the conjuring up of "authenticity" as a bogey-man or Aunt Sally or something to be distrusted or as something that immediately makes you reactionary -- that seems a rather played-out manoevure at this point. 'wow look we're all free to be inauthentic' is a well-established, almost middlebrow stance -- as much as it's still important to poke holes in reified notions of the 'authentic', it's ore temping at this juncture to mount a devil's advocate case for authenticity -- i'm not denying the fact that all authenticities are constructed, are figments, but i'm proposing a reckoning with the passion to be authentic, the desire behind constructions of the authentic. (e..g samba in Brazil, which was constructed as the national music of Brazil and embodiment of the ideology of mixing and hybridity that became dominant in the 1930s). this is just one example of the way discourse(s) of authenticity actually might have started for very good reasons, noble reasons. the discourse of the 'real' in hip hop this decade has a very interesting energy behind it, it matters, the stakes are high -- which again makes problematisations or deconstructions of it seem rather academic

i believe to a certain extent one is obliged to respond to the intent and passion behind the concept or the discursive trope of real-ness/the authentic

that said my own investments in dance music have very little to do with the idea of the authenticity, of certain kinds of dance music being more "true" than others.. the assessments and allegiances are based in responses to levels of energy and intensity -- with dance music it's all about the energy-field you want to step into ... what creates the best vibe