Which single artist has had the biggest impact on music ever?

2

Comments

  • tempo_n_groove
    tempo_n_groove Posts: 41,641
    Elvis Presley
    So with the artists to choose from obviously it is Elvis.

    Choosing Dylan before Elvis is foolish...

    Elvis was banned from the waist down on TV.  Dylan was criticized for going electric...
  • HesCalledDyer
    HesCalledDyer Maryland Posts: 16,498
    Elvis Presley
    Some neanderthal who beat the backs of his fallen foes with mammoth bones.
    Star Lake 00 / Pittsburgh 03 / State College 03 / Bristow 03 / Cleveland 06 / Camden II 06 / DC 08 / Pittsburgh 13 / Baltimore 13 / Charlottesville 13 / Cincinnati 14 / St. Paul 14 / Hampton 16 / Wrigley I 16 / Wrigley II 16 / Baltimore 20 / Camden 22 / Baltimore 24 / Raleigh I 25 / Raleigh II 25 / Pittsburgh I 25
  • Spiritual_Chaos
    Spiritual_Chaos Posts: 31,603
    rgambs said:
     drakeheuer14 said:
    Is eminem on the list just because he is a white rapper? He isn’t exactly groundbreaking in any way besides that
    He's on the list because he broke rap/hip hop into the mainstream like nobody had done before.  His skin colour is certainly a factor in that, but his flow is utterly unique and his skills are at the highest level.
    Not true enough to have had the biggest impact.

    Hip Hop was already in the mainstream when he came around.
    "Mostly I think that people react sensitively because they know you’ve got a point"
  • Thoughts_Arrive
    Thoughts_Arrive Melbourne, Australia Posts: 15,165
    Bob Dylan
    I thought Vanilla Ice broke white guys into the rap game?
    Adelaide 17/11/2009, Melbourne 20/11/2009, Sydney 22/11/2009, Melbourne (Big Day Out Festival) 24/01/2014
  • rgambs
    rgambs Posts: 13,576
    Robert Johnson
    tempo_n_groove said:
    To have Tupac and not Biggie is silly...

    Run DMC, PE or the Beastie Boys had more influence than Em...
    Yeah, I put Tupac up there just to be emblematic of the early days of rap, it could have been Biggie or Snoop, but I don't think any one rap artist from that era can win out against the competition.
    Monkey Driven, Call this Living?
  • rgambs
    rgambs Posts: 13,576
    Robert Johnson
    Spiritual_Chaos said:
    rgambs said:
     drakeheuer14 said:
    Is eminem on the list just because he is a white rapper? He isn’t exactly groundbreaking in any way besides that
    He's on the list because he broke rap/hip hop into the mainstream like nobody had done before.  His skin colour is certainly a factor in that, but his flow is utterly unique and his skills are at the highest level.
    Not true enough to have had the biggest impact.

    Hip Hop was already in the mainstream when he came around.
    No, it wasn't.  As a Midwestern white kid in middle school at the time, I can assure you it wasn't lol 
    Monkey Driven, Call this Living?
  • Spiritual_Chaos
    Spiritual_Chaos Posts: 31,603
    rgambs said:
    Spiritual_Chaos said:
    rgambs said:
     drakeheuer14 said:
    Is eminem on the list just because he is a white rapper? He isn’t exactly groundbreaking in any way besides that
    He's on the list because he broke rap/hip hop into the mainstream like nobody had done before.  His skin colour is certainly a factor in that, but his flow is utterly unique and his skills are at the highest level.
    Not true enough to have had the biggest impact.

    Hip Hop was already in the mainstream when he came around.
    No, it wasn't.  As a Midwestern white kid in middle school at the time, I can assure you it wasn't lol 
    So you had not seen, let's say "California Love" by Tupac, any Fugees singles or Will Smiths singles etc on MTV or mainstream radio before Eminem?

