Last night my youngest daughter and I went fishing and our conversation was mostly about popular music. She is involved in the local music scene and seems to be up on things as much as the average Becky so I asked what she thought about Lil B. She didn't have any kind words for the dude and said she and her friends basically write him off as juvenile BS. She wasn't particularly offended by his words but said she didn't care for him because he just wasn't very good.
Giving it some more thought I have decided to share some more of my illiteracy with the Strut and set myself up to have some shots taken at me......bring it on, it makes the work day go by faster.
For the last 60 years there has been a segment of popular music that appealed to young people based on its shock value and rebellion against the ???Establishment??? or older generations/parents. Whether it was Elvis shaking his hips, the Beatles ???long hair??? or the Sex Pistols preaching anarchy the appeal was taking ownership of a music that was offensive or unacceptable to others. Not only do I understand this, I participated in it by purposely listening to what my father called ???That damned Jungle music??? which he would label anything from Blue Cheer to The Allman Brothers. The use of music as a statement of independence and youth has driven many genres and made many people rich. I get that, but from my current vantage point see it as mostly calculated hype.
I also understand that it gets harder and harder for each generation to pull this off as their parents and their generations have grown harder to shock and offend. In the age where tattoos, outrageous hairstyles and piercings are the norm, and past generations music has run the gamut, what can the average youth in 2011 do to make their mark and uniquely define their independence? Well the obvious thing is that it will involve the electronic media as they have grown up during it???s inception and evolution and they know more about it than past generations. The Internet is the current generation???s version of long hair, Mohawks, Woodstock, etc. etc. So it???s a natural thing that their music would come from this place that defines their youth.
The fact that Lil B and OF made their mark via this vehicle is not surprising and is almost somewhat predictable. And even if their rapping skills aren???t up to par with others, this street level ???gimmick??? has paved the way for their critical success. Understood and accepted.
Their ???shock value???, the thing that people are up in arms about, certainly qualifies as something that the ???establishment??? and their parent???s generation are genuinely offended by. But they are not offended because it???s something new and outrageous, they are offended because it???s a reminder of days gone by when Homophobia and female inequality were the norm. These are things that we as a society have tried to evolve away from and using them in 2011 isn???t edgy, it???s like picking at an old scab that should be in the healing process. Especially since this isn???t a case of a group co-opting an epithet in order to change its use and perception like what has happened with the ???N??? word.
If we have reached a point where in order to shock the past generations, youth have to mock their parents political correctness, I can somewhat understand a teen taking that route of rebellion. But what???s disturbing is the 30 something year old ???mainstream??? music critic, who should know better, giving it a pass and/or making up illogical excuses of why it???s not offensive. If these were kids singing about the fun of lynching a black man or putting a Jew in an oven no one would defend it on any level. The fact that this is about ???Faggots??? and ???Bitches??? tells me these are groups who, for some reason, don???t garner the respect they deserve in 2011. Being outraged by it should be the norm, no matter who you are, but giving it a pass makes you complicit in its ugliness. If that makes me ???old??? or out of touch, so be it, I???ll sleep just fine at night.
One difference between the old days and today is that the music of Elvis and the Beatles succeeded commercially on a huge scale. Lil B, on the other hand, is basically unknown in the mainstream. His moronic and trite lyrics about skullfucking bitches and so forth reaches a slightly larger percentage of the population than the riffage of hardcore morons Anal Cunt did.
File under who cares. It's funny when rapheads bust on psych heads for listening to a tired genre of music. Rap is 30+ years old, kids. It's about as revolutionary at this point as your mom owning a vibrator. No one with any sense cares about your rebellion anymore.
One difference between the old days and today is that the music of Elvis and the Beatles succeeded commercially on a huge scale. Lil B, on the other hand, is basically unknown in the mainstream. His moronic and trite lyrics about skullfucking bitches and so forth reaches a slightly larger percentage of the population than the riffage of hardcore morons Anal Cunt did.
File under who cares. It's funny when rapheads bust on psych heads for listening to a tired genre of music. Rap is 30+ years old, kids. It's about as revolutionary at this point as your mom owning a vibrator. No one with any sense cares about your rebellion anymore.
Lil B is in his own genre, one that noone in 2011 can fully grasp. Arthur Russell was basically unknown in the mainstream too. "Paint" and "Rain in England" is that yet-unlistenable music from the future.
Lil B is in his own genre, one that noone in 2011 can fully grasp. Arthur Russell was basically unknown in the mainstream too. "Paint" and "Rain in England" is that yet-unlistenable music from the future.
One difference between the old days and today is that the music of Elvis and the Beatles succeeded commercially on a huge scale. Lil B, on the other hand, is basically unknown in the mainstream. His moronic and trite lyrics about skullfucking bitches and so forth reaches a slightly larger percentage of the population than the riffage of hardcore morons Anal Cunt did.
File under who cares. It's funny when rapheads bust on psych heads for listening to a tired genre of music. Rap is 30+ years old, kids. It's about as revolutionary at this point as your mom owning a vibrator. No one with any sense cares about your rebellion anymore.
Lil B is in his own genre, one that noone in 2011 can fully grasp. Arthur Russell was basically unknown in the mainstream too. "Paint" and "Rain in England" is that yet-unlistenable music from the future.
Arthur Russell is still basically unknown in the mainstream. He's a pet concern of a small number of hipsters.
I don't think the phrase "succeeded commercially on a huge scale" is a vague phrase.
the record was released yesterday. it did not leak before appearing on itunes. the first track is great, and it stays fairly consistent from there. i like it, and it feels very relistenable.
