Death of Autotune

I just checked out a new Jay-Z track that will be on his upcoming album, Blueprint 3. It's called D.O.A (Death of Autotune) and I love it. While I do love Autotune and what it's done for the evolution of rap, you just have to respect Jay-Z. This guy just doesn't give a fuck and certainly doesn't need to alter his voice to make quality songs. All he needs is the creativity in his head and some dope producers. The drums, horns, and guitars make for a real chill beat and the lyrics, as always, are great with lines like, "this is anti Autotune/death of the ringtone/this ain't for iTunes/this ain't for singalongs," "i know we facin' a recession/but the music y'all makin' gonna make it the great depression," and "give this to a blood/let a crip walk on it." Here's the track:

"D.O.A. (Death of Autotune)" - Jay-Z

Jay isn't so much trying to diss the Autotune users out there. He's simply keepin it real. Hip Hop is about the lyrics, not a distorted voice. While melodies sell, rap, at its roots, is about spitting fire. Kanye, T-Pain, Lil Wayne, etc - keep using autotune, keep busting out hits, but don't forget where you came from. You came from Jay's time and he's just trying to remind you of that.

Looking forward to Blueprint 3, which comes out on September 11, 2009. Finally, coincidence that the best rapper of all time has a new album called Blueprint 3 and the current stage of Phish's career is referred to as Phish 3.0? I think not.