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October 21, 2005
The Chronic Curmudgeon Pop Culture Top 50: #15-#14
And here we go into the home stretch, kids. 35 pop culture touchstones down... 15 to go.
15. The emergence of Britney Spears and the pop tart girls - 1998 - present Before you start howling, let me make one thing clear: I am not placing this woman's muscial "contributions" anywhere near this list. I realize that there was as much musical talent displayed during the four year run of the Gong Show. And let's establish something else: despite my admitted appreciation for Ms. Spears', uh, charms, I'm not putting her on this list because of her considerable assets (although I'll fully admit that I'm looking ever so forward to the "I'm still hot even after my baby and divorcing that leech ex-husband of mine, I want to jump start my career again and my sex appeal is all I've ever really had, so..." Playboy pictorial that will inevitably accompany her next album.)
No, I am putting Britney (and others like her) on this list because of the larger social implications of their rise. Britney, Christina Aguilera, Jessica Simpson, even Avril Lavigne... all these girls made it big as teenagers. And all of them used their sexuality as a large part of their personal brand. (Simpson coyly proclaimed her virginity, true... but don't think for a second that it was to set an example; her perverted father knew that such a revelation would work the dirty old man crowd, and don't you believe otherwise. As for Lavinge's staunch protestations that she's a musician, not a pop tart... yeah, right. She doesn't ever use her sexuality. Not at all.) Suddenly, it seemed culturally acceptable for 16 year old girls to be flaunting their sexuality not at 16 year old boys (which they've been doing forever), but toward those boys' fathers; suddenly, America was a nation of Humbert Humberts, staring lecherously at oh-so-willing Lolitas. Beyond the disposable music, beyond the belly-baring, hip-bone exposing (insert sound of Homer Simpson-esque drooling here) fashion styles... there was a larger shift, one I doubt was healthy but which must nonetheless be acknowledged: the social construct shifted with these girls' emergence, somehow making it "okay" for thirty and fortysomethings to be digging on teenage girls. (Right, Madonna?) No matter how much one may be uncomfortable with that, it's hard not to acknowledge the pop culture impact of such a shift.
14. Straight Outta Compton, by N.W.A. - 1989 True, it wasn't the first gangsta rap album (thank you, Ice T and Schooly D). But it was the first gangsta rap album that was wildly successful both in the hood and in the affluent suburbs. And it was this album that truly spawned the "gangsta rap" explosion. Musically and socially, that's an undeniable impact on pop culture.
Musically, the album broke ground with undeniably angry lyrics combined with accessible beats from Dre and MC Ren. Public Enemy had been angry before N.W.A., but on a larger, more societal level. Rap had been more accessible (and "acceptable") in the suburbs since Run DMC had teamed with Aerosmith in 1986. But it was this album that lit the match for rap going suburban by combining the two and providing kids with another avenue of "rebellion." And despite the fact that N.W.A. disbanded after just two albums, their musical influence is undeniable. Dr. Dre and Ice Cube remain infuential to this day; Bone-Thugs-N-Harmony tied the Beatles for the fastest rising chart song to that point with their 1995 tribute to their mentor Eazy E; Eminem was produced by and collaborated with Dr. Dre; Snoop Dogg also was a Dre protege. And not to dismiss the influences of Tupac Shakur or Biggie Smalls, but without N.W.A. there'd probably not be the rap scene there is today without N.W.A.
Socially, the impact of gangsta is also hard to deny.First of all, there was a message in the music that went unheeded by the mainstream; anyone who'd listened to the album or wondered why it seemed to strike such a chord among its community should not have been surprised at the 1992 L.A. riots; the rising anger that would boil over in the Rodney King aftermath was on full display on "Straight Outta Compton." Meanwhile, not only did gangsta set the musical tone for much of the last fifteen years, it's helped set style for more than a decade now. The slang, iconic images, and anti-authoritarianism of gang life have been adopted by white kids in the suburbs trying to emulate what they think is inner city culture. On the positive side, the impact has been increased diversity and open mindedness (in the sense that white kids have adopted black role models, anyway); on the negative, perceptions of black culture (especially by white suburbanites who'd really be in no position whatsoever to understand or pass judgement on it) have been skewed and distorted by it. (Think of the impact it might have on the perception of "white people" if the only portrayals we ever saw on television or movies, or heard in music, were the trailer park denizen-styled things like "Cops.")
Still, for both good and bad, "gangsta" culture has been one of the primary pop culture influences of the last 15 years, and it began in popular consciousness with "Straight Outta Compton."
Coming up, #13-11. (I told you this would be scattershot.)
Comments
Speaking of being a dirty old man, have you seen that video by the Veronicas?
Posted by: Pete at October 21, 2005 10:39 AM
NWA was undeniable. Most of those guys hate each other now, but almost all of them went on to become an icon in the industry. It was Dre that discovered Eminem, and later Fittycent. Ice Cube is a movie star now.
The only other album from the era that had about as much impact would be
"As Nasty As They Wanna Be" from Two Live Crew.
These two groups caused a splash and ripple effect that shaped the way music was both made, and perceived. It also defined interpretations to the constitution.
Posted by: Cuzin Jose at October 21, 2005 05:30 PM
