neither the frameworks of soul nor anti-soul are satisfactory anymore and lead us back into antiquated notions of music being on an unending chronological trajectory. we have to detail when soul became irrelevant or when the anti-soul mythos begun. needless to say this still assumes that the framework was the correct one and not one which was objectified and alienated from us. we have to find a new field of enquiry to reflect the present. I propose, gangsta trance. not only can it be soulful (in the sense of being euphoric and classy) but it always must have the gangstas edge to it. lonnie liston smith is obviously not gangsta trance then. this is the unification of the dialectic, the haj of the islamic age of dissensus we've all been waiting for. Gangsta trance, unlike pro-soul/anti-soul, relishes (and delights in) arguments with the past. It sees music as living history not nearly as banal cultural commentary. in that sense 1984 electro records are futuristic insofar as history is the future. history is always what the gangsta trance theologian questions, talks to, wonders how to relate to. it never goes away.
gangsta trance is not a genre its a philosophy and a state of mind.
gangsta trance is not a genre its a philosophy and a state of mind.
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