World Music Musicians and Why I Hate It

More of an observational rant rather than anything serious.

There was, and still is, a trend for 1980's musicians to engage and adopt world music styles into their own music or change musical direction and become world musicians themselves. In their eyes it is the equivalent of their maturing musical identity, to the rest of us its either an interesting reworking of their sound, or utter rubbish.

Im going to name names, and these are normally good musicians who have become worse in my view rather than better.

Paul Simon - while I don't think he has done anything better since his days as a duo with Garfunkle, his Graceland album (which I detest) has many world music elements that it doesnt quite gel as a pleasurable listening experience, and seeing him in concert now is akin to watching an Africaan Dance music festival.

Sting - I tolerate his world music as he is one of the few who has made it work, but he does go overboard on his concerts.

Peter Gabriel - Im no fan of Genesis with or without him, but his solo work is almost deliberately world music.

Robert Plant - Its sad to see Mr Plant being dragged down with the world music scene. Yes both he and Jimmy Page have both used middle eastern influenced music in songs such as Kashmir, but they did a live album together called No Quarter which has many world musicians playing as well. But to be fair that have stolen a lot of first world music as well as third world music roo.

Why do they do it? Ego perhaps, but they are also products of their own experience, as they have (Sting and Peter Gabriel) been involved with travelling, poverty and Amnesty International

Dragging half an African tribe onto the stage is not the equivalent of world music.