You know, Hick, a month ago a friend of mine and I (we're both artists) had a good conversation about art and the individual. It was interesting. I raised the question if a person's beliefs should really have any bearings on their art. Robert Frost was a big anti-semite as well, but that's really done nothing to detract from his legacy. How do you feel about the question?
Some of the albums that changed my life are as follows:
1. At the Drive-In - Relationship of Command (In my opinion, this is one of the most important rock or punk rock albums, especially for minority kids. From start to finish, it's brilliant and shows you the tensions that brought about At the Drive-In becoming two different bands)
2. Notorious B.I.G. - Ready to Die (One of the most compelling Hip-Hop albums ever. You had great production, imaginative storytelling, grand metaphors, etc.)
3. Mos Def and Talib Kweli are Blackstar (When I heard this record in 1998, it knocked me on my ass. At the time, Mos Def was one of the most poetic emcees, and he did things on that album I had never heard a rapper do before. Here's a sample:
So much on my mind that I can't recline
Blastin holes in the night til she bled sunshine
Breathe in, inhale vapors from bright stars that shine
Breathe out, weed smoke retrace the skyline
Heard the bass ride out like an ancient mating call
I can't take it y'all, I can feel the city breathin
Chest heavin, against the flesh of the evening
Sigh before we die like the last train leaving
4. Radiohead - Kid A (This was the first Radiohead album I bought, and the whole thing floored me. It definitely is an album that's easy to get lost in)
5. Esthero - Breath from Another (I bought this one in April of 1999. Back then, I used to buy albums off instinct alone, and I had a feeling about this one. Esthero's voice is like the sound of falling in love. Throw in Doc's trip-hoppish production, and you've got an incredible album from an incredible talent that far too few people know about)
Blessings