By Grace Peel
This year has been filled with a multitude of albums by some of America’s most popular and well-loved artists. Beyonce released the modern classic album Lemonade that not only featured R&B but also country and rock, Frank Ocean produced a musical masterpiece with collaborators across almost all genres, and Chance the Rapper gave consumers a beautiful album that was as much rap as it was gospel. Some of the most influential, politically charged, and impactful albums of the year have consisted of several genre influences fused together to make something beautiful. Over the past decade, the human race has seen a lightning-fast influx of new technologies, social movements, and artistic trends. A new iPhone comes out practically every year boasting some sort of “improvement,” even though it’s oftentimes hard to imagine that many people would ever wish for such seemingly pointless changes. Video games have evolved from the simple yet fun Atari to excessively realistic virtual reality systems. In this age of constant innovation, why should musicians be expected to stay within the boundaries of their predetermined genre categories? Though Beyonce, Mr. Ocean, and Chance have all received almost universal praise for their projects this year, some artists have garnered a generous amount of criticism for veering away from their traditional styles of music. One of the best examples of this is Childish Gambino, best known for his rapping, who defied expectations by making a soulful rock/funk fusion album this year. His defiance in producing something so vastly different from his other projects has received mixed reactions--some people love his new style, some people miss his focus on rap. The most important question to address when evaluating an artist’s deviation from their traditional genres is, arguably, how well did they execute the change? Taylor Swift made a gradual yet still notable switch from country to pop, which was almost universally well-received; this was because she performed well as a pop artist. In this case, Childish Gambino has crossed over from the status of mediocre rapper to an innovative, fresh artist contributing something important and new to music. His transformation should not be analyzed as separate from his rap career; it must be compared to his former bodies of work. Only then can his growth be truly appreciated, as is the same with any other artist who strays from what is expected of them. The time period during which we are living is marked by constant variation and change; technological, political, artistic, and more. Whether this change is welcomed or rejected depends on the points of view of separate individuals. But overall, the increasing musical versatility of modern artists should be welcomed by music-listeners in the twenty-first century. Change is necessary for learning, and even if an artist fails during the process, experimentation is an essential step for musicians on their way to reaching their full potential.
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