Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett set off some controversy this month when he was spotted wearing a shirt declaring that pop’s reigning queen, Taylor Swift, is a “CIA Psyop”. Hammett was seen wearing the viral meme turned shirt during the thrash metal band’s June 13th show in Budapest, Hungary.
Of course, that choice of attire drew the ire of many a ‘Swiftie’, with Taylor Swift fans having their say on the matter on social media at the expense of Hammett. The blowback from the shirt was enough that Hammett‘s recent onstage fall in Dublin, Ireland was viewed by some as “karma” for his apparent jab at the pop superstar.
Whether or not he was just having a bit of fun with the shirt remains up to debate, but recent comments made by the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame-inducted metal legend made clear he is no fan of the current state of pop music.
Speaking with The Irish Times, Hammett recently went so far as calling the current state of pop music “crap.” Below you can see how he got to that description, citing his concerns with the perfectionism and the like that modern technology has instilled in music at the cost of its soul:
“I started off learning off records, just trying to develop my ear and learning songs and guitar solos from playing records over and over again. It’s a monotonous, tedious process, especially with the records. But I learned so much. And all my friends were doing the same thing. We didn’t have tablature, we didn’t have music books. All we had was our ears and the albums. And it was a real challenge because if you got three different guitar players together and said, okay, play ‘I’m The One‘ on Van Halen’s first album, all three guitar players would play it differently. There was some charm to that.”
He went on to say:
“I kind of lament those days when people had to really struggle to learn, because it’s all in the struggle. And it’s all in the determination and being inspired at the same time that forces you to come up with your own stuff and eventually your own sound and style. I just worry about, how things are so perfect these days, the musicianship. It’s great that all these guitar players have all this vast knowledge of technique at their fingertips. I wonder where it’s leading to.
I hope it leads to a better quality of pop music, popular music, and just a better quality of songwriting. Because right now, songwriting and pop music is crap. I’m hoping that all these great musicians who can teach themselves through the internet step up and put all that great learning and all that great inspiration into creating new stuff, new songs, the future of music, and at a higher standard than what it is now. Because I’ll say it again, K-R-A-P. Crap. Sorry for all you pop fans out there.”
Swifties may want to put down their pitchforks for the time being however, as Hammett choosing to spell out crap with a k suggests that his ire may be mainly reserved for K-pop music, that or he is a particularly bad at spelling. Of course, unfortunately for Hammett, while his comment may shield him from further Swfitie retribution, K-pop also has an extremely large and passionate fanbase that won’t take such an apparent slight lightly.
