(REMEMBER, THIS IS STRICTLY MY OPINION. This is a 20 year old girl speaking only based off her knowledge and experience) *I don't want to come off as a hater* **I hope I don't come off as a hater**
I don’t like it. My dad still doesn’t like it. It’s his “fault” that I looked for other types of music when I was 14, because we were both so fed up with what we heard on the radio.
My question is…
Why are people so quick to say pop music is good?
Hear me out. A majority of the artists most of us know and love have been/are still, quote unquote “pop” musicians/artists. (i.e. Michael Jackson, some of Stevie Wonder’s works, some of Tupac, OutKast, Jay Z, Kendrick Lamar, etc) because by common knowledge and definition, POP music is the music that appeals to a large amount of people; it’s a shared love/appreciation/liking of a type of music or genre. It’s what sells the most. It gets the most radio play. It’s on the charts or whatever.
And some of these, what I’d call GOOD pop artists, are actually good. In my head though, I don’t consider them pop artists. I consider them what they’ve called themselves, or what genre or style some of their music fits them the most (i.e. Stevie is R&B/Soul, Justin Timberlake is blue eyed soul in some cases I guess, Alicia Keys at the beginning of her career was neo soul (sorry I know people hate that marketing term, but hey), Tupac is “good” Hip Hop/social commentary)
BUT most of the artists I hear on popular music mediums today (and for the last 20 years I’ve been alive) kinda suck (IMHO).
A LOT of the music is repetitive, one dimensional, and quite frankly, not that lyrically touching. A number of songs is ONLY about “party money sex let’s be different by singing another way to say party money sex”.
And a number of it sounds THE SAME. I know that producers see when a hit song is loved by the masses, so they tend to copy that sound, thus creating a whole new wave of music that generally sounds the same.
WHY. Why can’t people make music that COMES FROM THEIR HEARTS. I know not EVERYONE is in the mood to get buck or TURN UP EVERY FREAKING MINUTE.
And why does it all have to sound the same? I mean, how much of the techno rap pop can we take? I don’t wanna hate on EDM music, because I know that’s the wave now. I don’t like it, but I respect it as a solid genre and movement. I think pop music tends to take and take from the most popular genre of the moment, and “water it down” to make it more digestible for a large mass audience.
That’s what happened to jazz.
That’s what happened to rock.
That’s what happened to soul.
That’s what happened to punk.
That’s what happened to hip hop.
That’s what happened to R&B.
That’s what happened to edm.
I don’t listen to country, so I can never state my opinion on that… buuuuuuut *cough* Taylor Swift *cough*
On another note, most of these genres are wonderful. All of them actually. Because it’s music!!!
And yes, even if there wasn’t a deliberate way to produce and market some of these genres in such a way to make it more digestible, most of these would still be considered as “pop music”.
Why, you ask?
Because most of them are actually very popular in their own right! Hip Hop became popular once Sylvia Robinson decided to record Sugar Hill Gang, and created the “first rap single for the mass market”!
It became POPular!
As the years went on, Hip Hop went thru many phases. Of course, a number of us can easily see a decaying of artistry, talent, and an actual love of Hip Hop CULTURE, not just rapping, that has occurred in the last 20 years… but who am I to say that.
A lot of “hiphoppas” prefer the music of yester-decade. Because the artists took the time to perfect their craft and make music that was lyrically engaging; musically engaging as well as fun (because Hip Hop began as party music); and the artists were their own people.
Again: let’s not forget… Hip Hop began as party music! But the rappers weren’t going around saying the same old negative things that a number of rappers have been doing for a majority of Hip Hop’s existence. They were bragging and stating how much of a powerful emcee they were. They had to really focus and know what they were talking about, and be quick mentally in order to have a comeback. It was competitive, and engaging.
Anyway, I digress…
I think a lot of people DON’T like pop music because of the fact that a majority of what’s being exposed to us is… not that great (I’m trying to be nice)
They’re tired of the same lyrics, similar types of music, the overexposure and over hyping of artists, and the bad image a few of these artists actually express.
At a point, jazz was popular. It was/became POP music. There is NO denying that. But the music was different. It was a different time! Based off of my knowledge, not of the music actually sounded the same…
Same with Hip Hop… and the other genres I listed.
Sigh. Thank you for taking the time out to read this…
I wrote this because for the first time in 5 years, I decided to listen to the radio this morning.. and I got bored. Turned it off.
Sorry, but I’m just not into that stuff.
Any comments/questions? I would like to have a great discussion on this... but people,please don't be rude. We're all adults here (I'm assuming). Oh, and tell me if I'm wrong about the genres I've mentioned. Like I said in the beginning of this, this is only based off of my knowledge (which could be very flawed).
Thanks!
