The question I have to ask: What is useful in describing this as terrorism? If this was an attack issued by IS to coerce United States politics, what’s the aim? What sort of policy is being addressed? Is the attack intended to goad the anti-discrimination communities in the US to support robust military action in…

Trust me, you aren’t better read than me. No one uses the word corny the way the dictionary describes it— and reaching for the dictionary definition of corny tells us something. For instance, using Shakespeare as an example of master literature is corny. Not understanding that corny is the most efficient description…

I don’t think you understand how people use the word corny. Cool dictionary definition argument. No to everything else you wrote.

I’m not arguing that it isn’t art or can’t resonate. Lyrics (and poetry) rarely display great writing. This doesn’t stop people from exaggerating the quality and importance of content and style. I really can’t think of any lyrics from any genre that I would consider truly great writing. Sometimes middling but never…

I suggest expanding your range of the written and spoken word.

Being a vocal “virtuoso” isn’t really all that big of a deal. Cobain and Hendrix kinda blow as well. Just check out youtube for tons of corny kids making constipation faces while singing these awful songs. Why do people look like they are taking a massive dump when they sing this type of stuff?

Her songs are fluff.

Content is terrible. The ideas are corny. Everything is corny.

Totally. Black music is mainstream American culture. It isn’t segmented to exclusively black populations (and to think so is just dangerous essentialism). Trainer is just participating in reproducing what is currently popular on the market. Why people consume it is a different question because it’s horrible.

Beyonce isn’t “artistic.”

I get to make that decision. These blog writers and commenters have failed all of you.

You can talk about subjective things in an objective system. Weird, right? Now stop with that argument.

He’s corny.

This is such a silly argument. If an act is currently mainstream, it is pop. It has sold out. Mainstream audiences really don’t care about innovation. By the time a particular sound finds resonance with the masses, it most likely was developed ten or twenty years prior and found its way to your corny ears through slow…

I don’t.

I come from a planet where this stuff isn’t described as catchy. Rather, it imposes the impression of rough coarse sandpaper being rubbed against sunburned skin.

Dropping G’s is pretty common across the English speaking world. That’s a weird aspect to single out.

The problem here is mistaking success with “talent.” Talent is such an empty word when it comes to discussing art because what most people mean is the spectacle of proficiency (even if it produces mediocre results). Remember photorealistic airbrush paintings of automobile grills reflecting neon diner signs and bikini…

Actually, they do. Then they spend a lot of money to promote it to people with bad taste and make it readily accessible to the idiot masses. This isn’t high art.

“The People” purchase the garbage presented to them and continue to purchase it. The people have a choice and like most aspects of culture, they chose the most accessible garbage available to them. You all are arguing over the taste of garbage from different parts of the dump.