It's all in the packaging...

As I was watching TV this morning, I caught a video of J. Lo's "Play". Looking at it, I couldn't help but think to myself, "it's all in the packaging".

As you may have seen in my profile, I consider myself to be an eclectic individual, which means I like a diverse genre of music. Be it classical, contemporary, jazz, hiphop, heavy metal or screaming music, I enjoy listening to all depending on my mood. As long as it has a good tune, beat or lyric, and is sung well then I'm pretty sure I would like it.

In the last decade, I have noticed the influx of so-called "artists" that lack talent but are built up on hype or "the packaging".

Since it was J' Lo's video that prompted me to write this, I'll start off with her. I love Jennifer Lopez in Selena as well as Monster in Law, Enough and Maid in Manhattan. I guess that doing Selena opened doors for her to pursue a career in music. I'm pretty sure that she had a great team of songwriters as her songs have a real catchy beat that one would enjoy dancing to. She also has a talented group that puts together her videos which of course, showcases her dancing ability.

Although she really started out as a dancer, I do not enjoy watching her dance. In my opinion, she lacks gracefulness (yes, hiphop dancers can still be graceful). Sure she can do the steps, but she looks very stiff.

So what made Jennifer Lopez "J. Lo"? Pretty much everything (ie. the complete make over..and of course, the butt) except her voice. Did you catch her when she sang with hubby Marc Anthony at the 2005 Grammy's? She sang live and boy! suffice to say, it was bad! But still, you have to give it to her and her team for a great marketing strategy. Her name has now been turned into a business venture.

Another classic example is Janet Jackson. Don't get me wrong. I love almost all her songs. But I wonder how she would sound if you ask her to do an impromptu on stage without the sound mixes and dancers. She actually whispers while singing. But who would notice when you have awesome material and killer dance moves?

Need I expound on Britney? From the schoolgirl's uniform to her clothes, or lack thereof, on the 'Toxic' video...that pretty much says it all. In terms of voice quality, she doesn't even come close to Christina Aguilera.

What irks me is that there is so much talent out there but then fans are suckered into going gaga over "singers" that are just really colorful and shiny hardbound covers of books with blank pages (all hype, no real talent). And we call them superstars? The real superstars are the ones that work behind the scenes: writing the music, conceptualizing the videos, etc.

Though I could still watch 'packaged artists' and marvel at the the production value, I find that it would be more enjoyable to discover virtual unknowns showing their artistic prowess on YouTube. At least I know I'm watching real talent in its purest form.