Lancer said:
Zapp and Roger were using vocoders to create those cool vocal sounds, not autotune. It still sounds cool today.
Autotune was created to fix tiny pitch mistakes in vocals but now EVERYONE is using it. It's gotten to the point with me that I can hear when a vocal has been autotuned to hell (like the latest Miley Cyrus hit... she sounds like a chipmunk in places).
Nobody wants to innovate, and when someone does.. others jump onto that formula and milk it till it gets old. You can blame computers, the lack of music education in schools and record companies who are losing money everyday and rather spend cash on artists that don't take chances.
And unless it re-invents itself again Hip-Hop could be played out in a few years. The generation of teenagers who bought Hip-Hop CD's in high school are now going into college or joining the work force. Many are finding out they don't have the cash to buy CD's anymore (gotta pay the rent or tuition). Or they are tired that the last Eminem CD sounded pretty much like the last one. And in a recession nobody wants to hear a guy brag about how many girls he's banged, how many guns-cars he owns and how much money he's making.