I'm really having a hard time stomaching some of today's youths trends. If it is some new music I find revoltingly horrible I wonder if I'm just too old to understand it, like my parents were, or does it just really suck? One big question I have is just who is driving this fucking monstrous land-shark of publicity? Every day it seems like some new rapper is the biggest star in the country. Just today I saw this gentleman (it took me five minute to decide on the word 'gentleman') named B.o.B. Obviously B.o.B. has a big hit on his hands (not to mention dyslexia) and he's going to be all over the M.T.V. video awards show.
I've never heard of B.o.B. Nobody I know (Oh, I asked.) has ever heard of him either. Granted my inner circle is hardly a representation of a wide spectrum of humanity (far from it actually...). But one aspect that bugs me is the fact that I have no problem with most other media. So why do I like the same movies that are out today, but I think the music sucks ass? I liked "Avatar" and I loved "Indecent Basterds", no problem there with the movies.
As far as literature goes I don't see much of a problem there either. I may be somewhat limited as I don't read fiction, I don't have the time. I do try to get some pop culture, stay abreast of things, by reading "Rolling Stone". I have complained vehemently about the "Stone" in the past but my bitch was not about the journalism, it was about their choice of musicians they chose to highlight.
I think "Rolling Stone" has great writers, but I don't think musicians that play to children belong on the cover. Among musicians the cover of "Rolling Stone" was once considered a very serious honor. Does the person that reads Matt Taibbi's scathing report on Wall Street bailouts also like the fact that the Jonas Brothers are on the cover?
This also just happened to be the same issue that contained a lengthy interview with Gregg Allman, but the fucking Jonas pimples were on the cover! Of course I should probably stop ranting about the Jonas Brothers, they're pretty much over at this point anyways. I don't think they'll be bouncing back with their own "Sgt. Pepper's" any time soon.
I thought the new television shows, mostly the "reality" genre were just looking awful. The most glaring example of this televised drivel looked like "The Jersey Shore". I normally would never even bother to give a show like this a shot, but all the hype drew me in.
"Why the hell not?" I thought, if it sucks I'll know right away and I'll be gone in a matter of seconds. I just had to be sure the remote was handy,because I've yanked the plug on some shows that sucked so hard I had to turn it off immediately or throw the T.V. in the lake. There was a "Jersey Shore: Miami Beach" marathon showing before the M.V.A.'s, so, trying to stay open-minded and in need of some youth oriented pop culture to stay well-rounded, I tuned in.
I was fucking mesmerized for hours! This was the greatest show ever on the T.V. (not really) I couldn't look away! The women in this show were so horrible to each other in contrast to the men it was hysterical! I could go on for pages, but I'll just do you the favor and recommend you watch at least one episode. But again, the only part of the show I really didn't care for was the soundtrack music they use.
They displayed the name of the song and the artist that's playing (I didn't recognize one of them!), on the bottom frame, during the show. I thought this was a great idea for reality shows, it would be a little distracting for a good drama, but what a great piece of commercial exposure! It was really too bad that the music was unlistenable, for me anyways.
One "musician" I've seen absolutely everywhere lately is this Justin Beiber. I try to be open-minded as I said but this one is just baffling to me. I just don't think it's right to be exploiting a girl this young that is gay. I know it's a great opportunity for anyone to be that successful at a young age - you'll be old and rich - but aren't the pressures of being young, rich, famous, and openly gay just too much?
Sure she's a cute kid and she sings well, I guess (I'd never actually listen to that, sorry) but she's obviously barely into puberty. Kids that age are fucking batshit crazy enough when they're normal (not that there's anything abnormal with her). It would just be a shame to see her when she starts to look like Chastity Bono. Kids that are that flashy at such a young age rarely have long illustrious careers. At least she hasn't been exploited as a pro-lesbian figurehead yet, but they're coming for her - you can bet on that.
So maybe I should compare myself to my parents when it comes to the musical divide. I can't see my Mom ever taking a shine to Black Sabbath for instance. Okay, I'll buy that. I don't think there's a chance in hell I'd ever like anything by (let's pull a random name from a hat) let's say "Vampire Weekend".
I actually tried to listen to more than one tune from their CD but I only got through maybe 30-40 seconds before I knew I was wasting my time and was never going to like their music. I'm not saying they suck as musicians, I'm just saying that their music sucks (to me). I'll bet my bottom dollar that my Mother would say that very thing if she was to hear the opening strains of "Ironman", one of the greatest songs ever written (in my opinion, of course).
What should also be taken into account is the legacy of the music. Will this modern/new music stay relevant for thirty years? I hear young musicians talk about getting inspiration and motivation directly from Black Sabbath and have been hearing that since I saw them with my own eyes. Will there be someone gushing about Justin Beiber at the 2035 Lilith Faire Concerts? There might just be. Who can say? Until we can look into the future we really have to rely on our own instincts, and my instincts smell Milli Vanilli.
Sure I know we can't all create great music and can't expect every new musician to be the next John Lennon. But when I look at artists like Lady Gaga, Justine Beiber, Ke$ha and Katy Perry I just wonder why we keep on getting nothing but Yokos'.
I'll admit I'm jaded but I'm also very lucky at the same time. I was brought up on the Beatles!
Maybe I was born at the right time.
Selah.
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