zeegoeshere

I've liked Vampire Weekend as much as the next person, but I'm very intrigued by this post. This is one of my favorite music blogs, and it's the first of (I believe) a few planned posts promoting some African musicians, and while he doesn't actually attack VW much after that first picture, he makes some interesting points about the changing definitions and relevance of cultural authenticity. (And I'm looking forward to listening to the .mp3s of the artists he writes about.)

I spent most of my day today thinking about hip-hop--specifically, the differences between what's considered "indie" hip-hop and more mainstream, commercial and gangsta hip-hop. I like both, though I'm really not very educated when it comes to indie rap, even though it was the first hip-hop I ever dabbled in. I've heard of Atmosphere, Sage Francis, Aesop Rock, El-P and a few of the other rappers beloved by the indie hipster set, and I like some rappers that I think would probably be considered indie rather than mainstream. When I first started listening to hip-hop the indie stuff was definitely what I was most comfortable with--there were no mentions of niggas, bitches and hos, and it was political and anti-commercial. But somewhere along the line my tastes changed, and now I would say that I probably listen to more mainstream stuff than indie stuff.

And lately I've just been wondering why. ( cut for length, analysis and navel-gazing )

Wow, um. This got kinda long? Aaand now I don't really know how to end it. Whatever, here you go internets, have some rambling.