In 2018, R3HAB has completely lost his identity and he has been releasing a slew of generic tracks week after week. Being precise, we are speaking about 1 album, 9 official remixes, 13 singles, 16 remixes of his tracks by other artists releases as singles (and not as remix packs). Oh, and 102 dates played in 2018, one every two days on average.
It’s oversaturation in its worst form.
Back in 2014, R3HAB was one of the most promising artists around with a fair amount of hits already under his belt thanks to his particularly aggressive style of electro house. Around the release of “Get Up” in 2016, R3HAB took a turn for the worse and his style switched to tracks that were wholly Spotify-oriented. Release after release followed a pop future bass or house formula with the clear focus of getting approved by as many EDM and pop playlists as possible.
Now there’s nothing wrong with approaching music this way, but to me, the music just didn’t have that soul or passion that it once had. Eventually, it got to the point where R3HAB was releasing a new track every week, so much content that even his Soundcloud doesn’t contain all of his releases. He was pumping out so many releases and filling up playlists but leaving his core fans behind in favour of idle listeners to give him stream revenue.
I don’t have anything against Spotify, I’m a frequent user myself and host a playlist of my own, nor am I against future bass as a genre. What I do have a problem with, is the fact that we have dozens of generic tracks with millions of plays released by one of the industry’s most notable names.
His practice of quantity over quality or originality sets a horrible example for other producers out there.
Those established producers might look over and see a winning business model while aspiring producers see this as an easy way to fame and riches. As an industry, it’s important to place value on creativity and trailblazers who will push the barriers of music forward, not stagnate to the point of complacency. While the majority of his releases have been forgettable, it’s important to note that R3HAB has come out with a few releases that caught my eye including “Lullaby,” which we gave a 90+ rating, and his new style of funky bass house that can be seen in his remixes of “One Kiss” and “Don’t Leave Me Alone.” Also noteworthy are his collaborations with Skytech, who seems to bring out the best of what R3HAB used to be while adding some unique sounds or trying out new genres like psy-trance.
Tracks like “Starflight,” “What You Do,” or “Islands” with KSHMR all bring out some of that old, festival R3HAB we used to know.
Of course, there is always the debate of how much R3HAB is actually contributing to his releases (*blink), but the fact remains that there is such an insane amount of releases coming from under the R3HAB name.
The bottom line is that R3HAB is destroying himself and his brand. He’s losing his musical identity that he had acquired over years of hard work and dedication. I’m afraid to see what will happen when people will become tired of his music and this practice. It’s almost inevitable with this level of oversaturation. While I will always give full respect to an artist that has talent and experience, I just have this to say: R3HAB, it’s time to slow down.
What do you think?
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