I hate genres. This is a problem for someone who loves music
and literature and art and sports. This is a problem because all conversations
about those things, all of the experiences of those things are somehow connected
to a genre. When I talk about a band, when I arbitrarily and unfairly quantify
and qualify their work, I do so based on the genre that the band “belongs” to.
They’re a classic five-piece rock band. He’s a perfect example of an impressionist
painter. This is a great fantasy novel. Even the Grammy’s genre-ize things.
They have awards for Rock, for Urban, for Young, for Pop for Music Grandmas
Like.
But I hate genres and, further, I claim to be open about my
music preferences. I don’t like something because it’s a part of a specific
genre; I like it because it’s good.
But I think the more likely explanation is that I think
something is good because it’s can be categorized in a specific genre, a genre
that I like and with which I am comfortable.
I spent my 1990’s childhood listening to Billy Joel and
Bruce Springsteen and the Beatles. I must have been about 12 when I first said
something about how all new music is crap and that good music can’t be younger
than a few decades. Those were my genres: New and Old. And they really limited
my taste in music.
Even today, when I try to define good music as music that is
good (and nothing more or less), I have my genre biases. Anything that
self-identifies as Country[1]
or Rap[2]
or Pop[3]
and has been made in the past decade I sort of pass over. Only when something
of those genres reaches immense critical acclaim do I actually feel compelled
to listen to it.
Enter Frank Ocean. It took me until the corporate travesty
that is the Grammy’s and the hearing all the outrage that both preceded and
followed his Album of the Year loss[4]
to listen to channel ORANGE. Why?
I didn’t think I would like his R&B style. Maybe a
better way of saying that last sentence is “I thought I didn’t like his R&B
style.” And then I actually listened to the album.
I like his R&B style.
More importantly, and this is what gets lost in any
discussion involving and limited by genres, I like what he has to say and I
like how he says it. “Super Rich Kids” is just awesome. “Forest Gump” is raw
and amazing. So he uses a synth instead of a banjo or an electric guitar.
Dismissing a piece of music because of its genre because of
the instruments used or because of the style of singing, is a sin I (and I am
certain many others) commit frequently. But it’s like writing off a person
because of where they grew up or judging a painting because of the type of
brushes used. It’s stupid and pointless and it costs everyone. It costs the
artist their deserved adulation and it costs the listener/viewer the joy of
hearing something great.
This is something great. This is something I almost missed. I hope that never happens again.
[1] ie Blake Shelton, Zac
Brown Band et al.
[2] ie Lil’ Wayne, T-Pain et al.
[3] ie Justin Timberlake, Maroon
5 et al.
[4] I think he should have won.
Babel is a solid album. It sold a lot
(which is why it won), but it’s really just a pretty good album filled with
songs we have come to expect from Mumford and Sons (I still love Mumford and
Sons). channel ORANGE is unexpected
and surprising and creative and brilliant.
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