Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Real Talk Wit Raze - Fans, Friends & Stalkers
You don't have to like ME to like my music.
As a matter of fact, I would almost prefer it, mainly because I'm a glutton for dynamic relationships and compromising circumstances. Lately I've been thinkin about the differences in our entertainment industry NOW versus how it was circa 1989. I chose that year because it was to my belief, the turning point. The point where the lines of being fans, friends and stalkers were ultimately blurred to the transparent nothingness they are now. See, around that time the internet started gaining popularity, and the ever so important "Reality Show" pandemic started its worldwide scurge on humanity. These two elements converged, creating a perfect storm of everyman attention whorism, NEVER witnessed by generations past.
See, there used to be news stories about "stalkers". Remember those? They used to follow celebs around, break into their homes, steal their belongings and basically reek havok on their personal lives? Yeah, well they've been replaced by youtube, live streaming video feeds and of course, TWITTER. The age of the stalker and the "tour following fan" have been replaced by TMZ.com, tweeting nutcases and handheld HD camera concert footage uploaded to worldstar.com.
So, now that I've stated what many will refer to as "the obvious", what does it mean to artists? Simple, it means "fans" don't know their place as FANS. All of a sudden being a fan of the music simply isn't enough. Now you gotta know the artists shoe size, what they wore to bed last nite and what they were eating at PRECISELY 4:27pm on February 11th of 2008. Not meant in the slightest bit disrespectfully, but our personal lives are just that, PERSONAL. Some of us share so much thru our music that giving any more (especially if its unintentionally) is painfully gut wrenching. For example, the whole Nas/Kelis divorce. That was way too much and quite frankly, I don't care about his personal issues (whether celeb marriage or not) to know what his alimony/child support payments are. Ultimately my relationship with him (no brokeback) isn't dependent on that. Its his MUSIC that makes or breaks how we "kick it". I've never lost friends because they didn't like my music. I've also never made friends because they DO like my music either.
Its ok to just dig someone's music and leave it at that. It makes you no less a fan at all. Once the CD ejects, so do WE.
R = out.
As a matter of fact, I would almost prefer it, mainly because I'm a glutton for dynamic relationships and compromising circumstances. Lately I've been thinkin about the differences in our entertainment industry NOW versus how it was circa 1989. I chose that year because it was to my belief, the turning point. The point where the lines of being fans, friends and stalkers were ultimately blurred to the transparent nothingness they are now. See, around that time the internet started gaining popularity, and the ever so important "Reality Show" pandemic started its worldwide scurge on humanity. These two elements converged, creating a perfect storm of everyman attention whorism, NEVER witnessed by generations past.
See, there used to be news stories about "stalkers". Remember those? They used to follow celebs around, break into their homes, steal their belongings and basically reek havok on their personal lives? Yeah, well they've been replaced by youtube, live streaming video feeds and of course, TWITTER. The age of the stalker and the "tour following fan" have been replaced by TMZ.com, tweeting nutcases and handheld HD camera concert footage uploaded to worldstar.com.
So, now that I've stated what many will refer to as "the obvious", what does it mean to artists? Simple, it means "fans" don't know their place as FANS. All of a sudden being a fan of the music simply isn't enough. Now you gotta know the artists shoe size, what they wore to bed last nite and what they were eating at PRECISELY 4:27pm on February 11th of 2008. Not meant in the slightest bit disrespectfully, but our personal lives are just that, PERSONAL. Some of us share so much thru our music that giving any more (especially if its unintentionally) is painfully gut wrenching. For example, the whole Nas/Kelis divorce. That was way too much and quite frankly, I don't care about his personal issues (whether celeb marriage or not) to know what his alimony/child support payments are. Ultimately my relationship with him (no brokeback) isn't dependent on that. Its his MUSIC that makes or breaks how we "kick it". I've never lost friends because they didn't like my music. I've also never made friends because they DO like my music either.
Its ok to just dig someone's music and leave it at that. It makes you no less a fan at all. Once the CD ejects, so do WE.
R = out.
Labels: Fans, Raze, Real Talk Wit Raze
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