Well, it turns out quite a lot.
Adam Brody for those of you with nil pop culture knowledge played the famed role of Seth Cohen in The O.C. A bright, witty, and disastrously geeky boy next door rarely seen without a sweater vest. The show while flawed in many ways, cannot be underestimated in its popularity. Millions of impressionable teenagers and their curious parents tuned in week after week to see who Ryan was going to punch next. Kanye West as we all know, is the son of God, a genius, a lyrical wordsmith, a fashion trailblazer, and the voice of a generation. (I am an enormous Kanye fan, and other then calling him the son of God believe all the prior adjectives to prove true.) Seven albums recorded, each in their own way seminal works of art that transcend hip-hop and find have had long-lasting effects on pop culture.
So what exactly Adam Brody and Kanye West have in common? Well the obvious is that they've both changed the music we listen to. But it cuts deeper then that. They've changed how we dress, what we read, and the demeanor with which we carry ourselves. Both Adam Brody and Kanye West have shifted popular culture towards a more accepting, emotional, collaborative and understanding place. I may even go as far as to say that their influences have had important racial implications, bridging the gap between two cultures that for too long have been in contest.
Now before I justify a lot of the seemingly ludicrous statements in the above paragraph there are a few things I want to say first.
1) Everybody knows that The O.C. helped bands like Modest Mouse, Spoon, and Death Cab For Cutie gain national exposure. I mean shit, they literally featured these bands on the show and let them play songs. And this was an era when people still bought music… sort of. Obviously the show had an important impact on music then, creating the platform on which bands like Mumford and Sons and The Black Keys are able to sell out arenas. So don't get all snarky with me when you say "well that's obvious."
2) Kanye West has had a more important and more widespread impact on popular culture then Adam Brody. That is a fact. What I am comparing is what changed as a direct result of them. I believe my grandkids will know who Kanye West is. Adam Brody the actor will be largely forgotten, but any vulnerable male in a sweater vest or any confused girl falling for said vulnerable male in a sweater vest will reek of his influence whether they realize it or not.
3) I don't know that much about racial relations, and I certainly don't have a doctorate degree to back my claims up. What I'm saying is merely speculation from the point of view of someone who is confident in their popular culture knowledge.
The O.C. began airing in 2003, when I was in 8th grade. Highly impressionable and going through puberty, it's safe to say that it was the start of a very long awkward phase. I remember seeing a trailer for the show and being nervous that my parents wouldn't let me watch it. Sex, fighting, drinking, and pretty women. I mean, what 8th grader wouldn't be considering how to learn about such taboo subjects. Luckily, my parents didn't mind and watching The O.C. became a family affair. Needless to say, it became a national affair.
Looking back on it, the show as dumb. Marissa was a flat character and they killed her off because they literally ran out of things to do with her. Ryan got into a fight, was coddled by the Cohens, got into another fight, and retreated yet again to the pool house. Unless of course he went on one of his melodramatic soul searching disappearances. The plot was cheesy, but this was the day before networks like HBO, Showtime, and AMC towered over everyone else. Believe it or not folks, there was a time when you had a strict television schedule. You set aside The O.C.'s flaws, and transported yourself to California for one full hour every week. If you tell me you didn't pray at night that you went to a high school with a coffee bar in it then your just fucking lying. Regardless, easily the most interesting character in the show was Seth Cohen. Summer fell in love with him, and so did everyone else.
Seth defied everything that I grew up thinking I needed in order to be a man. His look became iconic; donned in tight jeans and a sweater vest, Seth Cohen wrote poetry and hung up Spoon posters in his room. And the scariest part of it all, is that Seth was proud of who he was. He embraced his flaws, outwardly projecting them through his famous self-deprecating humor. Seth was witty, name dropping characters from movies and quotes from books with such perfect timing, his dialogue at times sounded like a foreign language. Seth changed what it meant to be a man in four seasons. And even crazier, he got the girl. And not any girl, Seth got Summer. (Rachel Bilson wherever you are, I am still waiting for you.)
What I learned as I absorbed the television was that it was okay for me to like bands that were otherwise considered obscure. Seth helped me define my musical taste, paving the way for the landmark Garden State soundtrack to really do some damage. More then that though, Seth liked everything I liked but was too afraid to admit it. Now all of a sudden it was cool to write poetry. It was okay to fumble for words when a pretty girl walked past you because your innocence was cute. He paved the way for a more sensitive guy to not only be accepted in the mainstream, but to actually be the mainstream. There are other factors in play of course, but Seth Cohen was a national superstar. All of us sitting in a cafe right now listening to The XX, reading Tao Lin, and reaching for the hard to reach itch caused by our knit sweaters have Adam Brody to thank.
Yeezus Fucking Christ.
I love Yeezus, I think it is a phenomenal album. Kanye is at a point in his career, one he reached a long time ago, when he can just do whatever the shit he wants to do. And rightfully so, because while it is probably my least favorite Kanye West album it is still a phenomenal piece of work. With seven albums, one of them has to be my least favorite. But the distance between first and last is miniscule. Kanye West, where does one start? I know that Kanye has done some controversial things throughout his career and I am not endorsing them. What he did to Taylor Swift was plain and simply fucked up. I am not looking at Kanye West the person, but rather am looking at Kanye West the pop icon. Which he is. Up there with the likes of Michael Jackson, Madonna, and Steve Jobs.
