From the moment I was first shown the new song by Kanye West, titled Bound 2 – feat.
From the moment I was first shown the new song by Kanye West, titled Bound 2 – feat. Kim Kardashian (she doesn’t actually sing, apart from two words repeatedly), I was in awe, and for all the wrong reasons.
I believed that something had become very wrong with the music industry for some time now, but this latest release from Kanye affirmed my suspicions.
Not only is the song itself terrible (and that is putting it lightly), the music video is atrocious as well. It looks like it has been put together for a secondary school media project; extremely rushed and lacking in any kind of real quality or even thought process. I would carry on about how awful the video was, but that would be inappropriate, safe to say that Kim is featured only to draw in a male audience.
A laughing stock
Within a week of Bound 2 being released to the internet masses, it had already generated a number of spoofs based on just how bad it was, the most popular one including Pineapple Express stars James Franco and Seth Rogen in what can only be described as the ‘bromance’ of the year.
While this particular parody is hilarious in its own right, it just shows what the wider problem consists of in the music industry these days. It seems more and more that artists feel the need to essentially rush their songs and get them published as soon as possible in order to stay competitive and relevant in an ever changing musical market.
With so much talent coming through, it’s understandable that veteran artists are feeling the strain. However, Kanye West (and even Miley Cyrus with her song Wrecking Ball, which has also produced parodies) shouldn’t slack with all the aspects of a particular. They should concentrate to ensure that they make the best music possible.
The right attitude shown
Kanye West was inevitably going to see the popular parody of his latest song sooner rather than later. After his partner Kim said that Seth Rogen and James Franco had ‘nailed it’ Kanye then messaged them on Twitter through Kim Kardashian, stating that he loved the video and couldn’t stop laughing.
Whilst I think this is a positive step by Kanye instead of keeping quiet, he really should take onboard the criticism that goes hand-in-hand with this spoof. You always need to allow criticism to be spoken when you create an artistic piece of work, so hopefully Kanye can use this and build on it for the future (I really hope he does). If all artists responded to parodies and alternative impressions of their work in this way, it would only benefit the industry as a whole.
Looking to the future
It’s clear that the music business has always been slightly mental throughout the decades. You only have to look at the years of hardcore Rock and Roll or Death Metal to see this. However, in recent years it may have lost its way. Unintentional or not, this could be because of the amount of talent shows open to the general public.
There’s no doubt that 2013 has been another great year for music overall, but it’s up to both artists and the attitude of the viewing public to ensure that music remains a major player in the entertainment market, and that might mean no more topless women on bikes or wrecking balls, unless you like that kind of thing of course.
Click here to see the full music video of Bound 2. (Warning – Mature content)
Click here to see the parody of Bound 2. (Warning – Mature content)
Click here to see a popular parody of Wrecking Ball. (Warning – Mature content)
What do you think? Have your say in the comments section below.
Image: Dell’s Official Flickr page
