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Originally Posted by jean-baptiste
Does anyone miss her hip-hop songs? I really do, but it's interesting to see how Namie redirected her sound almost seamlessly starting with maybe Uncontrolled? It was definitely apparent Namie's sound had changed with FEEL and was solidified with _genic. I'm sure she'll continue with this predominantly pop sound on her next album (as her singles indicate). I'm wondering how people are liking this change, and if anyone even noticed? I honestly wasn't even conscious of the fact that she'd brought the hip-hop sound to a minimum and then did away with it. I'm glad she can evolve so successfully as a pop act!
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I miss it, but I also like some of her more pop stuff. And her early career was more pop, with a hinge of R&B (but that kind of was the 90s anyway). I think of her albums, PLAY or PAST<FUTURE had the best overall balance for me in terms of pop and hip-pop (even as she called it -- it wasn't pure hip-hop, and it wasn't pure pop...it was a blend!).
I loved FEEL, but have been less enthusiastic _genic and subsequent singles which are just so devoid of personality to me. Everything is just over-produced now, and could literally be any club girl singing on them. I also wish she'd use more Japanese, though _genic does beat FEEL in that way.
Most of all, I just miss something with more attitude/edge. I feel like the gritty aspect of her music has been pretty lost. It has in her image, as well, with her having tattoos removed, etc.