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Whiplash Artists and Genre Definers

Artist Helen Green created the animated David Bowie gif above to show the style icon’s transformations over the years.
Artist Helen Green created the animated David Bowie gif above to show the style icon’s transformations over the years.Helen Green

by Sean McPherson

February 26, 2022

I had so much fun listening to Zeke playing two song sets on Twosday, aka 2/22/22, that I figured we might as well get in on some of the fun for Radio Free Current. I want to bring you a bunch of two-song sets — but I’ve got a twist: let’s call it “whiplash artists”! Some artists have such musical breadth that you could pick out two songs from their catalog that sound like completely different artists. I’m thinking about musical chameleons like David Bowie, Prince, Ween, Björk and more. Let’s play two-song sets from artists where the songs are so different they’ll make your head spin!

And I’ve got to sneak in one more option for tonight’s show: It’s Erykah Badu’s 51st birthday today. She is a genre-defining artist, because I bet if I say “neo-soul” to you … you immediately imagine Erykah Badu. She is the definition of neo-soul. So when you hear jazz, what artist do you picture in your head? How about hard rock? What about folk? Let’s celebrate some of those genre-defining artists as well.

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