In Defense of Jacob Collier

What do you think of Jacob Collier? Let me know in the comments!

TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Intro
01:52 core truths about Jacob
03:50 why is Jacob "the music theory guy"?
04:43 Jacob's albums and their impact
06:54 "Jacob's music is too chaotic"
09:58 "Jacob makes Disney music"
11:12 "Jacob's music is boring bc he has perfect pitch"
11:49 "Jacob's music is poorly mixed"
12:36 "Jacob's lyrics aren't very good"
13:03 "Jacob's collaborators are so random"
13:27 "Jacob's Crocs are too loud"
13:32 why am I defending Jacob?

SOURCES CITED

ROYALTY FREE ASSETS USED
Video by Peggy Johnson Philip Waikoloa
Video by cottonbro studio
Photo by Pixabay
Image by Peter Ziegler from Pixabay
Photo by Josh Sorenson
Video by Ricky Esquivel

[MicTheSnare]

Captions will be available soon, the next DDD is up next, thanks for watching y'all 🙏

[AdamNeely]

11:07 you nerds really did eat that shit up

[tms]

I think a huge reason why Jacob Collier is getting all this backlash is a reason that isn't even directly his fault, and it's not even in the music itself. Media outlets are putting him on a pedestal as this musical genius and treating him like an artistic god, so when some people hear that and then find they don't like his music, its falling from a great height so to speak. As a musical artist, hearing that he was one of "the best musicians alive" made me compare him to myself and my music where I don't use a lot of fancy music theory. The headlines about him made me think "Well he uses complex music theory I don't know and everyone's saying he's so good, my stuff might not be able to compare", so when I listened to Djesse V4 I thought "Really? This is the music the 'best musician alive' is making? It's pretty bad". Like you said in the video, artists should be treated as human beings, but even when he directly tells the interviewers "I'm a flawed person, I don't like being called a genius, " they still title the video "THE MOZART OF GEN Z".

Unrelated but he made a free plugin for DAWs where you can play the audience choir thing he does at shows. I might not like his music all that much but it's an amazing choir plugin.

[tylerhackner]

He is undeniably very talented. His actual music doesn’t click with me, it probably never will, and that’s ok, but I think the hate is so overblown.

[terradon]

I think remembering "he's just a guy" is really important to remember about literally everyone you know and have ever heard of.

[awildparrot]

i would like to retract my statement on Jacob Collier

[ShakespearsCyst]

When I saw that headline calling him Gen Z's Mozart... Like why would the media call him that? They may as well have painted a target on his forehead.

[renoutlaw]

"Are you criticizing something, or are you asking for a different thing?"

Mic just summed up like 95% of annoying online "critique" these days that purports to be an objective analysis of something but is just someone complaining that something not for them doesn't fit their (often very narrow) tastes.

[mightymoses]

Before even diving into the video, I had no idea there was large discourse around Jacob. Figured he’s just good at what he does and people acknowledge it.

[monsieuremile]

Just saw him live and found it very refreshing to see an artist output a luminous, joyous and colourful show performed by...humans who work on their craft. It was also a hard to pin crossover of musical styles delivered with real connection and respect to a crowd that was greatfu and delighted. Totally worth it. Thousands of people singing together just because it feels good, well, feels good. Yeah the world sucks but seing someone with so much talent SMILE and actually doing something positive with his talent gives me hope in humankind. Hey if you don't like the goody-too-shoes vibe, well there's plenty of dark and blasé and discouraging stuff out there, take your pick. Thank you Jacob!

[rlwdesigns]

People really hate this dude because of the epic gap between what people are told he is "Mozart" and his music. It's like bringing a comedian on stage saying "next up the funniest man in the world..." The audience is going to go "Oh really? We will see about that."

[CarterBartram]

Jacob is a kid in a musical candy shop, sprinting from aisle to aisle, gorging himself on every new and exciting flavor he finds, and experiencing profound joy the whole time. He makes music that he finds interesting or meaningful to himself. He's not trying to show off all the time; he's pushing his boundaries and doing weird stuff because he'd get bored otherwise. As a musician, I wish I could maintain that level of energy and authenticity. I like a decent chunk of his music, but everything about his creative process is fucking inspirational.

[WilliamMaranciMashups]

you can't say "dommy sevs" and expect to get away with it mister

[elgoogaga]

i think he doesn’t really give a shit if people like his music, but it’s ironic considering that people act like he is trying soooo hard to impress them or something. like maybe the dude just makes what he thinks is cool

[silver]

I'm with most people where Jacob's music is a hit or miss, but when he makes slower-paced pieces of work (which I end to gravitate towards) they're genuinely so pleasant to listen to. I still go back to his cover of "in the Bleak Midwinter" and "I heard you singing" (though that one is more recent)

[roramdin]

Jacob is such a sweet and thrilling and lovely music educator and communicator. His music has always been a hard sell that I've never bought, but I have so much raw respect for the way he talks about and preaches the gospel of music.

[neonbeige]

Mathematical AJR is actually a really good way of describing his music imo. Respect his skill though.

[metashrew]

you hit the nail on the head.
I used to be a big fan of his music, because i was studying music at the time and could relate to Jacob's drive to want to know how all of it works. His approach to music has been very influential to how I think about music
At some point I started looking for different things in music though, and Jacob's music didn't really click anymore for me.

Funnily enough, I've been listening to a lot of Big Thief and Adrianne Lenker, which i would say are pretty different from Jacob's music. But Jacob himself is actually a huge fan of Adrianne.
Not everyone might like his music, but his public spotify playlist has a lot of good music in it.

[jyotsnasastry]

You nailed it when you said, “it depends on what do you go to a musician for” and the subway and beef fried rice example. There’s something for everyone and if he’s not for you, let him be. Those of us who are enjoying what he’s bringing want him to keep bringing it.

[asherhaig]

"Are you criticizing something or asking for a different thing?" YES! Well put! Thank you!