VEGANGELICA

Curious how innovative I'd feel Dizzee Rascal is, I listened to two of his rap songs ("I luv u" and "Fix Up, Look Sharp") and also read about him on Wikipedia.

Just listening to Rascal's music doesn't make me feel it is "distinctive" or particulary innovative. I'd probably classify it as mostly "rap" and not think of it as being different in any way from rap I've heard years ago. However, my lack of appreciation for uniqueness in Rascal's music probably reflects that I'm not familiar with all the different trends that have swept through rap music over the years, and so I can't perceive surprising nuances.

Wikipedia says of Rascal, "Although his fast style of rapping and his subject matter are nothing more than ordinary in the UK, Dizzee Rascal's diversity nonetheless separates him from other UK rappers. His music is a mixture of UK Garage and hip-hop beats with an extremely broad palette of influences, ranging from metal guitars to drill and bass synth lines, eclectic samples and even Japanese court music. Dizzee's tracks are traditional grime in that the beats are often asymmetrical and make it difficult to dance to his music. Grime is today still considered underground, despite Dizzee's large mainstream exposure." Dizzee Rascal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

^ Based on this, I'd say Rascal wasn't making large innovations in music, but his eclectic, multi-cultural style of music has perhaps broadened minds. It sounds like he is using old ingredients to make a new soup with a slightly different flavor.

Most interesting to me is that Wikipedia says, "The chart success of grime-influenced artists like Rascal is heralded as a signal in the way that white Britons are adapting to a new multicultural and plural musical mix in contrast to previous bands."

So even if Rascal's music may not be so innovative, his use of diverse musical traditions within his music may reflect that Britons are becoming even more accepting of a variety of backgrounds. This means that perhaps Rascal's music is inspiring a cultural change toward greater appreciation of different cultures, and so his music isn't just resulting in music evolution but some cultural evolution. <-- That impresses me.

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I didn't.

I said to the OP, "I'm sorry about all the name-calling, sarcasm, and mockery, including an accusation of mental illness, that people have used in this thread. I wish a discussion about music, which I think most of us like very much, wouldn't lead to expressions of hostility by so many individuals as misunderstandings and disagreements lead to frustration."

I intentionally made my statement general by referring to "people" and "so many individuals" to try to include everyone in this thread who reacted with hostility, because I did see that Pursuingchange used name-calling while trying to defend himself against name-calling. I'm sorry he used name-calling, too.

My interpretation of the thread's emotional mood evolution is that it started friendly, and then after some members debated what "evolution" means, Pursuingchange perhaps felt they were trying intentionally to be obtuse. I think this was a misunderstanding, because I've observed that many people are confused about biological evolution, and so the word "evolution" confuses them, too...especially since Pokemon (curse Pokemon!) have completely misguided a whole generation of kids who now think "evolution" means "change that leads to improvement."

I think Pursuingchange was then on edge, expecting the worst from people, and so he responded to well-meaning questions and replies by Janszoon with some preemptive hostility. Then, rather than trying to assure Pursuingchange that their replies weren't meant to be combative, the moderators eventually became hostile back. UH upped the level of hostility by saying the OP came across as a "total arse." OP responded angrily, and as other members jumped on him, he defended himself by responding in kind. He got accused of going off topic by a mod (and I'm not sure why). Finally the OP tried to regain a peaceful status so discussion could continue if anyone wanted to discuss the topic. And that's when I entered the discussion to give my 1,332 cents.

^ This is my perspective on this thread's evolution. I *am* sorry the discussion went the way it did, because I can see the OP wanted genuinely to discuss a topic that interests him. This doesn't mean I condone all of Pursuingchange's replies to people, but I think I understand why he made them. Also, I feel that established members have a greater responsibility to be polite and welcoming to new members, such as by trying to clear up misunderstandings and settle ruffled feathers rather than disturb them more. It's hard to come into a new community, hoping for friendliness, but fearing being jumped on.

I felt it would help Pursuingchange to know that he has some people on his side. Also, I felt it would help him to know that sometimes the fur flies here at MB, but then many of us can settle down and continue to discuss a topic maturely. I think the issue of the evolution of music is an interesting one, and it might inspire people to listen around and hear what they are missing in the world of music. If not for this thread, for example, I probably would have never listened to a single Dizzee Rascal song!

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