The Busta Rhymes-aided "Swagger Wagon" advertisement is getting all sorts of negative attention for Toyota. Yet is it racist, or just typifying an emerging trend of cultural insensitivity?
Ted Gioia's piece "Music Criticism Has Degenerated Into Lifestyle Reporting" spread like wildfire, and Jody Rosen's response was equally compelling. While the debate rages on, these two critical titans are highlighting a changing of the critical guard that is happening slowly and begrudgingly.