"Still not great album, but its getting bumped.."
"Am I the only one who thinks Finding Forever and Be are Comm's MOST/Best Solid Albums!"
Hip-Hop fans (and to a certain extent music fans in general) are susceptible to severe cases of idol worship. One only needs to look at the now legendary poster Galvatron and his SOHH (by no means a site indicative of most Hip-Hop fans.. I hope) posts solely supporting, endorsing and defending 50 Cent and whoever happens to be on G-Unit at that specific time. There's no telling whether the poster is a hoax getting his kicks from seeing a plethora of angry arguments to every post or if he's actually a 30+ year old black man with a child who worships a celebrity 5 years his junior but one aspect of this situation that is certain is the growth of like-minded defensive fans in the genre. Reading through a couple of the posts I linked regarding 50 Cent's last (critically and commercially panned) LP Curtis I'm surprised by the willingness of these fans to give it a chance despite dismissing it out of hand upon its release. Is it really an album worth a second listen if, as the thread-starter admits, it's still only mildly entertaining? Maybe it's 50 Cent's image as a hit-maker and sex symbol that entices people to go back to such a disappointing record as this one.
By no means am I immune to this double standard in judging music, and I think most music listeners are probably more willing to give their preferred musicians the benefit of the doubt when they make a disappointing album. I've given the Wu-Tang Clan a lot of chances over the past few years, and while they've consistently met my expectations - No Said Date, Fishscale, 8 Diagrams & the Afro Samurai Soundtrack constitute one of the top tiers of Hip-Hop in the last 5 years, after all - a lot of the solos have frankly sucked and I've argued for most of them at one time or another. Why is it that the image of Hip-Hop acts is so intricately tied to our enjoyment of their art?
In the end, it's this image that is probably holding Hip-Hop back. Creative artists like Ghostface make records secure in the knowledge that their in-built fanbase will keep them afloat, yet - if I'm to understand a couple of Ghost's interview statements correctly - they're hindered by the expectations of that fanbase for them to remain stagnant and therefore their music can't grow with them. Back to 50 Cent though. He didn't really do anything differently on Curtis, except strip his music down to the bare essentials of what he thought his fanbase wanted - sex, guns and hood stories. It obviously didn't resonate with audiences or critics, who flocked to Kanye West last year. So why do some people insist on defending his record? I could understand if they genuinely liked it but if a record "isn't great", why not just go back to the music that made them fans in the first place? Unfortunately that doesn't seem like a possibility in a music genre that shuns its elders and gorges on one hit wonders and ringtone rappers that will be forgotten in a year.
I'm still unsure as to what to do with this blog. I might just use it to practice my writing and rant, maybe a couple of reviews here and there.
Also, Erykah's new video is awesome. New Amerykah comes out in 10 days. Get it.
No comments:
Post a Comment