The Phenomenology of Sell-out
When do we spot the peak and pinpoint the start of the decline in the career of any respected band or artist? Foreign or local.
The waning intensity. Some attribute it to ego clashes. Or sometimes the lyrics got lousy and too concerned of the "lifestyle". Yet even some blame it on such puny issues like fashion, looks, and the puniest of them all: RECORD SALES.
Which brings us to another question at the opposite end of the spectrum: SO WHAT IF A RECORD SELLS BIG TIME? Does it remove all musical merit, then? To be honest, I did truly enjoy What’s the Story (Morning Glory) and Nevermind. Circus, the Black album, hell even Jacko’s Dangerous!
And yet, I listen to bands like foodshelter&clothing, mindrape, or even Jai B (himself climbing fast in the Download.com charts) who’ve all been making music for at least a decade with none of the above symptoms, lest of all any sort of monetary expectation arising from the creation of such music. The music is steady, in the truest sense of the word <wink>.
And that the phenomenology of sell-out can, in reality, be construed as nothing but the by-product of a system that, in the first place, rewarded rich monetary gains to hitmakers (who may otherwise be respectable artists) thereby altering their lifestyles, their perceptions of the world, and ultimately the music that they will be making. So you dig why P. Diddy would be totally fake if he started rapping about foodstamps.
Now suddenly we realize: IN ORDER TO PREVENT A SELL-OUT, DON’T SELL.
AT ALL.
To be concluded…
