We’re Losing the Fight Against Online Music’s Obesity Epidemic Posted by Yoh on 07/02/13 | Filed under Opinion, Yoh Issues

The eccentric frenzy of anxious anticipation that looms over album releases is similar to that of a 14-year-old virgin dry humping in teen clubs. The more hype, the more highly anticipated, the more our imagination creates an impossible audio utopia created on track listings, album covers, features, singles, Instagram studio photos and vlogs, for those that indulge in that waste of time. Just look at June 18, the biggest hip-hop release date of the year, the months prior have been non-stop chatter about Mac Miller, J.Cole, and Kanye West. We sat and waited watching walls because Yeezus taught us, pondering if Jermaine and Miller could overcome the cursed sophomore jinx, and most importantly starring at twitter timelines waiting for the forthcoming leaks. First Cole, then Mac, and finally after some determine soul gathered all 7 dragonballs and wished for Kanye’s 6th studio album – "Yeezus" leaks and the universe spirals out of control. Doesn’t take long before social media becomes an infested warzone of first amendment given opinions, debates, and know-it-all extremist that we call hip-hop heads.

Can you remember a time you heard an album and didn’t feel compelled to critique and criticize? Appreciate without belittling those that don’t agree with your stan-esque point of view? Bloggers have reviews up in hours swiftly attempting to spread their first impression (because now opinions are strictly based off a few listens), and not far behind are the bigger mainstream publications. What happen to living with the album, sleeping with the album, loving, hating, and loving again with ears unbiased to hype, unbiased to opinion, and most importantly for the pure enjoyment and not as another assignment that will increases web traffic. I’d be disgusted if my soul went into an album, knowing it’ll be absorbed with the clarity and understanding of a half eared listen, while gags are tweeted, and instagram is updated with pictures of you listening to the album. The music is a body of art meant to be cherished, not disrespected as a quick piece of ass used as a conversation piece. Its ART people!

Your 1 listen reviews are fucking up hip hop.

— J. Cole (@JColeNC) June 19, 2013

With all the talk and the franticness of waiting, I expected "Yeezus" to be the talk of the year, but then I witness how the quickly the attention can be shifted in mere days as a Jay-z commercial/album unveiling featuring a vampire from Neptune, Merlin, the return of fat Timbaland, and Alicia Keys husband restart the eccentric frenzy as Junes last chapters are written and July’s blank page awaits history’s pen. Wale album drops and the poetic justice braids are elated, not to mention Based God’s mixtape, Statik Selektah project, Lord Quas album, Joey Bada$$ filling us up with summer 90’s nostalgia, Killer Mike and El-P highly anticipated “Run The Jewels”, Drake’s artist, [redacted] debut project, and don’t forget the thousands of singles that blogs are updating all hours of the day. There are too many potential eargasms and god only gave us two ears and 24 hours.

With an incredible influx amount of music running freely through our speakers, does the supply meet the demand? Can one just enjoy, savor and devour new music in a few listens while capturing what the artist was trying to articulate? Are we in a time where the anticipation has replaced the actual albums reverence? I think about Yeezus, will we be talking about the project or the genius marketing campaign in 5 years’ time? Constantly sites are being updated with new mainstream, new underground, new indie, new, new, And NEW. This matches the speed in which the internet ages - yearly in weeks, and decades by the years, new news is old news forgotten and replace by newer news in minutes. Our iTunes are fat, full, and still devouring more, because there is a desire for more, there is a request for more, there is a sad lack of satisfaction from listeners who want something new, just to complain they want you to revert back to an old sound, living in yesterday complaining about tomorrow. It’s gluttony, musical gluttony!

Albums have become nothing more than today’s trendy topic and tomorrow’s favorited tweet, and we know how rare the occasion is that one revisits their favorite tweets. The bright side is that this overabundance is blue magic and not Young Scooter’s easy bake oven cocaine, the quality of rap music is at a glorious high, and full of some of the most promising projects from revered talent. There’s just no lasting impression despite how well the art has become, the balance of time limited projects are drastically lower than the timeless gems that will walk through the corridors of our memories past a 6 week timespan. Even the artists are constantly reinventing, force feeding us more music, more mixtapes and more albums until we are obese with boom-bap muffing-tops and quotable excrements. How would "Illmatic fair in this storm of saturation?

I’ve been searching for an answer to this issue of overabundance and un-cherished with the solution being slow down and enjoy the sudden eruption of incredible music instead of chasing rainbows and hoping at the end is a classic album. Artists, fans, labels, just need to slow down. Its silly imagining that we are so accustomed to the idea of this microwave society that we can’t escape from its looped spinning cycle. I assume that not everyone tries and captures all 150 good songs that are released weekly, maybe that’s why so many get overlooked, why so many feel underappreciated, and why twice as many will never reach their desired amount of ears. Why do the blogs update daily? Who actually rummages through every post? Who stops at every unsigned artist and see if he’s the next big act? Or are you waiting for someone to tell you that you need to listen to said artist? Sheep following sheep into the abyss.

I’m exhausted, as a blogger and a fan. All across the boards this genre has become an all you can listen buffet built on the foundation that there has to be more, that each listener have tapeworms and they’ll never be satisfied, so continue giving them more, and despite how great the art is, unless cherished the value is lose. Maybe it will be cherished when our kids begin thrifting in 20 years. This waterfall of never ending music continues to flow with no end in sight; the new critics continue to indulge in self-importance feeding followers opinions in factual cloth, as we forget how to be fans, forget how to be listeners, and forget how to enjoy the purist source of entertainment.

Hip-hop isn’t dead, just the appreciation.

(Image from DiverseHipHop.com)

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