I've just been listening to this album on youtube, and with all the talk surrounding it I was expecting some crazy, leftfield music. Colour me surprised then to find that it's incredibly pedestrian. It's like MOR rap, and definitely not music from the future.
It reminds me of Lady Gaga, where there you have this huge, divisive personality which disguises the fact that the music is actually pretty bland and inoffensive.
I've just been listening to this album on youtube, and with all the talk surrounding it I was expecting some crazy, leftfield music. Colour me surprised then to find that it's incredibly pedestrian. It's like MOR rap, and definitely not music from the future.
It reminds me of Lady Gaga, where there you have this huge, divisive personality which disguises the fact that the music is actually pretty bland and inoffensive.
I think this is his attempt to turn all the internet buzz he's generated/cultivated, and hype over the title, into a kind of more mainstream or commercial success. It's not surprising it sounds commercial.
Try listening to his based freestyles, or Rain in England.
*edit* guess it didn't work, or he just panicked, seeing as he's now giving it away for free.
Comments
harvey is so killing this thread...
Giving it some more thought I have decided to share some more of my illiteracy with the Strut and set myself up to have some shots taken at me......bring it on, it makes the work day go by faster.
For the last 60 years there has been a segment of popular music that appealed to young people based on its shock value and rebellion against the ???Establishment??? or older generations/parents. Whether it was Elvis shaking his hips, the Beatles ???long hair??? or the Sex Pistols preaching anarchy the appeal was taking ownership of a music that was offensive or unacceptable to others. Not only do I understand this, I participated in it by purposely listening to what my father called ???That damned Jungle music??? which he would label anything from Blue Cheer to The Allman Brothers. The use of music as a statement of independence and youth has driven many genres and made many people rich. I get that, but from my current vantage point see it as mostly calculated hype.
I also understand that it gets harder and harder for each generation to pull this off as their parents and their generations have grown harder to shock and offend. In the age where tattoos, outrageous hairstyles and piercings are the norm, and past generations music has run the gamut, what can the average youth in 2011 do to make their mark and uniquely define their independence? Well the obvious thing is that it will involve the electronic media as they have grown up during it???s inception and evolution and they know more about it than past generations. The Internet is the current generation???s version of long hair, Mohawks, Woodstock, etc. etc. So it???s a natural thing that their music would come from this place that defines their youth.
The fact that Lil B and OF made their mark via this vehicle is not surprising and is almost somewhat predictable. And even if their rapping skills aren???t up to par with others, this street level ???gimmick??? has paved the way for their critical success. Understood and accepted.
Their ???shock value???, the thing that people are up in arms about, certainly qualifies as something that the ???establishment??? and their parent???s generation are genuinely offended by. But they are not offended because it???s something new and outrageous, they are offended because it???s a reminder of days gone by when Homophobia and female inequality were the norm. These are things that we as a society have tried to evolve away from and using them in 2011 isn???t edgy, it???s like picking at an old scab that should be in the healing process. Especially since this isn???t a case of a group co-opting an epithet in order to change its use and perception like what has happened with the ???N??? word.
If we have reached a point where in order to shock the past generations, youth have to mock their parents political correctness, I can somewhat understand a teen taking that route of rebellion. But what???s disturbing is the 30 something year old ???mainstream??? music critic, who should know better, giving it a pass and/or making up illogical excuses of why it???s not offensive. If these were kids singing about the fun of lynching a black man or putting a Jew in an oven no one would defend it on any level. The fact that this is about ???Faggots??? and ???Bitches??? tells me these are groups who, for some reason, don???t garner the respect they deserve in 2011. Being outraged by it should be the norm, no matter who you are, but giving it a pass makes you complicit in its ugliness. If that makes me ???old??? or out of touch, so be it, I???ll sleep just fine at night.
Cool memegenerator photo with clever words
File under who cares. It's funny when rapheads bust on psych heads for listening to a tired genre of music. Rap is 30+ years old, kids. It's about as revolutionary at this point as your mom owning a vibrator. No one with any sense cares about your rebellion anymore.
Lil B is in his own genre, one that noone in 2011 can fully grasp. Arthur Russell was basically unknown in the mainstream too. "Paint" and "Rain in England" is that yet-unlistenable music from the future.
Arthur Russell is still basically unknown in the mainstream. He's a pet concern of a small number of hipsters.
I don't think the phrase "succeeded commercially on a huge scale" is a vague phrase.
You would think there wouldn't be such a fuss when someone has been going around calling themselves Puff Daddy for years. ;-)
My favourite Lil B video clip... :-P
Based in the face! The whimpering was really impressive.
the record was released yesterday. it did not leak before appearing on itunes. the first track is great, and it stays fairly consistent from there. i like it, and it feels very relistenable.
It reminds me of Lady Gaga, where there you have this huge, divisive personality which disguises the fact that the music is actually pretty bland and inoffensive.
http://www.mediafire.com/?o4z4ebht1gettlh
Try listening to his based freestyles, or Rain in England.
*edit* guess it didn't work, or he just panicked, seeing as he's now giving it away for free.
Noz cares. He wants to be the Jon Landau to this cretin's Springsteen.
It's as creepy as it sounds.
Odd Future are already pretty huge for a non commercial act, no?
Plenty of people care.
just shut the fuck up and go away.
I'm being called creepy by a hipster who calls himself rape_donkeys.
The internet is a very strange place.
And all this is happening in the "lil b is gay" thread of all places. multiple levels of humour are at work here, indeed.
Serious question: why do you keep coming back when it's clear not a single person wants you here?
OCD it is more common than you think.