Perhaps the one truly unique art form America has given the world came from the African slaves. Out of the horror of slavery grew jazz. And blues, gospel, rock'n'roll, R&B, soul, funk and hip-hop. All of these genres have spread around the world and changed everyone and everything they have touched.
And time, tumult and technology have changed them. Except for jazz. Jazz is, was and always will be an unfathomable mad dog's dinner. If anyone tells you they "get it", they're lying.
Today, hip-hop is in the throes of mumble rap. And no one is quite sure what to make of that. Literally.
Following on, we've got Khalid, who played GMM Live House in Bangkok last week.
Described as sort of this and sort of that, the 20-year-old is an exponent of what can only be described as mumble soul, or mumble R&B. Sort of mumbly, anyway.
What's not sort of anything is his breakout success this year, riding high on 2017's American Teen album and the just-released Suncity EP. He's a definite hit with the kids. His downbeat existential nihilism striking a chord with … Gen Z? His lyrics are a bit punk, if you ask this Gen Dad.
Proving the point, Khalid bounced out on stage in a pair of white-laced eight-hole DMs to the opener 8Teen. And truthfully, it wasn't much of an opener.
Khalid's sound, mumble R&B, may seem pretty cool and lo-fi on a pair of headphones, but on the live stage, in a pretty big hall that was about half-full, the whole groove felt like a flat non-event. He quickly ran through Winter, American Teen, Coaster and Therapy, and it was all one long dull scene to be honest.
The kids loved it, and they sang along with every word, but all that really emphasised was Khalid's mumble soul and its inability to carry a show.
His biggest hit, Young Dumb And Broke, which you might expect to be kept back for the big finale was actually wheeled out halfway through the performance. Again emphasising a lack of flow or form or structure to the sound and show.
Speaking of the show aspect, there really wasn't much to see. Khalid himself has little stage presence, looking like a beardy chubby guy you might see at the student bar. There were minimal lighting effects and the backing band didn't have much to do, such is the nature of the music. And backing tapes may well have been involved.
Even Khalid's other big hit, Location, wasn't kept for the big ending, instead making an appearance three tunes earlier, which again was strange as the crowd loved that song, really rising to it.
OTW was chosen to wrap up the show, and when the end finally came, it was with the strangest and most misplaced electric guitar solo imaginable. It doesn't feature on the very smooth, headphone friendly studio version. So why on earth this heavy metal noodling was tagged on is beyond me.
There's a time and a place for Khalid. This may well be the time for his sound. But the place? That's the studio, not the stage.
