"The effect of song hits – more precisely put, perhaps; their social role – might be circumscribed as that of patterns of identification."

"In an imaginary but psychologically emotion-laden domain, the listener who remembers a hit song will turn into the song’s ideal subject, into the person for whom the song ideally speaks."

"Yonkers" by Tyler the Creator of Odd Future Wolf Hang Kill Them All came to mind in class as a new experience of music, not one that I enjoy or can say that I appreciate, but as you've just seen, its different.

Initially this came to mind due to the drastic dissimilarities between Tyler's music and the rest of the Hip-Hop world at the moment but after reading the "Popular Music" excerpt, my feelings about Odd Future, in relation to Adorno, have changed. The reason for this came up when I looked into their group's goals and recent successes. In looking at the Punk movement, the mainstream culture is what most authentic Punk music rebelled against, however Odd Future has every intention of reaching mainstream success -- Tyler, the leader of the group, has already hinted at his desire to sell dozens of records and win Grammy awards, hardly the aim of a youth in rebellion against the machine.

The record industry had a shit fit when Odd Future was first looking to sign a deal because everything they ever seemed to represent was anti-record label and that is where I see the difference. Adorno claims that popular music is catchy, follows a certain scheme with 32 bars and a bridge, and as seen in the quotes above offers listeners a chance to identify, however I would not consider ANY of Tyler's music to be relatable and the majority of my friends that have heard his music would agree, so why is it that this group has such a cult following? Why was every major record label dying to sign this group of 17-23 year old kids? Why have mainstream music artists like Kanye West, Pharrell, and even UK mega pop star Adele all expressed major admiration for this group?

I think the answer is that not only are fans of the music industry, but the music industry itself is getting tired of "popular" music and can appreciate the drastic distinction between this music and what is played on the radio. I myself am unsure of the authenticity of this group's differences and have yet to be convinced that this is not just an act to eventually get mainstream attention, similar to what Eminem did years ago.

If authentic, it does speak to a point made on the first page of "Popular Music" where Adorno relates the difference between popular music and standard music to the differences between high and low art. High art for Adorno is essentially removed from the realities of life and those can only be found in low art.

"...the ones whose discontent with civilization is always an expanded reproduction of the raw state of nature"

Tyler and his music, if authentic, seem to fit this mold quite well.