Are We Taking Current Greatness For Granted?
An issue many people bring up about the entertainment industry in the 21st century is with increasing access to the biggest superstars on the planet, the concept that they are larger than life begins to dwindle. While entertainers carry great pride for their talents, the human aspect of celebrities has also become more important in the last 20 years. But with so much content being pushed out by our household favorites, sometimes our appreciation for the great careers we’re witnessing can be lost.
Recently one of music’s most prolific artists ever, Drake performed at the Camp Flog Gnaw music festival in Los Angeles, California. Founded by Tyler the Creator, one of the most flamboyant Hip-Hop stars in recent times, Camp Flog Gnaw attracts a fitting crowd. The crowd being, quirky, flamboyant teenagers who long to feel life’s full range of emotions before their ready. With this crowd, the music taste of Tyler fans tends to stray away from mainstream artists, especially ones as frequently on the top of the charts as Drake. Although the Flog Gnaw lineups have increased in notoriety, as has the festival, frequent annual performers like Earl Sweatshirt, Jaden Smith and the boyband Brockhampton are clear examples of the Tyler Hip-Hop misfit mold. Over the years, these types of artists haven’t just defined the audience of the festival, they’ve formed an energy linked to the festival, that’s more about having fun, being yourself and not caring what people think. Which is different than some of the more prestigious festivals like Gov Ball or another California staple Coachella, which Drake headlined in 2015, bringing out Madonna.
After Tyler teasing that he would bring out some surprise guests that were his “friends,” many fans thought Tyler was referencing Frank Ocean who is one of Tyler the Creator’s oldest and most common collaborators, as well as a close friend. Due to a mix of high hopes, high Frank fandom, and high confusion, when Drake came out on stage as the headliner for the festival, his set was met with a complete lack of energy. This left Drake in a seemingly embarrassing spot, although many would say that no one could satisfy the fans’ thirst for the pièce de résistance to a Camp Flog Gnaw night, an appearance from Indie pop recluse Frank Ocean.
It’s crazy to think about the vast differences between Drake and Frank Ocean regardless of their fanbases. While both of them primarily make songs about past lovers and new soon to be exes. Both artists have defined the new meaning of a superstar. Frank is one of the least prolific recording artists when you look at his time in the game, and the size of his discography. While Drake, on the other hand, is praised for his ability to released albums annually. In that sense, it is surprising that Drake couldn’t garner more hype during his set when he technically is the more relevant and successful artist in terms of recent releases and record sales.
Maybe it’s about the new awareness of suspected “industry plugs”, and “culture vulture” artists, who get frowned upon for copying whatever is popular just to sell records. Or maybe its because Drake is known to have help writing his songs, and the audience members at Camp Flog Gnaw care about authenticity in music. At a certain point, you could even say this is all just a product of Drake’s massive success. The ways of Hip-Hop in the ’80s and ’90s are over, and the adjustment of America's attention to Hip-Hop over the last 20 years has impacted the music we all listen to.
In the new world of music where streaming means anything and everything, Hip-Hop has climbed its way to becoming the most listened to genre in the country. Artists have more access to mainstream audiences than ever and the concept of an artist “selling out” is not as clear as it used to be. Many fans complain that a majority of the current mainstream artists “sound the same” but in a sense that is also due to the way we access the music. With sponsored and curated playlists, many of which containing the same songs, oversaturation of sound is at an all-time high. While some of the biggest Hip-Hop artists like Cardi B and Drake are attacked for being more like “pop stars” than “rap stars” because many fans don’t like how these artists are representing Hip-Hop to the world. In times like this, it’s even more important that we take the time to search for and listen to new and different artists.
In a sense that is what Camp Flog Gnaw is all about, showcasing unique artists, many of the performers being less mainstream, and usually quite young. Tyler the Creator is one of the more vocal artists when it comes to listening to a variety of artists and genres and not only listening to what everybody else is. Tyler admitted that Drake being his special surprise guest may have been ill-advised calling the move “a lil tone-deaf” in a twitter statement on the incident. New fans have to learn how to be able to sift through the crowded music landscape in the 2020s, appreciating artists they enjoy, mainstream or not.
That’s the positive part about the new age of the entertainer. In the age of social media, you can create a connection with an artist deeper than ever before. Like a new show on Netflix, you can binge an artist’s whole catalog in a weekend. Look up performances and funny moments on youtube. Maybe they even have a podcast or a vlog. Chicago MC Noname has a book club website and twitter that fans can engage in. Vince Staples has made full fake gofundme campaigns to get him to “quit rapping” before he announced his “Smile, You’re on Camera” tour. Artists are finding fresh ways to engage with fans, partly because they're geniuses, but sometimes out of survival. Everybody wants and needs to be seen, everybody but Frank Ocean.
With so much content out, we can’t let ourselves just fall into what the algorithms tell us to listen to. Granted Drake is usually one of the suggested artists coming from these algorithms, but going into the 2020s, I hope that fans allow themselves to enjoy all that music has to offer, even if it’s not their dream artist. Superstar or independent artists, no career lasts forever, and it's on both the artist and the fan to take full advantage, while the opportunity is in front of you.
