back-words... i've got a beef...

Thursday, September 15, 2005
i've got a beef...
i've been keeping quiet about this for a while but every once in a while this creeps up and really annoys me to no end...

it pisses me off when people cannot classify what category of music they fall into, what genres and subgenres they identify with, and what they do not like...

the biggest offender out there right now is people who claim to be experimental. uhm, sorry, no, you are not. seriously, please discuss this with someone who knows before you make such a claim. experimental is a subgenre of electronic dance music (edm). it has qualities of intelligent (idm), but is frequently more noise laden and avant-garde.

a group playing hardcore rock is not experimental. thrashing your metal and growling indistinguishable vocals into your mic is not experimental. there are already categories for that, such as hardcore, metal core, punk core, noise core -- not experimental, ya dig?

my other problem is with people who say oh i listen just about everything or pretty much anything, except techno. ok, are you talking about techno as a subgenre of edm that is simplified and loaded with blips, tweaks, and samples (oh my!) or are you referring to all of edm as techno?

i can respect someone who doesnt like techno. it requires a specific taste, usually by those who have been into the scene since the early 90's or even earlier. but if you shun all electronic dance music and then go tell me that you love hip hop or rock, then you need to check yourself!

hip hop artists use turntables, too. they use many of the same beats and samples used by edm artists. missy elliott and will smith, for example. what do you think theyre doing? they are mixing sounds and beat matching. they are using samples from other songs. they are often sounding very much like techno. and what about all those groups out there that want a turntablist as a band member? sugar ray and smashmouth, to name a couple. hello, the guy is running a beat and keeps scratching in the songs.

which leads me to turntablism. this is well known in the edm culture, but you know what? it is very hip hop! these artists arent known for their mc'ing, but rather for their skills on the turntables. and their sound is hip hop. these artists would include q-bert, kid koala, and scribblz to name a few.

before you go telling me with all certainty what you are and what you like and what you dont like, give it some more thought!

dont make me he-bitch man-slap you! :)