Write. Better. Songs.

I've said for years now that rappers are the new rock stars.

It began around 95/96 with Puff Daddy. It began with rap, just as it became uncool to be a rock star in rock. Though I loved Nirvana, the explosion of that band and of grunge as a style, thoroughly destroyed any cool that existed in being your typical, David Lee Roth style rock star. No longer was the notion of excess a cool one.

So rappers took off where rock stars left off. I remember seeing the Puff Daddy and The Family World Tour in 97ish both in Buffalo and Philadelphia. I remember watching it, and the only thing it reminded me of was seeing Poison when I was much younger. The explosions. The outfit changes. The adoring crowd.

To this day, rappers are still the only rock stars that exist. Kanye West is more of a rock star in the classic sense of the word than anyone actually making rock music. The rock community villifies anyone that revels in their fame, whereas the hip-hop community, and the people who listen to the music seem to reward it. When I was a kid, I'm sure Poison and Warrant and Def Leppard would have been on every other second of the VMA's, whereas now most of what I see are Kanye and a bunch of other rappers who I can't identify only because I just don't listen to the music.

*Note, I mean the VMA's last year, when I had MTV. I don't this year, and didn't see this year's. Judging by the fact that I heard Britney was on it again, and it was horrible, I can't imagine it was much different.

So, what's the point?

We're getting there.

Lil Wayne is also a rock star. Lil Wayne is really famous and sells a lot of records and has really popular songs. So popular in fact that Jonathan Davis of Korn, and the band Framing Hanley have both COVERED Lil Wayne songs. Songs that are less than a year old. Songs that have not only not achieved classic status (like "Wicked" by Ice Cube had when Korn decided to cover it), but aren't even done being popular the first time yet.

Check out Jonathan's here:

And check out Framing Hanley's here (note that although this is a live version, they recorded a studio version):

I don't have a problem with anyone having any fun by covering a song at a show. Even something as potentially silly as a Lil Wayne song. Hell, when Umbrella was popular, there wasn't a band that DIDN'T cover it. I've heard live versions of both Ted Leo and Butch Walker covering Kelly Clarkson as well. No harm done.

I think going into the studio and trying to garner attention by covering a song that's currently popular is a mistake. I think it shows weakness. Not because they're covering a rap song. Not because the rap song is Lil Wayne (though the silliness of the songs adds to it, at least in my opinion), but because it seems as if the only way that these bands feel they can garner any kind of mainstream exposure is by singing someone else's song.

Rock music apologists will cry that because rap is the only thing that's popular anymore (wrong), that this is one of the only ways to get attention.

Rock music apologists will cry that rock radio "doesn't take chances on new records," and that's why they have to do any and everything to get attention.

Bullshit. Write better songs and people will pay attention. Stop complaining about rap, stop complaining about radio. Write better songs, record them, then get on the road and play them for people.

Newsflash: Hinder got on the radio and took over the country for a minute with a song that wasn't a rap song cover. They also didn't cover a rap song first. Now, I hate that fucking song, but it happened. Saving Abel got a song on rock radio, and now Top 40 radio without covering a rap song. They're (once) nameless, currently faceless bands that made their way onto the radio and into people's (disgusting) hearts just by writing good songs.

Framing Hanley is a good band whose worst nightmare is this cover becoming popular. As Chuck Palahniuk would write:

See Also: Alien Ant Farm

See Also: Orgy

See Also: The Ataris

Because no matter how good they are, this will be their claim to fame. They'll be the little girl that fell down the well when she was a baby. No matter what she does from that point on, she'll be famous for being the headline of some story that one day, will just be a headline without a story.

Alien Ant Farm, you know, the band that covered Smooth Criminal.

I guess there's a chance that they're fine with that being their one and only headline. I guess there's a possibility that they feel it's better to have a goofy headline than none at all. That if they retire being the band who covered Lil Wayne, it's better than being the band no one ever knew. I accept that, though I doubt it's how they feel.

Note to Framing Hanley: Go write a huge fucking hit. As Chuck would say:

See Also: Hinder

See Also: Saving Abel

See Also: Nickelback

Jonathan Davis, you sir, are making a fool out of yourself. You sir, think it's funny that Jonathan Davis is covering Lil Wayne. You sir, are becoming a caricature of yourself, and the only people laughing, are laughing at you. Go reivent yourself and write a killer song. Go reinvent yourself as something other than Lil Wayne. Korn used to be my favorite band, now I just wish you'd go away. If possible, this is more embarassing than the Fieldy solo album.

Note to us, the rock consuming public: The minute we start letting our rock bands be rock stars again, is the day we'll see their faces on TV again. The day we want them to be larger than life again, is the day they will be. Rock songs are still rock songs, the only things that have changed are how the people act who are singing them, and how we treat them. 20 years ago, Fred Durst would have been celebrated as the picture of rock n' roll excess, just like Motley Crue. Today, we hate him.

The minute we start WANTING them to be the biggest thing in the world again, is the day they will be. We can't complain that rappers are the only ones who are famous when they're the only ones who really try.