| For years, I heard that women do not do reggaeton. |
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Call him by his name: Lil Nas X at the MTV Video Music Awards, Newark, N.J., Aug. 26, 2019.
(Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty Images)
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“For years, I heard that women do not do reggaeton.”
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Old Town Outrage
A pop star has two basic options when the modern version of the moral majority comes after him for a three-minute CGI video in which (thank you, Mashable's MORGAN SUNG, for this pithy description of the 2021 equivalent of "WAP") he "has an illicit affair with a demonic serpentine creature, is judged before a denim-clad angelic council, and then accepts his fate by descending into Hell via pole dance. There, he gives the king of the dead a steamy lap dance before snapping the devil's neck and claiming the throne for himself." Option one is say nothing, let the naysayers have their naysay, let the fans naysay back, wait till everyone gets tired and moves on, and continue saying nothing. Silence can speak volumes, and pop songs and pop videos can speak for themselves. Option two is can we take a moment to appreciate the master class LIL NAS X has been giving in Twitter marketing over the past few days, gleefully hurling bon mots at critic after critic while dutifully promoting his new single and video (YouTube views last time I checked: 41 million) like the world's most eager social media intern? To rapper JOYNER LUCAS (who, like many, accused Lil Nas X of of pulling a bait and switch on children who liked "OLD TOWN ROAD"): "i literally sing about lean & adultery in old town road. u decided to let your child listen. blame yourself." To South Dakota Gov. KRISTI NOEM, who was offended by the already infamous "Satan Shoes" merch tie-in: "ur a whole governor and u on here tweeting about some damn shoes. do ur job!" "Whole" is a wonderfully spicy modifier for "governor." You get the sense he had that response and others at the ready. Lil Nas X to the world, Monday morning, 9:14 am Pacific time: "i had 9 months to plan this rollout. y'all are not gonna win bro."
It's as if he knew this was coming. How could he not? ANDRE GEE, in a thoughtful essay for Complex, argues the "MONTERO (CALL ME BY YOUR NAME)" video is a satire aimed at the same people who are now acting offended. "He was clearly trying to upset the kind of conservatives who believe 'all gay people go to hell'," Gee writes—by literally going there, and by having graphic sex with Satan as long as he was in the neighborhood. By now, the long history of outrage at music videos that toy with religious and/or satanic imagery is old news, and it would be impossible to make a video like "Montero" that wasn't informed by an awareness of that history. "Montero" is almost designed as a trap. "He knows what he’s doing with his music, and his videos, and his presence, and he doesn’t care that you know that he knows," SCOTT WOODS writes, approvingly, in Level. "Lil Nas X is a troll with a budget." And, Woods might have added, expert level social media chops.
Even this was old news by the time Lil Nas X dropped the "Montero" video: Two weeks earlier, the FCC received dozens of complaints for MEGAN THEE STALLION and CARDI B's performance of "WAP" at the GRAMMY AWARDS. A week after that, Cardi B had the #1 song in the US (with "UP," which she performed during the same set). Lesson, once again, learned. You can build it into your next marketing plan.
Very Very Important Links
Seriously. Click on these. In order of adorability: Record company pets... A brief history of rappers sampling VANESSA CARLTON's "A THOUSAND MILES"... The physics of DUA LIPA's "PHYSICAL" video (docked a few adorability points for inclusion of actual physics equations).
Rest in Peace
Master oboe maker PAUL LAUBIN... ROB VITALE, lead singer of New York hardcore bands BLACK TRAIN JACK and NINE LIVES... LOUIS ARMSTRONG's personal photographer, JACK BRADLEY.
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| Matty Karas (@troubledoll), curator |
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Los Angeles Times |
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| In a Latin genre dominated by men, reggaeton 'bichota' Karol G takes aim at the top |
| by Suzy Exposito |
| “It’s so much fun being the bad girl,” Karol G says. “In the movies, I think people remember the villains best.” |
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Complex |
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| The Lil Nas X Outrage Is Exposing Hypocrites |
| by Andre Gee |
| Lil Nas X has cultivated a reputation as one of pop culture’s biggest trolls, and he’s embarked on his most ambitious (and important) campaign yet. |
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Genius |
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| Lil Nas X Breaks Down The Meaning Of "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)" |
| by Gwanda Central |
| “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” is inspired by a former relationship, with lyrics that reflect the artist’s journey to accepting his sexuality. Watch Lil Nas X go line-for-line on the second single from his upcoming debut album. |
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Kulture Hub |
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| Why we need more women in hip hop photography |
| by Arahi Fletcher |
| Women in hip hop photography still face systemic exclusion, despite having been an integral part of the movement from day one. |
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JJA News |
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| Feminist Jazz Journalism, Now! |
| by Jordannah Elizabeth |
| A woman may hear certain ornamentation in a jazz piece as a representation likened to a specific women’s experience like childbirth, while a dozen men’s reviews find the ornamentation to be overly dramatic or overstated and unnecessary, in their eyes, in order for the piece to flow in a “coherent” manner. |
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Dissect Podcast |
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| Dissect S8E1 - Kanye West: Yeezus |
| by Cole Cuchna |
| The Dissect podcast launches a season-long dissection of Kanye's Rite of Spring, his version of Bob Dylan going electric—his groundbreaking, controversial 2013 album "Yeezus." |
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Modern Retail |
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| Why Amazon Music is making a merch push |
| by Michael Waters |
| Amazon is integrating merchandise more deeply into Amazon Music, the company’s music streaming app. |
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Vulture |
