If you don't appeal to the masses and the masses don't appreciate you, then you ain't no genius. Do the masses by a lot of crap that's through marketing? Absolutely. But on the other hand if you don't have mass appeal then you're not a genius, genius are appreciated. Mozart and Shakespear were appreciated in their day. Especially Shakespear who wrote for the masses. There probably was a more creative writer at the time but didn't sell, so no one knows him. Kanye's first three album were AMAZING and you really feel his life and soul through it. Then he became Yeezus, and I'm sick to my stomach. Still seeing him this weekend.
What are you talking about? Mozart was as close to pop music as you could be in the classical realm. Not my favorite artist by any stretch of the imagination, nor that of anyone who truly listens to the bulk of classical music that I've come into contact with. In any case, he died hungry and overworked. There were many more famous people at the time. Shakespeare's plays ended in massive riots more often than not. Van Gogh never sold a painting in his life and his brother was an art dealer. Was he not a genius? Bach is the freaking father of western music. It took Felix Mendelssohn over a century to actually discover that he lived, much less wrote music. Was Bach not a genius? The guy wrote more pieces than days he lived on earth. I never stated I was comparing Kanye to Mozart or Beethoven. For whatever reason, when I say the music tradition, some idiot has to link all of the music tradition to those two. I'm talking about real living geniuses alive today who will have much of the same impact Beethoven or Bach had in their respective eras. Kanye will be forgotten just like every other fad. For what it's worth, enjoy the spectacle.
damn it..... this is what happens Kanye actually focuses on music.... he's just going through the motions now
Who are these geniuses? How much records are they selling? Do you see them pulling a Van Goh and actually be appreciated post mortem? My point is people enjoyed Mozart and Shakespeare at their time. Van Goh after death. If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, who cares? You can't influence people without people actually noticing. Kanye gets people to notice, and if you actually like that style of music, you can actually appreciate how much of a fresh air he was to the hip hop scene with his first three albums. BTW: Do you consider Beatles Geniuses (just trying to get a baseline here).
Absolutely. Some of them are already getting recognition. In the past 100 years I'd say Arnold Schoemberg, Webern, Stravinsky, Charles Ives, John Cage, Steve Reich, Thelonius Monk, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix, John Coltrane, Milton Babbitt, Giorgy Ligeti, Bob Dillan, Olivier Messaien, Paul McCartney, Keith Jarrett, Ornette Coleman, Wayne Shorter, Bela Bartok, Bill Evans were all geniuses and that's just off the top of my head. Some of these guys were widely recognized, some are beginning to be recognized by a wider audience. You'd be hard pressed to compare Kanye West to any of the people. ,
Ok, good list. Quick question though, which hip hop artist would you consider genius? Also McCartney and no Lenon?
No but this was amazing, and I don't even like their music that much. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XENQ9bvhdRQ You know, I can live with calling them heck of an artist and extremely influential, even if they're not Geniuses (just like Steve Jobs is a heck of business men and extremely influential but Bill Gates is likely more intelligent). I think I'm ok with saying Kanye is a heck of influential artist also and not quite a Genius.
I was hesitant to put anyone from the Beatles on that list but considering what they had done for popular music, I chose one. I also really like Cobain, Robert Plant/Jimmy Paige and Thom York/Johhny Greenwood in the same cusp. My favorite hip hop artists are Notorious B.I.G, Robert Glasper(if you consider only his hip hop work), Bilal and Tupac. Personally I'm not too much of a fan of hip hop right now, I prefer listening to Gospel.
No I became adjunct while finishing my masters. Then became full time. Only need a masters and extensive performance history for a position
Oh absolutely. Dilla is hands down my favorite artist in that realm. Can't believe I forgot about him