The reason why getting assassinated is probably your best career move
For being similarly successful in the same field at the same time, you can't get two people much more different than Tupac and Biggie. One was Cali, one was New York. One was slim, one was big (guess which one). One gave rap a worldly perspective, one used his lyrics to dig deep within his own soul.But for all their differing traits, Tupac and Biggie share two important traits: they both stand on the pedestal as the greatest rappers of the 1990s, and they both have to be referred to in the past tense.
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With those facts in mind, let's backtrack to the 1960s. America is overrun by a new style of rock bands from overseas, in what is known as the British Invasion. And while several fantastic bands were part of it, two groups separated themselves from the pack and are now considered icons: the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. I assume you've heard of them before, but if you haven't, stop reading this immediately and start up a YouTube search.
For those of you still here, think about how different these two bands were despite falling underneath the same genre umbrella. The Rolling Stones neatly pegged all the members into explicity-defined roles; every member of Beatles was adaptable, with all them able to sing and play multiple instruments. The Stones were rooted in the blues; the Beatles were rooted in pop. The Beatles reinvented themselves by taking a fuckton of LSD and helping to forge a whole new genre; the Stones ingested plenty in their own right, but never veered too far away from the sound that made them famous in the first place.
Then again, it's no easy task to keep up with all the Beatles' stylistic changes. Take in these two songs, both written by John Lennon back to back. How far apart timewise do those sound? Five years? Ten? 15? Nope, the correct answer is TWO FUCKING YEARS. And there were three albums between the two these songs were on. That's ridiculous. That's like Kanye starting College Dropout around the time Bush gets re-elected and finishing up Yeezus before Obama wins the Iowa Caucus (more on Mr. West later).
Through all that self-transformation, the Beatles were obviously on an accelerated career trajectory. That would mean, in theory, that their flame out period would be coming soon. But it never happened, because they broke up in 1970, long before it ever could.
Meanwhile, despite the regular rough patches, the Rolling Stones continue to put out music to this day. For die-hard fans since the beginning, that's good. But it comes with a consequence. My experience with the Rolling Stones was a 2004 concert where they were grasping onto their last threads of glory. And anyone younger than me is more likely to know Mick Jagger as the guy the Maroon 5 song is about with an old, wrinkly face.
And if you think that's bad, the Millenial perception of Keith Richards might be even worse. They'll know him as the guy who played Jack Sparrow's father when the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise began to sink.
It's not as though their dynamic and trend-setting music has been cast aside. Both of them are still legends to me, and anyone with a rock education knows to put a heavier weight on their earlier work. But 50 years from now, without the context, what the Rolling Stones do now will mean just as much as what they did 35 years ago. That won't serve their legacy well. The truth of the matter is that society has far exceeded its bliss point with the Rolling Stones.
Through all that self-transformation, the Beatles were obviously on an accelerated career trajectory. That would mean, in theory, that their flame out period would be coming soon. But it never happened, because they broke up in 1970, long before it ever could.
Meanwhile, despite the regular rough patches, the Rolling Stones continue to put out music to this day. For die-hard fans since the beginning, that's good. But it comes with a consequence. My experience with the Rolling Stones was a 2004 concert where they were grasping onto their last threads of glory. And anyone younger than me is more likely to know Mick Jagger as the guy the Maroon 5 song is about with an old, wrinkly face.
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| No joke, his mug has more peaks and valleys than the Swiss Alps |
It's not as though their dynamic and trend-setting music has been cast aside. Both of them are still legends to me, and anyone with a rock education knows to put a heavier weight on their earlier work. But 50 years from now, without the context, what the Rolling Stones do now will mean just as much as what they did 35 years ago. That won't serve their legacy well. The truth of the matter is that society has far exceeded its bliss point with the Rolling Stones.
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Bliss points are easy enough to understand, even for someone like me who doesn't know shit about economics. A product can only be enjoyed so much, and once it passes its bliss point, its favorability starts to drop among the populous. And if we're viewing musicians or b(r)ands as a commodity, they all must have a bliss point too. The key difference between the Stones and the Beatles is, while one has gone on far beyond its bliss point, the other never got there.
Abbey Road, the Beatles final album, is one of the most critically-praised records in the history of pop music. And just like that, seven months after its release, the band was done forever. They had no more product to sell, which set their legacy in stone.
How long could they have gone before consumer satisfaction started to wear off? It's hard to say. The Stones were able to sail into the 1980s before finally veering off course. My personal favorite album of theirs, Some Girls, didn't hit the shelves until 1978. Perhaps the Beatles would have made it into the 90s before losing their fastball, but it would have happened sooner or later. If they were all still alive and performing together, there's no way people view them as the greatest band of all time. Somewhere along the line, the Fab Four would have faded.
It's not as though Jay-Z's decision to come back was a mistake. Financially speaking, this second act of his career has been a tremendous success. And I'm not going to fault anyone for going after more money when it's up for grabs. But think about the unintended damage it's done to his legacy.
If Hov had dropped the mic for good in 2003, he would've wrapped of a murderer's row of eight consecutive killer albums. Now he's more known for being the second banana on a Kanye West album and writing the next song about New York City to get ridiculously overplayed.
And speaking of Mr. West, if you're like me and think his recent music has been a disaster, the same thing is happening to him. I personally would have viewed him so much more favorably if he had called it quits after My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and transitioned to a full-time reality star. To me, he's half-assing both rapping and his duties as Mr. Kardashian (at least on camera, I'm sure he's a loving husband and father). Yeezus's abrasiveness put me in a catatonic stupor, and I haven't been a fan of the singles for his next album either. I know I'm in the minority among rap fans, but the guy doesn't even crack my top ten right now. The mass audience may not have reached their bliss point with Kanye West, but I certainly have.
Abbey Road, the Beatles final album, is one of the most critically-praised records in the history of pop music. And just like that, seven months after its release, the band was done forever. They had no more product to sell, which set their legacy in stone.
How long could they have gone before consumer satisfaction started to wear off? It's hard to say. The Stones were able to sail into the 1980s before finally veering off course. My personal favorite album of theirs, Some Girls, didn't hit the shelves until 1978. Perhaps the Beatles would have made it into the 90s before losing their fastball, but it would have happened sooner or later. If they were all still alive and performing together, there's no way people view them as the greatest band of all time. Somewhere along the line, the Fab Four would have faded.
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Let's jump back up the timeline to 2003, when Jay-Z claims to have released his final piece of music, The Black Album. It's a fantastic record, probably the best hip-hop album of the decade. It was also billed as his retirement record, which as he predicted, vaulted his reputation to new heights. A snippet from his 2nd verse in "Encore" told the whole story:
As fate would have it, Jay's status appears / To be at an all-time high, perfect time to say goodbye / When I come back like Jordan, wearing the 4-5 / It ain't to play games with you, it's to aim at you, probably maim you.The Jordan reference makes it clear Hov was already planning his comeback, and as it turned out, he was back at it just three years later. Unfortunately, it wasn't like Air Jordan with his No. 45 jersey. Regrettably, it was more like his tenure with the Wizards. The remnants of stardom are still there, but they're fading fast.
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| This was far more entertaining than The Blueprint 3 |
If Hov had dropped the mic for good in 2003, he would've wrapped of a murderer's row of eight consecutive killer albums. Now he's more known for being the second banana on a Kanye West album and writing the next song about New York City to get ridiculously overplayed.
And speaking of Mr. West, if you're like me and think his recent music has been a disaster, the same thing is happening to him. I personally would have viewed him so much more favorably if he had called it quits after My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and transitioned to a full-time reality star. To me, he's half-assing both rapping and his duties as Mr. Kardashian (at least on camera, I'm sure he's a loving husband and father). Yeezus's abrasiveness put me in a catatonic stupor, and I haven't been a fan of the singles for his next album either. I know I'm in the minority among rap fans, but the guy doesn't even crack my top ten right now. The mass audience may not have reached their bliss point with Kanye West, but I certainly have.
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This is a music article, but I ought to at least mention how this applies to all walks of entertainment. I'm not sure which one it was, but at some point along the line I lost the will to continue on with all the Marvel movies. And after the Fantastic Four catastrophe it seems like that genre might be fading altogether. My bliss point with the NFL has come and gone, but the people's bliss point is probably still decades away because they're helplessly addicted to football. The Game of Thrones television show hasn't gotten there, but I reached my bliss point with the book series A Song of Ice and Fire somewhere around book No. 2.
The bliss point theory is particularly an issue in television, where network executives hope to get a show to run for as long as humanly possible. How I Met Your Mother is a perfect example. Its first four seasons were about as good as a network sitcom can get. But the show's premise could only go that far, and the plot points throughout the remaining five seasons proved to be very problematic. The comedy wasn't inherently worse, but the jokes began to feel stale and routine amid a storyline that wasn't going anywhere. Unlike other shows that have been panned for their endings, it was the journey--not the destination--that dissatisfied in HIMYM's case.
The truth with TV is you usually can't make it last much longer than 100 episodes. There are always exceptions, but a show's bliss point usually comes somewhere around there. Anything more will get fans grumbling and critics moaning. And in the social media age, people's patience is only wearing thinner.
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It's obviously not good for Tupac and Biggie that they were murdered before their re-Bar Matzvahs. But for all we know, it's the best thing that could've happened to their careers. They're both locked in as legends, with no "late stage" of their careers to drag them down. The same thing happened to every member of the 27 club. I love Jimi Hendrix, but I don't think he's held up to quite the same esteem if he's still around today doing shows with John Mayer. I'd love to have seen it, but he certainly would have knocked his reputation down a couple pegs with a mediocre album here and there.
No matter what the form of entertainment, and no matter what the genre, the bliss point is always there somewhere down the line. The entertainers who go down as legends are the ones who have their stay atop the mountain cut short. It's probably not fair, but it's definitely a fact.
But I should cut this short. I've made my point, and I probably exceeded your bliss point about a thousand words ago.
No matter what the form of entertainment, and no matter what the genre, the bliss point is always there somewhere down the line. The entertainers who go down as legends are the ones who have their stay atop the mountain cut short. It's probably not fair, but it's definitely a fact.
But I should cut this short. I've made my point, and I probably exceeded your bliss point about a thousand words ago.
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