Mindless Self Indulgence: Tearin’ Up the Christian iTunes Charts!

It’s typical for most press releases be cast aside but this is most certainly a case all unto itself and deserves an opportunity to be heard (read), “Philadelphia, PA.—NYC electropunk outfit Mindless Self Indulgence has been asked by iTunes to change the genre that they are filed under. Presently MSI is filed under ‘religious’ because of their devout fan base and cult-like following (currently having shipped 180,000 CD’s in the last year alone). Apparently this has angered some Christian organizations who have filed complaints with the digital music giant to get the band’s music removed from that category. Several Christians appear to have purchased the seemingly offensive material, on faith, even though it clearly was marked as being explicit material. Part of what seemed to annoy them was how well MSI’s album, You’ll Rebel To Anything, did reaching #27 on the iTunes Christian/gospel charts! When asked what he thought of this controversy, MSI’s singer, Jimmy Urine had this to say… “It was iTunes, not us, that interpreted “religious” to mean Christian. What is offensive to some people is obviously inspirational to others. To our fans this IS inspirational music. I have no intention of changing the genre listing of this album.”

Purchasing an album under the pretense that it represents Christian-based content despite song titles such as “Stupid MF,” “2 Hookers and an 8 Ball” and “Bullshit”?! Ever heard of blind faith? Being a casual fan of the band (in all fairness – who doesn’t love electroshock hip hop covers?) it’s easy to take the band at face value, however I’m sure there are those who believe the band to be a true source of inspiration. Some might say it’s inspiring that a band with so little musical talent sells almost two hundred thousand CDs a year (or even a million CDs, see: Hinder), while some might actually find solace in lil’ Jimmy Urine’s over-the-top lyrics or the band’s disarming musical attempts. Either way, it’s still fairly hilarious to know that even one person seeking a new-breed of evangelist ended up with an album sounding more like KMFDM on crank.

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