critically overrated music

[bedstuy]

because tnf and me were chatting about this awhile ago

off the top of my head:

the hold steady - what... this sounds like some awful '70s tribute band. just atrocious

mountain goats - sorry, i know a bunch of people are going to go ballistic but this kind of baffles me. grating vocals, little else to make up for it. frankly kind of generic in spots. 2/10 would not pirate

magnetic fields - monotonous vocals, often pretentious and half-baked concept albums (69 etc.), overly clever.

morrissey - diaf

I agree with all of these.  And Macklemore is nothing special.  I don't know if Macklemore's success is because of white racism though.  I think his "socially conscious" lyrics, sales and cuteness all factor in.  He's a more attractive artist to someone who never listens to hip-hop music, especially since Kendrick Lamar's used the B-word on one of his song titles.  A lot of the music industry isn't music based and never was. 

For me, definitely a lot of indie rock/ contemporary college rock is overrated, in that it's soporific and inaccessible to people who like melody and decent vocals.  But, the most blatantly overrated artist I can think of is Michael Jackson.  I really enjoy about 4-5 of his songs, much of the rest is so-so, self-indulgent and bland.

[bedstuy]

I agree with all of these.  And Macklemore is nothing special.  I don't know if Macklemore's success is because of white racism though.  I think his "socially conscious" lyrics, sales and cuteness all factor in. 

Kanye is far more socially conscious than Macklemore, the latter has just taken on an issue that's basically safe (especially in 2013/14) and devoted a third of said song to insisting he wasn't gay. Meanwhile, actual intelligent lyrics about the systematic racism that pervades America today are rejected by the Grammy committee.

I think Macklemore has pretty uninteresting lyrics, but homophobia is still a major issue, particularly in the hip-hop and black community.  Plus, his music is just safer and more wholly positive.  There's a reason why he's perceived as more of a politically aware artist.

I like Kanye's music, but he does throw around the N-word and he's a fairly misogynist and materialistic in his lyrics.  I don't see how he has much of a social conscience outside of protesting for Kanye West's rights.