After reading a bunch of articles from professors, "journalist", blog commenters and such,
I decided to put the nail in the coffin.
Who hasn't seen Miley twerking at 100mph? Its easy to dismiss her antics as fake, insensitive,
and embarrassing but why? Haven't we seen white people doing things akin to the black culture
and found it compelling? Such as soulful crooners like Amy Winehouse and Adele ?
The separating factor though is that they're not after an "urban" sound and they are sincere talented artist.
Amy kept it so real...its probably what brought her to her grave.
In Miley's case, she tries so hard to mimic the casual bad girl cool of Rihanna by sporting a severe hair cut, stiletto nails, and finger tats.
Not to mention snatching up songs Ri Ri rejects faster than a wig at a pageant.
(similar right? or am I reaching?)
of a killer team of stylist, big production, and songs by the biggest writers of our time.
What she does have , however, is je ne sais quoi --- the 'x' factor. Her brand of trashy fun is exciting,
constantly (r)evolving, and actually sexy.
Maybe its the Disney days that make Miley's twerking so hard to watch but sexy - it is not.
There are times where she can act well enough to pull off the whole 'bad girl' look and it
even looks kind of tight, until the facade breaks and you realize "Oh yeah, I'm looking at a poser."
Thats the issue here, not her being white but her being a culture vulture. At the VMAs,
Rihanna's reaction clearly cemented her lack of fucks for Miley's wreck of a performance.
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| Everything about this is so wrong |
Why did MTV make an explicit effort to catch Rihanna's reaction?
Is it because the rest of the world sees the same Elvis-type fuckery happening here?
Is this why Rihanna's style has been moving more towards a
grungy underground look she calls "ghetto goth"?
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| Pictured here: (From left to right) No fucks were given |
This brings me to my next point. Rih has been accused of style jocking several times, from her Kelis inspired mane to her Fefe rock textiles. This time she's after New York's underground Queen Venus X. I first heard about her when I was working at DD172..she was throwing an all night underground dance party with her fashion friend called Ghe20G0thik. Everything about the bando, the crowd, the music, the energy was raw. Ghe20G0th1k was and is still very much a thing amongst those in the know. Its mix of popular music, obscure indie shit, and clips of news stories from al-jazeera and other sources are amongst the many reasons it stands alone. A revolution of sorts -- through sound.
So whats the big deal? Can't Rih-Rih be inspired and dabble in "ghetto goth" ?
After all, fashion is about dressing up.
(She refers to these looks as "#ghettogoth")
The same wack juice Miley was sipping on when she went on this whole twerk-a-thon must have been passed to Rih and her style team. Venus even gives props to Rihanna's sex appeal in an interview with i-D, so its not like there was any hate there. The problem here is the use of
Rih-Rih's poppy-rachetness completely overshadows Ghe20G0th1k's purpose, an outlet for real people, the outsiders, and the underground who want to find love in a hopeless place without being completely oblivious to their relation to the rest of the world. No, Ghe20G0thik its not 100% social and political consciousness and it shouldn't have to be. But parts of it are intentional in creating awareness. Its like literally the only thing (I've seen) with the platform to spread some type of conscious light in a social and fun way and its being diluted by a weird mohawk-mullet I wish would go away.
Rihanna is still in my crates under 'Hitters' and I still am here for her raunchy bajan "thug life" but blatantly stealing someone's wave is weak. Its the same thing Miley is doing and we all agree that needs to stopp.
My blog isn't about hate, its about highlighting dope girls. (Rihanna and Venus are prime examples). This is the same thing I'd say to my music snob friends, but more than just being on my soapbox, I just want people to give a fuck about what they are downloading from media. I love music too much to act like the scene today isn't saturated with shit, doppelgangers and copy and paste. What do you think? Do you even care? a penny for your thoughts.
(check out an interview with Venus X below)
I think all genres of music have scooped down a level or two. Funny, yesterday for the first time, I purchased a drake CD. Why? I wanted something fresh coming out my speakers and one of Drake's songs was playing on the radio and the beat caught me and a few of the words he said sounded hard.....until later that night. I plan on doing a blog review on his CD so I won't say much but my point was, music has lost it's motivation; not every artist but there's a few...nice review and you nailed it. It's not about Miley's race it's about how fake she's coming off. However in a odd sense I condone this behavior because I would rather see her do this at 21 rather 41. lol
ReplyDeleteIlljill-
ReplyDeleteFirst, thanks for commenting on the Fader interview with Venus. I may not have visited if not for reading your comment.
Now, I think you have a voice that balances the perspectives of popular and fringe culture.
The appropriation of sub-culture is endemic to America and for the matter, the entire Western world. If we did not have TV, film, or branded content as a means to deliver brand messages of "Buy, buy, buy...and die" then we would probably not be as off put by the jacking of music related cultural expressions. Wouldn't you say?
My solution oriented response to the rise in today's culture vulture is to mediate access to the culture and expand globally to the audience that wants it in its purest form. Appreciating future fans rather than paying attention to vultures is a means in using the universal/God(ess)/earthly/celestial energy for our purposes.