Daft Punk, Snoop Lion and Artists Who Changed Their Styles

25 April 2013

Snoop Lion

Snoop Dogg released his first record under his new reggae persona Snoop Lion, and his sudden and slightly odd transition from rap to the much more relaxed music of Jamaica (we always thought he was just going over there for ‘medicinal’ purposes) got us here wondering who else still recording has changed their style dramatically at the flip of a switch.

 

Alanis Morissette

She became the voice of a generation of angry young women in the nineties, but Alanis wasn’t always set to become the first lady of grunge. In her youth when she was still up in the great white north, Alanis released a dance-pop album that couldn’t’ have been further away from ‘Jagged Little Pill’ if it tried. Released under just her first name, Morissette's opening salvo of tracks went platinum in her homeland, but was to be the only time that she'd sound that happy on record for quite a few years.

Upon moving to Los Angeles though, her more upbeat musical persona changed when she started after panic attacks after a mugging. This new found anger and emotion found itself at the heart of 'Jagged Little Pill', which after being picked up by a local radio station went on to become one of the most successful albums of all time, selling 35 million copies worldwide.

Nelly Furtado

While Nelly Furtado only became a worldwide force when she teamed up with Timbaland for her smash hit album ‘Loose’, she first sprung onto the scene over half a decade earlier with the sweet and folksy pop records ‘Like a Bird’ and ‘Turn Off The Light’. Along with the rest of her critically acclaimed and award winning first album ‘Whoa, Nelly!’, these tracks were eccentric and embraced pop, folk and her Portuguese past in equal measure to create something truly different.

Her switch to the more club based RnB saw her produce the best-selling album of 2006, but it’s seemed like it was more a flash in the pan than anything else, as in six years, Nelly’s not released anything that even comes close to equalling the success she had with ‘Maneater’ and ‘Say It Right’.

Daft Punk

The Parisian pair is back in the charts this week and their new song ‘Get Lucky’ shows that Daft Punk might be amongst the most changeable artists out there as they now venture into the realms of disco and funk for their new album.

Thomas and Guy-Manuel haven’t so much changed genres as flitted between them throughout their musical career, with only their robotic voices and penchant for masks staying constant over the decade and a half.

From the pure house of ‘Homework’ through to the pop of ‘Discovery’ and the rock of ‘Human After All’, the duo haven’t stood still for a second, even taking a dive into the work of orchestral composing for the soundtrack to Tron: Legacy. That they’ve always managed to keep the same spirit over all the changes though is perhaps the greatest triumph of all.

Pink

When Pink first came on the scene, she was the scrappy pretender to the RnB throne, with Alicia far closer to TLC than the artist she is today.

Ever since her first album though, it was clear that Pink was keen to transition to something a little darker and more serious, with tracks like ‘Family Portrait’ and ‘Just Like A Pill’ showing that there was much more to her than just another pop singer.

Over the next couple of records, she moved further and further away from her beginnings and into the arms of rock, a move that suits her more and more as time goes on, coming to its zenith with 2006’s ‘I’m Not Dead’, one of the best pop albums of the decade and a true demonstration of one of the best judged musical transitions of modern years.

The Black Eyed Peas

Before they were eaten by a computer and turned into the band that showed why you shouldn’t try and use auto tuners at the Superbowl, The Black Eyed Peas were a rather intriguing and slightly offbeat rap group. While will.i.am and apl.de.ap had met during high school as part of  break dancing crew,

It was two moves that turned The Black Eyed Peas into the chart colossus that they are today, the first being the recruitment of Fergie to the group and the second being will.i.am taking more creative control. Both steered the group into a fun, poppy direction that made them a massive hit with tracks like 'Where Is The Love' and 'Hey Mama'.

After two albums of RnB infused pop, the band moved genre again, with will.i.am leading the band down the electronic rabbit hole that the band still find themselves in to this day.