Manifesting the Inner-Hipster

- JESSICA O'NEAL

Maybe it's about who you are.

I have never considered myself popular or interesting. Who am I to define taste and criticize artistic expression? It took me a long time to grasp this concept, but why the hell not? The name of our blog- "hipster-bullshit feedback playlist" might explain my new found self-realization.

I'm a hipster, but not necessarily defined as a contemporary rock type. Through my sorority girl antics and tendency to grab shinny satin over plaid button-ups, I enjoy going against the norm and having a bit of snobbery in my music and style preferences.

I'll take The Roots over Young Jeezy any day. Urban alternatives, indie rap, and neo-soul tell the story of my life. My music doesn't top the billboard charts and is rarely played on music stations, but it challenges themes and goes against musical standards.  

I consider myself the hip-hop and urban critic of our blog. Slight beliefs in rockism can seldom limit musical diversity among my fellow hipsters. In the mist of the local Athens music scene, folk rock tends to out shine underground hip-hop. Maybe through my voice, a better appreciation for hip-hop can grow.

I hate to describe our passion as bullshit, but at the end of the day some people take this music thing too personally.  Subcultures are created. Certain types of idealism can arise from a lyric in one song. Sometimes I stand back and look at my fellow music worshippers with a cocked head saying, what the hell?

I have an amount of sarcasm to my criticism of music. It's usually not intentional. The cynicism easily comes out after making careful observations of parishioners falling over themselves when listening to a particular band or turning into dancing zombies after the first three songs in a set. It's hard not to laugh at other hipsters.

But my comrades and I take music seriously. We don't use it as background noise, or as a simple form of entertainment. Music drives our lives.

As critics and pundits we find it necessary, to search for what is innovative and artistic. This is where the "feedback" originates from. Our site gives you basic feedback on concerts, albums, and whatever else in music we feel like mentioning.  We are critics.

Is the critic important and relevant to journalism? Yes. Is the critic important to music and other forms of entertainment?  I would give that an even bigger yes. Music critics praised Lil Wayne's newest album, Tha Carter III. Their criticism helped his album become more mainstream and helped him grab eight Grammy nominations this year.

The term "taste maker" is thrown around when we define the role of a critic.  The content we select for our site creates particular tastes and music choices. This is our playlist.

The best playlists are random. They don't have a particular sequence or order. Our blog develops it own personality and has a mind of its own. We give it different selections, and it inspires the reader to create his or her own opinions.  

Critical writing reinforced my views on free speech. Everyone has a voice. They have a right to say what the feel and what they believe.  There are people out there even willing to read and accept my opinion, and that's kind of cool.