Also, it seems like the "chav" thing here parallels the ongoing debate (on the other side of the Atlantic) about gangsta rap. Should the fact that one finds the culture repellent have any effect on one's assessment of the music? Does the fact that Isaac Brock may be an asshole mean that Modest Mouse can't be considered on its own merits or lack thereof? Does anyone care?
I mean, let's face it, even though I don't really know what a chav is, I think I have a rudimentary idea, and if Mike Skinner's life is anything like what his music is about, he doesn't exactly sound like the kind of person I'd want to hang out with. At all. Ever. Or even, really, meet. But I still like his music. Fine.
But then I sort of avoid gangsta rap for precisely the reason that I've been implying is invalid for this entire post: I find the idea of it repellent and harmful, something to be eschewed instead of glorified in music. But hell, that's the way some people live, and probably many of them do so because they see no alternative or because they were brought up in that kind of atmosphere, in which case they can either glorify it or be deeply and permanently ashamed of the way they live, and so no wonder they choose the former; the latter is what everyone else thinks they should be doing.
I still don't like it though. So fine: Too many ideological conflicts between me and gangsta rap for me to be able to make an unbiased judgment about it. That's fair to say, right? "I abstain?"
One last parting point: I read an article saying that the two hip-hop artists I like the most, Common and Del Tha Funkee Homosapien, are both from middle-class backgrounds, like me.
Coincidence? I bet not.
