I'm finally got around to reading Decoded. Was pleased to see the story behind some of my favorite Jay-Z songs, Renegade, Hard Knock Life (self-explanatory, but still good to see), Empire State of Mind. Would have liked to have seen Song Cry, but he couldn't do all his lyrics, I know. Still I love that song... I had a little difference of opinion with Jay-Z on something that stuck in my mind though. To compare Disco and the Blues? Disco felt/feels like more of a manufactured thing. The Blues...that to me is something organic, that got co-opted. We wouldn't have a lot of still existing forms of music without Blues (R&B obviously, Rock music in all it's various forms..., Pop [think of that single Standing Outside a Broken Telephone Booth with Change... One hit wonder song, I know, but go with me on this...Now what's the sample in it? B.B. King's How Blue Can You Get? ]. I'm not saying Disco doesn't influence anything, it does, particularly Dance/Club music, but Blues to me is everywhere. Everyone can relate to it from time to time, perhaps some more than others. The Blues getting pushed into the background of the music industry...that to me is a race/class/marketability issue, moreso than something being written off as a fad or becoming outdated.
Anyway, just my two cents...
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