Lil Wayne wears Smiths t-shirt

[Worm]

Not that this was a serious thread to begin with, but now it's taken a deeply silly turn into a referendum on rap music and elitism?

LW's t-shirt might indicate that he likes The Smiths.

It might also indicate that, as with many creative DJ-types, his relationship to the music is that of a museum curator, i.e. he's mined a lot of record stores for a lot of different kinds of music for inspiration or to reappropriate in his work. He's also clearly into fashion and probably enjoys buying $60 t-shirts from hip designers. There really isn't a strong correlation here between LW and The Smiths, based on a single photo. On balance it's as likely that he's a guy who throws four or five decades of art, fashion and music into a blender to re-use them in interesting but superficial ways as it is that he's actually a Smiths fan who can readily quote the lyrics to "Hand In Glove" if you ask him. (He's also, after all, the guy who wrote about "You homo niggas getting AIDS in the ass".)

The point isn't that nobody knows who The Smiths are, it's that everyone does. The Smiths are just a "brand" or commodity like any of a thousand other bands out there. They're a product to be sold in Hot Topic. Doesn't necessarily mean anything, just as it didn't necessarily mean anything when tAtU covered "How Soon Is Now?"

 

[motorways]

US$60. If only we knew someone who could make a cheaper home-grown version...

I'm your man.

 

[King Leer]

Your 2nd paragraph nails it.
I was going to say that whether it's Lil Wayne, another rapper, or whomever, it doesn't matter.
What's fascinating is that Smiths "content" has gone beyond the music, or even pepole knowing anything about them, into iconographic territory.

I think there are a lot of Morrissey lyric snippets and Marr riffs that would appeal to a great many artists in different genres, even if they could care less about the originators.

I like parts of the video for Lady Gaga's Paparazzi because it reminds me of some weird Euro erotica or Argento giallo but I have 0 interest in her music.

By the way, was there one of those trendy band t-shirts that simply lists the first names of all the members done for The Smiths?

Not that this was a serious thread to begin with, but now it's taken a deeply silly turn into a referendum on rap music and elitism?

LW's t-shirt might indicate that he likes The Smiths.

It might also indicate that, as with many creative DJ-types, his relationship to the music is that of a museum curator, i.e. he's mined a lot of record stores for a lot of different kinds of music for inspiration or to reappropriate in his work. He's also clearly into fashion and probably enjoys buying $60 t-shirts from hip designers. There really isn't a strong correlation here between LW and The Smiths, based on a single photo. On balance it's as likely that he's a guy who throws four or five decades of art, fashion and music into a blender to re-use them in interesting but superficial ways as it is that he's actually a Smiths fan who can readily quote the lyrics to "Hand In Glove" if you ask him. (He's also, after all, the guy who wrote about "You homo niggas getting AIDS in the ass".)

The point isn't that nobody knows who The Smiths are, it's that everyone does. The Smiths are just a "brand" or commodity like any of a thousand other bands out there. They're a product to be sold in Hot Topic. Doesn't necessarily mean anything, just as it didn't necessarily mean anything when tAtU covered "How Soon Is Now?"

 

[lainey]

This forum is 2 months behind ......http://allyouneedismorrissey.com/topic/3792504/1/#new


posted on the 17th of September.

 

[Kewpie]

This forum is 2 months behind ......http://allyouneedismorrissey.com/topic/3792504/1/#new


posted on the 17th of September.

Oooops, until Raphael posted the thread, no one noticed about it.

These people moved to other forum still nick some stories from here (Steve Lamacq exclusive for instance).

 

[Anthony_Aloysius]

There’s an argument for saying that the DJs and MCs are the the biggest of music fans - they have succeeded in dropping all the baggage that prejudices taste. They find some musical influence everywhere, even if just a 5 second snippet.

 

[Dave2006]

Aww, shit--you're gonna hate me for this: Lil Wayne mashed up with The Smiths ("There Is a Fire That Never Goes Out," "Please, Hustler, Please") and others:

http://www.500daysofweezy.com/

I love the comment: Apologies to Morrissey and Simon & Garfunkel for f***ing with your songs.

That song was awful. as was Please, Hustler, Please.... - although listening to Moz like it's being played on an old gramophone sounds cool.

