are adopted to increase mainstream success.
Legend's channeling of Coldplay's Chris Martin on "Green Light" is shrewd and dull, the gimmicky electro- popification shamelessly transparent. I have no doubt that Legend listens to the spectrum but the sound is painfully contrived. And I've yet to address Legend's hypermasculine posturing and pimpish songwriting. There have been a lot of wild church boys but Legend has never come across as one. He reads clean cut and awkward and not just because of his Penn tenure but something innate, a dogged coolessness. Believe me, same recognizes same. Given his fame, his lyrics might just now reflect his lifestyle but they rang as hollow when he debuted, "You can't say I don't love you just because I cheat on you," always sounded like what a dateless imaginary lothario would write, akin to likening breast to bags of sand.
I'm still anticipating Legend's third release. I can still hear him heralding Kanye's arrival at SOB's just a few years ago. He was raw and riveting and hungry. I wish that vigor would show itself again.
Tags: John Legend, Kanye West, R&B, Soul
de.licio.us
digg
Furl
Reddit
YahooMyWeb
Comments
1.
professorf says:
Is that woman's hand making its way to his crotch? This is an unfortunate photo.
06/20/2008 at 7:43 PM