Bring the Noise

[Ralph Dumain]

Kellner's post is the tritest of evasions.

First of all, when did aesthetics, musical ability or quality disappear from
any consideration of the value of an art form?  Or do you consider this
question elitist, assuming ordinary folks are too dumb to care about musical
quality?

Why is that nobody responded to my rhetorical questions in an earlier post.
30 years ago it was a commonplace for black people to say, my sister can
sing as good as Aretha, better than Gladys, etc.  Neither talent nor high
standards were rare.  Why is it that today's unruly children can't sing or
play instruments, but only rant?  Or doesn't this enter into the picture at all?

At 04:03 PM 8/6/97 -0500, kellner@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu wrote:
>I've written myself on
>rap in my 1995 book MEDIA CULTURE and distinguish between the sexist/thug
>stuff and Public Enemy, the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, Gil Scott
>Heron and the Last Poets, and other good stuff--some also mentioned by
>Rustum in his nuanced post which Ralph choose to trash....

This proves you are as useless as all professors.  Gil Scott-Heron: good
stuff and decent guy.  Last Poets--trite patriarchal Muslimesque nationalist
crap.  Public Enemy--human refuse.  Nuanced post, my ass.

Why have you jumped on the postmodern bandwagon after making your reputation
doing worthwhile scholarship?  Masturbatory recycling of cultural capital?
Nothing better to do?  No mission in life?  No life?