martorialist doesnt really argue his point enough. FWIW reynolds writes in energy flash about trip hop being hip hop for those who cant handle 'black rage'.
personally, i think hes such a rocker, even in spite of years of writing about rap and dance (he is still the lone 'can you explain this stuff to us please' person for those genres, for rock fans/critics of a certain age, as if hes the only one who can write about dance music - really its just that he writes about it in terms they understand, hes a classic example of yer old rocksplainer), that he cant ever let those old conceits, and yes, prejudices that come from rock, go really.
i remember one old blog entry, which seemed quite angry at the reinforcement of 'the status quo' in R&B and black pop. i think he mostly admires modern black music in that way a lot of progressive rock critics do, for being 'state of the art', and 'cutting edge', etc etc, so if its not that, its boring and worthless. hes a bit sniffy about anything that isnt about that. which i think is unfair. his like of most black music to me reads more academic and ideological than actual passion (like 'now isnt this progressive' rather than 'i love this').
that paragraph about TLOP is kind of similar, though TLOP is a sort of unique case, as the album is all about being an asshole, and exploring being an asshole, in an industry of similar assholes (one of the early lines from kanye is about an asshole, as if to make the point more obvious), in a time of great assholism (though its main flaw is that kanye just embodies this, rather than critique or ever challenge or display awareness of it). does he dismiss rock assholes quite so readily? (genuine question, idk the answer). in fairness, i get where hes coming from, even though its generalising a bit: modern rap isnt only about this, but it does heavily promote being an asshole. future, drake, kanye, all at the bleeding edge of assholism. its an art in itself. how to be a bigger one than the next man.
reynolds once gave a shout out to 'my nigga simon frith' on his blog. not sure if its still there. it prob is. he isnt one to renounce anything hes said.
and here it is.
Thursday, September 11, 2003
Thursday, September 11, 2003
… course Dizzee & all that lott I’m sure are totally unaware of all this feverish bloggoid discourse around them… and probably just as well…
… the most striking thing about the Mercury result, what with Ms Dynamite last year, is that it’s the second year running that someone who’s not only UK “urban” but who came up through the pirates has won it. Which suggests that it’s actually some kinda objective fact that pirate radio/h-core continuum is actually the UK’s leading edge, this nation’s saving grace…
… “objective”, maybe, but far from accepted. My God those comments from the public are kinda scary--fear, condescension, “it’s just not music”… it’s easy to forget that most bits of the UK don’t have any black people or Asians…
… feeling oddly vindicated in my grime-as-digital-folk theory by learning that the Mercury panel includes Colin Irwin, Melody Maker’s folk music expert in days of yore. He used to write about Martin Carthy and such, and now his own personal Mercury fave is… Dizzee Rascal! Blew his socks off apparently. (Fall fiends might want to search out a great piece by Colin on the band making Hex Enduction Hour in Iceland, it’s on the web somewhere… look for early cameo appearance of Einar from the Sugarcubes)
… Simon Frith, you my nigga 4 life…
Posted by SIMON REYNOLDS at 9:23 AM