As for the t-shirt. If it means that some rap fans might venture into the world of Moz then that's a good thing. God forbid that some Moz fans might venture into rap...

Dave

 

[lainey]

Oooops, until Raphael posted the thread, no one noticed about it.

These people moved to other forum still nick some stories from here (Steve Lamacq exclusive for instance).

Yes but they always acknowledge there source, wherever it's from.

 

[Qvist]

Well, there's a certain body of evidence that Morrissey has some standing among hip-hopsters, or whatever the hell they are called. Someone else posted a thread about some famous DJ or other who said he was into The Smiths. And isn't Eminem known to be so as well?

Or maybe Lil' Wayne just liked the words, and didn't much care one way or the other that they came from the Smiths.

In either case, I think it's great.


cheers

 

[modrevolve]

If he wore a shirt that said.."Why pamper life's complexity when the leather runs smooth on the passenger seat ?" I'd say he is a fan..

Otherwise my vote is for coincidence.

 

[Worm]

There’s an argument for saying that the DJs and MCs are the the biggest of music fans - they have succeeded in dropping all the baggage that prejudices taste. They find some musical influence everywhere, even if just a 5 second snippet.

Exactly right. Chuck D. of Public Enemy used to talk about being influenced by the Clash, even back in their earliest, "militant" phase. Which actually leads us back to The Clash and the irony of early post-punk: many of those artists also dropped their baggage and had none, or few, prejudices about music. The thing is, while I can imagine Mick Jones loving dub reggae and Chuck D. loving The Clash, I'm not as certain that today's DJs/MCs also love the material they're using. (I don't know they don't, of course, I'm just speculating.) Because usually when people like everything they don't love anything. I doubt Lil Wayne loves The Smiths' music any more than Vampire Weekend love Lil Wayne's ("Oxford Comma"). Just a different mentality.

I felt that way watching "500 Days of Summer", actually. I saw lots of signs that the writer and/or director, and maybe the actors, liked The Smiths, The Cure, Joy Division, and so on, but it was the same kind of mash-up/mix-tape mentality. All surface and no depth. The effect is a strange ambivalence. Nothing can really be decided about how they feel about the musicians and other cultural icons they cite. Joseph Gordon-Levitt's character seemed to love The Smiths but in his words and actions I would have guessed he'd never listened to them in his life.

 

[Worm]

I think there are a lot of Morrissey lyric snippets and Marr riffs that would appeal to a great many artists in different genres, even if they could care less about the originators.

Can you imagine how insane it would be to listen to a hip-hop album sampling nothing but Andy's basslines and Mike's drums?

The funniest thing is, Johnny Marr's Smiths stuff doesn't lend itself to sampling or re-working, much. And yet he's the one who imagined he could go on and make cutting-edge dance music!

I like parts of the video for Lady Gaga's Paparazzi because it reminds me of some weird Euro erotica or Argento giallo but I have 0 interest in her music.

Yeah. You have to remember that behind most of these pretty faces there are actually some really talented producers and DJs at work. Once you get past the horror of Gaga and others like, say, Justin Timberlake, some of the music is catchy.

Erm...did I call Gaga's face pretty just now...?

 

[Worm]

Someone else posted a thread about some famous DJ or other who said he was into The Smiths.

Yes, it was DJ Premier. Here's the snippet:

Why are young hip-hop artists so reluctant to learn about the music’s history?

Well thank goodness for Google you can find out on your own now if you’re curious! I feel if an artist really cares about what they’re doing, they should want to know who the people they like are influenced by, even if it’s 2Pac. There’s plenty of viral footage. There’s so much research you can find now. When I was coming up you had to hunt and look worldwide to find things. They can ask me! Like with Royce Da 5′ 9″, who’s signed with Eminem, cause his rhyming’s so ill I was like, “I know you’re into the Cold Crush [Brothers] and Just-Ice.” And he’s like, “Who’s that?” I’m like, “You don’t know who Just-Ice is? What about Mantronix?” He’s like, “Who’s Mantronix?” He said he was brought up on Redman and Ras Kass, and even though those are great MCs, I was like, “I thought you went back further.” So I told Royce I was gonna make him a CD of some stuff. I did the same with my artist Nick Javas, a white kid from Union, New Jersey, who can rap his ass off but didn’t have any knowledge of the past.

