Rag & Bone

I happened to be shuffling through some backfiles of news articles on hip-hip and rap this morning trying to make sense of the fear I have over what Madonna’s new LP means for that genre and the industry. (There’s a whole post in the works about this topic for later, but here’s an example from fan forums: “Woop! Tres excitement! Though I’m also apprehensive about her going all supposedly ‘hip hop’ & using the ubiquitous Timbaland as producer (seriously can Timbaland just go on holiday for a year or 2?! …every song nowadays is done by him or has him in the background or something)…Still, any Madonna album is a good thing to look forward to!” That flavor of statement reminds me (not just of Kanye West–also a whole separate post…) of the timbre of argument that’s usually a harbinger of assimilation; a form of assimilation distinct from synthesis (sonic, in this case) because someone like Madonna forecloses musical dialog by subsuming/co-opting/reclaiming a history and allowing it to be heard only through the filter of her music. This is not the first time Madonna’s done this; in fact, there’s plenty of literature indicating this trend is formulaic in her music).

Sheesh. Regardless, ISO50 made me laugh, since he posted these cool faux-7″ sleeve mashes (check out other artwork by Nikolay Saveliev) to make them look like the covers of academic articles:

I killed some time at my office scrolling through Scott’s ISO50 blog and also found this cool vintage Playboy shot, which reminded me of the razzy Barkley video earlier.

Vogue

Inductions into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame are tonight and the ‘Class of 2008‘ include  The Dave Clark Five, The Ventures, John Mellencamp, Leonard Cohen, and, for some reason, Madonna.  Sexed-up celebrity, yes, pop-culture phenomenon, yes, famous rock and roller?  Fuck no…

Aside from the obvious curiosity of the Hall of Fame inducting a singer-only that plays no instrument, I’ll level with you all: Madonna has altered the landscape of popular music, and especially what people come to expect when they consume it.  BUT, without her music videos, without her mixing masters and producers who infuse her voice with music to bring it alive, she would have a hard time bringing subversive change to world music.  Has anyone ever read her lyrics?  There’s not much more emotional charge there beyond what a fifth grade poem might inspire.  That’s not a criticism of her music, however; The Madge has been able to musically braid artists like Bowie, Donna Summer, and little femme Mapplethorpe into an incredible cache of rich sound that energizes the listener repeatedly without fatigue.  Thats sweet, but it ain’t no rock and roll!  MTV made her, and they can continue to award her, but don’t throw her in with Dylan, Joni Mitchell, or Aretha Franklin–they’ll do laps around her for sure.

John Soeder of The Plain Dealer writes up the nomination bill, and poignantly articulates the symbolism of Madonna:

As for Madonna, her greatest creation remains Madonna herself. As she puts it in “The Confessions Tour” DVD: “I am the art.”

Despite the pop bent of her music, Madonna belongs in the Rock Hall, says Stein, president emeritus of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation’s board of directors.

Madonna has “a true rock ‘n’ roll spirit,” Stein says.

“She takes chances. She doesn’t care about the odds. She cares about whether she believes in something or not.

Whatever.  The fact that the Dealer chose to describe her induction by collaging the evolution of her fashion (as opposed to, say, her album work) probably speaks to my point better.