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I had an interesting conversation with my teenage son last night.
His listening consists almost exclusively of rap at the moment. He told me that one of his favourite artists was Earl Sweatshirt. We then put on the MV for "The Caliphate".
https://youtu.be/DjLeA9yS2ek?si=N1dANFydg3pOPmKi
At the end of the MV, my son asked me if I had liked it. This question put me on the spot, because I had not enjoyed it, but I wished neither to sound dismissive nor be dishonest. So I told him that "The Claiphate" was not quite my cup of tea, but that I could understand something of the artistry and why it might appeal.
We then went on ...
2/2
...to talk about rap more generally. I explained that hip hop had grown up after my adolescence, and so it had never been part of my youthful sound world. By and large it's a musical genre that I enjoy only in small doses, and I dislike much of the culture of conspicuous consumption and ultramasculinity that seems typical of a good deal of recent hip hop.
I did point out, though, that I don't have a blanket hatred of the genre, and that one track from almost half a century ago still struck me as both powerful social commentary and a cleverly written song:
https://youtu.be/PobrSpMwKk4?si=L9DvOBISEDvZzFxN
My son had never heard of it. I wondered whether he would find it hokey, but in fact he told me he was impressed.
I'd love to tell you that this was the beginning of a long evening of father-son bonding, but when I put on NMIXX -- Know About Me, he found that he had important things to attend to in his room....
