Do divulge. What do you value in terms of music? Is it creativity, originality, or perhaps depth and meaning of lyricism? Is it what speaks to you, or what makes you dance and feel your body’s natural rhythms? Or, perhaps, is it catchiness and tempo?
I ask because a few weekends ago was Student Union’s Wakestock, with headliners Macklemore and Kendrick Lamar. Now, forgive me if I’m incorrect, but I was against the very front barricade for the entirety of the concert, and I don’t think I heard any music for the duration of Macklemore’s “performance.” Having been in the front, wouldn’t one assume I would hear the best of the performance? Sadly, you and I are mistaken in our presumptions; there wasn’t any composition to hear anyway and that was the problem.
All I really heard and observed was an overaged Marshall Mathers aspirant (Stan, anyone?) softly murmuring and spitting into a microphone, flailing his limbs and jerking his torso forward. I didn’t hear or experience any “music;” I simply anticipated the end of his set because that entailed being closer to that of Kendrick Lamar, a true musician and lyrical windstorm. Kendrick is a progressive step forward for mainstream rap; his lyrics and beats embody a depth unparalleled and forgotten by most of today’s biggest rap acts. His performance was an exhilarating pleasure to immerse oneself within.
On the topic of Macklemore, however, I have difficulty considering him a musician. “Thrift Shop” is (well, now, was) an explosive hit, but not for its musical nature. It is catchy, upbeat, and entertaining; but it’s hardly a work of genuine music, I dare to say, and on behalf of those of us in the world that appreciate the value of musical creation, I can confidently assert that his album is simply not worth the time. He has some upbeat tempos and catchy cut-off verses, but that’s about it. In my books, that is not a music make. Kendrick, however, is an innovator and a progressive mind.