Okay, so I may be the only one that doesn’t “get it”, but is M.I.A (and other artists like her… are there any?) serious? I wonder this, because her second CD was recently listed as the number one of the year by Rolling Stone magazine. Seriously? Have they heard it? Because every single thing I have heard from her is truly awful. When I first heard of her a couple of years ago, I seriously thought that it was a farce; I thought that she was doing an act, and sounding like shit was the punchline (or worse: is she making fun of the cultural music that she is so poorly imitating?). I am further convinced that it is all one big joke, by the amazing eye-raping that you get when you go to her website (don’t say I didn’t warn you. ouch!). What freaks me out the most, though, is that regardless of whether or not she is doing this seriously, is that people really see it is something great. I just don’t understand it. Am I missing something?
I wonder this, because my taste in music varies widely; I love folk, pop, rock, jazz, hip hop, dance, and to be quite frank, I would say that I can find something that I like in practically (not really much in the realm of rap) every genera of music. Sure, there is a lot of stuff out there that I don’t like, which is natural, and usually, I can see why someone else might like it, where I do not. That being said, rarely do I think to myself, “now how on earth could ANYONE listen to this, it’s awful!”, when I hear something. Usually, I just think, “well, that’s not for me; it sounds pretty bad to me“. On those rare instances where I do have the first thought, the accompanying music almost always comes from a completely obscure artist, and not from someone that would ever make a end of the year top albums list. Also, said artist that freaks me out by their awfulness, usually has no redeemable songs that would ever make me think otherwise; I try to give everything a chance, and sometimes, more than one chance.
Take LCD Soundsystem for instance. I LOVE that song Tribulations. It is fucking amazing. It blew my mind when I heard it, and I literally played it on repeat like 67 times in a row. However, the rest of the stuff that they have isn’t my cup of tea; in fact, to me, most of it is quite bad. Yet, they tend to be heralded in a similar way that M.I.A. is. However, the praise that is heaped on them makes more sense to me, because of the redemption that comes from that song Tribulations, because I can see the brilliance in it.
M.I.A. has no redemption for me; there is nothing that I have heard from her that could be considered good. In fact, there isn’t anything from her that I even consider to be serious; like I said, I sincerely think the whole thing is a farce. Yet, I know people that love her, and heap praise on her. I. Just. Don’t. Get. It.
Perhaps, one day, she will come out and say that this whole thing truly is a farce, and will get a big laugh at those that fell so hard for her. If that did happen, that could be my redemption for M.I.A. Until that time comes (which isn’t likely, because she is probably serious), I will still be standing here, scratching my head, wondering how in the hell people consider that good, let alone good music.
Are there any artists out there that make you scratch your head, wondering what in the hell other people hear, when all you hear is a complete offense on the eardrum? I can’t be alone in my thinking here. Thoughts?