so, what's wrong with hadouken?
my 2 cents is that hadouken have pretty much got the right idea. indie music, in its pure form, is pretty boring. aren't most of us on here complaining about how boring and closed-minded it is? how it rejects any non-indie influences? how it's self-consciously removed itself from where the action is (the club, the dancefloor, the street?)
hadouken are, at least, not making that mistake. i don't think we can have it both ways: we can't complain about how closed-minded indie is, and then complian when it tries to reach out (or 'appropriate' other genres).
I disagree. My problem with Hadouken is the same problem I have with the post millennial identity crisis that has forced this indie rock crowd to become the most culturally empty parasitic youth group possibly of all time.
Indie kids, or hipsters, have extreme problems defining themselves culturally. A lot of them it seems have the idea that culture, or identity, or taste is something that can be bought. Don't get me wrong, I'm not talking shit on people who like to be open-minded in their tastes, I like to think I fall into that category myself, I am talking shit on people who think that they have the ability to understand, relate to, and even CREATE THEMSELVES cultural product which they are far, far, far, far, far removed from.
They usually do this in the name of irony, keeping a distance between themselves and whatever it is they are trying to emulate, to keep it as a sort of hat-tipping. They are close enough to it insofar as they believe they are capable of reproducing and understanding it, but not close enough to be accused of taking it seriously, or actually being of that culture. This in most cases comes off as very condescending, reeks of dilletantism, and is often sort of racist.
Yes, if you're a middle class white educated hipster, then you likely have a lot of leisure time to read on wikipedia all day long about every genre of music, art, lifestyle, culture, fashion that you please. You also likely have the cash to go out and buy a new Era hat and a bandana to add to your regular get-up of skinny-jeans and whatever as your own "homage to hip hop" (because remember everybody, getting down with black culture means just BUYING the right things). Simply doing this, just makes you look like an ignorant wasteman. When you take it as far as deciding that your knowledge on all these things makes you just as capable of creating it takes the whole genre and culture for a joke.
In short, this "indie limey who keeps it grimey", will go to 7 Year Glitch or whatever those "grime" parties attended by zillions of white kids in scarves go to, but I imagine would never dream of actually going to one of those big, scary, wild nights they heard about where black men stab each other all night long and everybody has a gun.
Quite frankly Simon, I'm appauled that you, an avid writer on this culture, are condoning this sort of white-bread cultural appropriation.
And before anybody says it, no, I am not saying that I am some kind of skeng daddy and that's how I relate to grime and it should stay that way. I understand that in many respects I don't and could never relate to the lifestyle. It is an interest of mine, and I identify with and love a lot of elements of the end product. For this reason, I enjoy the music, but I know that doesn't immediately entitle me to pick up the mic.