The College Dropout, Late Registration, Graduation are all masterpieces in their own way. The album that changed it all though is the much debated 808s and Heartbreaks. However before going into that more abstract argument it is important to mention the prelude. It almost feels like the two events should have happened in the opposite order, but they didn't, and that is just Kanye doing Kanye. Kanye West and 50 Cent went head to head in one of hip-hop's most fabricated battles of all time. Graduation versus Curtis. 50 Cent at one point said that if his album sold less then Graduation that he would drop out of the game forever. (a promise he did not keep) Graduation absolutely pummeled Curtis when the time came. Ayo Technology was actually not such a bad song at all, in fact I quite liked it. But what Kanye did with Stronger was create a rap song meant to open up to Madison Square Garden, the O2 Arena, and the Staples Center with. Some say that it was in that moment when gangsta rap died. I say that was the prelude, and quite a strong one at that.
50 Cent's album Curtis still did pretty well, and gangster rap still lived although in a very diminished way. Kanye had changed rap's sound, incorporating techno in a way that had never been done before. Things sounded different, but nothing looked different and nobody acted different. Then 808s and Heartbreaks dropped.
When the public heard it for the first time people had no idea what to think. Where were the hooks? Kanye was singing? What was he talking about? And, what the fuck was that effect in his voice? There are some albums that come out and are truly just ahead of their time. The public rips it to shreds, and radio rejects it. However, some people listen to it. Some people take the time to absorb it, and realize that the reason it wasn't doing well was because the music wasn't meant for the now, it was meant for the future. And those are the people who become famous musicians in the next class. When Bob Dylan came out with Like A Rolling Stone nobody understood. The Velvet Underground, the Pixies. Not many people listened to them at the time, but those who did became the Radioheads and the Nirvanas of the future.
808s and Heartbreaks freaked everyone out because here was a young black male who had built such a reputation on bravado, exposing his vulnerabilities on a national level. Each of his first three albums are distinctly different from each other, but maintained enough continuity for the fans to identify that these were Kanye West's pieces of work. 808s and Heartbreaks brought things to a halt in all aspects. The beats were slower, scaled back to let the power of his raw emotion take first place. Kanye was dealing with a lot when 808s and Heartbreaks came out, and he wasn't going to let the fact that he was the biggest rapper in the game prevent him from expressing himself through his music.
His lyrical themes changed. The sound changed, as Kanye brought back to popularity the Roland 808 machine. Along with that he showed that auto-tune was a force with which one could enhance their message. It wasn't cheesy in the way that the machine was used by someone like T-Pain. Rather, it was another canvas on which Kanye could express himself. His fashion as well changed. Kanye always rejected the gangster rap persona, but with the release of 808s and Heartbreaks fans began to take notice of what he was wearing. His jeans got a little tighter, his demeanor got a little more obscure. There was an amazing revolution brewing, and I still claim to this day that I was the first fucking person to realize it. A lot of people know by now that 808s and Heartbreaks is truly a landmark album. Few of the points I am making about it are completely original, but that is only because at the time I didn't have the wits to write what I thought down. I was the first person to realize that there was going to be a cultural shift.
Walk through Brooklyn. Tell me how many young black teens you see riding a skateboard down any street in Bushwick wearing snug pants, an oversized t-shirt with a picture of a cat on it, a jean jacket draped around their waste, and an Obey hat on. Now Kanye didn't necessarily put all of these articles of clothing on them, credit does have to be given to artists like Tyler the Creator, Earl Sweatshirt, Lupe Fiasco, Drake, and Kid Cudi. However, what needs to be recognized is that all of the aforementioned artists are those who listened to 808s and Heartbreaks when it came out and realized that it was the future. It didn't matter if no one else in the world listened to the album. All that mattered is that they, along with Miguel, Joey Bada$$, Chance the Rapper, Macklemore, and Flying Lotus did. Now, imagine yourself ten years ago walking through Brooklyn. (which I must add, you flat out wouldn't be doing in 2003) Imagine seeing G-Unit shirts everywhere, Raiders hats, Phat Pharm pants, Timbalands shoes. The era of gangster rap is over. And while the sound may have changed when Graduation beat Curtis, the aesthetic shifted when 808s and Heartbreaks re-defined hip-hop.
I know a lot of people may reduce this down to "Adam Brody changed white people and Kanye West changed black people." However, that is not what I am going for at all. Simply, they both changed the entire direction of what is accepted in pop culture. Don't think for a second that what Kanye West has done is limited only to those who are black. He made hip-hop more accessible for everyone; breaking down boundaries that never should have even been drawn in the first place. Adam Brody made me into the emo sap who went to Bright Eyes concerts by themselves. Kanye West made rap as emotional as a Connor Oberst ballad. For me personally, bridges were made. I was able to find what I had been missing in hip-hop: raw and relatable emotion. He softened up hip-hop's beats, making them more accessible for the fan of indie rock to listen to. And he opened up the hearts of rappers everywhere, who for the first time since rap's golden age could detail their emotions in a judgment free zone. I mean, look at rappers like Le1f, and listen to Same Love. These successes never would have been made possible had Kanye West not paved the way for them. Seth Cohen and Kanye West are really the same. They are both riddled with emotions, and they both listen to music that is generally unpopular in mainstream pop culture. However, they both took advantage of the spotlight and changed the lives of people like myself. Vulnerability is cool. And anyone who ever played the fucking sensitivity card to get in a girls pants can write Adam Brody and Kanye West a thank you letter.
-Corey Teich
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