The Real Reason Most Musicians Lose "It" as they Age

Sick Boy: It's certainly a phenomenon in all walks of life.
Mark: What do you mean?
Sick Boy: Well, at one time, you've got it, and then you lose it, and it's gone forever. All walks of life: George Best, for example. Had it, lost it. Or David Bowie, or Lou Reed...
Mark: Some of his solo stuff's not bad.
Sick Boy: No, it's not bad, but it's not great either. And in your heart you kind of know that although it sounds all right, it's actually just shite.

-From Trainspotting

As a rule people in many other walks of life tend to age better, but as far music goes, we all know it's true- after a certain point, most musicians seem to lose "it", that magical quality that made their earlier recordings so good and vibrant. Just look at everything Paul McCartney did after he left the Beatles. If you're in your late 20's or early 30's, look at what happened to the Smashing Pumpkins. If you're in your teens and your favorite musicians are still good, just wait- it'll happen to them too.

Usually, we tend to measure this in terms of the quality of their melodies, as if writing pop tunes is a technical exercise that older songwriters somehow lose proficiency in. But that doesn't explain everything- even former fans of U2 that have soured on everything they did after the band hit it big will admit that newer songs like "Beautiful Day" are catchy.

And let's face it, technical ability doesn't count for much in pop music. That's why some enthusiastic kids with 3 chords and some energy consistently outdo more skilled musicians. If technical chops were really what mattered, those guys that write infectiously catchy songs for Disney musicals and TV themes would have millions of fans.

I have a simpler proposition- regardless of the genre, what music communicates primarily is emotions, and it's power is in the way it can change the mood of its listeners. That's why songs follow the themes of our most powerful feelings (usually love, sometimes anger).

Pop groups make it big expressing the emotions of people their own age. The feelings they express are those of people 25 or under. Some older musicians remain eternal teenagers that never fully grow up (Iggy Pop is a good example), and so in some rare cases, these singers are still seen as having "it" to greater or lesser extents.

But in most cases, they age and mature, and begin to lose touch with those feelings that their early music embodied, and they can no longer express them as powerfully or effectively. At that point, they have two options- grow up a little, and start making music aimed at an older, more mature audience (though many of the fans of the older albums will hate it), or continue trying to act like a teenager, looking more and more pathetic.

Styles of music that skew toward older audiences see the lowest attrition of "it". Look at Country, for example- Most fans will tell you Johnny Cash had it to his dying day. Literally, if you listen to his posthumous last album.

Meanwhile, styles of music skewed toward younger audiences see stars losing "it" as shortly as a year or two after their debuts. Perhaps no genre exemplifies this better than rap. The emotions communicated in rap might not appeal to you personally, and you might not even consider it "real" music to begin with. But in a way that helps prove the point- other people are roused by the emotions expressed in rap and enjoy it for that reason, despite the fact that it requires so little (essentially irrelevant) technical skill.

Most rappers have a creative lifespan of about 3 years, during the most arrogant moments of their youth, and spend their remaining days grabbing at movie roles, and putting out half-hearted albums that try to ape the latest trends of kids now 10-20 years their juniors.

The worst career move a rapper can make is growing up. Observe Method Man, once the standout star of the famed rap group the Wu Tang Clan. His solo album, named after a slang word for marijuana, was one of the group's bestselling efforts.

But shortly after Method Man made a huge blunder- he matured. He married the same girl that loved him before he was famous, bought a house, had kids, and told MTV that he would rather put money in their trust funds than buy another gold chain to put around his neck.

He landed roles on several critically acclaimed TV shows, including Oz and The Wire, but his rapping was never the same. Technically, he does more or less the same thing he did on his first album, but the spirit and energy just aren't there. As hard as he tries, you can't shake the feeling that there's something else he'd rather be doing. His last two albums flopped, and he's now on the verge of being dropped by his label.

In contrast, consider the career of fellow Wu-Tang member Ghostface Killah, who used to be considered second-tier within in the groups's ranks. Ghostface went to prison for a while for beating up and robbing a parking lot attendant (after he had become a rap star, mind you), as far as I know never married, and basically kept on living the same lifestyle he'd had when he was 20. Today, he's the only surviving member of the Clan most fans or critics take seriously.

Look at career rappers like LL Cool J (whose last album tanked), that follow the trends, and more humble rappers like Redman, that continue to walk the walk by never marrying and continuing to smoke dope every day- those are the ones that continue to remain popular with fans.