The Friday Five: When fans ruin the artist for you
OK, I know you’re supposed to separate the artist from the fan just like you’re supposed to separate the artist from the art (i.e. separating James Brown’s amazing catalog of work from the fact that he was an abusive, manipulative asshole). And any artist knows that you can’t exactly pick your fans. You might aim for a certain type of fan, but you could very easily end up with a fan base that’s vastly different from what you were envisioning. And hey, if people like your output, that can be its own reward, right?
All the same, there are some creative people I have more trouble liking than I should simply due to the fact that I find their hardcore fans absolutely insufferable. I might even enjoy their work, but their fans just ruin it for me. To wit:
Rush Yes, they’re talented musicians, the pride of Canada, etc. But have you ever spent, say, 2.5 minutes with a hardcore Rush fan? If so, you’re a stronger person than me--I tap out at around the 90 second mark. Please stop licking Neil Peart’s nuts, people. It’s unseemly.
Lil Wayne Anybody who seriously forwards the notion that Lil Wayne is the greatest rapper or even in the “who’s the greatest rapper?” discussion at all is not to be taken seriously as they clearly own all of about 10 rap albums, half of which will be Beastie Boys albums (no disrespect to the Beasties). Besides, Juvenile's a way better rapper.
Wes Anderson Rushmore was pretty good. The Royal Tenenbaums had its moments but essentially regurgitated Rushmore in longer form. But mention that Wes might just be a tad bit overrated to a hardcore fan, and they will act like you just smeared shit on their thrift store sweater vest. “He’s so twee and quirky and visionary and” you know what? Fuck you.
Dilla To be clear, I like some of Jay Dee’s stuff. I respect his work and how he carried his career. He was for sure a really talented guy. But these Dilla Stans? The ones with the J Dilla changed EVERYTHING IN THE WHOLE ENTIRE UNIVERSE t-shirts and half-hour diatribes about how Donuts is the greatest thing ever made? They really need to pour themselves a tall glass of Shut The Fuck Up and stop giving the good man a bad name.
Freestyle Fellowship and Living Legends Talented artists. Obnoxious fans. Anybody who has ever encountered a hardcore Fellowship and/or Legends fan knows exactly what I’m talking about. It makes memories of good music turn sour, and who wants that to happen?
Bonus Beat: The Wachowski Brothers This only gets an honorable mention because Wachowski brothers fans are, generally speaking, just Matrix fans. And The Matrix was not deep, OK? It wasn’t. It was the CliffsNotes of your Intro to Philosophy textbook covered in a thin sheen of pseudo-cool. If you try to tell me how profound that turd was, I will regard you as, at best, a jabbering idiot.
All the same, there are some creative people I have more trouble liking than I should simply due to the fact that I find their hardcore fans absolutely insufferable. I might even enjoy their work, but their fans just ruin it for me. To wit:
Rush Yes, they’re talented musicians, the pride of Canada, etc. But have you ever spent, say, 2.5 minutes with a hardcore Rush fan? If so, you’re a stronger person than me--I tap out at around the 90 second mark. Please stop licking Neil Peart’s nuts, people. It’s unseemly.
Lil Wayne Anybody who seriously forwards the notion that Lil Wayne is the greatest rapper or even in the “who’s the greatest rapper?” discussion at all is not to be taken seriously as they clearly own all of about 10 rap albums, half of which will be Beastie Boys albums (no disrespect to the Beasties). Besides, Juvenile's a way better rapper.
Wes Anderson Rushmore was pretty good. The Royal Tenenbaums had its moments but essentially regurgitated Rushmore in longer form. But mention that Wes might just be a tad bit overrated to a hardcore fan, and they will act like you just smeared shit on their thrift store sweater vest. “He’s so twee and quirky and visionary and” you know what? Fuck you.
Dilla To be clear, I like some of Jay Dee’s stuff. I respect his work and how he carried his career. He was for sure a really talented guy. But these Dilla Stans? The ones with the J Dilla changed EVERYTHING IN THE WHOLE ENTIRE UNIVERSE t-shirts and half-hour diatribes about how Donuts is the greatest thing ever made? They really need to pour themselves a tall glass of Shut The Fuck Up and stop giving the good man a bad name.
Freestyle Fellowship and Living Legends Talented artists. Obnoxious fans. Anybody who has ever encountered a hardcore Fellowship and/or Legends fan knows exactly what I’m talking about. It makes memories of good music turn sour, and who wants that to happen?
Bonus Beat: The Wachowski Brothers This only gets an honorable mention because Wachowski brothers fans are, generally speaking, just Matrix fans. And The Matrix was not deep, OK? It wasn’t. It was the CliffsNotes of your Intro to Philosophy textbook covered in a thin sheen of pseudo-cool. If you try to tell me how profound that turd was, I will regard you as, at best, a jabbering idiot.
Labels: Friday Five
posted by DJ Enki at
12:06 PM
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