MTV VMAs Thread!

With Beyonce' flying in the mothers of four unjustly slain black men, I'd say this year's VMA's were VERY relevant. Timely and topical,
I was impressed.

 

...and she just might actually do it too...LOL!

Ed

 

Oh, I believe it.

 

Some seriously thin "musical" gruel served up yet again. In fact, I'll just re-post my opinion from last years VMAs.

And yes, I did actually watch the whole dang thing! I'm almost at a point now where I look at the majority of popular music as some some weird, Dadaist performance art designed to test the gullibility of consumers. I mean, it's become incredibly preposterous to anyone with a modicum of taste and/or a decent grasp of musical history.

Last night's VMA awards was, in the words of the great American philosopher Dale Gribble: "The feces that is produced when shame eats too much stupidity."

 

And that's frightening.
If Madonna had attempted a 5 song medley at an award show, at any point in her career, I think her career would quickly be ended (maybe because people would actually be watching). It seems the point of such overkill is to say, you HAVE to like this. This IS brilliant. There's NO question about it. The irony being, there is indeed a question about it. No artist is beyond being judged, truthfully, by the audience. And I don't see Beyonce warranting such overblown hysterical devotion. It even showed some unfortunate devotee at the end in tears. Embarrassing. Did Madonna ever resort to such theatrics to prove her dominance?

 

It's not that I'm suggesting hip hop should be above criticism... just saying that if you dislike all hip hop, then your opinions about specific hip hop artists or songs are not worth much, from a critical perspective. If you can't discern the difference between what's considered good and bad in a specific genre, then your opinion that a specific song or artist is bad doesn't have much critical value, because you think it's all bad. And I'd say if you don't know much about hip hop, you can't really offer an informed opinion about how it relates to genres you do know about. I'm quite willing to slam individual songs or artists within genres I have some knowledge and aesthetic sense about, but I think it's arrogant to attack or dismiss entire genres.

 

You don't have to love it. You don't. No worries. Really...

"Unfortunate devotee"?? Really?? That's laying on the hyper-bowl a bit thick, no? Someone loves her...much in the same way many around here love The Beatles. Let them have it. Does it hurt you?

Yes, she absolutely did. She did it in different ways, but she absolutely did it.

Ed

 

I mean, if you think so... but she hasn't had a 30 year career based on such cheap tricks.

 

Well if people aren't making music like this anymore, they can't be on the VMA's or other outlets.

 

She had many other significantly cheaper tricks. How about the "Sex" book for starters?

Ed

 

That's what I call earning it.

 

Not sure what you mean by that. Beyonce has never been taudry. Madonna spent years being little else - so much so that her talent was completely submerged by it for a time.

Ed

 

Never been taudry? She sure was showcasing her backside in a rather overt way during that performance. Madonna's talent has always been in question, but somehow her popularity and staying power always seems to have the last word.

 

I don't want to be the typical zealous fan defending Madonna because I like her, but in context, except that Sex/Body Of Evidence period in 1992/93, I honestly think the idea that Madonna was tawdry or, like, overdid the sexual provocation, is overblown. She pushed boundaries, sure... but so does Beyonce. I think that's a positive, mostly. One person's tawdry or tacky is another's bold and empowering. To sum this up really fast: Both have used their sexuality and/or sexual appeal on their own terms, in ways that are/were empowering to them (and, from what I can tell, to female fans, which is why both are viewed as feminist icons). Even in her Sex phase, it was Madonna doing the objectifying, and making us look at her sexual fantasies. And to be honest that book isn't even 'sexy' in typical ways (I don't find it sexy at all). It's not Playboy. It's challenging and confrontational, much like Beyonce's sexual imagery is. All of which is just off-topic semi-coherent rambling on a complicated subject, but my point is... I don't think it's fair to disparage either Madonna or Beyonce for their sexual displays, and for both artists, their sexuality is a significant component of their work (which is most certainly not a negative).

 

To me, the book wasn't empowering; it was total and complete filth. Beyonce never got near anything like that, nor is her career headed that way. She doesn't need to do it. Honestly, Madonna didn't either.

Ed

 

Madonna has been naked in front of the world...totally. Beyonce dresses skantily for sure but she's never been utterly undressed. She also doesn't flaunt her sexuality as Madonna did. Her career isn't built on it like Madonna's was for a time.

Ed

 

This is Kanye in a nutshell. LOL

 

I must be finally getting to the age where the kids music just doesn't make sense to me anymore. It's all about weak, formulaic hip-hop these days and in the land of the blind, the one-eyed Kanye is king. I know popular culture has always celebrated mediocrity to a certain extent, but it does seem like nothing is really challenging the status quo anymore, at least musically. Britney and Beyonce are still nice to look at though.

Proclamations from a marginalized old fart...