I mean, I stay up, I still study. I know who Waka Flocka Flame is, I know who Gucci Maine is, I know who Nicki Minaj is, and Fred Da God, an upcoming New York rapper. You have to do your research if you’re into your job. Even though I’m into more than just hip-hop–I’ll listen to rock, new wave, The Smiths, all kinds of crazy left-field stuff–I still stay up on rap.​

 

[Gregor Samsa]

Gaga ain't that bad you know. But because she's mainstream and extremely successful one would easily suggest she is.

 

[Worm]

Gaga ain't that bad you know. But because she's mainstream and extremely successful one would easily suggest she is.

I think she's f***ing awful-- a tarted-up blasphemy, rat puke in high heels, the animated remains of a Castro thrift-shop after a 9.5 earthquake-- and as anyone who read my contributions to the Taylor Swift thread can tell you I'm not afraid to champion mainstream singers.

 

[CrystalGeezer]

Lil Wayne was on TMZ the other night, well he's been on several nights since because he's been banned from a hotel in Vegas, but I thought this clip was rather endearing. The day he was supposed to be released from jail, one fan stood in the cold at Riker's Island waiting for him to drive by to show her love. Awwwww, the romance of crime.

You can see that here.

 

[Gregor Samsa]

I think she's f***ing awful-- a tarted-up blasphemy, rat puke in high heels, the animated remains of a Castro thrift-shop after a 9.5 earthquake-- and as anyone who read my contributions to the Taylor Swift thread can tell you I'm not afraid to champion mainstream singers.

How one can champion a faceless and pointless artist like Taylor and properly hate someone like Gaga, who has edge, a mind of her own (kind of) and who's not afraid to disturb the mainstream, whilst still sell more records than most at the moment, is to me bewildering.

 

[Worm]

How one can champion a faceless and pointless artist like Taylor and properly hate someone like Gaga, who has edge, a mind of her own (kind of) and who's not afraid to disturb the mainstream, whilst still sell more records than most at the moment, is to me bewildering.

It's only bewildering because of how arbitrary taste in music becomes once we step outside the circle of artists we truly love. Taylor Swift doesn't speak to me the way Morrissey does, but, then, neither do many other artists currently using up space on my iPod such as Brigitte Bardot, Rush, Arcade Fire, Bruce Springsteen, Donna Summer, f*** Buttons, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Third Eye Blind. After a certain point it's all random chance. Gaga strikes your ear as interesting music. She strikes mine like a chainsaw. Meanwhile, Taylor Swift is pointless to you. To me she's adorably pointless.

 

[Gregor Samsa]

It's only bewildering because of how arbitrary taste in music becomes once we step outside the circle of artists we truly love. Taylor Swift doesn't speak to me the way Morrissey does, but, then, neither do many other artists currently using up space on my iPod such as Brigitte Bardot, Rush, Arcade Fire, Bruce Springsteen, Donna Summer, f*** Buttons, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Third Eye Blind. After a certain point it's all random chance. Gaga strikes your ear as interesting music. She strikes mine like a chainsaw. Meanwhile, Taylor Swift is pointless to you. To me she's adorably pointless.

That sort of reasoning kills all discussion, and thereby makes all forums obsolete.

 

[PregnantForTheLastTime]

How one can champion a faceless and pointless artist like Taylor and properly hate someone like Gaga, who has edge, a mind of her own (kind of) and who's not afraid to disturb the mainstream, whilst still sell more records than most at the moment, is to me bewildering.

It is these points which are open to debate, which even you grudgingly admit. In the "Other Music" thread there is a post about a new book on the retro-phenom and cultural appropriation, all of which we've discussed here at length. And we've put Gaga under the microscope here, as well, so if you have any interest in examining the Gaga phenomenon you might find some of it interesting reading. She presents a paradox, it's true.

You could just wince at Lil Wayne, and understand that there comes a point in each our lives when the things we loved become kitsch. It hurts, when it first happens, but then you realize you're just getting old, and it's as natural a part of life as leaves turning and falling in October.