it exponentially raises the chances of sucking the more conscious a performer is of their place inside or outside of a given genre
My main issue is with this part. I think a lot of great music is born out of trying to do something that hasn't been done in a particular type of music. "You think I play bebop? Fuck you! I'm going to make a record of
modal jazz." or Sonic Youth trying to get as far away from rock music as possible, then slowly adding the rock back in over a decade... people like the Beatles combining things that nobody had ever tried to combine, etc. I think some of the best music is born out of a synthesis of thinking really really hard, and feeling really really hard.
To quote James Franco: "rock music doesn't come from your head, it comes from your crotch."
This statement is made by a man apparently unaware that the libidinal instinct resides in the brain.
Also, what keith said. I was just talking yesterday about how much I dislike arguments that start with "nobody
really likes [blank,] they just think it's cool to."