MTV VMAs 2013
 

I decided to watch it this year, mostly as an observation on pop culture in America these days... I hardly ever paid attention to pop music in general, and definitely fell off the map after leaving Canada in 2006

So it was pretty interesting to see where things have gone, and where they are going.. all the stars, styles, etc.

What I do recall is that every year someone tries to 'steal the show' with some sort of controversy... Madonna probably has a couple, and Rage Against the Machine is a memorable one for me. Obviously this year's goofball was Miley Cyrus.. Although I have never heard her music before, I am aware of the context (becoming a star as a child, brought in by her dad, etc) so it was still interesting to see (and a bit creepy to say the least)

Also I learned that there is a new white rapper star, Macklemore... Never heard of him until now, but obviously he's a big star. I expected the absolute worst, but when he performed I was blown away by the positivity behind his music... I did NOT expect that. And now I hear Eminem is coming back, which is an interesting juxtaposition.. one white rapper promoting positivity and acceptance, the other gained his fame with misogyny and dark lyrics.

Overall the most interesting observation I made, after reading a lot about US history lately is how much black culture basically owns pop music... Unless you're listening to nothing but country, you are basically listening and watching black culture. Whether it's maclemore or justin timberlake or that goofball who won the "best new artist" award... Of course this goes all the way back to the 'invention' of rock n roll music (which is basically another way of saying Rhythm n blues performed by white people) but it's still pretty interesting to me today at least. Even european music is heavily influenced, but that's not quite so apparent in this show.

Anyway there's my brain spill, if anyone has anything to add I'd like to see!

The Justin Timberlake performance was awesome.

Oh yeah, and Justin Timberlake is a superstar

And Gordon Joseph Levit is a tool

It's pretty crazy to think Macklemore is doing all of this being a independent artist. For all this rap talking about money, weed and molly it's great to see someone with such a positive message.

they didn't overplay Thrift Shop in HK?

Macklemore is great...he has a good balance between serious topics and the lighthearted fun stuff. I dont like comparing Eminem just because he's another white rapper but his dissing music to stir controversy got overused.

Macklemore was at the Free the Children We Day events...help break the stigma for modern rappers I guess