BY MIKEY MIGO
I spoke to my cousin about random things. You know, just sorta catching up. Music became the topic and I go off and mention a metal band. She obviously never heard of them, but asked "Are they scary?" I laugh knowing what she meant, but wanting more of an answer. "What do you mean?" I say. She goes on to say, "You know, those bands that wear spikes and all black."
While, what she said was true about the specific band I brought up. The band I was talking about did wear all black and the occasion spiked accessory, they weren't scary. They're not from hell, they're not mean spirited people, or any of the cliche's you could give about a gothic metal group.
Then I brought up Lupe Fiasco. I got the CD recently and loved it. Of course, she lists the stereotypes of gangsta rap and summed it all up as "rap music" in general. You know the cliche's. Rapping about their money, bling, women, and violence. If you've heard Lupe Fiasco's "Food and Liquor" you'd know that this just isn't the case.
Are these stereotypes and cliche's fair to label an entire genre of music? Not in the least bit. Who do we blame for this? We can blame radio and television for only really exposing these facades. We can blame record labels for only pushing the artists with these labels. Or we can blame ourselves for being close minded and buying into all the hype. It's easy to only open up to one brand of music. You can be the ultimate guru and consumer for one specific genre of music. You can buy the same types of music because it's "what you like." That statement alone is narrow minded.
How do you know you don't like it without hearing every side to a genre? We all do it. I personally blasted the "emo" genre in my last column. I continually mock and look down on country music. Well, maybe that's rightfully so, but you get my point. We, the consumer, are to blame for stereotypes.
If Johnny Hip-Hop didn't go out and buy all those bling-bling rap albums, the labels wouldn't shove more of it down our throats. We wouldn't be force fed the stereotypes of metal if Joe Metal didn't go out and buy every album. We'd be able to see something positive about "emo" if Sally Scene didn't rely on MTV or radio for her musical choices.
For there to be "negative," there must be a "positive." It's a common theory and I think it goes for music too. Even though the saying is to "Don't," we all do judge a book by it's cover. While, I'm not saying the majority of us are racist or harsh discriminators, but we all are to a small portion when it comes to certain things.
Enough of my banter. Lets take a look at some of the stereotypes involving music.
CLICHE'S AND STEREOTYPES
A lot of people are influenced by music they listen to. Mostly because they want to copy their favorite artist or because they feel that's a way of expressing themselves and fitting in with the people that are into the same music. While it's mostly teenagers who follow these trends, it doesn't stop there.
Music Type: Hip Hop(Rap)
Musicial Stereotype: "Hip Hop fans are uneducated. They rap about 'bitches and hoes', their money, and violence. They only rap because it's either that or drug dealing to get out of the hood. Hell, most of them are drug dealers anyway." Gangsta rap went from revolutionary to the most commercial genre hip hop has offered in its existence. This nonsense is just the tip of the iceberg as I'm sure you, the reader, can think of many more.
Physical Stereotype: There's two main variations of the physical look of a hip hop fan. The first one is the sagging baggy jeans, oversized basketball jersey, sideways or backwards hat, tons of jewelery ("ice"), and whatever footwear has a song about it at the time. On the flip side there's the polo shirt with the collar up, saggy baggy jeans, sideways hat, and pretty much the same as the other cliche'.
The Anti-Stereotype: There's plenty of hip hop artists out there that no only break the mold, but break it and stomp it to a million pieces. There's a breed of artists out there that stray from the pack by keeping true to themselves as they rhyme about important issues and the decline of mainstream hip hop. If this sounds great to you or even a little bit interesting, I suggest checking out the likes of Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Saul Williams, The Roots, Public Enemy, KRS One, Nas, or the new Lupe Fiasco album. Their rhymes are not only refreshing to stale ears, but it leaves you with a positive view of the hood.
Music Type: Metal (Hard Rock)
Musicial Stereotype: The music is loud, pounding, and you can't hear anything they're saying! Their music is all about Satan and revolting against the norm. They're all angry for no reason and did I mention they worship the devil?! They have no talent. They just scream and growl over crass and abrasive music.
Physical Stereotype: "They all wear sleeveless black shirts, dirty jeans or camo cargos, and have long dirty hair. They are all big oaf like mongrels who just go to concerts to mosh and get wasted. And they worship the devil!"...Well, that's one side. Then there is the whole "They all wear black, with their fishnets, make up, and antisocial attitude."
