This past weekend, I wasn't surprised to find Kanye West making a fool of himself and talking smack about some other musician at the Grammy's. This is starting to become standard practice from Kanye. So that's not a big deal. But what IS a big deal, and a colossal one at that, is what occurred afterward. People all over Twitter, befuddled that Beyonce didn't win album of the year, wondered something that totally floors me--Who the hell is Beck?
I'm sorry. Come again. What did you just say? Who the hell is Beck? WHO THE HELL IS BECK? I don't know, only one of the most innovative and exciting musicians in the past two decades or so. Longer than that even. Who the hell is Beck? Are you kidding me? Good grief!
Here are some classics from the man:
I mean, when I heard youngsters not knowing who Paul McCartney was when he did that song with Kanye, I flipped a shit. But after a few moments, I calmed myself and really thought about it. I'm sure kids these days have heard of The Beatles before, as how couldn't they? They're still a huge force in the industry, even after splitting up several decades ago. But youngsters probably never took the time to truly investigate who they were and actually listen to their music. And the same could probably be said of Beck, with the biggest issue being that youngsters don't really go to CD shops or record stores anymore. By downloading what's hot at the moment, this has seriously hampered them from actually exploring what music has to offer. Now, more than ever before, record companies are spoon-feeding young listeners their music, even more so than the radio used to day when I was a kid. So in essence, you really can't blame kids these days for not knowing who Beck or Paul McCartney are. If it's not popular RIGHT THIS INSTANT, young people are probably going to ignore it.
So the next time you get pissed off at these nitwits on Twitter who don't know who Paul McCartney or Beck, don't blame them. Blame streaming music and YouTube. You can't blame the kids for Sam Goody closing up shop for good.
I disagree about kids having worse taste in music than any other era. Pop music has always sucked, and it always will. What these kids have that we don't is access to streaming apps that let them find exactly the kind of music that they like. If a kid wants to find an emo/alt-country band, it's out there. If they want to find electronica with harmonica, they can. They have an advantage we don't, and no Dick Clark to tell them what to listen to.
ReplyDeleteCraiggers