Post by TomBeasley on Oct 5, 2009 2:48:10 GMT 10
First posted on my blog here.
The music industry is changing radically and I am definitely not happy about it. A massive majority of popular music these days seems to consist of people swearing into a microphone (see Dickhead by Lethal Bizzle) about how many girls they screwed at once last night.
It’s important for me to state at this point that I recognise it takes talent to write a rap song and I don’t believe for one second that every single one of them is as I am about to describe. Neither do I suggest that every rap fan is like this or that liking rap makes you a bad person. In fact, many of the rap fans I know are awesome people who I value as friends massively. I just don’t like the music or what it stands for.
Rap artists are basically filling the charts, which is worrying because 90% of rap songs are about how they violently assault people (Kim by Eminem) and have rampant sex with borderline whores (Fack by Eminem). Not exactly the kind of message that should be passed on to the youth of this country, surely? In fact, one of the most popular songs of this summer, Bonkers by Dizzee Rascal, contains the lyric “all I care about is sex and violence” which does somewhat worry me, especially given that every kid in the country was singing that not long ago. These are the people who young people look on as role models and therefore should sing about the kind of thing that we want our kids to believe, not the very stereotype they should be fighting their way out of.
As well as the worrying connotations of the songs, which are filled with positive references to drugs, sex and pretty much every other thing that is wrong with society, it isn’t as if the songs have much musical merit. Catchy choruses and flowery verse are a thing of the past with coarse shouting and screaming punctuated by the word “fuck” being hugely in vogue. Turning on the radio these days is like listening to a broken record as they have to blank out words almost alternately due to the sheer amount of explicit language used. Unfortunately, without the “Parental Advisory: Explicit Content” warning that adorns the front of their albums, rap would lose its connotation of rebellion and therefore a lot of its fan base.
Even worse, artists who make music of other genres (R&B being particularly guilty of this) are cashing in on the success of rap by having rap artists make appearances in their songs. Almost every song these days is “feat. Timbaland” or “feat. Jay Z”. They are unavoidable. All of the artists I enjoy the music of seem to be deciding to alienate their true fans in the hope they can corner the legion of adoring rap fanatics out there (Evacuate The Dancefloor by Cascada) which is completely unnecessary and makes me utterly convinced that they are completely in it for the money and don’t enjoy having a loyal fan base at all, which is just wrong in my opinion.
In conclusion, the old days of music are over and this generation is going to be known as the new coming of rap in the same way that the 50s heralded rock n roll. In many ways this is sad, but times change and it is ultimately unavoidable, which is sad. I guess I shall have to remain as something of which I am very proud... a hater.
Thank You For The Music? You Must Be Bonkers!
The music industry is changing radically and I am definitely not happy about it. A massive majority of popular music these days seems to consist of people swearing into a microphone (see Dickhead by Lethal Bizzle) about how many girls they screwed at once last night.
It’s important for me to state at this point that I recognise it takes talent to write a rap song and I don’t believe for one second that every single one of them is as I am about to describe. Neither do I suggest that every rap fan is like this or that liking rap makes you a bad person. In fact, many of the rap fans I know are awesome people who I value as friends massively. I just don’t like the music or what it stands for.
Rap artists are basically filling the charts, which is worrying because 90% of rap songs are about how they violently assault people (Kim by Eminem) and have rampant sex with borderline whores (Fack by Eminem). Not exactly the kind of message that should be passed on to the youth of this country, surely? In fact, one of the most popular songs of this summer, Bonkers by Dizzee Rascal, contains the lyric “all I care about is sex and violence” which does somewhat worry me, especially given that every kid in the country was singing that not long ago. These are the people who young people look on as role models and therefore should sing about the kind of thing that we want our kids to believe, not the very stereotype they should be fighting their way out of.
As well as the worrying connotations of the songs, which are filled with positive references to drugs, sex and pretty much every other thing that is wrong with society, it isn’t as if the songs have much musical merit. Catchy choruses and flowery verse are a thing of the past with coarse shouting and screaming punctuated by the word “fuck” being hugely in vogue. Turning on the radio these days is like listening to a broken record as they have to blank out words almost alternately due to the sheer amount of explicit language used. Unfortunately, without the “Parental Advisory: Explicit Content” warning that adorns the front of their albums, rap would lose its connotation of rebellion and therefore a lot of its fan base.
Even worse, artists who make music of other genres (R&B being particularly guilty of this) are cashing in on the success of rap by having rap artists make appearances in their songs. Almost every song these days is “feat. Timbaland” or “feat. Jay Z”. They are unavoidable. All of the artists I enjoy the music of seem to be deciding to alienate their true fans in the hope they can corner the legion of adoring rap fanatics out there (Evacuate The Dancefloor by Cascada) which is completely unnecessary and makes me utterly convinced that they are completely in it for the money and don’t enjoy having a loyal fan base at all, which is just wrong in my opinion.
In conclusion, the old days of music are over and this generation is going to be known as the new coming of rap in the same way that the 50s heralded rock n roll. In many ways this is sad, but times change and it is ultimately unavoidable, which is sad. I guess I shall have to remain as something of which I am very proud... a hater.
