I've recently given considerable thought to the issue of music. It's easy to say you are disgusted by one form of music over another, one artist, and I use that term lightly, over another. But why? What is the inherent waste of some forms of music.

Music and artists are born from culture. If Beethoven were raised in the Outback of Australia, his music would have different sounds, subjects, instruments, form...those things which make the compositions, the man and his work.

Rap, to name one example, is the product of an inherently flawed culture. When one is raised in a ghetto, they either succumb to the pressures of violence and drugs, hurling their race and "culture" into a deeper spiraling nightmare for the next generation, or they rise out of it through hard work and escape, or they create music as an expression of that experience, hoping to not only be a ticket to freedom, but a cathartic release from their upbringing. We see this in the beginning of "gangsta" rap music in the 90's: NWA, Ice Cube, Ice-T, Public Enemy. While not a fan of the music, I respect them for vocalizing the experience and opening a door to the average American’s dim view of the world.

However, as the years have passed and rappers release more work, the music reveals itself for its inherent flaws. Stories of survival in the dim landscape of terror turn into "getting money from your bitches and takin' care of snitches." A song about the struggle for a young man to avoid the towering temptation of drugs and violence so he can make enough money to feed his baby, turns into an anthem for getting his 22's and poppin his ride. The music reveals the inherent degenerative culture that creates it: an empty expression of poverty and waste. No matter how well it is hidden initially, it blossoms within time. I sound like Krishnamurti at this moment: we always in one form or the other, return to the foundation of that culture and race. Singing about breaking the chains of real and imagined slavery will eventually lead one back to that world and continue the cycle.

Since we return full circle to the culture that creates us, and that culture in question is flawed by its violence and condemnation of intelligence, the music that is born from it, although their voices call for change, men and women will return to the chains and sing of the joy of getting paid and gettin' laid.

Wagner, Chopin, Beethoven...brilliant men born from outstanding cultures. Their music, rebellious in some elements, will last until the last human walks this earth solely because they were born, raised and composed in landscapes that fostered the creation of great art, lasting art, that which stands the test of time.

Kurtz of FRAUSUN.