Authenticity from musicians, actors, athletes, etc...

Yeah, it would be great at a Bruce concert if he came out in an Alice Bowie outfit.

 

"My momma talkin` to me tryin` to tell me how to live But I don`t listen to her `cause my head is like a sieve ."

Edited for accuracy.

 

My basketball coach, he done kicked me off the team...

 

For wearin' high heel sneakers and acting like a queen...

 

HC you might be the only one on this board who can hit the high note on "quuueeen".

 

I have to say, I loathe it when people decide an artist is no longer authentic or real enough for them primarily because they get too popular, especially with the wrong kind of people. People here engage in that mentality frequently, I must say. For many of us, part of the desire to feel authentic as a consumer is to seek out something that has some exclusivity because if other people like it too much, it suddenly seems/feels less authentic. Twitter is a great place for this mentality to feed and metastasize, since it's a daily argument about what's cool and what's so five minutes ago.

Honesty in art is like Stewart's definition of porn. Impossible to describe, but you know it when you see it. If you're good enough at evoking the images of poverty from whatever recess of your brain you can access, I care little if your grew up wealthy.

 

I think specificity is the best way to establish honesty. Bruce Springsteen thrived when he was at his most specific.

I know nothing about Ghostface Killah's past (which is true of a lot of rappers because their backgrounds become so hagiographic, but this section of lyrics from

gets me every time:

It's the hyper-specific details and the self-awareness that really make it feel real.

 

I already miss the Cheech and Chong jack.

You just don't get a lot of those these days.

 

Is it that fucking hard to rhyme two lines without using the same word?

 

"There's a fool on every corner, on every street in every one
And I'd rather be your fool nowhere than go somewhere and be no one's"

 

Equally lazy.

 

I agree. The only particularly good rapper who does it a lot is Jay-Z, but he does it mostly when he's getting lazy.