Day 193,
Feel like I "saw through the matrix" earlier today.
Watched this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxBSyx85...=UsherVEVO
It's a music video of Usher. What stood out is that it came out 19 years ago, and yet a lot of the cultural signifiers for 'coolness' are downright awkward.
In fact, a lot of the things that are supposed to be impressive are merely okay (Lil' Jon: "O-KAYYY!!").
Usher's voice doesn't sit that great in the mix, so it sounds a bit anemic or whiny. At times it's pitchy.
His dance moves are technically difficult but doesn't hit me with much emotion if I look at it critically.
He has a jean jacket with etched-in dragons (... dragons?) and a silly bucket hat.
A lot of the acting seems rehearsed and forced.
In fact, if you really look, would Usher really be all that much of a sex symbol if we grafted him then and plopped him in today? Skinny and pencil-necked.
There are moments when you can tell that Ludacris feels awkward doing certain moves.
I would feel downright silly if I did a chant like Lil' John, but people follow his calls and enjoy it.
But if you "squint" (listen and watch uncritically), you get an enjoyable product. You're not really supposed to pick this thing apart.
And despite all of these pedantic critiques, Usher and Ludacris are huge stars and people love much of what they do.
A lot of imperfections, but that makes it human. Behind the gloss, it is humans doing human stuff on recording devices for other humans.
Funny enough, listening to it a second time, I'm back to being struck by the valence, by its affective punch. So I figured that I would write this down while I had the insight.
Feel like I "saw through the matrix" earlier today.
Watched this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxBSyx85...=UsherVEVO
It's a music video of Usher. What stood out is that it came out 19 years ago, and yet a lot of the cultural signifiers for 'coolness' are downright awkward.
In fact, a lot of the things that are supposed to be impressive are merely okay (Lil' Jon: "O-KAYYY!!").
Usher's voice doesn't sit that great in the mix, so it sounds a bit anemic or whiny. At times it's pitchy.
His dance moves are technically difficult but doesn't hit me with much emotion if I look at it critically.
He has a jean jacket with etched-in dragons (... dragons?) and a silly bucket hat.
A lot of the acting seems rehearsed and forced.
In fact, if you really look, would Usher really be all that much of a sex symbol if we grafted him then and plopped him in today? Skinny and pencil-necked.
There are moments when you can tell that Ludacris feels awkward doing certain moves.
I would feel downright silly if I did a chant like Lil' John, but people follow his calls and enjoy it.
But if you "squint" (listen and watch uncritically), you get an enjoyable product. You're not really supposed to pick this thing apart.
And despite all of these pedantic critiques, Usher and Ludacris are huge stars and people love much of what they do.
A lot of imperfections, but that makes it human. Behind the gloss, it is humans doing human stuff on recording devices for other humans.
Funny enough, listening to it a second time, I'm back to being struck by the valence, by its affective punch. So I figured that I would write this down while I had the insight.
UMS v2 Journal (current) || Overcoming Fear 5.75G Journal
