I’ll go for it. Kate Bush.
And while we’re on geniuses, Frank Zappa was a damn genius. But people focus on his sillier songs.
Heh. Yeah, if you put Kanye on one end of the genius scales and Stevie Wonder on the other scale, Kanye would have some work to do.
I find it annoying to have it implied that people who don’t care for rap and hip-hop have racist leanings. I don’t care for country music either. Yet I love classic Motown, blues, and a lot of reggae. I love Stevie Wonder. I love Al Green. Ray Charles is a genius. He will stand the test of time. Rap and hip-hop is to me often jarring, in the way that contemporary jazz can be difficult. My guess is if I took the time and energy to take a deep dive into these kinds of music I would have a better appreciation for them, but I don’t take that kind of deep dive into any kind of music these days. My loss I guess, but don’t imply there’s racism in my not liking rap.
Is it okay to not give a shit about Kanye and his music or is that a form of coastal techno liberal elitism?
Does my statement need to go in the bad boy liberal thread?
Steve wonder is a genius.
Also, one of his best performances was on sesame Street. Not even kidding. This performance is amazing, and the kid on the fire escape is awesome.
Superstition is an awesome song to begin with, but this performance just rocks.
In terms of not liking rap, i actually like rap. I just don’t like Kanye West’s stuff. It doesn’t have any emotional impact on me.
I already had, but was sternly warned not to mention it in this thread.
You can not like it. But if you don’t like something should you weigh in on who is exceptional about it, and how people who do enjoy it are wrong? I am not going to try and tell someone that Lin-Manuel Miranda is a common performer because I don’t care for musical theatre so what do I know?
If you have experienced something and don’t like it, why not share your opinion? In terms of saying someone is wrong, that’s tricky. If I say I disagree with your assessment because I have listened and my opinion is opposed to yours, is it wrong for me to say that? If you put your opinion out there, is it wrong to challenge it?
It’s okay not to like Kanye. It’s okay not to enjoy his music. You can hate his politics too. You can hate the way he presents himself. You can even wish he didn’t show up on random TV shows or Award shows just to make a spectacle of himself. You don’t even have to call him a genius, but it’s not okay to try and dismiss him like he’s nothing. That happens too often with black artists. And while it might be easy to claim this is all made up, something to do about nothing… it’s not. It’s not something I made up one morning. This is a real thing whether anyone wants to hear it or not.
But I’ll tell you what, when every singer, song writer, musician or someone linked to the music industry, including those you do and do not like, says something you don’t agree with and the next thing you say is hey he or she is no Mozart… then we can talk about it… but that really doesn’t happen. We’ve had several conversations about currently unpopular actors, and actresses, musicians, artists, just celebrities in general and no one says well he didn’t invent something back in 1700s so pfft. We didn’t hold them up to an impossible standard.
I think I dismiss a lot of white artists too, even ones who aren’t specifically assholes.
Yep, I find Madonna to be crap too.
Yeah but…
I’m not listening to Kanye, and no one else should either, because he’s just a celebrity and what does he know about this stuff anyway isn’t the same as well he’s no Mozart but g i guess he’s kind of talented if you like that sort of thing as if you aren’t talking about… well I am not going to go through the list of issues with this again, but Lantz’s articles touches on it a little at least.
That’s not the only article on the topic. I am sure the people who think I just go around making shit up will still think that, but the rest, be assured this is a not a minor topic and there are several articles about this particular group and how they are treated.
This thread sucks almost as much as Kanye.
What you’re saying is pretty much true, and it is a little disappointing to see so much resistance. Do a general search for usage of the word “genius” on Qt3, and you’ll find it pretty liberally applied, and rarely disputed (when not obviously a joke, as when Trump describes himself or is described as one, or when a person self describes themselves as one). Except here, where it happens to be about Kanye. For a (not apples to apples, but hey) corollary, I believe someone calls TJ Miller a comedic genius and then an asshole in the same sentence in a post (after his drunken train bomb threat call), but no one jumps in to say “Well, he’s no comedic genius. I mean, David Letterman - there’s a comedic genius!” This isn’t to pick on that post, or the person who made that post - it’s simply to point out that perhaps Nesrie and Lantz have a bit of a point here, or at least raise a point that should be examined further.
I’m willing to accept that, especially based on what Rob said, that i may just need to learn more about what Kanye is doing to appreciate him more.
There are lots of artists who over grown to appreciate more after learning more about the details of their art.
I don’t think it has as much to do with race as it has to do with the type of music. If Prince, Ray Charles, Thelonius Monk, Jimi Hendrix, etc., were cited as a genius you’d see less resistance.
I’d say you’re probably right about that.
True. Although there is still, perhaps, the general association hip-hop/rap has with race, and so the acceptance of it at large. I don’t know what that says about this subject, because I’m not smart nor well versed in discussing these types of issues, but I feel like somethings there :)
This is why I stopped mostly engaging with you in P&R, Nes. You seem to want to argue about (checks today’s notes) people not putting Kanye West on the same level as fucking Mozart as some kind of…I don’t know. I honestly don’t know.
See I don’t think you’re actually paying attention to what I am saying, or you wouldn’t say this. It’s not even close to what i am saying. But I’ll tell you what, you are free to stop engaging with me, and while you are at it, you can stop telling me to shut-up.You’re not putting me in my place, no matter how many times you keep trying to do it.
Fuck Kanye. He sucks. His politics suck. His social media sucks. His garbage attitude sucks.
His music can be pretty damn good when he’s not pushing some crazy bullshit. But he still sucks.