I listened to a well-known ‘hip-hop’ person recently proclaim himself to be the greatest artist that ever lived. Since this was such an utterly ridiculous statement it stuck in my head. That he could even remotely compare his binary tempos and coarse use of language to the aesthetic sensibilities that existed in famous works of opera or jazz (for example) was baffling to me.
Assuming his comment to be sincere, I think it can only be because he exists at the paramount of a culture that has not only mistaken money and fame for talent and success, but has debased its mental capacity to a grade school level. It is also a culture, post-modern, that no longer aspires for anything truly pure and intrinsically beautiful. It glorifies filth, quite literally. I am sorry if this seems harsh.
I may do some posts in the coming days that I believe to be exceptional representations of man’s attempt to transcend the human condition, not wallow in it. If you wonder what I am up to now, this is it.
3:04 – Pavarotti singing “Nessun dorma” – From Puccini’s opera Turandot
originally posted to Spacebook on 16 March 2020