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"Hybrid Music" For Our Times
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I wrote the following note to KU after viewing the latest Vajra/KU [hip-hop, rock, jazz, R & B] video that he just posted. It got me thinking, more generally, about the move underfoot to create a different, and in many ways, more robust, hybrid composite in music that may be more in sync with our technologically driven times. What do you think?
[KU, although I am not well-grounded in the hip-hop scene, I have been getting the feeling of late based on my own exploration of the genre as well as both underground and mainstream commentary to the effect that hard-core gritty hip-hop may have run its course and is getting repetitious and tired. I dunno, but maybe so.
One thing is sure, the time has come for the hip-hop "movement" [if I can presume to call it that] to evolve. I think KU may be on the forefront of change to a more relevant and, therefore, resonating hybrid genre, whether along the lines of Assumptions Unplugged, Fallin' Ft, Brand New Live, Keep Callin or your Optimus collaboration with the likes of Vajra, to create a more powerful and new direction for the music of our modern times, full of both conflict and hope. What do you think?]
NB: a note to readers of my reviews: the text of my reviews at this site may change from time to time. As I listen for futher nuances in a song or body of work, I keep modifying or adding to my thoughts, making my reviews an organic "moveable feast". Since Fuzz artists are constantly evolving, as are our own perspectives, I think Fuzz reviews should not be frozen in time. It's time to extend the power of real-time, web-based music discovery, by making our reviews, "wiki-reviews."
[KU, although I am not well-grounded in the hip-hop scene, I have been getting the feeling of late based on my own exploration of the genre as well as both underground and mainstream commentary to the effect that hard-core gritty hip-hop may have run its course and is getting repetitious and tired. I dunno, but maybe so.
One thing is sure, the time has come for the hip-hop "movement" [if I can presume to call it that] to evolve. I think KU may be on the forefront of change to a more relevant and, therefore, resonating hybrid genre, whether along the lines of Assumptions Unplugged, Fallin' Ft, Brand New Live, Keep Callin or your Optimus collaboration with the likes of Vajra, to create a more powerful and new direction for the music of our modern times, full of both conflict and hope. What do you think?]
NB: a note to readers of my reviews: the text of my reviews at this site may change from time to time. As I listen for futher nuances in a song or body of work, I keep modifying or adding to my thoughts, making my reviews an organic "moveable feast". Since Fuzz artists are constantly evolving, as are our own perspectives, I think Fuzz reviews should not be frozen in time. It's time to extend the power of real-time, web-based music discovery, by making our reviews, "wiki-reviews."
Comments
As Townshend said, "Long Live Rock...Rock is Dead"!!!
So if Hip Hop is out there, why isn't it being taken in a new bolder direction!
It's happened in Thrash Metal! Thank God that rock is represented by new kick ass metal bands that present a message...to ask questions of all of us including our leaders...to reinforce the virtues of democracy and free speech while being
somewhat dignified as opposed to the Gang-Banger Hip Hop Mentality which for the most part is still "Bullshit fueled by Media Hype"!!!
No one's disputing the fact that rappers/hip hop artists experience "street turmoil"... but these days, it's not just rappers...it's everybody who sees their qaulity of life eroding before them because politicians would rather see their faces receive air time on CNN, MSNBC or the evening news rather than being questioned on what's actually happening on the ground in their own backyards!!! Let alone Iraq or Afghanistan!!!
Perhaps this question is suited for not only the Spoon-Fed Rapper/Hip Hop Proteges, but the Spoon-Fed so-called Punk Rockers who write lame-ass "boy meets girl/girl dumps boy/boy gets drunk" song lyrics too!!! Remember tunes like "EMI", "God Save the Queen", "Lost in the Supermarket" or "Rock the Casbah"?
Whatever happened to the younger generation becoming politically involved with the issues? Watching Documentaries from around the world? Questioning the System to Preserve the Integrity of the System?
It seems it's not just the hard-core gritty hip-hop who is guilty of this offence, but the music industry in general!
Twenty years ago, the alternative scene was alternative! Then it became the Mainstream! Now what? The entire industry is kind of in this downward spiral with sales! It's not just the technology! It's the Music!!!
"Nothing survives in a vacuum!"
So if somebody is taking hip-hop/rap in a bold new direction, be it full of conflict and hope, then I'm with you on that one!!!
And where will we see this change happen? FUZZ.com!!!
People making music, people writing commentary to bring about change!!!
Meredith Rollo
I think now is the right time, music is changing, hip-hop is changing. I am just glad that I can be a part of the evolution. See you all at a show.