Jonathan Davis has “Got Money” but No Swagger

For those of you who may or may not know, Jonathan Davis (lead singer of Korn) is working on a solo album. Now to the many Korn fans, this is good news considering their last major “hit” was a cover of Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall”. However I came across Jonathan’s website http://www.jdsfa.com/ and I found myself listening to a track he had just recorded with Jim Root of Slipknot. But this was no ordinary track. This was another cover. Not of a rock song, however, but a popular hip-hop track by Lil’ Wayne called “Got Money”. After the track had ended I found myself asking one question. Why?

The quote on his website says that this track is “not representative of the album” that he is currently working on. You know it’s never a good sign when a track comes with a disclaimer.

Davis’s “Got Money” tries to implement what Lil’ Wayne uses on the original track in the form of Auto-tune aka the sound that every rapper is using these days on their voice that makes them sound like a cyborg. Furthermore he proceeds to name check himself as “Young JD” throughout the song as a replacement to Wayne’s name. Now if he wanted to do this song for fun on
his upcoming tour, I actually think it would have been a welcome surprise and maybe even applauded by some critics. But the fact that he’s released the track and asked us not to use it as a representation of his album isn’t exactly the smartest move on his part.

I don’t know if he thinks he can be a rock rapper just because Korn released a cover of “Word Up” a few years ago, but it just doesn’t work. He’s a smart musician that has released a lot of great music over the past 15 years, not to mention he was one of the leading rock voices in the 90’s. I also understand that when an artist goes solo they try to separate themselves from their usual sound. But that being said, I would at least prefer original material to dislike as opposed to a cover with a stymied flow.

While diehards may appreciate the song, it’s my hope that this is a practical joke played to perfection by Davis and soon we’ll be able to hear what he’s really working on.