So what is mainstream anyway?

I stray away from mainstream not out of trend or rebellion -but because other side of the tracks have always been my human nature, culture, lifestyle. perhaps it's being raised in Europe, summer vacations in Italy, Greece and Zambia. What is mainstream for you? Or maybe it is because my father from louisiana is a professional guitarist or maybe it's because my mother from Oklahoma is a professional singer. Or maybe it's piano lessons for several years, and self taught bass lines. Maybe it's because i speak different languages. Could it be that i am just a pisces trying to take the sidestream going upstream where all the fresh water is? Respect culture and believe in lifestyle. be part of the conversation. stay in the movement. u---n---i verse.

Tags: culture, lifestyle, mainstream, movement, music, rebellion

0 members like this

Comment

You need to be a member of AFROPUNK to add comments!

Join AFROPUNK

Comment by blaqvenus on June 30, 2008 at 4:07pm: THANKS SO MUCH FOR ALL OF YOUR COMMENTS. IT HAS BEEN VERY INTERESTING LEARNING ABOUT YOUR THOUGHTS ON THIS TOPIC. I ENJOY READING ABOUT PERCEPTIONS OTHER THAN MY OWN. - ONE LOVE

Comment by Compound Egret on June 28, 2008 at 11:39pm: "Mainstream" is an easy target and an ugly stump to stand on while proclaiming how cool we are, but we all enjoy some aspects of mainstream culture. Everyone likes clean utensils, a hot shower, and driving on the accepted side of the road.

Comment by Matrix on June 28, 2008 at 12:42pm: Mainstream is whatever the advertisers and casting agencies in Burbank and NYC, the greenlighters and gatekeepers of NBC, CBS, ABC and MTV, and the high fashion design industry (and the inevitable Wal-Mart / Target / Macy's knockoffs that trickle down to the middle class consumer) decide to propagate as mainstream, based largely on the market research opinions of the 18-34 year old white male middle class suburban and the 25-45 year old white female middle class suburban demographics. Duh. (I wish I could add a smilie to imply my lightly ironic tone. Mods, we need emoticons!)

Anyhoo, the more I peep the science behind the making of "mainstream," the easier it becomes to take it all with a grain of salt, although the pervasiveness of its sameness CAN be nauseating. A million slight variations of the same perfectly airbrushed thin white woman's face . A million slight variations of the same white-knight-saves-the-day blockbuster film. A million slight variations of the same cringeworthy rap video filled with misogyny and buffoonery.

Despite that, all is not lost in the world of mainstream. I LOVE the fact that Radiohead, Gnarls Barkley and Outkast are mainstream. It shows me that true artistry can never be completely shut out of the mainstream.

Comment by Rosenda on June 28, 2008 at 12:32pm: Mainstream is boring. To me it always has been. Be it films, music, literature, arts.

Mainstream to me means the middle of the road crap that the entertainment industry promotes because it's easy to produce and the the people who put it out are pretty interchangeable because it is a product to make money and not something truly creative from the heart and soul.

Mainstream is predictable and copied over and over. Mainstream is for people who don't think first and don't feel first, for folks who follow blindly like sheep. Sheep are cute but they are boring.

That's about it. No, BlaqVenus I have never been one to seek out difference just for trends. Actually, trendiness usually runs after the mainstream,the popular, the promoted, the advertised by corporate funding.

Rebellion ain't got nothing to do with it. I just don't like what's boring. This life I live is all about enjoying myself, my ears, my mind, my body, my heart, my soul. Whatever moves that and inspires that and makes me happy and makes me want to dance and makes me want to sing and makes me want to think and makes me want to do, that's what I am all about.

Mainstream is just a road to follow. I think some folks like being lulled to sleep by stuff that does not require any thought or effort or real emotion or involves your mind.

Think about it.

Comment by Nadia C on June 28, 2008 at 9:06am: Mainstream is just another word for limitations to me. Personally it's always meant that I am expected to believe the world of music(And lifestyles) revolves around rock, hip hop/rap, rnb, pop, and country, and that there are racial/gender connotations of each of those genres and that i'm not "suppose" to listen to this or that genre because of my race or gender.

Mainstream is closed-mindedness, for the most part. It's soemthing I actively fight against because I never want the entirety of my life to be acted in accordance of those limitations. Naturally, all of the things I am and like lie directly outside of the scope of those limitations. So I'm not going to force myself to live/like whatever's mainstream if I don't.

Comment by WAYNESKI on June 28, 2008 at 2:36am: Main steam deals with what’s popular at that time, trends and such. It kind of sucks cause because you can discover a trend (music/fashion/ect) that only few know about…..and before you know it every ones is on it!