synopsis:shaddafuckup!
extended answer: You can only complain that ‘the music’ has become too commercialised because YOU are too lazy to actively seek out whatever you consider ‘good music’ to be. The ‘industry’ is NOT your nanny.
Up to five years ago, I would have accepted the over-commercialisation argument as true but not today. The Internet and the proliferation of free-to-air radio stations means that there is now much more access to musical variety, both legal and… well… the other kind for me to agree with these notions anymore.
iPod Touch.. streups
Most of the persons who actively campaign against ‘over-commercialised’ radio are neo-backpackers. The funny thing about backpacker-types is, in their quest to prove their uber-unique non-mainstream nature, they all forge some higher-plane, meta-physical, far out definition of what constitutes ‘good music;’ each definition a galaxy apart from the others. Now if we can’t get most of these persons to agree definitively on what constitutes ‘good’ music even among themselves, how can they feel comfortable sitting back and blaming the different arms of mega-corporations for taking a risk and selling their ideas of what ‘good’ music is to us?
Finally, who gives these critics and some of the artists they support the right to assume that the world is crying out for their brand of self-righteous, conscious music’ anyway? I’d certainly give Talib, Little Brother and Ro Blvd. some pride of place in the download queue (er… u know… from the iTunes store and stuff heheheh) but that’s my CHOICE. I’m into that kind of thing. But what about the people who aren’t into that? Some people just don’t want to be saved! I mean, what’s wrong with just wanting to ‘walk it out’ or ‘call dung di rain’ huh?
Talib Kweli – Ear Drum (apple store)
I agree that the playing field is somewhat imbalanced in terms of what kind of music gets out to a wider cross section of the public but as I said earlier, this is now due more to laziness on the part of listeners than just the ‘industry’ itself. In any event, Its called ‘the industry’ for a reason. That said, the assumption should not be made that once people hear your ‘deep, thoughtful’ shit thats being suppressed by industry cats, they’ll just lap it up!
Life is a pressuring thing, we WANT mindless garbage to spaz out to from time to time. D’fuck are we supposed to ‘unwind’ on the weekend with some negroe telling me ‘the white man’s out to getcha, the white mans out to getchaaa!?” My reality is already telling me that during the work week anyway, I DONT need a reminder of how hard life is on the mutherfucking weekend too. Damn!
So listen backpacker dudes and dudettes, the next time you hear some the radio playing some ‘commercial’ music, pop in some earphones and crank up your [insert random unsigned 'deep' emcee or some extra-intelligent underground cats here] collection on your iPod and shadafuckup!
Elephant Man – Let’s Get physical (literally!)
signed: disgruntled fringe backpacker who can’t seem to let go of that R.Kelly ‘make it rain’ type shit
