It's often debated which musicians are best at what they do; who's the best singer, best guitarist, best drummer etc. I think the answer to all these questions is someone we've never heard of.
When I was getting into west coast rap I learned that it started with NWA which opened the door for numerous rappers and singers to make it big. Dr Dre's step brother is Warren G who was school friends with Snoop Dogg and his cousin Nate Dogg. Additionally Snoop Dogg is cousins with Daz Dillinger from Tha Dogg Pound and R&B singers Brandy and Ray-J.
As a youngster I liked this story of friends and family helping each other to make it big in music but as I got older the reality hit that this is only really a good thing if you're already part of it, which I wasn't. OK I never thought I would ever make it as a rapper coming from some UK backwater not to mention my rapping skills aren't great.
It does however illustrate that the music business is a bit of a closed shop that's getting smaller and smaller in a mainstream sense. These days there are fewer records that make the Top 40 and the artists in it are having more hits than they used to, look at how many Top 40 hits Drake has each year for example. That leaves less room for anyone new to break in.#
What inspired me to write this was looking at the track listing of the newer Now albums. We're seeing multiple tracks on the albums by established chart acts such as Calvin Harris. There's also a number of tracks that never made the Top 40 but these are by chart acts of yesteryear such as Take That, The Pretenders and Rick Astley.
Even away from the mainstream it can be a similar story. When hardcore was coming out of it's slump at the turn of the century there were numerous DJs/producers trying to break through. The only one who really succeeded was Gammer who came out of nowhere but one advantage he had over everyone else was that his mother was friends with Dougal.
Music is subjective and as a result you could be the most talented musician ever but unless you're already part of existing music circles the odds are really stacked against you for you to make it.
I once thought you needed to have an exceptional talent to be a famous musician. Some people still do think that, when I was in a band someone said to me there's no way my band was anywhere near as good as Blink 182 because they've sold millions of records and we haven't sold any. This person said it having never heard any of our songs.
I realised that you don't have to be an exceptional guitarist to be big when I could play every track on Nirvana's "Nevermind" album just a few months after I started to play the guitar. OK Kurt Cobain may have been able to play something more complex but whether he could or not wouldn't have made a difference to his status.
Several famous musicians have admitted a limit to their musical ability and in some cases I guess their talent is making something decent from their limited ability.
Going back to Nirvana, it was generally agreed at the time that the member with the best ability to play their instrument was Dave Grohl on the drums. He's since spent the bulk of his music career playing the guitar.
Who's the best guitarist ever? probably the drummer from the band who play the odd gig down the Dog & Duck.
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