I was just glancing over this month's "Option" magazine in a
bookstore.. it had an article on DJ Shadow followed by another on
"found sound" (what I gathered was music by sampling).
Anyhow, Shadow is going into detail about how he is just about "hip
hop", or that's what he is trying to communicate "on the real". In
short, I agree with the fact that he is on a real tip... no front, but
I would also say that it isn't just Hip Hop. What he is referring to
is real music.
Somehow we find ourselves surrounded by No Doubt and Michael Jackson
representing what we think is music and in the process try to
differentiate by coining a different phrase be it "Underground", "Hip
Hop", or for the white Southern Californians out there "Ska".
We seem to forget that most of those people we see on the countdown are
showbiz, not music. Just showbiz. I would go as far as saying that
Marylin Manson is on the same tip as Michael Jackson in that he is more
about maintaining an image (Demon Lover, Antichrist etc..) than actual
music itself. Of course, this is not to say that all his music is
shite (even though I think it is), but I do think that it is something
that must be remembered when his music is playing.
Keeping it on the real happens on all levels-Trent Reznor's
"Industrial", Miles Davis' "Jazz", Tribe Called Quest "Hip Hop", AFX
"IDM". All keepin' it real means is just making music, not making
showbiz. I think artists like Shadow abhor Showbiz so much that they
get caught up in trying to differentiate themselves with some sort of
name..
-d-