Entry
One Hundred Fifty-Three.
Tuesday, 2012.06.12, 11:46 AM CST.
My
changing attitude towards modern music (but Nicki Minaj and Lil Wayne
still suck).
Current Mood: Busier than one might
expect.
Current Scent: L'Eau D'Issey by Issey Miyake.
Well,
it's been a while since my last update (although I've been posting occasional
shorter updates on Facebook).
I've
actually been really, REALLY crappy with certain updates. I had
a couple of MAJOR gigs that I promoted heavily on Facebook, but didn't
mention here until now. I'll get to those in the next update,
but first, I want to talk a little about my chaning viewpoints regarding
modern music.
 As
a lot of you know, for the better part of the last decade, I've developed
a bit of disdain regarding modern dance music. The dance music
industry and the direction of "pop" music really went downhill
for a long time, and I fell out of love with "modern music"
forst the most part.
I
mainly like concentrating on older dance music and being a "retro"
DJ. I don't think that will ever change.
However,
my recent attitude toward modern music is changing. I recently
purchased a LOT of newer pop/dance music, and the more of it I listened
to, the more I realized that things might be turning around. In
fact, some of it has been awesome.
At
this point, I can, at least to some extent, say that I am becoming more
optimistic about the current state of pop/club music and the direction
that it's going.
Performing
at "retro" events will still be my specialty, but I can actually
see myself busting out a slew of kickass modern pop/club remixes for
some of my non-"retro" performances in the future as well.
(I'll still
be doing it with real vinyl and CDs, though... I am still nowhere
near the point of using laptops or MIDI controllers just yet.)
There
are still quite a few modern artists who suck and I'd rather avoid.
I can't stand Nicki Minaj; even though I do have one decent remix of
"Starships," I feel that overall she's one of the least talented
female "rappers" to enter the scene in a long time.
It's hard to believe that she's become as successful as she has.
Also,
I can't stand Lil Wayne. I deplore him. He has
a crappy attitude and his overall "thug" image doesn't impress
me at all; it repulses me. I have no use for artists like him,
and no matter how successful he becomes, I will do my best to avoid
playing Lil Wayne at any of my gigs in the future. Lil Wayne sucks
- both as a performer and a human being - and if you ever hire me for
a gig, you should never expect to hear one of his songs in my sets.
So,
yeah, I despise Lil Wayne. However, I've found that I really enjoy
the work of a lot of artists whom a lot of other DJs try to avoid playing
because they've been so commercially successful... and I might
as well come out and say it:
I've
actually enjoyed music I've heard from Flo Rida, Taio Cruz, Katy Perry,
Bruno Mars, Ke$ha (I feel dirty just writing that), and many more artists
whose work I had avoided simply because they were classified as "recent
pop music."
There
are two VERY important things that I want you to remember, though:
1)
This doesn't mean I've "sold out." Not by a
long shot. I still prefer the older music. I'd much rather
listen to Salt + Pepa's "Push It," M|A|R|R|S' "Pump
Up the Volume," or a Guy Called Gerald's "Voodoo Ray"
than any of the songs by the artists listed above... but it doesn't
hurt to expand my horizons a bit. I'll still perform 80s and
90s gigs without trying to "sneak in" newer artists.
My love for the past will never die.
2)
I'm still going to track down and play some of the rarest,
coolest remixes I can get my hands on for the new stuff as well.
(If someone wants to hear the radio versions... they should just listen
to the radio or buy the tracks at Amazon or iTunes. I'm a professional
DJ, not a damned iPod.)
More
updates soon. Very, very soon.
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