Poptimists Review of 2006: Genre Of The Year

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

What was the sound of 2006? That's what we're asking in the second of our end of year polls, discussing the genre of the year. Contenders - drawn from your nominations - include...

Teenpop: Teen confessional and pop narrative (a la High School Musical) drove the genre on in '06 - more teen than ever.
R&B: From Bouncy's hi-gloss dramas through Ciara and Justin's takes on the Prince legacy to Cassie's minimal precision.
Electro: Still the sound of the clubs in 06 (like I'd know) and with big high street traction too.
Emo: The comment box's friend and the parent's foe - whatever it is, it's selling.
Nu Rave: A shot in the arm for indie or a lame NME concoction? 2006's most enigmatic genre.

(A special note: I didn't put "POP" in cos it's all pop, innit. I went for Teenpop as a more specific option, and one picked by as many people.)

[Poll #891678]

You can still vote in yesterday's poll - and still nominate in the remaining 8 categories. Final results collated in the new year!

Tomorrow I'm at home, with YouTube access, which means it's a good day to do the Video Of the Year poll.

Comments

[koganbot]

Well, the southern hip-hoppers are probably voting Democratic anyway. Timbaland is from the South - both he and the Neptunes are from Virginia Beach - though he's his own distinct thing, not considered Dirty South. But my point is that this electronic stuff has been part of hip-hop from 1977 on - from whenever Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Flash first started paying attention to Kraftwerk. So it isn't as if Cassie and Timbo et al. are borrowing from something external called "electro." Odd thing is that though Bambaataa is from NYC, and Arthur Baker is from Boston, when their "Planet Rock" hit (1982), its main influence on the north was in NY freestyle (dance acts like Shannon and C-Bank) not hip-hop, whereas it was Southern hip-hop (and Miami freestyle) that embraced the record.

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

I was more trying to say that the current r'n'b sounds fit into the umbrella genre of electro, as I see it, than say that they're especially influenced by it. Obviously everything trails back to the invention of the keyboard etc. but I'm more thinking about the pan-genre use of electronic instruments. I dunno, I find it interesting that r'n'b, a genre that's (in the UK, anyway) had its difficulties in the last few years gains something of a renaissance by using electronic instruments and stuff when electro had seemed to be on the plunge pre-Confessions On A Dancefloor. At least, that's my perception of it... I dunno.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

Did r&b ever plunge OR stop using electro sounds though? Maybe because it was so ubiquitous 1999-2002 that it seemed like a plunge (and yeah the Rich Harrison retro production was responsible for its two biggest moments since) but - if we take as read that the turn-of-century Golden Age of r&b was predominantly electro - since 2003 there's been:

- 'Yeah' by Usher
- All the Ciara singles
- All the other crunk'n'b (Mariah Carey's comeback, Teairra Marí, Cassie, Brooke Valentine)
- 'Lose My Breath' by Destiny's Child
- 'Baby Boy' and 'Naughty Girl' by Beyoncé; 'Touch' by Amerie
- the Scott Storch shiny production style used by 50 Cent, Pussycat Dolls et al
- a host of riddim-based dancehall knock-offs (Rihanna, Nina Sky, Lumidee et al)
- 'Lose Control' by Missy & Ciara