Why Alex G Is The Bob Dylan Of Our Time

Idiots think that to be Bob Dylan, you have to smoke, drink, be skinny, be a smart ass, and be a poetically tough motherfucker.

But they are idiots.

Someone once said that every now and then, a creature like Bob Dylan appears in culture. And it’s true.

Bob Dylan is similar to The Masque of the Red Death, a character in an Edgar Allen Poe story.

What Bob Dylan is—is a reckoning—a being that has the fortitude and wisdom to rise above the noise and push the counter view without a contrarian personality. They are positioned with a quite unusual personality and world view.

Most people follow the wind—the norms of the time. Then there are the counter culture folks, who rebel. Then there are the freaks, who are oblivious to it all. But a being who has an understanding of the culture and a wise view on it and, additionally, a vengeful and compassionate spirit coupled with the boldness to speak out, and speak loudly—is quite rare.

In the sixties, this is exactly what Bob Dylan was. He sung the truth, without pretense or ego or pride or even an objective. And that is what makes him a hero and a legend.

I believe that Alex G is the modern day equivalent.

A boy trapped in a suburban bedroom with a computer and a microphone, who held onto love and spoke the truth. Despite the crumbling soul of the modern world around him.

Some people say that Jesse Welles is the modern Bob Dylan, but that is only a genre-association. Jesse Welles has merit, and he is a great singer and songwriter, but his music is in no way as revolutionary as Alex G.

I believe strongly that if the media landscape was more focused, then Alex G would have risen much higher and reached much further. Or perhaps due to his style, he would have been dismissed altogether. And of course, this is what would have happened to Bob Dylan if he hadn’t made the bold moves that he did and found the genre of American folk at the time that he did.

If there is one difference between the two artists, it would be that Dylan latched onto a tradition of American folk—but it is so obvious that this was not a marketing ploy, which is what makes him a legend similar to Alex G.

Of course, Alex G., and rightly so, had no traction to latch onto, as the heroic ideal of America had all but disintegrated by the 2000s.

that’s not to say that Alex G didn’t find a deep appreciation for America, with his latest work he leans heavily into country and southern culture.

Just like Dylan, who continually explores new American genres, such as his early 2000s album Triplicate, where he dives into the world of jazz standards.

In conclusion, if you disagree with me, name an artist with more integrity and originality than Alex G and I will tell you that you are delusional.