    Eminem making (white) kids in your midwestern school wear long white tshirts in the early 00s doesn't make him having "the biggest impact" on music ever. Or being close to it.
    "Mostly I think that people react sensitively because they know you’ve got a point"
  • rgambs
    rgambs Posts: 13,576
    Robert Johnson
    tempo_n_groove said:
    Why isn't chuck Berry on this list?

    Lead Belly?

    Most of the artists listed stole from these two...
    Robert Johnson didn't steal from Leadbelly and most consider his early impact to be larger...Elvis stole from everybody, but he had a massive impact nonetheless! 
    It's tough, I probably should have had Berry up there.  Not Holly though lol
    Monkey Driven, Call this Living?
  • OffSheGoes35
    OffSheGoes35 Posts: 3,517
    Bob Marley
    Thoughts_Arrive said:
    What about female artists?
    Thought about that question myself. I couldn't think of one to put forth as a suggestion really. Bessie Smith? I know she influenced Janis Joplin. That's a hard one.
  • rummy
    rummy British Columbia, Canada Posts: 4,466
    Bob Dylan
    Thoughts_Arrive said:
    I thought Vanilla Ice broke white guys into the rap game?
    Nah. 1986....Run DMC and Aerosmith (along with Beasties) was the game changer.
  • thispureamericanriot
    thispureamericanriot California Posts: 514
    Robert Johnson
    Thoughts_Arrive said:
    I had to go with Bob Dylan.
    He influenced even the Beatles.
    ... and Robert Johnson influenced Dylan. So subjective on this one. :|
    ZF0 on SoundCloud

  • OffSheGoes35
    OffSheGoes35 Posts: 3,517
    Bob Marley
    Would Billie Holiday be a good female choice? 
  • brianlux
    brianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 43,680
    Robert Johnson
    The answer for me personally is Bob Dylan.  When I heard "Like as Rolling Stone" for the first time, I was smacked out of my adolescent music phase like someone being shaken out of a coma.

    But as far as music in the modern western world in general (and its far reaching influences), I'd have to go with Robert Johnson.  His blues style is the foundation rock and roll and much of popular music. 

    Louis Armstrong is a close second.  He introduced the extended solo and his style revolutionized jazz.  And because jazz is the greatest and arguably the only true cultural invention to come from the United States, Armstrong's influences are huge.
    "It's a sad and beautiful world"
    -Roberto Benigni

  • OffSheGoes35
    OffSheGoes35 Posts: 3,517
    Bob Marley
    Or Aretha Franklin?
  • pledgeagrievance
    pledgeagrievance Posts: 2,874
    Missing the Beatles. They are the 1
  • Tim Simmons
    Tim Simmons Posts: 10,005
    Elvis Presley
    But they are a group, not a single artist
  • pledgeagrievance
    pledgeagrievance Posts: 2,874
    Tim Simmons said:
    But they are a group, not a single artist
    That makes sense lol. What an idiot I am 
  • rgambs
    rgambs Posts: 13,576
    Robert Johnson
    I thought of a few women, Aretha Franklin, Billy Holiday, Whitney Houston, even Gwen Stefani...
    I think that the music industry has downplayed, destroyed, subverted, and mostly constrained and controlled female artists for it's entire history and that's why it's hard to come up with such an iconoclastic example as Dylan or Marley.

    It should be noted that I was buzzin' when I created this thread so it's just a fun little thing.  Bill Monroe was the thought train that spawned the idea for a poll.
    Monkey Driven, Call this Living?
  • brianlux
    brianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 43,680
    Robert Johnson
    pledgeagrievance said:
    Tim Simmons said:
    But they are a group, not a single artist
    That makes sense lol. What an idiot I am 
    I wouldn't worry either way because the Beatles were not real.  What was know as the "Fab Four" was actually "The Fabricated Four".
    (I don't really believe this but it makes for fascinating reading!)

    "It's a sad and beautiful world"
    -Roberto Benigni

  • pledgeagrievance
    pledgeagrievance Posts: 2,874
    Cool article. Thanks for posting 

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