That is the general theory and it stands up - for now. But I don't know. They said hip-hop would never catch on. Grandmaster Flash was playing hip-hop style nine years before The Message. They used to fret that no one got it. Nine years! Hip-hop has changed the way people listen to music. It has much more complex lyrics. Not just something you can sing along to. More than a hook. It created its audience. Plus people who don't primarily speak English get into it. You hear the stories, Jay-Z goes to France and the kids know his lyrics but often don't even speak English. So it could be that techno could create its own audience on a mass scale. I believe that house has been held back in the US because of latent homophobia. The disco backlash created enduring problems. From what I can discern, house music crosses over in countries where there is less anxiety about sexuality.
> This is where the comparisons end, largely because much of techno is > instrumental. Delivery, Flow, Rhythmic complexity, all have undoubtedly > improved in rap music...and part of that is because more people listen and > participate in it. The thing that has dried up is content. Rap played on > popular radio stations isn't really saying much. I attribute this to the > political economy of popular music. > > Because the emphasis in techno is not on lyrics--again MOST of techno is > instrumental--I think that if techno did become as strong as hiphop in the > states we'd get all of the benefits (as far as growth of the artform) > without the detriments (content that is arguably vulgar and > spirit-killing). I'd make the same argument for house, even though there > is a strong lyrical component to it. You just can't sing about Benzes the > way you can about unrequited love, or about worship.
