I don’t think, that I am the only one feelin this so I wanted to throw it out there and see what you all thought
Is anyone feeling that something crazy new is around the corner? I love what our culture stands for and everything it has been through, but I feel that it isn’t getting much new life put back into it. Nothing really ground breaking and on the edge, you know what I mean. Props to all that have been doing what they do to keep it going, but I just feel that for the most part, everything has been pretty dry lately. Parties are not as sacred as they used to be. Styles of music have mostly been just re-arranging something that someone else has done.
Where are all the groundbreakers, pioneers, and innovators?
I bet you they are in their basements cookin up some s**t. Are we just here to catch whatever is being thrown at us? I hope not, I hope we all remember to keep pushing and challenging all that was put here before us. If not, s**t is going to get stale and we will be some old ass fools talking about "yeah that one party yeah" You know what Im gettin at.
I had this talk with myself and a couple homies, and basically I look at it like, well f**k, if it aint coming from anywhere else or if its not happening directly around me, I guess I have to do what I can to push what I do. I cant sit for too long on the same thing and expect to still feel fresh about it.
I hope no artists out there take this personal. I was out the other day and came home from this party, I just remember how I was depressed with how tired and played out everything was. Don’t just party and celebrate just to do it. We need to earn that s**t again so that it feels good, and we can feel alive and not just doing it, cause that’s where all the cool people are at. I dont know about you all, but I wasn’t put on this earth to be no sheep. We are surrounded by some ill individuals. We have mad potential. I just think we are doing what we do, but at the same time lookin around for where the next resurgence of energy is going to come from. I know we are at a point where there is all this uncertainty and war around the corner (maybe even the end of an era in history).
The Arts and the Human spirit have always endured and have always got us through the hard times.
Enough outta me, I wanna hear what you all think about whats comin up, whats tired, and what you think will be makin its way in the future
I think there will be more integration between playing live and production, Dj's and their decks will eventually become more of an instrument along side maybe some crazy MPC, synth, weird s**t.
I think visual arts and artists are going to have more presence and have more to do with performing. Any day now, you will see Audio and Visual based groups performing some sick s**t together rehearsed. I know they are out there now, but they are just babies compared to their potential.
What else? graff writers and dancers, I love you all, in my opinion, you are the fire that never goes out. You represent some of the core elements that go into creating that energy that vibrates on to everyone else. I only see graff and dance styles getting more ill and more intense.
As far as production goes (this could go for both audio and visual), it will be interesting what happens within the next 5 years. Remember that software and technology recently became cheap and easily acceptable. All the heads that have been doing it for mad years, paid dues before they could get their hands on some decent production equipment. Now kids in high school are messin with reason or photoshop and whatever else they can get for free off the net and just dumpin their souls into it. Those fools are raw, they might not have been through what you and I have, but when its time for their culture to blow up, it will be their culture blowing up.
wow ... ok on yur last comment . .about art and life .. art is creation .. creation is birth and vibration .. birth and vibration is life .. it all goes in big circles around and into itself ... and things HAVE to get stagnant .. to balance .. and germinate.. so people like you .. can exlode when the moment asks for it .. .. and trigger a rippling effect amungst others ... and synthesize .. thats how huge movements happen .. people get stifled by the staleness and force themselves to burst out of it .. u kno ?
there is so much going on in humanity right now ... its so overwhelming that iv noticed many just become mentally emotionally spiritually and even physically dormant .. shut all systems down ... but there is so much creative energy .. love .. will .. stregnth .. in the creavces of this world .. and of this scene .. we are all feeding off of eachother and ... it there is no way that we can stay eternally numbed ...
whatever direction we go in is OUR CHOICE ...... ... . . . . .. and we have to consciously direct ourselves there ..... maybe we dont have the ability to clearly see the pathway were following beyond each step we take .. but we are leaving footprints
the way i see things...another big boom is on its way, and who knows from there. further evolving or dying out only to get some mentione 20 years later on vh1, hopefully the first option. mainstream media knows how to exploit things. however some surpass what the media portrays and go for the roots. who knows, a culture may take its next step and reach people, showing what its about itself rather than newscasters and networks capitalizing on it thinking of it as a trend. i really hope the culture (as hamztz put it with the multiple descriptions) does something really big soon and changes society in some way. in some way that no one would even expect. not just another subculture gaining more a of a voice or attention, but some major action that won't be ignored, and action that draws in more people to continue it. i have some crazy dreams. just still young and unsure of how to pursue them.
from what i gather the brits know that the market lies in america so i predict another major british invasion in music to happen in 2003 and 2004. I actually believe it started in 2002.
