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It’s official: Today’s music aint for us.

Submitted by Sincero14 on Friday, 30 October 20099 Comments

jayzclaus

I read this article a few days ago and I had to hang my head in shame and find a corner to go SADDOWN in.

They write:

Apparently the BET Awards aired tonight. I wasn’t at all surprised by the number of tweets that showed up on my twitter timeline criticizing today’s music for not being lyrical enough, for being too violent, or otherwise not up to par. To that I say:

F*** OUTTA HERE!

If you believe that, most likely you are 25 and above. In fact, you might even be 21 and above. And, if that’s the case, current music is not for you to like. It’s not created for you, and really, it shouldn’t be created by people much older than you. Music has always been driven by young people. Young people are the ones who have hours to spend in their rooms listening to music. They also have parents who give them allowances with which to buy music. Young people have been responsible for almost every major music movement in this country from rock n roll to hip hop.

I guess I really just wasn’t ready to admit that I had jumped the shark myself. I thought I was still young enough to be ooh’d and ahh’d by the latest releases into mainstream music. In all reality I am, but this blogger does make some good points. I can’t say that I follow them word by word, but it gave me something to think about. I think I pointed out in a blog before that raunchy music is not new. People have been singing some pretty wild stuff since back before our grandparent’s time. Minnie Ripperton and other older singers had some songs that might make Trina blush (okay, not THAT bad, but still). However, we all justify that away with “but it was still better, and more complicated that the stuff out today”. Sure, maybe it was, but then again, the music that is out today is catering to a whole new generation of listeners. Not us.

This is a tough pill to swallow. I realize that the musical artists I love and adore are older than me, and may not be in the game much longer (JayZ…..I see you will NEVER lease so this aint about you). What will I do when these artists leave their craft for good? Why can’t I expect a 25 year old artist that grew up with the same good music that I did to actually be talented and produce great music beyond samples and autotunes?

That’s what gilds my lily. I understand that each generation will always have issues with the next, but these days we’re opening the door for talentless hacks to become musicians. With the overuse of Autotunes (even for rappers…who don’t even sing… they speak) and studio trickery, it’s like the C & C Music Factory scandal is actually the norm now. You remember, they had the cute skinny chick as their front woman, with a huge black lady backstage doing the actual soulful singing. I almost don’t see what the point is in going to concerts anymore. What you get is not what you see. But hey, years ago people didn’t think rap was music, but even then rap was a part of the hip hop culture. The MC, plus the DJ, plus the dancers, and the graffiti artist all worked together to create a culture. Rap is becoming separate of any culture and *shrugs* I’m just not ready for that.

I look to MJ as an example. MJ wrote songs about ANY and EVERYTHING. No one cared because it was good. Today, artists sing/rap/grunt about the same things: money, chicks, money, drugs, money, strippers, love, money, loving money, etc. Everythings sounds the same, which is why when a new song comes out and everyone loves it I think, “Well of course you do. Sounds just like the one that played before it!” I’m so out of touch. I just feel like people are becoming sheep to the music. While it may not be made for “my generation” anymore it’s still what’s blasted when “my generation” wants to go out. So if I have to deal with it, I feel like I can complain about it. Can someone tell me the draw to Gucci Mane? I feel like my mother when I say that I can’t understand a word that he says. Is he sincerely mentally challenged? Did he have a stroke or something? Suffering from some type of trauma? Please advise.

So I said that I understand what the blogger above was saying and that I’d take my “over the hill” self somewhere and sit down and shut up about it,  but then I continue to rant. I’m sorry, it comes with being old. You know old people speak their minds without caring about a dang on thing. So if I’m considered old now, then I can rant and rave about everything and you just have to “respect your elders”. LOL

So what do you think? Is music today only for the 20-below crowd? Should us “older cats” just shut up and let Soulja Boy be great? Can we only enjoy artists in and above our age range?

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9 Comments »

  • Shana said:

    The music now maybe geared towards the 20 and below, but even the 20 and below can realize crap when they hear it. My little sister, who is 14, grew up around good music so she knows good music when she hears it. Her and her friends can tell you till this day how they don’t like Soulja Boy and, like you JG, don’t have a clue what Gucci mane is saying. Today’s music is a lot about the hook, if you have a good hook then your almost guaranteed to go gold.

