How is it possible that Burroughs and Banks meet up as one for me?
Burroughs an old white man born in 1914 and died in , I believe, 1996 or 1997 --- Burroughs who never even pr0bably used a proper computer,..
---- how is it possible that I -- see a link between Burroughs and Banks? or even Hunter Thompson and Banks?
Azealia Banks herself would, I can't say for sure, but she would perhaps find the information bewildering. Many of her fans undoubtedly would. After all, they would say, aren't all those dudes I mentioned, like, you know, old crusty and now rather long dead white dudes? And weren't they all rich t00??
How is it possible that they could connect to Banks?
Even when we know, or assume, full well, that someone like Burroughs himself would have never listened to Banks if he were still around today, at uh... 104 years old or something --- how is it possible? How come I connect these cultural figures who seem so far apart from one another? How is it possible, in fact, that it was Burroughs himself who basically (as a gh0st of course) took me by the hand and told me that, if I wanted to, it was 0kay... 0kay to listen to Azealia in peace -- without shame--without regret---without embarassment?
Here is why: Because, if you follow Williams car33r, the fact that is going to stand out most to you - or at least the fact that should stand out most -- is that, while William looked , on the surface, to be very traditional, and old fashioned (3 piece Savile Row suits all day l0ng) the truth about him was that, with each successive and new generation, William pretty much .... well, opened his door and let it all in. This is, in fact, the most integral and important fact about William Burroughs as an artist, in comparison to so many other artists we have had here in the US ,even still today: Instead of rejecting each new generation of culture like so many artists do, William seems, to me, to have embraced each decade of innovation during his life not necessarily whole -- but definitely a great deal.
Burroughs was born in 1914. That means that, in 1950, he was already 36 years old. This fact about his being 36 in 1950 perhaps would not be at all interesting -- except for when you realize that Burroughs was intimately tied to the youth culture of not just the 1950's (where he was already rather old) but also every successive generation afterwards, as well, pretty much straight up until his death, at 80 something years old, in the late 1990's. Burroughs was a founder of the Beatnik generation, shook hands with the hippies, rode the rails of London and New York City with the first (and maybe even last) punks, and then even hung out with Kurt C0bain in the 1990s, not long before Cobain took ended it all.
David Bowie was friends with William. Patti Smith. Led Zeppelin. The Rolling Stones. Keith Richards discusses him at some length in Life. There is, in fact, even a picture of him somewhere in New Y0rk City, getting a joint passed to him, with a young not yet famous Madonna Louise Ciccone sitting next to him. Madonna Ciccone, of course, who would, just a few years later, then go on to become the new big thing for the youth culture of the 1980s.. She is now someone currently fighting to remain relevant, at a mere 50 something years of age, with modern youths herself.
Again, from a modern perspective, none of this might seem like its that big of a deal, because all of these figures are so crusty and 0ld to many a modern perspective--- (especially the Azealia Banks fan perspective)---- but one needs to take a step back and realize, again, that we are talking about an old white dude who was born in 19 fucking 14 here.
From many modern viewpoints, William not only had no business being involved with the youth culture of the sixties, but he also had no business even being involved, at 36 years old, with the youth culture of the 1950s! And yet we see that he was intimately involved with all of them, in the most curious and influential of ways. Intimately involved with them and inspired by them in a way that it seems basically no other artist in his time period was. Like, no, it is true, William is not perfect and he still has flaws---but there's still the fact that he was tied to these youth cultures long past the day when most others would have said "you are no longer allowed to be tied".......
So , now, how exactly does this tie in with why I dig Azealia? I, as a white dude who is almost 29 years old right now in 2017 and thus actually Azealias senior by a few years? Well I think it should be obvious by now don't you????
