Keith Richards is known for his harsh assessments of certain genres of music. Now the Rolling Stones guitarist had some harsh words in the direction of a very popular style: rap.
The 79-year-old told the London Telegraph that he didn’t appreciate this music at all. Especially because of the style of chanting. “I don’t like to listen to people yelling at me and saying it’s music, aka rap. I can have enough of that without having to leave the house.” He left it open whether Richards meant domestic shouting.
Then Richards spoke out against pop music in general. “I don’t want to complain about it at all. But that was always rubbish. That’s exactly the thing about it. They make it as cheap and simple as possible, so everything sounds the same. This music lacks feeling. I want to listen to music with people playing instruments. That’s why I don’t like Muzak synthesized from plastic, as they used to call it, the stuff you hear in elevators. And that sets the benchmark today.”
The Rolling Stones will release their 26th studio album “Hackney Diamonds” on October 20th, and the single “Angry” was presented by Keith Richards, Mick Jagger and Ronnie Wood at an event in London with presenter Jimmy Fallon. It is not yet known whether the Stones will go on tour again next year.
In light of the upcoming release, Mick Jagger spoke about the new album and the approach to new songs. He also revealed what he said to producer Andrew Watt at the beginning of recording.
“I want it to sound like a Rolling Stones record, but I want it to sound like it was recorded this year,” Jagger recalls Canadian podcast “Q With Tom Power”. “We don’t want it to sound like it did 40 years ago, and of course it doesn’t. It sounds like today – the clarity and loyalty to the music. If you listen to it and compare it to an old Rolling Stones record, it’s very, very different.”
Mick Jagger: “The business is changing a lot”
Nostalgia doesn’t necessarily resonate with “Hackney Diamonds” for Jagger. The past 61 years with the Rolling Stones have shown him that success only comes if you stay up to date. “I’m not saying I slavishly try to be up to date on everything, but you have to understand how things work in today’s world,” he said. “I mean, driving is a different experience than it was in 1960. And the record business, like any business, is changing a lot. It’s never stayed the same.” Streaming is always criticized, says Mick Jagger, “but the interesting thing about it is that people of all generations have access to music from all eras,” said the artist. “Before, if I wanted to buy an old blues record from 1955, it was really difficult. I had to place an order, I had to go to a specialty store, even though I had a lot of money. If I want to buy it now, I can just do that.”
“Hackney Diamonds” will be released on October 20th – after 18 years, an album with the Rolling Stones’ own material will be released. You can already pre-order it as vinyl, in a bundle or as a CD.