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| Did the Tulsa Opera Dismiss a Black Composer Over One Line? |
| by Justin Curto |
| He says the incident was “the height of racist and discriminatory practice.” |
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DJ TechTools |
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| Twitch works to smooth over creator/copyright relationship with new features |
| by Rachel Black |
| Twitch is working to find a balance between the relationship that exists between creators who want to, well, create - and copyright rules that cannot be ignored. |
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Pollstar |
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| Superstar In The Making: Arlo Parks Shines In ‘Sunbeams’ |
| by Sarah Pittman |
| Arlo Parks recalls coming home from attending her first concert as a fan – a show by rapper Loyle Carner at London’s Shepherd’s Bush Empire when she was 15 – and writing in her journal, “I just saw my first ever show at Shepherd’s Bush, and I think maybe I want to be a musician, maybe this is what I want to do.” |
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Middle Class Artist |
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| British Musicians Face Up to Brexit's Perfect Storm |
| by Paul Carey Jones |
| After years - some would say decades - of arguments, flag-waving, and slogans, as January 2021 arrived, the reality of the process known as Brexit finally hit home. And it’s fair to say that British musicians didn’t like it one bit. |
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Competition Policy International |
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| Music Streaming: Is It a Level Playing Field? |
| by Daniel Antal, Amelia Fletcher and Peter Ormosi |
| This paper describes and assesses the competition between recordings on streaming platforms. It argues that fair competition is restricted by the nature of the remuneration arrangements between creators and the streaming platforms, the role of playlists, and the strong negotiating power of the major labels. |
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The Conversation |
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| Audio cassettes: despite being 'a bit rubbish', sales have doubled during the pandemic – here's why |
| by Iain Taylor |
| Cassette tapes are in again - and this time, it's smaller artists who look likely to gain. |
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The Independent |
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| ‘It was a breaking down of racial barriers like never before’: Why Britfunk matters |
| by Marcus Barnes |
| It’s been cited by Tyler, The Creator as a major influence but the groundbreaking, distinctly British Seventies sound has never really got its due. Gilles Peterson and Bluey are hoping to change that with their new duo, STR4TA. |
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Vulture |
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| Creation Records, the Label History Loves to Overlook |
| by Brady Gerber |
| You won’t hear any of these songs in The Crown, yet Creation’s musical and cultural impact in the U.K. and beyond is vast and undeniable. |
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Variety |
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| Senator Chuck Schumer Details Federal Relief Plan for Independent Venues |
| by Jem Aswad |
| For the second time in just over six months, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer stood at a nightclub in his home borough of Brooklyn and stumped for independent music venues. |
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Variety |
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| Capitol Music Condemns N-Word Slur Allegedly Used by 1980s Exec Against Tina Turner, as Recounted in HBO Doc |
| by Chris Willman |
| Capitol Music Group has responded to an allegation made in HBO's new "Tina" documentary that an executive in the early 1980s disparaged Tina Turner by using the N-word, calling the remarks "reprehensible and appalling." |
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Sodajerker |
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| Sodajerker on Songwriting: Jon Bon Jovi |
| by Simon Barber, Brian O'Connor and Jon Bon Jovi |
| In this special episode, legendary singer, songwriter and philanthropist Jon Bon Jovi joins Simon and Brian to discuss his recent album "2020," and his hits through the years. He talks about writing topical songs, collaborating with people like Desmond Child and Dave Stewart, and why he keeps coming back to a guitar named Bob. |
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Tape Op |
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| RETRO READ: Malcolm Cecil: TONTO Revealed |
| by Trevor Pinch |
| As a longtime synth geek, I sometimes wondered whatever happened to TONTO, the modular behemoth featured on Stevie Wonder's great seventies records Talking Book, Innervisions, and Fulfillingness' First Finale, and on one of the greatest electronic albums ever, Zero Time, written and performed by the enigmatic TONTO's Expanding Head Band. |
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| rave:// Included here in case you forgot to click on it up in the rant. Don't make that mistake again |
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The Waiting Room |
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| Record Label Pets |
| by Danielle Chelosky |
| This "article" will just be me embedding tweets of pet pics and calling them cute. This made me feel an immense sense of relief and I hope it does the same for y’all. |
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From "Breathe," out now on Blue Note.
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| Video of the day |
| "Strange Negotiations" |
| Aspiration Entertainment |
| Brandon Vedder's 2019 documentary about Pedro the Lion frontman David Bazan chronicles a Christian rocker confronting his own loss of faith. |
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YouTube |
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Brandon Vedder's 2019 documentary about Pedro the Lion frontman David Bazan chronicles a Christian rocker confronting his own loss of faith.
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| Music | Media | Sports | Fashion | Tech |
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“REDEF is dedicated to my mother, who nurtured and encouraged my interest in
everything and slightly regrets the day she taught me to always ask ‘why?’” |
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| Jason Hirschhorn |
| CEO & Chief Curator |
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