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SUPPORT ME ON PATREON\n\nWATCH MUSIC is not a GENRE VIDEOS and MORE\n\nWhen you think of Madonna, what comes to mind first? Is it her early NYC post-punk-dance period? Her movie career? Her many relationships? One or more of her mega hits? Her near constant reinvention? Odds are it\u2019s at least two of those things (okay, maybe not her movie career). But one thing that runs through ALL of them is CONTROVERSY.\n\nFrom the beginning, Madonna has been a shit stirrer. She\u2019s made bold choices, bold statements, bold stage shows, and sometimes even bold music. She\u2019s never stopped pushing the envelope, whether that\u2019s worked for her or not. Over and over, she\u2019s found what gets under people\u2019s skin, and used that to extreme advantage. \xa0Sex. Social issues. Politics. Female empowerment.\n\nAnd to all that I say: so what? Why does any of it matter? There are a ton of people stirring shit all the time, famous and not. What makes what she does matter more than anyone else? Why is she an icon? Why has she been a role model for so many? Why is she not just looked on as a contrarian poking fingers in eyes? Why has she endured, both because of AND regardless of her controversy?\n\nIf you\u2019ve been following along these 40+ podcasts, you already know the answer. It\u2019s her music. Her art. The work she was put on this earth for. She\u2019s one of so many examples of artists who have never lost sight of their strengths and true purpose. Who has used that to give her voice more volume, to make what she does & says matter more to more people than \u2026 than who? Than anyone else who\u2019s lost their thread of inspiration, who\u2019s allowed the volume to drown out the quality, who stops paying attention to the reason why anyone knows who they are, and/or who contributes absolutely nothing of value to society.\n\nDo I agree with everything she\u2019s said & done? \xa0Hell no! Do I even like all of her music? I\u2019ll let you know when I\u2019ve heard more than 20% of it. None of that matters. What matters, and what makes her controversy matter, is the diligent generosity she performs every time she creates music and gives it to the world. Would we care what Tom Hanks has to say if he sucked at acting? Would we care about Frida Kahlo\u2019s politics if her art was shit? Would we care about Prince\u2019s social & sexual & own-your-own envelope pushing if he wasn\u2019t a hands down genius? No. If these people\u2019s only purpose was giving voice to causes, that\u2019s cool. Like an orator or writer or philosopher or journalist or politician with a conscience, it would be why their main gig. But since these artists\u2019 MAIN GIG is the arts, it\u2019s also the reason their controversy matters at all.\n\nAnd what is Madonna\u2019s main contribution to \u2026 not politics or sex or any other conversation \u2026 but to MUSIC? She was one of the pioneers who made dance music into something more than just a beat you can move to. Like so many of the LGBTQ performers who practically invented disco & dance music as its own thing, or so many post punks who saw techno/EDM as a way to move people with big beats & big ideas, she saw the freedom in not just putting lyrics of substance into dance songs, but also that dancing itself IS SUBSTANCE. We spend too much our lives conforming to society\u2019s strictures, or worse, to arbitrary rules we impose on ourselves. We need to break free of that. And sometimes that road to freedom can start with something as simple and visceral as DANCING. So go get it.\n\nDance music has been in my blood from the very beginning:\n\nREC - \u201cYou Make Me Wanna\u201d (from the album Syncopy for the Weird)\n\n\n--- \n\nThis episode is sponsored by \n\xb7 Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app\n\nSupport this podcast: https://anchor.fm/musicisnotagenre/support\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices