• Fascist Music
FASCISTMUSIC.com

FASCIST MUSIC

Flo Rida - R.O.O.T.S.: Route of overcoming the Struggle

3/21/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
Certainly, this record label's overproduced, sweet-and-salty blend of pop and rap, ostensibly fronted by a largely anonymous man called "Flo Rida," is unit-moving Big Music of fascist character. 

But what really fascinated me was the album title: "R.O.O.T.S.: Route of Overcoming the Struggle." Generally, and especially if you want to harken back to Alex Haley's book and "We Shall Overcome" (i.e., black Americans' struggle for civil rights), struggles are efforts toward some goal. But here, mind-bogglingly, the struggle is the thing to be overcome! It could have been "Route of Overcoming Through Struggle," which would have made more sense as a civil rights-y title. But I think Flo Rida's handlers made a conscious choice to suggest that Flo Rida was not interested in overcoming hardship through struggle; rather, their front man wanted to avoid struggle altogether. Once you have overcome struggle, what's left? Endless dancing, champagne, big DMC chains, and tighty-whiteys on blast. To advocate this vacuousness in lieu of a meaningful life, and to twist civil rights language to push this poison, is fascist. Keep the masses brainless and entertained. Flo Rida is a master of it.

A counterargument might be that "The Struggle" is defined in the bizarre family tree on the album cover, and as thus defined, the term is indeed something to be overcome. But ordinary definitions matter, and when they match the civil rights references slathered all over, it's more of a "struggle" to ignore them in favor of the nonsensical diagram superimposed upon Flo Rida's gleaming torso that says the three paths from "Provide" are "Death," "Recession," and "Survival."

0 Comments

    What is fascist music?

    In Dave Marsh's 1979 review of Queen's Jazz, he wrote, "Indeed, Queen may be the first truly fascist rock band." No other word so neatly expresses supremacy of the powerful and devaluation of the individual.

    Music expresses desires. When artists are young and poor, it is credible that they could have yawning chasms of desires that are not being fulfilled. As they age, particularly if they are successful, they are increasingly performing from a position of wealth and power. So to hear them demand love, money, respect, or fame is dissonant. These guys won. At the pinnacle of their power, they are still greedy for more, boxing out desperate young strivers in the process. That's fascism.

    I rather enjoy fascist music. It'll be the soundtrack to our lives when the machines take over, so we might as well develop an appreciation now.

    Archives

    August 2022
    March 2022
    May 2020
    November 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2016
    November 2015
    September 2015
    July 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    May 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014

    Categories

    All
    1970s
    1980s
    1990s
    2000s
    2010s
    Actual Fascism
    Bloat
    Check The Name
    Classic Rock
    Cruel Misappropriation
    Facelessness
    Images
    Misery
    Pop
    Rap
    Rock
    Seizure Of Power
    Selling Out
    Session Musicians
    The Ever Tightening Noose
    The Music Sucks
    Tragedy

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.