    As far as 25 being over the hill, they need to go somewhere and sit down. I am in a position to make my own money and make my own rules. I always thought of the 20 and under crowd as the 21 and up wannabes. They wanna drink alcohol, they wanna say that they make their own money, and they wanna be grown. If having the freedom that I have now means that I have to let go of mainstream, and their fickle ways then I will gladly trade. Now talk to me when I am 40 and have completely lost touch with the younger generation, and even then I may comeback out of retirement like Jay-Z.

    [Reply]

    - 30 October 2009 at 11:14 am
  • KSwills said:

    “Can someone tell me the draw to Gucci Mane?”

    I ask myself that very same question everytime I hear how “great” he & his music are. I don’t get it, and I’ve just decided to be okay with that.

    I find that these days, outside of Jay-Z, I don’t listen to much mainstream rap. I’m sick of listening to people talk about strippers, money, sex, bitches, hoes, f*ck niggas, icecream paint jobs, swagger (that they don’t really have) and any other silly thing you can think of. Maybe we are too old. *shrug* Like I said before, I’ll be that and just keep playing my Jay & OutKast if I want mainstream artist, because I refuse to flood my ears with this garbage they call music/hip-hop nowadays.

    [Reply]

    - 30 October 2009 at 11:37 am
  • G. Hylton said:

    I stopped listening to the radio 5 years ago. I was 18 at the time. That alone is proof positive that whatever that person was saying was fucking stupid.

    [Reply]

    - 30 October 2009 at 12:19 pm
  • Mr. Forbes said:

    Let it be, I’ve accepted it. Change is always hard. I got friends nearing 30 that I wish I could strangle with live jumper cables cuz they go on about KRS1, “the old Nas,” one hit wonder rappers that refused to reinvent themselves, etc. I’m 25 now realizing that will be me in no time. To me RAP = club music and that is all. If I want to party or be hype I listen to it. Jeezy is in the player every morning for that purpose. Hip hop tracks (even new ones) are just for me to remember things from the past. Neo-soul is where I now get my lyrical enjoyment from. So it is what it is.

    [Reply]

    Sincero14 Reply:
    October 30th, 2009 at 2:26 pm

    @Mr. Forbes, Only you would throw in the live jumper cables. I agree though. Rap does = club music so it probably really doesn’t matter what they are saying when it’s just for dancing and hitting on girls. GUCCI!

    Is it Christmas? What did I do for Mr. Forbes to grace my blog? I HAVE been a good girl. LOL

    [Reply]

    - 30 October 2009 at 12:52 pm
  • Robin Monique said:

    I reached this conclusion about two years ago. Mainstream music is indeed for teenagers. I don’t complain about what I don’t like, I just don’t listen. Prime example, I still bump Lil Kim and Trina but I don’t get Nicki Minaj. I’m just naturally partial to the music I grew up listening to. And hell, I liked Master P and Lil Jon. I can’t knock kids for liking Gucci and Soulja Boy. All I can do is support what I like. I’vew accepted it, I’m an old head. Lol. And that’s fine by me.

    [Reply]

    Sincero14 Reply:
    October 30th, 2009 at 2:38 pm

    @Robin Monique, I’m just so happy that I’m not alone in the misunderstanding of Nicki Minaj. I do feel like she’s trying to invoke Trina and old Lil Kim, but somewhere along the way she got lost in translation. Barbiedolls and robotic rapping. LOL

    VIVA LA OLD HEADS!!

    [Reply]

    - 30 October 2009 at 2:34 pm
  • Amadeo said:

    Music is not about a certain age group, but marketing is. Mainstream music should never be about an age group. That’s not even smart business. The thought that an entire genre of music is being geared towards one age group should actually say alot. You think Bruce Springstein didn’t get radio play on his last joint? The fact that any group of young people would try to claim hip-hop as theirs is actually (or someone older ascribing it to them) is preposterous…Hip-Hop is but a few years older then I am. The only people putting out music for an age group is Disney…and they’re actually suspect.

    [Reply]

    - 30 October 2009 at 3:11 pm
  • Amadeo said:

    I think you also have to take into account…how many of these top selling rappers are older then 25…Hell, Jay-Z is older then me.

    [Reply]

    - 30 October 2009 at 3:22 pm

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