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The initial proposal is about the celebration of materialism. Most notably, Morrissey satirised the selling-out of artists and the ripping-off of fans in "Paint A Vulgar Picture":
Re-issue ! Re-package ! Re-package !
Re-evaluate the songs
Double-pack with a photograph
Extra Track (and a tacky badge)
Though ironically, the song title was used to promote the Smiths' "Best..." double best-of album, which did exactly what Morrissey had predicted (without the badge, perhaps).
I know less about contemporary hip-hop than 80s indie, but I would say Jay-Z's lyrics seem to fairly typically celebrate the flashy ownership and impressive lifestyle that success in the music industry has allowed him: here's "Dirt Off Your Shoulder".
Your homey Hov' in position, in the kitchen with soda
I just whipped up a watch, tryin to get me a Rover
Tryin to stretch out the coca, like a wrestler, yessir
Keep the Heckler close, you know them smokers'll test ya
But like, fifty-two cards when I'm, I'm through dealin
Now fifty-two bars come out, now you feel 'em
Now, fifty-two cars roll out, remove ceiling
In case fifty-two broads come out, now you chillin
with a boss bitch of course S.C. on the sleeve
At the 40/40 club, ESPN on the screen
I paid a grip for the jeans, plus the slippers is clean
No chrome on the wheels, I'm a grown-up for real
(Though the final line does note that Jay isn't into every kind of showy display ~ as a sign of his maturity.)
A couple other well-known examples of Jay's lyrics seem to indicate that giving an inventory of impressive possessions is part of his persona:
I'm, young H.O., rap's Grateful Dead
Back to take over the globe, now break bread
I'm in, Boeing jets, Global Express
Out the country but the blueberry still connect
On the low but the yacht got a triple deck
But when you Young, what the fuck you expect? Yep, yep
(Numb/Encore)
The one and only
Stick boney but the pockets are fat like tony
Soprano ...
Yes sir I'm cut from a different cloth
My texture is the best fur, I'm chinchilla
(Crazy in Love)
I'd bow to superior knowledge on this, but I can't remember Morrissey ever boasting in his lyrics about his clothes ("I wear black on the outside..." is perhaps a similar statement of identity through fashion), where he lives, what car he drives or really any kind of material possessions.
In terms of causing a "war" though, we could consider Morrissey's (I think) unwise and perhaps irresponsible play with skinhead and Union Flag imagery, and his songs purporting to represent British Asian culture ("Bengali in Platforms", "Asian Rut") that, coupled with "The National Front Disco" seemed deliberately and maybe foolishly ambiguous and provocative. You could discuss that alongside Jay's use of the "n-bomb" in his lyrics, and the two artists' possible role in perpetuating or creating racial tensions and stereotypes. |
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