I’ll admit that I can, at times, be a hater. I really enjoyed Family Guy when it made its debut, but by the time it returned to Fox after getting cancelled, I couldn’t bring myself to watch it because of how obnoxious its fans were. It was like the show was appealing to the most common denominator, and I wanted no part of it.
So to some degree, the more popular something is, the less likely I am to be a fan of it, because fans turn me off to something quicker than anything else. And that’s why I’ll probably never be able to get into either MF Doom or Lil Wayne, which is odd because their fans are on opposite ends of the hip-hop spectrum.
To be honest, I really sort of dig MF Doom. Madvillainy is an album I could listen to every day and never get tired of, and The Mouse and the Mask is equally dope. I’ve even got KMD’s Black Bastards. But I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to jump headfirst into MF Doom’s catalogue.
That’s because Doom’s fans are such an ardent bunch of backpacker elitists that it just rubs me the wrong way. Most of the fans of Doom whom I’ve encountered, even randomly at the record store, tend to look down on me for being able to appreciate Jadakiss or Jay-Z. As if having commercial aspirations is a sin or something.
Case in point, I was helping out That Bootleg Guy on a project involving music. The first comment came from anonymous who posted
“Aaron/Mathan, I’ve been up and down this list twice but don’t see “Vaudeville Villain” anywhere. Please tell me this was just a harmless oversight? THat album is mindblowing.”
To which I responded;
“I’ve yet to fully commit to Doom. I dig his collaborations and what he’s produced for others. But there’s something that keeps me at bay. I can’t explain it. “
Clearly those last two sentences were my holding my tongue because I was on a friend’s blog. Had that same back and forth occurred elsewhere, I could have unleashed the truth—how Doom’s fans have sort of soiled him for me.
That said, I probably will get up on Doom sometime in the near future.
I’ve already addressed Lil Wayne before, but I’ll reiterate my point. I appreciate that he’s put the work in and gotten his grind on. I respect the fact that he’s stepped up his game immensely. But I’m not going to listen to dude. I’m not going to buy his music. And he’s not coming anywhere near my Top 5 Dead or Alive. It’s not going to happen.
For instance, I love The Beatnuts. I can’t get enough of them. But I know they’re not for everyone. Even though I love them, I’m not trying to force my love for The Beatnuts down everyone’s throat. I’m not going to proclaim them anything other than my favorite gully pranksters of hip-hop.
It’s times like these that I’m reminded that “fan” comes from fanaticism. And in that regard Lil’ Wayne and MF Doom have more than their fair share of fans. But really, I’m not a fan.
