VH1 Storytellers: Kanye West
- Thread starter Kerouac
- Start date
Sad Navigator
Banned
So you don't like rock and roll? Jerry Lee Lewis? John Lennon? Zeppelin? David Bowie? Weird.
Anyway, I've never heard nothing but "meh" about that Storytellers thing, and I dig Kanye a lot.
Johnny N.
Kick Henry Jackassowski
Cocky and angry are prerequisites for rock and roll and those guys felt entitled to have all the broads they wanted. Kanye and a lot of other acts today feel they are entitled to be cocky and get angry when everyone doesnt sing their praises. Those you mentioned earned the right and I dont believe acts today believe they have to.
Here is the difference to me. I read the names you posted and with each one, the visual I get in my head is of them performing their music. When I hear or see Kanye's name, the vision I get is him bitching about something. Probably the fault of the industry in general but still.
Sad Navigator
Banned
I can't really follow your reasoning. I mean, it sounds like you're saying, "Um...I like those old guys so their legendary douchebaggery is okay." And if you've not followed Kanye's career or really paid much attention to him, is it any wonder that you can't imagine him performing and instead imagine the instances of mock outrage that the media has fed to you about the man?
What do you have to do to earn the right to stick a Kotex on your head and get kicked out of a restaurant? How many blues songs do you need to steal before you can have sex with underaged girls and pretend to be a wizard? What earns you the right to a big pile of cocaine and the occasional Nazi salute?
Back when those old guys were assholes, they hadn't earned it. They *might* have been in the process of earning it--or more likely we've forgiven their ridiculousness because those nice old/dead men wrote the songs that now sell us sneakers and luxury sedans. I mean, Pete Townshend was a ridiculous, pretentious jerk merchant long before he was an agreed-upon rock deity.
Johnny N.
Kick Henry Jackassowski
I should probably just have a second cup of coffee but ...........
To clarify so that no one gets the impression I approve of the deeper levels of douchbaggery described above, the more accurate statement would have been I have no issues with their rock and roll attitudes and like their music, some more than others. During the time I grew up liking their music, I was unaware of the level of douchbaggery they were capable of. I promise that from this time forward I will do a thorough character evaluation before I commit to enjoying the music created by any act, former or present. Wait, if I eliminate music made by douchebags, what is left?
As for Kanye, I dont like his attitude, I dont enjoy his music (I have tried), and his style of performance really gets under my skin. And although I am sure he is a fine young man that has never affixed a kotex to his head in public or in private, I dont like him. I wont judge anyone who does, but I dont.
To clarify so that no one gets the impression I approve of the deeper levels of douchbaggery described above, the more accurate statement would have been I have no issues with their rock and roll attitudes and like their music, some more than others. During the time I grew up liking their music, I was unaware of the level of douchbaggery they were capable of. I promise that from this time forward I will do a thorough character evaluation before I commit to enjoying the music created by any act, former or present. Wait, if I eliminate music made by douchebags, what is left?
As for Kanye, I dont like his attitude, I dont enjoy his music (I have tried), and his style of performance really gets under my skin. And although I am sure he is a fine young man that has never affixed a kotex to his head in public or in private, I dont like him. I wont judge anyone who does, but I dont.
Sad Navigator
Banned
Was that so hard? See what trying to justify your taste gets you?
Go forth and sin no more. Though you should note that College Dropout is a great fucking record.
Johnny N.
Kick Henry Jackassowski
Taste police, is that a new forum feature? Not justifying, just making a simple, general statement that I wasnt aware was going to be analyzed in such detail. I need to go check the sign on the door to see what forum I am in.
Sad Navigator
Banned
I'm sorry that I assumed you might have an interesting, discussable reason for the strongly worded dismissal of Kanye West which *you* issued. Are you feeling taste bullied?
Denverdave
Resident Ragamuffin
I cannot deal with his massive overuse of autotune. Drives me nuts.
Sad Navigator
Banned
He really only went nuts on it for his robot new wave Joy-Division-meets-hip-hop breakup record. His signature production trick up until that point was sped-up soul samples.
I mean, dude made his name as a solo artist with stuff like this.
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jaxn slim
Your Worst Nightmare
It probably has more to do with overexposure. Maybe if all those acts had had twitter accounts and had acted like cranky little children on national television semi-regularly (only to be replayed for weeks by 24 hour news), it would be a better comparison. People were left wanting to know more and more about those acts, but it seems like Kanye is everywhere I turn. I can see how it would be easy to get turned off by that.
Maybe those other artists were douchebags too. But at least you had the opportunity to fall in love with their music before finding that out.
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Sad Navigator
Banned
I'm pretty sure that John Lennon was as overexposed as anyone in rock and roll could possibly be in his day. And Bowie was omni-present for a time in the UK press.
Still, I find it interesting that people blame the over-exposed in situations like this rather than examining mechanism of 24-hour-hypermedia or one's own complicitness in choosing to suckle at the media teat. I find myself carping about "overexposed" stuff at times, and I've taken pains to check myself and examine how I came upon the idea that some person/thing or another is overexposed. I admit, I'm really interested in the group and personal dynamics of tastemaking and mediated culture.
jaxn slim
Your Worst Nightmare
Yeah. John Lennon definitely got a lot of press. But wasn't that after he had several hits? And their initial coverage was mostly about their haircuts and outfits, right? Not so much about their politics and how they thought they were the voices of a generation. All that ridiculous stuff came years later, didn't it?
True. It's an interesting topic for sure. I think Kanye revels in the 24-hour new machine, though. It appears that he says and does a lot of that stuff just to get people talking about him.
Sad Navigator
Banned
Lennon got himself into the "bigger than Jesus" flap in '66 -- they'd been on the US scene for about three years. Kanye's first record (which was quite popular, but not Beatles popular) came out 6 years ago. Plus, he had already made a name for himself as Jay-Z's pet producer after gaining a ton of critical acclaim for The Blueprint a couple years earlier. Dude's an established artist in hip-hop circles.
Johnny N.
Kick Henry Jackassowski
First of all, if you think I have something interesting to say, think again.
Second, I thought it was self explanatory. Next time I'll be thorough for those who need it.
jaxn slim
Your Worst Nightmare
Yeah. But hip hop circles account for how much of society? The Beatles hit the scene and everyone knew who they were.