two music pieces on the riots
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/aug/14/krissi-murison-punk-pop-riots
the funny thing reading this was that i thought 'well road rap and grime talk about whats going on' and i eye rolled when she talks about tyler from OF as the best representative of angry youth but then she says this:
I'm not dissing Tyler: unlike Strummer, he didn't ask to be a mouthpiece for a generation. And like the kids torching and looting family-run shops in their own neighbourhoods, he's the first to concede he doesn't have anything much to say. He just likes causing a disturbance, however pointless. This, though, is apparently what rebellion sounds like in 2011: dead-eyed, mob-like and opportunistic.
and its largely right. yes kids have plenty to be angry about, but they dont seem able to articulate it that well. grime for the most part had loads of anger and frustration which made for great music and it reflects the somewhat directionless (apart from at the police) anger a lot of kids feel but if youre looking for politically directed anger, it doesnt seem to have that many examples. or at least, and i know this is subjective, examples where it translates to good songs. i think partly thats something to do with depoliticisation in areas where there used to be that, but also just the wider musical climate of talking about Big Subjects being a bad thing or something to be cynical about.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/aug/12/rap-riots-professor-green-lethal-bizzle-wiley?CMP=twt_gu
some good quotes in this one - the wiley quote in particular seems spot on. if he was out there rioting, they would wanna take him down so they could brag about it.
dont imagine many of the post-riot songs cited are all that great though. which is sort of what counts as far as this thread. i mean, writing and recordings songs about riots when theyve barely ended seems a bit too quick.
It's an age-old argument – one that most will never change their views about – but the case that music with morally unpalatable messages merely reflects reality, rather than glamourises or incites amorality, needs to be reaffirmed more than ever.
i know this is the liberal, and has been the rapper-endorsed viewpoint far as i can remember, but i think while its def the former, the latter isnt totally void. it does reflect it. but it glamourises it somewhat too. if it didnt, if all it was was a sobering reality check, we prob wouldnt listen to it.