I can dig that, and if you scale it back to not paint everyone who dislikes his shyt with a broad brush, then cool. I find most people to be close-minded, rap, rock, classical and otherwise. A lot of people have their tastes determined for them and don't ever figure it out and step outside of themselves to expand those tastes and make truly unique personal choices. That spans genres and groups and regions, no doubt.
*Dapped*
No, everything is not except in the most abstract way which is really irrelevant to how things work in our society. A green piece of paper printed by the government is less valuable to me than countless things, but if I go to the supermarket with my Duke Ellington cufflinks or my picture of me chilling with Rakim and try to get groceries the cashier will not entertain my argument about how subjective value is. High School and College have similar curriculum across the board - part of that is an attempt at cultural unification, another part of that is a general consensus of what materials are worthwhile. Just because someone comes to believe the book "Everyone Poops" should be in the canon doesn't mean he is just as right as the person who champions The Great Gatsby or Another Country. There are elements that most sensible people can agree - within the realm of societal values - exist in a great book or movie. I can't just type jfgbutbutbntbnt and say "my opinion is that I've typed something on par with James Baldwin's finest work." That's an extreme example, but my point is we evolve in terms of cultural understanding that there are principles that are no longer abstract and up for debate. There's a lot of subjectivity within widely accepted framework, but there's usually at least a basic framework we've accepted.
True, there is basic frameworks that are widely accepted across the board..but I still disagree. I don't believe in whites and blacks..the world and everything in it is just one big gray area to me. There's always outliers and exceptions to the commonly accepted ideals and norms..
Personally I think it's difficult to say something is THIS or something is THAT, or that's GOOD or that's BAD, because perception varies. True, perceptions may be generally similar regarding certain topics..but that doesn't eliminate the exceptions. You seem intelligent enough to understand my point though, and I definitely understand yours, so let's just agree to disagree on this part.
I'll grant that my view of criticism an be debated endlessly. But I stand firmly on that. Critics have been telling me utterly stupid things about music my entire life - especially when it comes to rap. There's too often a huge disconnect between the critics and the people and places the music comes from. That's never a good formula.
I wouldn't have even said anything to you if not for the qualifiers you spelled out. You can like whatever you like, but I won't invalidate your sophistication for it, or your open-mindedness. That's all. We cool.
I understand where you're coming from about critical review too..that's a very good point, mentioning that music is entirely relevant to the time, culture, and what not in which it's created in. Probably why I have trouble listening to rap from the 80's, yet older hip hop heads refer to that as the golden era. I was just trying to elucidate that Aesop Rock isn't regarded 100% negatively. lol I understand wholeheartedly why most rap fans wouldn't like him though..he's a fukking oddball, with a really abrasive style. I'm a fan of abstract poetry and music though..so i guess it's just sorta different for me. But yeahh, we cool doe bruh bruh.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kmI2UdHdlQ]El-P "Tougher Colder Killer" [ft. Killer Mike and Despot] - YouTube[/ame]