Wow. This century being the one that has like, 87 years left in it? We sure climaxed early.
I used to feel the same way, then he found his true identity as a gay fish.
As Charlie Brown and I say, “Good grief.” I won’t even privilege the tool KW by mentioning him by his full stage-name. He is a disease on music and the culture of our nation and our planet, and the fact that ANY one of you finds even a shred of talent in him is a symptom that there is something in the water. Anything that he records that APPEARS to be of some music value is entirely the work of those behind-the-scenes; not Toolio “Fish-Sticks” Wanyne Sweater-Kest. Every time he opens his mouth, I feel like the Moderator from that scene in Billy Madison: “We are all now dumber having heard that…”
Are you kidding me? Are you saying that this song is in some way representative of art or music? The guy literally could have plagiarized that tune from a 3 year old or an adult dog; the lyrics are of a caliber that I was writing before I started school, and the choreography was something similar to near-dead fish, struggling for just one last breath of air in a dried-up pool of water. I am embarrassed to live in this era.
I think Kanye passes for “art” only by comparison to other rap. When you set the bar that low, you can jump it riding a dead horse. But of course I’m sure people have said the same about rock and jazz so I suppose all that proves is that everything is a matter of perspective.
My own bias is that if something is going to be called ‘music’ then actual musical elements should dominate rather than lyrics, but there are certainly plenty of other exceptions to that rule I suppose. Rap does seem to take it to the logical extreme though.
And how much rap have you listened to? Kanye West is mainstream pop. That doesn’t mean I don’t think he has talent (and that he’s also a sickening narcissist who thinks everything he says is noteworthy even when it’s really, really not) but almost everyone who thinks rappers are just plain not talented has no idea what they’re talking about. Which is totally fine, as long as they recognize that they don’t. I don’t know much about most types of music and what little I do know is the pop music of that genre, so I wouldn’t begin to think I’m qualified to judge the talent of the genre’s artists in general. There are some rappers who are very clever lyricists. To do it, and do it well, on the spur of the moment, takes a lot of talent.
That said, there are a SUPER LOT of wannabe rappers. I know that because I’ve known so many of them that it’s embarrassing. I don’t know if the same is true in other genres. I’m *sure *it is to some extent but I don’t know if it’s as much. I don’t know any wannabes of other genres.
I admit I’m biased. I thought I said as much. I don’t consider rap music so anyone who can make it sound musical comes off as an artist. I’m not sure how much actual talent is required for that as opposed to slick production and a modicum of imagination. But again, I’ve heard precisely the same things said of of other genres.
I remember listening to one guitarist go on for at least a half hour about how unimaginative most rock is and actually demonstrated that with snippets from dozens of different tunes. I couldn’t follow most of it since I know almost nothing about music theory, but apparently, if you do, you can teach a monkey to play most rock and roll. But oddly enough, I still like rock. No matter how many times I’ve tried, I’d rather listen to John Cage on prepared piano than any sort of rap, and I really hate that shit.
Unless I’ve been misinformed, rhythm is a musical element.
That said, there are enough singers I haven’t heard yet that I really doubt I’ll be getting around to paying any attention to rappers before I shuffle off this mortal coil.
But not every artist has slick production, especially at first. Most don’t. Anyway, rap is as much “music” as any other type of music so I do find that ridiculous. To admit you’re biased doesn’t make it any less so.
Yeah, I like what I like and I don’t try to talk myself out of it. I don’t care whether or not it took a mastermind to produce it. I’m more of a musical simplemind than a musical snob, I guess. But I don’t judge that which I know nothing about. I can judge it as not pleasing to me, but I don’t know how talented the artists actually are if I don’t care about the genre anyway (I mean, unless it’s just beyond obvious. But I don’t think that’s the case for many generally well-regarded artists of any genre).
Also, it’s “Daily CURRANT.”
I generally choose my words fairly carefully and what I’ve been saying is that I don’t consider rap, music because it focuses primarily on the lyrics. Obviously the rhythm is important but you can say that about beat boxing too. The tonality or whatever the correct term happens to be is a digitally sampled afterthought - to use a broad over generalization.
And btw, I’ve heard some so-called rap that I wouldn’t put in that genre. I think it gets labeled that just because a particular group is labeled a rap group, regardless of whether or not a particular song really falls into that category.
I think that you’re critique is too kind. He just plain can’t sing. His voice is like nails on a chalkboard. But his personality, which is full-on douche bag, makes his singing talent look like its his greatest asset.
I don’t know, I like people who become successful doing things that I don’t “get” (though I do like rap, and it is “music” despite what some of you dunderheads say.) It shows that the culture is still vibrant, still growing.
Kanye West is a self-made man who is pushing the culture in a different direction, a quintessential American success story where his social impact outweighs his financial rewards. Yeah, he’s a douche, but most successful people are. He just doesn’t hide it.
Thank you. That was brilliant.
You mean readers thought of jailing him for 27 years all at the same time? Tougher with Steve Jobs.
You realize that West IS the ‘behind-the-scenes’ person right? He became famous as a producer for some huge rap artists (such as Jay-Z) and then decided to step in front of the mic. He is still a famous music producer - just of his own albums now (and he keeps working to reinvent and refresh his own sound, which I think demonstrates his producer mindset). Kanye West is arguably one of the best and most influential music producers in our lifetimes.
Though, I guess this obviously shows that you don’t know what you are talking about.