I am just taking a page from the book of Burroughs here, and attempting to tie myself to what is now the new youth culture that most of my peers tell me I ought to be "completely done with", even when I am not yet fucking 30! In fact, since beginning to 'study' William and his life in 2014 or so, I have started to see, more and more, just how pathetic most of my childhood friends truly have become, in terms of what they will or will not allow themselves to 'intake', in terms of pop culture or culture in general. This has perhaps especially become the case since the new Commander in Chief won the election.
Honestly, for the most part, it's as though every single one of them hit the age 24 or so and , ever since, they have now utterly shut down when it comes to introducing anything even remotely new to their lives. They will not hear new rappers, new rockers, they will not read new books, they will not bother with new games, none of it. They will literally take in nothing new, aside from films or TV shows I suppose -- but those almost do not even count, because in truth, the majority of films and TV shows they watch are - what else -- set in the past! Therefore they are mostly just taking a big deep nostalgia trip when they watch those. Someone who sits down to watch the recent "new" Johnny Depp film like Black Mass for instance - they are just taking in the 1970s when they watch it. The film is new; but the ideas inside of it are not. This is very important, I think, because you get the illusion that you are intaking something new, even though you really are not. At all.
And though I don't want to take all credit away from my self - ha ha ha -- I just am not sure I would have been able to really see how absurd all of this is if I had not of analyzed the spectre that is the Burroughs legend. For some reason examining it popped my eyes open to all of this..
Again I cannot stress enough: With my old high school friends, it's almost as though, for them, pop culture is a sort of "country" they live in, and they choose - or feel -- that there are now borders which have been built that they cannot cross. An artist like Azealia Banks, since she only got her start after 2010 or so, is thus considered absolutely OFF LIMITS. Like, maybe you can watch one of her videos or something (if even that) -- but as far as calling her your favorite? Or taking serious inspiration from her? Searching her out and trying to see what shes up to and her new releases et cetera? This is all, quite literally, not allowed. We are supposed to veer away from it. It's all "too new". It's for the new kids, and they are to be harassed and persecuted and insulted, apparently, for digging her as much as they do....
What I think I find so fascinating about this blatant and, quite frankly, rude, rejection of new culture, is that , though these people all gleefully reject all this new "culture", the last thing it seems that they want to reject is new technology. In fact, many of my old friends seem so unusually obsessed with taking in new technology and what goes along with it that they will actually pay enormous sums of money and break the bank, in order to get their hands on it, the very moment it is released. They absolutely cannot stand to be seen driving an old car, using an old phone, or watching an old television -- but when it comes to listening to old music in that car, or watching old movies on that television -- or movies set in old times -- well, what the hell is the problem? No shame at all. If anything, they seem to be convinced that that is precisely what they are supposed to be doing.....
I would also gladly drive a $600 Ford from 1988 if I had to...because, again, it is cheap! When it comes to my video games, even, it's also pretty much the same: I tend to like to play a lot of old ones , when I do play, just because those old ones now run so,so smoothly on my new - but not ultra expensive - computer. Games that were a pain to run in 2004 on brand new ultra "epic" $2000 computers, are now as easy as pie to run on last years bargain priced laptops from Best Buy. I thus am more inclined to play them.It saves me boat loads of money.
When it comes to art however, and artists, I really just don't get it. I can't understand the opposition. I can't understand the bias, the prejudice, the absolute downright refusal to take the new stuff in. I don't understand it because .. well, what the hell... new art does not cost anything more than old art to listen to or take in, does it? No, of course it doesn't! In fact, art is probably one of the only things in the world that you can basically count on to always be around the same price, depending what sort of art you are talking about. Ticket prices are , more or less, always around the same price, no matter if the artist is new or old. So, whats the problem? Why do all these people insist that there is a border between them and all the new culture? Is it really just because, like so many people say, they "feel' more connected to the old stuff they have memories with -- or is it perhaps just because, you know, they are small minded assholes? Personally, as my reader might be able to guess if they're still with me, I think it's the latter. I think that most people really are just blatant assholes when it comes to this.
(((((((((end))))))))))))))
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