 

Gotta love Kanye.

 

I watched the show and fast forwarded thru whatever awards they showed which weren't many. I do like modern pop music so I dont think I have a "get off my lawn" stance having a POV of the show.

Pre show:
The only worthy to mention was Alessia Cara. I saw her open up for Coldplay and I think she has a lot of potential. She is very different from the current pop tarts out there.

Show:
Rhianna- I couldn't believe she was to perform 4x in one show. I think that was really overboard although her performances were pretty strong. I do like Rihanna although her new album leaves me a little cold. I was thinking about her this morning about how I don't see her influences show at all. She has a distinctive voice and changes her sound quite often. Most people you can point to (including Beyonce) where you see they are channeling Mariah, Janet, Tina, Madonna, etc. Rihanna does her own thing love it or hate it. I liked her speech too.
Ariana/Nicki- Ariana's material is pretty terrible but she does have a good voice even if it is a mix of all the pop divas from the past. Nicki just trots out there and does a minute of some nonsense in every song. I don't get that. Very forgettable song but it made me want to do spin this week!
Future- I don't get the popularity of him.
Nick Jonas- Nick is nice to look at and some of his songs are good. This isn't one of them. At least he sings live even with his limited voice.
Beyonce- Yes she has a good voice, she can perform, she's captivating to look at. I don't get her music at all. I just think everything she does is overrated and overblown. I have said this before that sets a good example for women out there but I don't see people playing Lemonade years later like a Tina, Janet, or Madonna classic albums.
Britney- Terrible song... she sang maybe a couple lines. How many times does she need to "comeback"?
Chainsmokers- I like the song, good performance. I liked Halsey too. Don't know much about her.

Overall it has been at the same level as most of the shows of late which haven't been very memorable.

PS- I wish Rihanna played Umbrella. That song is one of her best. I think the crowd would've loved it too.

PPS- I hope never to see whoever those "hosts" were in my lifetime. They were worst thing I have seen on TV in a long time. #crap #garbage

 

But she doesn't have any stage presence, engaging delivery or star quality. Her performance was the most boring moment of the night. Which was a major disappointment because I actually enjoyed a few songs from "Know-It-All".

 

Well she is not dancing and wearing a thong on stage I know. She is also super young. If she has a good voice and songs it's a start!

 

If I can pull my old man pants up high for a second I'd like to yell at the clouds for a bit.

MTV VMAs were always kind of dopey and inconsistent. But... once upon a time MTV actually stood for Music Television. These days their logo has been truncated at the bottom to remove those words (and it looks weird and lazy). Their programming reflects this as they barely show any videos at all on their regular channel. Instead they show Ghostbusters and the Princess Diaries 2 and whatever old redundant movies they have around. Or they show some idiotic original programming aimed at some youth audience who I can only assume they think is mentally challenged but also willing to spend money on condoms and tickets to Suicide Squad.

Nevertheless... the VMAs are one of the only times in the year when MTV actually features music. So that's good. Kind of. Except just as the channel itself has moved away from being about music, the music they feature seems to me to be more about lifestyle than about music... or variety.

The chief complaint about MTV in it's earliest years was that they didn't feature enough black artists (and Barbara Streisand's chief complaint was they didn't feature enough Barbara Streisand). They said they were modeling themselves as a television version of rock radio. But they fixed it and they mixed it up and added not only black artists but a variety of music... mainstream rock, dance, rap, alternative rock, heavy metal, top 40 pop, news, etc. And the VMAs showed all of it.

The show I saw (and admittedly I only watched about 40 minutes of it but saw highlights) was all the same type of music. It was all the same type of lifestyle. It was basically a pop / hip hop fest. And yeah it was all sexual grinding/touching and profanity and poses. It's just so bleak and boring.

But they have to do a spectacle. They have to make sure that Kanye gets on mic because it's become an annual tradition to see what that imbecile will say... surely something headline grabbing. But to what end? Empowerment of the stupid?

At this rate I'd expect the VMAs in another 10 years to feature full frontal nudity and nothing but f-bombs all night long while people stop even bother lip-synching and instead jam their microphones into various orifices. It'll get higher ratings than 'Ow My Balls' (Idiocracy reference).

 

Alessia has a decent voice and a few good songs, but that's not enough. She was very stiff and awkward on stage. It was painful to watch. She must suffer from stage fright or something.
I know that Amy Winehouse is her biggest influence, and performing live wasn't her strong-suit either. Maybe she should just stick to being a studio artist or become a ghost writer.

 

Everyone realizes what they saw is what Viacom wanted you to see, right? There's no music on MTV because of Viacom. We see movies like Top Gun on CMT and VH1 because they're owned by Viacom, too. Viacom is to TV as Clearchannel is to radio.