Heidi Presents, "Happy Birthday B Side"

Writing at random for the B side for the past year has been an awesome experience. When I started contributing, the plan was to create a head to head He Said/She Said style debate. I don't know if we really got there on the blog. Most of our debating is done off-line so that we can appear civil, reasonable and adult to the public. (Isn't that the best thing about the Internet? The free ability to define who you are with words and not actions? Delight!)

So, on the one year anniversary of the B Side, I decided to bring public the nearly friendship-dissolving argument that I had with the B Side. The subject of that debate? Kanye West, obvs. I might have made one small joke in a post about how much I hate him, and I might have done it just to bait the Kanye West loving B Side. These actions went against my entire philosophy of how culture fits into our lives, and I'm not proud.

Here's an abridged version of the argument, please note, I swear like a sailor, so this version is edited for content:

B Side: I love Kanye. I'm going to buy his album first thing tomorrow.

Heidi: I respect him as an artist, but I can't get over how much of an a** he is.

B Side: Blah, blah, blah, the backlash has been misplaced. Blah, blah, blah, Michael Jackson. Blah, blah, blah tour cancellation?

Heidi: PLEASE! Gaga was right to cancel oh him - her message is about acceptance for everyone! He showed he is the total opposite. If she kept him, it would have been hypocritical! He f**king blew it!

B Side: Blew it why? Because he spoke his mind about a Beyonce video? Who cares!

Heidi: Exactly. He overreacted to an MTV award loss?! Since when do they give those to actual artists?

B Side: Well, at least we agree about that.

Heidi: I think if it was one isolated incident with Taylor Swift, it wouldn't have been such a big deal, but he's DONE THIS BEFORE! That's the thing. It's like the world is done putting up with his douchebaggery. And all of the mea culpa songs he writes feel false, because it seems like being an a**hole is such a huge part of who he is. He's a talented guy who thinks he's the best thing to happen to music, and I'm not so sure if we should be thanking him for autotune.

B Side: Blah, blah, blah he IS the best thing to ever happen to music.

Heidi: Well, i have a hard time listening to it, because I hate him so much and am so cynical.

B side: You're narrow minded is what you're telling me.

This goes on for another thirty minutes until it ends with:

Heidi: I'm not angry, btw . . .


B Side: It's just a discussion; of course you're not.

I think a big part of why this site was started was to try to give like-minded music fans a friendly place to debate and share their opinions. I read a lot of other sites and see comments from readers who are passionate about music and pop culture, and the discussion so frequently turns angry and judgmental about the other readers' tastes. I can't stand it. I write a lot about how music means something different to each person, and that we should appreciate the memories and associations that our friends have with a particular artist, even if that artist is Kanye West. I like that we try to accept everyone and everything here at the B Side.

I mean, even our fearless creator has learned something this year - not all country music is bad!

So readers, thanks for reading. And a big thanks to the B Side for starting this up. I look forward to this next year!

Now, it's time for you join in the conversation! The real question in our debate is whether an artist should be appreciated beyond their public persona. (I'm looking at you, John Mayer.) So, please respectfully sound off with your opinion . . . because that's what we do here.

Happy Birthday B Siders!