Jazz in 2017 - as it has been for some time - is in a rather unfortunate state of affairs as far as visibility is concerned. In 2014 it was ranked as the least popular genre based on sales and streams in the United States. Of course, this will be no news to jazz musicians or avid jazz fans, as generally, the amount of coverage given to the music, relative to other genres, is quite little - modern jazz is extremely niche. Outside of artists with direct links to other genres - like hip-hop for example (Kamasi Washington, Robert Glasper), child prodigies (Joey Alexander) and Esperanza Spalding, when we speak of relatively new jazz artists that are visible - even on a minor level - to the general public, there is a very short list. There are many obvious reasons for the decline in popularity of the genre: the fact that an entire generation was raised on lyrics - something jazz often lacks, the fact that generally the often complex nature of bebop jazz and beyond probably makes it sound like a foreign and reasonless language to the untrained ear at times and, perhaps most crucially, the fact that something can only be at the forefront of culture for so long - jazz had its time from the 20s to the 60s. Despite all of this, that the aforementioned reasons result in a talent like Gerald Clayton not getting the coverage he deserves is at times hard to grapple with during the compelling listen of Tributary Tales.
Range is one of the most powerful weapons of Kendrick Lamar's arsenal. You can't rap-scat over jazz ("For Free?"), channel Ol' Dirty Bastard over soulful guitar licks ("i") and confront white supremacy head-on ("The Blacker The Berry") - all on the same album - like Kendrick did on To Pimp A Butterfly ("TPAB") if you don't have range. It may be selling this LP short, but one could say that DAMN. is Kendrick Lamar fitting his range and eccentricities into a more commercially accessible work. This is especially relevant in light of the divisive - albeit critically acclaimed - reception of his previous jazz and funk inspired masterpiece. The range of quality and approaches to song-craft on DAMN. are at times quite jarring. There are a good portion of tracks on this LP that are just flat-out brilliant - songs that will probably go down ranking among the best of his work. On the other hand, a couple of the more pop-rap tracks may leave some of his fanbase that embraced the relative experimentalism that characterized TPAB pondering whether Kendrick has just released some of the worst songs of his career.
In music commentary, "dated" has been used as a negative criticism towards music. When one begins to think critically about it, assuming that "dated" is being used in this context to refer of music of the not recent past (e.g: Remember that this is just an example, not my actual opinion or how I would phrase it personally: the production of Paid In Full by Eric B & Rakim sounds "dated" in 2017), it is a really odd criticism, because albums that are ahead of their time - be it lyrically, production wise or musically, are the exception to the norm. Moreover, from the perspective of the artist, an album being ahead of its time is an odd mix of a curse and a blessing. A curse because, an album that does not quite fit into the landscape of the time - be it musically or socio-politically, is almost sure to sell less initially and perhaps even run the danger of not being looked on as favorably historically. Just call it the opposite of the A Seat At The Table or, perhaps we should say the To Pimp A Butterfly effect. Considering the socio-political climate of the United States, these albums came out at what was arguably the perfect time for a mainstream hip-hop or R&B artist to release an album on which black empowerment and racism were key themes. On the other hand, being ahead of one's time could be blessing because, if the artist already has an established following, their audience may eventually, effectively "catch up" to them, which could be called the Blowout Comb effect. Despite the fact that the Digable Planet's hit single "Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)" was released on their more light-hearted - and upon release, much more popular - debut record, over the years Blowout Comb eventually began to garner more praise from fans and critics alike, with the album eventually being reissued on vinyl in 2013 and the hip hop trio playing many songs from the classic record on their recent tours.