The Anti-Stereotype: Does most new metal (not "nu metal") singers growl and scream the entire song and then try to compensate by attempting a melody chorus? Well, yeah. Is the band talentless? Hell no! The musicianship in these bands are VERY impressive. It's the vocals that ruin it for a lot of people. Slipknot came out and did exactly what I'm talking about. Cory would scream the lyrics and occasionally toss in a melody. The big difference between Cory and most of the other metal singers is that he actually has a VOICE for melody and there was melody in the music to begin with. If the growling thing isn't for you, check out older Slipknot, some Slayer, or something more classic. You also have the option to dance on that border of "Hard Rock" and "Metal" that's very blurred. There IS metal out there with melody and vocals you can hear. In Chicagoland, we have our share of the growlers, but there's some metal groups like Fashion Bomb or Marazene that add their twist to it. I'm just saying if you look, you can find something metal that will suit you.
Music Type: Emo (Commercial Punk)
Musicial Stereotype: "Emo music is the bastard child of punk. And this "child" must be the middle one because there's a lot of issues and problems with it. Emo music is all the same with their whining, crying, and their voices all sound the same. It's all about losing their girl friend, not getting attention from their peers, and not being hugged as a kid enough."... Yeah, you've made fun of them too.
Physical Stereotype: Where do I start? They have chopped up hair that's sometimes put all on one side. They wear really tight pants and obscure T-shirts. They all wear black "Buddy Holly" type glasses. They cry a lot. They cut themselves. They post their despair ridden feelings on their myspace blogs. They are all very feminine and frail.
The Anti-Stereotype: Not all bands out there that are considered "emo" really are. Once you get past the "emotional" part of emo there is some really talented musicians in the mix. One band that's considered "emo" that I actually enjoy is AFI. Despite the hype machine pushing them on us all right now, their last album was in my opinion a lot better and deeper than the one that's out there now. Check it out.
Music Type: Pop
Musicial Stereotype: I know "pop music" is short for "popular music," but we all know that there's a distinct type of music that's considered "pop." From what I've experienced in my music listening life is that the general census is that "'pop' is completely aimed towards teenage girls and those with the same mentality. This is because teenage girls are the only ones dumb enough to buy into the bullshit marketing machine pushing this so-called music down our throats! It's all teenage divas, boy bands, and people who don't play any instruments! It's not even real music!"
Physical Stereotype: "Pop" listeners are generally preppy kids. The attire is usually the trendy clothing you'd find at the Gap, Abercrombie, or other "hip" and overly expensive shops. Guys have polo shirts, baggy and saggy pants, spiked, short, or shaggy hair completes the look. If you noticed as I have, there's very subtle hints of the hip hop look blending into to the mix. The girls have halter tops, belly button piercings, and all the latest trends from the above mentioned clothing stores. Oh yeah, and blonde hair definitely helps.
The Anti-Stereotype: While it's true that most of the "pop" artists from the past ten years have been marketed directly to teenage girls, there's still some bright spots out there. Lets face it, the glory days of "boy bands" and "teen queens" are past us. Thank God. But to completely dismiss an entire genre is not only musical discrimination, but flat out dumb. I can understand someone wanting something more edgy and empowering, but lets be realistic. If some of the classic groups were around today, they'd be considered pop. The early version of The Beatles were merely a boy band with instruments. The R & B stylings of Al Green or Marvin Gaye would most likely be lumped into the "pop" category these days as well. Just because R & B is successful, it doesn't mean it's "pop music." Artists like Usher and Justin Timberlake are VERY talented in what they do. Both of them have had a lot of success over the past few years, but I feel still aren't respected by the entire music community because of the genre they are labeled. Open up, give it a chance, and if you like it great, but if not you can't deny they have talent in what they do compared to the others.
You obviously must know what I mean when I say that music influences the way people act and the way people carry themselves. A main reason people follow these trends, stereotypes, and cliches is to just merely fit in. While probably not the best way, people just want to be accepted. Who doesn't want that?
Just keep in mind that there's much more out there than what's in your CD or mp3 collection. Next time you want to cast away new music due to it's genre's stereotypes, remember this column. It might open you up to something different and new.
"Different" and "New"? What a concept.
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