Hard News: Thursday Music: Doing the Business
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Craig Ranapia, in reply to
With respect Craig – this song – 99 Problems was from a much earlier album than the one Lorde claims to be directly influenced by and quoting a few lines out of context to make some point about what a dick Jay Z is, does not really seem fair to me
Sorry, missed out a bit of context there. Verónica Bayetti Flores linked to the video with a quote from the lyric.
I don’t have to explain why wealth operates differently among folks who’ve grown up struggling because this shit has been explained already: If you grew up with holes in your zapatos you’d celebrate the minute you was having dough.
Well, I'd respectfully suggest that while Ms. Flores is condescendingly suggesting Lorde raise her false consciousness, she should take her own advice and do some serious thinking about the interaction in pop culture (not just hip-hop) between "aspirational" hyper-consumerism, sexism and bigotry against GLBTI. I don't hear anything to aspire to when gay people are treated with contempt, if not erased entirely.
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The teenage musician says the disconnect between her life in Auckland, New Zealand, and the messages behind the top songs of the music charts she's dominating inspired her to write the hit.
"I was just sort of reeling off some of the things which are commonly mentioned in hip-hop and the Top 40. I did get a little ridiculous on it, but the sentiment's there," O'Connor says. "I've always loved hip-hop, but as a fan of hip-hop, I've always had to kind of suspend disbelief because, obviously, I don't have a Bentley. There's a distance between that and the life I have with my friends going to parties and getting public transport and doing the things that every other teenager does."
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Stephen R, in reply to
As the marketing machine spins up around Ender's Game, what do think are the odds of anyone getting media time in the US to talk about the rather fraught and complex cultural politics of this appropriation of ta moko. (For the record: I'm profoundly uncomfortable with it, but there's no right answer from the Maori Borg.)
In the book, Mazer Rackham is supposed to be from New Zealand (of Maori descent if memory serves) and obviously, the way to show that is...
Does that count as appropriation if the character is supposed to be Maori?
Of course, they could always have chosen a Maori actor, rather than Ben Kingsley.
It seemed all so lazy to me.
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Craig Ranapia, in reply to
O’Connor says. “I’ve always loved hip-hop, but as a fan of hip-hop, I’ve always had to kind of suspend disbelief because, obviously, I don’t have a Bentley. There’s a distance between that and the life I have with my friends going to parties and getting public transport and doing the things that every other teenager does.”
Yes - and re-reading that 'racist Lorde' post, it's interesting how the author neatly side-steps this line from the chorus.
Blood stains, ball gowns, trashin’ the hotel room,
Sounds a lot more Ke$ha than Kanye to me, but I guess that complicates the narrative a little too much...
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Kumara Republic, in reply to
Blood stains, ball gowns, trashin’ the hotel room,
Sounds a lot more Ke$ha than Kanye to me, but I guess that complicates the narrative a little too much…
Tearing out hotel room walls doesn't seem as widely reported nowadays than when Keith Moon ran riot. Do band managers and promoters run a much tighter ship than they used to?
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Craig Ranapia, in reply to
Hey, why are you asking me? Russell's the one with groupie cred. :)
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Alec Morgan, in reply to
Or, maybe flatscreens don’t look as spectacular as a CRT exploding in the carpark after trajectory from an upstairs room.
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The song’s placement was negotiated around late July, McDonough estimates, and the custom mix was helmed by industry vet George Drakoulias!
"Went from the station straight to Orange Julius
I bought a hot dog from my man George Drakoulias " -
I've been mulling over the Lorde=racist idea, and while I think Flores has got the wrong end of the stick, it's not hard to see why she'd have that reaction. If you're not plugged into the way that the Royals tropes code as general American music in its country of origin, and not paying close attention to the lyrics, you could be excused for seeing a dogwhistle. And it's hard to argue against her analysis from outside without sounding all "she likes hiphop/my wife's from Singapore" or "we live in a post-racial paradise in NZ, we don't see colour," like some of the comments at Feministing. We can't say that with a straight face while the guys on 7 Days do mocking impersonations of AAVE without attracting comment, or golliwogs are sold in airport gift shops. We're not that attuned to the subtleties of US race relations, and it wouldn't be impossible for a NZ artist to put their foot in it. I don't think that's what's happening here, just on a straightforward reading of song lyrics, but it's certainly worth thinking about.
Imagine if, in ignorance of Winston Peters and celebration of jocks who don't wear shirts, someone in the US made a show called Bro-ocracy. Even knowing it was done in ignorance of the term's use in NZ, it would still make me flinch every time I heard it, and feel bad for the resonance it would create within our culture, giving aid and comfort to the people who use it pejoratively and amplifying its effect on the people it labels. If a NZer publicly complained about it, I couldn't really blame them even if they got a few things wrong.
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Kumara Republic, in reply to
Or, maybe flatscreens don’t look as spectacular as a CRT exploding in the carpark after trajectory from an upstairs room.
Apparently this explains why...
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