Gradient Lair

Art and “isms”

I shared some tweets yesterday…critiquing music and culture a bit. The tweets started with Jay-Z but spiraled into a greater topic.

Some people were upset that I pointed out Jay-Z’s command of literary devices. To them, noticing a metaphor, for example, now means that I can’t hear his mentions of sexism, violence, consumption and capitalism. Nope. I can clearly see both.

I don’t think any art is above recognition of the genius or the grotesque. I don’t have to pretend one does not exist to see the other. (I previously discussed this on my photography blog in a post called All Art Is Not Good…All Artists Are Not Noble. I don’t think art is “inherently good,” so to say that anything with “isms” is no longer art or that it must exclude human ills to be art, excludes most art then. Art imitates life.) I don’t have to say something that includes a negative ideology isn’t art becuase I make no presumption that art/artists is/are without ills. By not constraining myself to a false definition of art that implies only goodness and purity, I can see the full picture of what art is, how it is created, how society impacts artists, and how their art impacts society—both the good and the bad.

“I done cooked up the Roc (Rocafella/”rock”) already, so why the fuck can’t y’all get high already?” #doubleentendre
— Trudy (@thetrudz) June 9, 2012

Jay-Z loves double entendre, metaphor, simile, onomatopoeia, and allegory.
— Trudy (@thetrudz) June 9, 2012

(When I said this, I was not implying that this particular line uses all of those mentioned devices. I was thinking of all of his music since Reasonable Doubt.)

Ppl offended by my Jay-Z tweet! He does use literary devices. twitter.com/thetrudz/statu…. I know “bitch” or swear words makes you miss that.
— Trudy (@thetrudz) June 9, 2012

@traceybrownfoto Right! I didn’t say his command of literary devices excuses violence, sexism or capitalism. Both can be true.
— Trudy (@thetrudz) June 9, 2012

@THISisLULE I think…most ppl don’t actually listen to rap. They love the beat, hate or love the sexism/violence/capitalism. It ends there.
— Trudy (@thetrudz) June 9, 2012

J says Warhol. Listeners hear/lyric sites have war hall. If you don’t know Andy Warhol the “work of art” reference is lost in “Already Home”
— Trudy (@thetrudz) June 9, 2012

Hyperbolic non-critical thinkers will say I’m equating J to *random White writer on pedestal* OR excusing sexism. NEITHER is what I’ve said.
— Trudy (@thetrudz) June 9, 2012

Salsa song “Ojitos Chinos” is kinda prejudiced. The beat = great to dance to. So many genres of music has his prob. Dancehall. Rap. Rock.
— Trudy (@thetrudz) June 9, 2012

Scorpion has a song talmbout the “bitch is hungry so give her inches and feed her well.” The fuck??? But of course the guitar gives life.
— Trudy (@thetrudz) June 9, 2012

And Dancehall. The amazing beats can’t be denied. But the homophobia, violence, sexism and odd anti-cunnilingus is there too.
— Trudy (@thetrudz) June 9, 2012

Music like people themselves is complex. There’s creative language use, literary device command and musicality but also “isms” galore.
— Trudy (@thetrudz) June 9, 2012