Comments on: The Cultural Disconnect of Classic Punk and Modern Teens (A Monday Morning Music Ramble)

By: Jake T

Jake T — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 18:09:28 +0000

thanks for the people of the sun links. good stuff.

By: Kyle

Kyle — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 18:54:00 +0000

It has been a long time since I have scratched a ” DK” into the margins of my notebook. I too have looked back many times and wondered “what was I angry about?” The truth was I think I just liked the power.

I honestly think that is the modern appeal of Gangsta rap. Young men are just drawn to artists that put forth this persona that they won’t take nothin off of nobody. Cause I mean honestly, What does a teenage white suburban kid have in common with black people in Compton?

Who in the world is Che Guevara? But you know a ton of kids wearing pictures of him on their t-shirts. They know nothing of his Marxism and brutality.

And yeah, I can remember when friends and I used to joke that Zach de la Rocha was gonna run out of oppressed people groups to scream about. We kept waiting for a song about the Inuit People.

I have since been amazed at the absurdity of it all. So much of pop culture is image. I think a lot of artists are a lot like WWE wrestling. There is this persona about hating your opponent when in actuality he is really just a coworker.
I see so much of this in rap music. This persona of the guy that just chills, goes to parties, kickin it with his boys, and occasionally lays down some tracks. When really the guys that do make it are extremely disciplined, spend hours in the studio everyday, and are constantly busy trying to maintain this image. It has lead to some interesting discussions with a few of my youth boys who really love rap.

By: Josh

Josh — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 15:04:39 +0000

When I was in my own head-bangin’ days I didn’t think much about the content–it just sounded cool. Granted the ‘punk’ kids seemed a little more thoughtful than the whole heavy metal girls and drinking, et al, scene.

But I will say this, young people–say from 12-25 seem a LOT smarter than they were when I was that age.

I guess we can hope that they’re not really screaming along to the lyrics because they agree with all of them…

By: Proverbs31

Proverbs31 — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 18:35:02 +0000

You know, I’m not that much younger than you so I don’t know if a couple of years is enough to miss out on the punk music or if it just really didn’t take off here in tiny town Texas. Or maybe I just didn’t travel in the right circles. In fact, the only name I did recognize in here is Sex Pistols. My ’secular’ friends mainly listened to grunge (NIN, Nirvana, etc.) but a couple of them did like to run around with a battle cry of ‘anarchy!!’ I suspect that they also just needed something to rail against and touting ‘anarchy’ fit the bill. I suspect that though some teenagers may actually get the message, you’re probably right that most of them like the idea.

By: eldon

eldon — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 17:24:25 +0000

I have some recordings of Jello Biafra, Dead Kennedy’s lead singer pre-break-up, from about 8-10 years ago when he was on a speaking tour. He attacks the usual things, censoring artists, Wal-mart, American consumerism. Politics and God. But it is fascinating to hear him attack the Gores (spefically Tipper and the Parents’ Music Resource Center she founded).

Wow, times have changed. Now the PMRC sticker is as admired as the DK logo itself. Tipper is New American Royalty and the last time I saw the DKs was in a record store in S.F. and the star of Courtship of Eddie’s Father, Brandon Cruz, was the lead singer. Viva Las Vacant!