A technique that I admire and yearn for in the music industry is the art of stripping down a song into an unplugged, acoustic version. Taking a song and turning it into a simplistic work of art that displays an artist’s instrumental talent, provides a pure, raw emotion that the original version of the song sometimes does not offer. Many artists will record a song with technological elements in order to make it “radio friendly” or more marketable. But, a lot of times these elements take away from the emotion of the song. Therefore, many artists will re-record or perform at live venues using this broken-down, “unplugged” aesthetic of their song to share what they were feeling when they wrote or recorded the song.
I coined the “unplugged” aesthetic term from the MTV Unplugged television series. These televised, intimate concert shows proved to me that any genre can perform a song acoustically. The alternative genre is very powerful with the “unplugged” aesthetic. “The Outsiders” by Needtobreathe (2009), is originally done with an abundance of sounds. However, on their deluxe version of the album, also entitled “The Outsiders,” Needtobreathe released an acoustic version of the song. This version was stripped down to where you could hear each specific element and instrument of the song. There is an emphasis on the voice and the hand clapping, whereas in the original the hand clapping is very distant in the background of the song. This is the perfect example of being “unplugged” because you could hear clearly the rhythm of the hand clapping instead of the instruments overpowering it, as they do in the original. It kind of stood as a metaphor with the song, as an “outsider.” The handclapping was hard to hear in the original version, but it clearly stood out in the acoustic. Maybe this is what Needtobreathe was going for in relation to trying to emotionally enhance the song. What I find interesting, but mostly enlightening, is that their acoustic version of the song has received more success than their original version. I believe it is because the “unplugged” aesthetic allows for simplistic instrumentation that invokes emotion and admiration for the artist and what they are singing about.
As mentioned before, the MTV Unplugged series showed me that any genre can apply the “unplugged” aesthetic. Even hip-hop artists can strip down their heavily produced beats so that the emphasis of emotion is felt on their lyrics. After all, hip-hop is all about expressing yourself through words or rhymes; therefore, an artist would want people to understand what they are trying to say. Jay-Z is one artist that has taking on the emotional task of “unplugging” some of his greatest hits. In 2001, Jay-Z performed a set on the MTV Unplugged series and followed up with a live album version, “MTV Unplugged: Jay-Z,” to release to his fans. He took some of his songs such as “Song Cry,” “I Just Wanna Love You (Give It To Me),” and “Can I Get A…” and stripped them down using real instruments rather than computerized productions. This way the beat did not over power his flow or take away from the focus of the lyrics. Instead, he gave an “unplugged” performance providing emphasis and emotion on his words, his stories, rather than trying to get people to dance to a certain beat. Listening to these versions of Jay-Z’s songs provides a whole new affect and authenticity to his appeal and music. The flow of the rapper is what is felt, the emotion put behind each word; it feels so much more real to the audience, so much more intimate and personal.
The “unplugged” aesthetic provides this intimate and personal atmosphere. It is an art form so pure and full of raw emotion that does need complicated themes or technological elements to be appreciated as talent. Acoustic versions, whether recorded or performed live, give listeners an avenue to connect with the core of the song and experience the power and emotion that went into the creation of that song.
Needtobreathe "The Outsiders (Acoustic)" --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6xvpQYA94Y
Jay-Z "Song Cry (MTV Unplugged)" --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDGbyJah-4U&playnext=1&list=PL60B390B5DC8BE11C
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