This is what popular culture has assimilated (a postmodern wreck) to, the ability to produce generic, systematic, commercialized material that people buy into. The reason why it works is because society likes it and its simple, not really much that artist do these days to be different and to argue, why change if being a sell out makes you money? The acts of artist like Radiohead and The Smiths are considered subversive only to the limitation we place on them. Depending on what the goal is, any artist can achieve their goal of getting audience attention by being different or subversive. The definition of subversive, “seeking or intending to subvert an established system or institution” or in other words to provoke altercations within an established authority to voice an opinion. We can make an argument that many artist these days already do so in their songs, depending on whether we are speaking of their acts, or the lyrics within their music. A famous artist we can take a look at could be Eminem in his song Mosh. The song is very direct, explicit, and grimy if I might add. I enjoy the song because of how Eminem executes his message about president bush during the time of war in Iraq. There are prior examples to him, but he directly points a finger at the president for the mistakes he has made and how society is out lashing for what he caused (the amount of U.S troops killed over oil).

The video (Youtube source)  that Eminem made supports the argument more so that just like Radiohead and The Smiths, it is not so much what the artist do to provoke subversiveness within a system, but how they do it that matters. Eminem executes with the lyrics in a song that he follows up with a music video to provide evidence to his reasoning to saying the things he does for grabbing an audience. Might I add, this is true hip hop, the artist itself does not matter to me, but the content that is provided, it is safe to say that rap/hip hop itself is subversive. The genre calls for subversiveness because its origins are from jazz and blues music that revolve around systematic flaws (like U.S politics). If this is not enough support take the interview BET did with Eminem a while back.

That being said, Radiohead and The Smiths are only justified in whether they establish their argument properly if their cause is reasonable. Eminem was justified for being provocative in that his intent was in regards to U.S politics being ineffective. The act can be done direct or even indirect almost passive or for a better usage of word metaphorical. Artist from other countries have done the same thing that Eminem has but in a less aggressive manner, take the example from a Mexican country band Los Tigres Del Norte – La Granja (source Youtube). Obviously an audience from another country who has no historical knowledge of Mexico will not understand the meaning behind their lyrics but it makes the point about getting a message across to their niche audience (in this case, citizens of Mexico). Los Tigres del Norte, like Eminem, send a message about how politics (an institution) is corrupt and have problems maintaining a satisfied society, just another example about how music can be be provocative within the music industry and the system.

It is arguable to say that all music is subversive in its own way, but then again, many artist sell out and end up creating a systematic tune that everyone will embrace without really sending a message. They achieve their goal of sending a message but there is nothing about it that is changing the system (Drake, Lil Wayne, Future, etc.). The sources here are more on content that they encode in a highly post modern society while embracing or commemorating the modern characteristics that have been lost. If you would like to hear music that contains and subversive material and his produced by subversive artist take a look into SPM (When The Devil Strikes), Immortal Technique (Dance with the Devil), A Tribe Called Quest, and Big L (Put it On) to name a few.