Back when we were just writing swear words on our parent?s walls in crayon, MTV did provide us with some light musical relief. Alongside the mundane pop dross, there were some gems to be found. The programme most likely to fill you with a mix of Scandanavian indie and wobbly acid grooves was 120 Minutes. Only problem was that it was broadcast in the early hours of Sunday morning.
So for the insomniacs, 120 Minutes was a mix of uncommercial sounds and experimental videos that wouldn't have been broadcast during the day. Just look at certain Sqaurepusher and Mogwai promos.
In an age where music is being broadcast to a wider audience via the internet, you'd expect MTV to do the same. But no, they instead decided to shun the show for moronic programming which, over time, has diluted the channel to such an extent that hardly any music videos are played. But this hasn't stopped the network from holding its annual VMA ceremony.
As per any award ceremony like, you can usually predict the nominees without any genuine surprise. The only real music award with any degree of honour attached to it was The Mercury Music awards as they vaguely attempt to hunt out a deserving winner as opposed to a commercial selling achiever. But with a list comprising of previous winners and nominees with the usual outsiders who stand no chance due to their obscurity in the public domain (sorry Ghost Poet), we're not inspired. British electronic music has made a resurgence over the last year, but it has been sadly overlooked, apart from Katy B. But she attended the Brit school, so her nomination is of no surprise.
The nominees are all artists who currently have records out or have released something within in the last few months. Similar names keep on cropping up that include; stage invading Kanye West, pyrotechnic tits Lady Gaga, worst excuse for a rock band ever ? Mumford & Sons and painfully annoying Katy Perry.
But whilst we sound like pensioners with our hearing aids set to ‘complain’, not being able to understand what the yoof of today listen to, the hecklerspray bedsit does have an unsavoury love for Nicki Minaj. It might be our na?ve thinking, but here in Blighty, she doesn't appear to have such a massive following like in Uncle Sam?s burger munching US of A.
She is one of the new wave of female rappers that's taken the baton from musicians like Lil Kim and generally made hip-hop/rap fun, accessible and engaging. Observe:
It remains to be seen if Minaj will walk away with a trophy that's wrapped in tinfoil. If the VMAs continue to be based on popularity rather than quality, then you\’ll end up seeing bucktoothed hip-hop chipmunk Chris Brown walk away with some gongs.
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