Accountability in Music • Page 415

I think it's okay to respect the statement made in LIIWMI and think it's clumsy to link your own song in that kind of post, ya know? I get why he did it, the song is relevant, but I also think it's a weird look.

 

retitle this thread clumsiness in music

 

It's fair to discuss when an artist makes a misstep like this because, good-intentioned or not, it's something they should be checked about and it should create a teachable moment for them. That's what "accountability" is all about. He made a post that came across as disingenuous at best and "making a tweet supposedly in solidarity with BLM actually about himself" at worst. I get that wasn't his intention but he should learn from it and move on. Not separate the song from the tweet, hit send again, and then delete his twitter account.

 

"selling melanin and then, suffocate the black men, start with misdemeanors and we'll make a business out of them."

is an indictment of systemic racism, and the tendency for white artists and culture to profit from the expropriation of black music and culture. that's a political opinion. Matty not being willing to stand behind his own statements is the problem. Makes it clear he only wants to be an ally when it is convenient for him. Like - deleting his twitter account after receiving criticism... while standing on a platform constructed in part by his use of black culture/music.

 

it *was* clumsy, but it’s okay to be clumsy imo and it doesn’t need to be treated with this kind of ferocity, especially since every attempt he’s made to course correct has been met with, basically “this isn’t good enough” or “nice try trying to deflect” or “thanks for doing the bare minimum” (a legitimate reply to the insta post he made sharing a change.org petition re: Floyd/police brutality), and it’s just like... why wouldn’t you just want to disconnect entirely?

 

A part of accountability has to do with how those in a position of power answer to those who you are claiming to represent from your million dollar platform.

 

does that mean it's not political? If you put references to police brutality and private prisons in your lyrics, and say your lyrics are pointing towards something, plus him literally tweeting the song with his opinion, I think it's a safe assumption that he is of the opinion that those are terrible things we need to change. I think it's more of a matter of Matty being bad at answering the question lol

 

in his position i'd disconnect from it all too

 

It means he considers his songs like the news, I guess. Stating facts and asking questions without editorializing.

 

deleting your twitter account does not necessarily equal not being willing to stand behind your own statements. imo

this is also goalpost shifting, why did he get fucking hounded on twitter? for posting that black lives matter and including a link to one of his songs that addresses and implicitly condemns police brutality. fuckin... whatever, cancel him for anything but this imo

 

nobody is talking about "cancelling" anybody what are you talking about

 

I think the second part of my quoted post directly contradicts this though. And the facts and questions that you choose, very much like the news, is inherently political.

Sorry not trying to stick on this, his answer is just hella dumb probably just to avoid stating anything concrete.

 

this is maybe only true if you’re exclusively talking about chorus dot fm.

 

His answer was intended to absolve himself of criticism for name-dropping Pinegrove on Notes, he just phrased it in a way that implicitly renders all of his other lyrics (including his most political ones) essentially meaningless.

 

yeah i thought we were bringing this up because it's a real fuckin shithouse on twitter. y'all have more level heads about it but it's making me wonder why it's relevant to this thread at all?

 

I am.

 

....why does it matter if he deleted his account? Twitter is a toxic af, and stan culture is the worst and not wanting to engage with that makes perfect sense. There no point to engage with it.

I think about Black Dresses, who earlier this week broke up because they tried to engage with their online community and they were treated so poorly (from their own fans). Deleting your twitter and walking away is just a sign of trying to stay mentally healthy. who cares.

 

.

 

I think instead of posting one of his own songs he could have posted some educational material on why law enforcement in the United States is so heavily scrutinized (since he has a lot of young fans, and not just in the US).

I understand that the song has relevant lyrics, but it feels like he’s partially putting the attention on his music instead of explicitly on the actual incident, if that makes any sense.

 

matty has consistently namechecked and credited the black artists he's borrowed from since the beginning of his career when he talked about wanting to make records that sounded like the whitney houston and michael jackson albums he grew up on. he is aware of the borrowing and always trying to draw attention to the source, i can't think that that undermines him at all

 

he's given versions of that answer since the song came out, way before the pinegrove line.

 

Oh well then that kind of just reinforces my point about him not expressing his own opinion in his lyrics, doesn't it?

 

anthony your extremely nuanced reason of why someone would go after matty is not why almost anyone is going after him rn, just imo

 

not really because I think the lyrics speak for himself and matty doesn't know what he's talking about sometimes lol

 

Well I'm just trying to give my own opinion on the reasoning why it's happening, if that's not actually the case so be it.