You may be right, but do you think that lack of excitement could be just you getting older? It's not an insult in anyway - I totally understand where you're coming from and I've felt that way about a lot of different things before, I just think that there are innovators trying to push things forward out there. Do it yourself.
right now there are only a few groups who combine visuals with music. i see that happening much more in the near future. i think nortec collective are pioneers. i also see a much bigger following with experimenta/click&cut music. these are just the trends that i'm feeling. also at some point the visual performances will probably turn into something of a performace art. instead of video its going to be live "skits" narrated by music. this will definitly encorporate dance. i think these are all in the very near future.
Really, interesting insight my man. If anything we have to look within ourselves and ask why do we do the things we do in the sense of art or just plain purpose in general. We must first define ourselves in find out what type of men and women are we to accept the responsibility of pushing the culture forward. Usually, something is born out of a frustration of the status quo and thats when the light bulb usually hits. Believe me, something is brewing out there in the basement or wherever, its just a matter of time. Once again I stress this point, what type of men and women are we to accept this responsibility? Because that is what will determine how far this culture will go forward. Take for instance Hip-Hop, I always here cats like "yeah lets take it back to the old school" and I kinda laugh cuz im like you were never even down with the old school until it became fashionable, plus they weren't even there!! Keeping it real is not trying to relive what somebody else did in 87 or 79, its about pushing the s**t forward and being original. If you were rocking Oingo Boingo back in the day, yo dont front keep it true to yourself. I am not dissing but once posers are exposed, thats when the s**t usually hits the fan and things change. Other than that if you have cats running around bitting and not being creative, well we always have this conversation. Also, we must question what is presented to us because as a society we tend to believe what we read or see instead of anylazing the source from which it came. A buddy of mine has this saying, "The lion will never win if man keeps writing the books".
What im saying is, be true to yourself, cuz the people that are real can smell bulls**t from a mile away and they are the ones that usually take matters in their own hands and change culture for the better. We as a society, artists, patrons or lovers of art have settled for the status quo.
We have not challenged or criticize what we read or hear. Once, we do that then you will see a change or "the next level" so to speak being elevated. But it all starts with the individual and what they define
as "the next level" and how bad do they want it.
A Change Is Gonna Come.
_________________
"Many know the story, but few know the truth".
It is already starting to happen in other cities, but live acts are beginning to be the new trend again, which to me is the birthplace of music. Nothing can beat seeing a live performance. The entire dj culture craze will only continue to build, but there is already a backlash because everyone is now a dj. It is so easy to purchase turntables, buy some records, and boom, you have celebrity dj's now, bedroom dj's, blah blah. And the ridiculous prices some of these dj's charge to go & listen to a them play someone else's music, and get paid.. is still a bizarre concept. Which is even more mindboggling on how there can be inflated egos amongst dj's. If you are the one actually making the music that is being spun... hats off & you have earned it, unfortunately, it is seldomly the case.
I am loving the insight peeps!! But I gotta defend the DJ not because I am one but I grew up watching live bands and Dj's as well. Chilli D, I respect your comments to an extent I totally agree but I MUST correct you when you say that anybody can just go buy records and turntables and thats it. Now, in a lot of cases this is very true for some DJ's (or should I say record players) who cannot blend, scratch or mix if their life depended on it but when you see a cat that is doing all of that and keeping the audience's attention span and making them lose their minds and have people talking the next day is when a REAL DJ has rocked the spot. To go from Funk, Rock, Country to Classical,etc. a (Good) DJ is the ONLY one who has the ability to take the audience through those changes. I am not taking any thing away from live music but a turntable is an instrument just as a guitar is. There are cats who have riduculous prices for playing who really dont have skills but you cant knock their groove, they are giving the people what they want. I remember Grandmaster Flash said in article once that big time live bands use to envy him every time he and The Furious Five would play a show because they would always steal their light. Hip-Hop is the ONLY artform that can go into different areas for the simple fact that Hip-Hop comes from various backgrounds. The DJ is the one that has to play or scratch this "live" record in the first place. Live bands are getting play due to the fact that The Roots and Stetsasonic (hip-hop acts) made it possible and cool to say OK its alright to play instruments and love hip-hop music. But the DJ will always have the last word in the scheme of things, thats who makes a party in the first place. You got a lot of these live acts that are playing but are they original? A lot of these acts have not studied the craft if so they would'nt sound like The Roots. These cats have not developed their own unique style and have not studied under the Dizzy Gillespies, The Quincy Joneses, The Weldon Irvines(RIP) etc, let alone know how to read notes and compose, they dont even have arrangers anymore. Besides, when you think of any great party it is the DJ that saves it.
As far as the money goes, the DJ is a musician that deserves top dollar just like any other musician. What band have you ever heard play 4-5 hours straight w/no intermissions and have the floor packed? Show me a live band that can do that and I will stop spinning.
