Crunk-a-licious

The inaugural Australian Urban Music Awards were held last week in Sydney. When I first heard that such an award ceremony was taking place I was a little taken aback. Urban Music awards? In Australia? I thought we were so raawk and rawlll and Kylie Minogue and all that. Maybe not anymore..

Everywhere I go, I see Sean John and 50 Cent t-shirts, baggy Ecko jeans and Nike Dunk sneakers on people who used to wear Rip Curl, Billabong and metal t-shirts. Whats happening? Sure iv'e been subjected to attempted brainwashing into thinking that 'Aussie Friggin Hip-Hop' and 'RnB superclubs' are the best thing to hit the Australian music scene ever, but really, was Urban music really so important in this country to earn its own televised awards night? Aparantly so. Even rational human beings who I thought would not be influenced by the force-fed permeation of the foreign Urban culture into our own have been spitting lines like 'The Herd's new album is fucking phat !' and 'Aw man check out the new track from Nelly, its wickid yo!.'

There is no simple answer, but I think I know what it could be. Silly little sexually liberated teen slags who love to shake their groove thing on the dancefloor, coupled with testosterone fuelled he-men whos ill-fitting clothes resemble something attacked by Issac Newtons and his calculations on the theory of gravity. All of a sudden they are from the 'hood (Castle Hill and Mosman aren't what you would call 'the Ghetto'), drive 'tricked out' whips (i.e. old beat-up VL Commodores) and wear 'pimpin' sneakers (K-Swiss) .

Poor examples of Urban music have turned previously intelligent and discerning young people into mindless drones; slaves to whatever junk the iced-up 'gangstas' (lol) are spitting at them. When you are at a party or wherever you meet people these days (I dont know i'm a blogger, bloggers don't have lives) and you meet a young lass, do not talk about music to her. Chances are, when you quiz your potential bed-post notch on their favourite genre of music (assuming they understand what the word 'genre' means) 90% of the time you will get the answer 'RnB' followed by a spontaneous 'The new Chris Brown song is soooo hot, just like him hehehe'. (A further 8% will enthusastically yell 'The Used!' and proceed to cut themselves).

I have nothing against good quality Urban music. In fact, some Urban artists I rate amongst my favourites (Spank Rock and Kanye West for example). However I am concerned that pop music, which in truth in many cases is quite good (thats for another rant), is being pushed aside as the style of music preferred by teens and pre-teens for music that promotes horrible attempts at dancing, a psudeo-gangster lifestyle and terrible song titles like 'Stick Wit U' and 'Dirrrty'. Even more concerning, is people trying to identify with subject matter and a culture that is definetly not theirs, and in truth, makes them look silly. Leave Urban culture to the pro's.

I guess Urban culture is as Aussie now as VB, Aussie Rules and Cold Chisel, and I just have to deal with it. Check it , yo!


2006 Urban Music Awards Winners

Best Male: Guy Sebastian
Best Female: Jade McRae
Best International Act: Kanye West
Best New Talent: Figgkidd
Best Hip-Hop Group: Hilltop Hoods