Monday, June 28, 2010

Where Has the Real Music Gone

Anyone who knows me knows that I am passionate about a few things other than my family and friends.  Music, basketball, writing and traveling to name a few, but I think I'll focus on music for now.  I come from a family where music is a constant.  Often times, it is the first thing that it turned on and the last to be turned off at night.  For me, music was introduced to me before I was born.  Mom said that she would play classical music while she was pregnant with me.  Also, sometimes when they were trying to put me to sleep as a baby, my parents would put me in the baby swing, put those huge headphones on me and press play.  They said it did the trick...I don't doubt them.  Even now, music is the only thing that can really calm me down. 

So there is the mini story to my slight obsession with music.  On to the real reason I started this posting.

At work, I like to keep my earphones on to drown out the constant noise of the office and concentrate and to maintain a small dose of sanity during the day.  Most of the people that come through are used to seeing me with them in and question me if my earphones are missing.  What can I say?  My earphones have become a part of me! 

Friday, while I was talking to the interns in my office, one of them asked what kind of music I listened to.  Instead of giving her an answer, I just handed her my mp3 player and focused on my computer screen knowing that there would be a few comments coming my way soon.  And I was right!  The music on my mp3 player ranges from rap to country to alternative to R&B.  I will never put classical music on there because its almost too relaxing.  She commented on this and I had to tell her that I get extremely bored with music.  

After all of this, I got to thinking about the music that came out while I was growing up.  It has definitely changed over the years, as well as the quality of it.  At one time, an artist was expected to have talent in order to snag a record deal, but now, as I read somewhere, someone only needs "a pulse" and I can't help but agree.  When I was younger, Tevin Campbell, Whitney Houston, Luther Vandross, Aaliyah and plenty of others were on the radio and to me, this was music.  These artists were truly talented and released albums that I constantly go back to time and time again.  Now the radio is playing music by Ke$ha, Sean Kingston and Rhianna, all who I would only consider entertainers with no real talent in the music world.  Yeah, they tell a good story, but I can honestly say that they will not go on to become legends.

To me, hip hop and r&b have become so disappointing that it's almost not even worth listening to.  There are a few that are still worth a listen, like Usher, Alicia Keys, Musiq to name a few, that have continued to come through.  Due to the lack of creativity and talent, I have begun to look to other genres to satisfy my need for good music and there is plenty of it out there.  

All of this made me wonder: There are campaigns to help Haiti and the AIDS epidemic.  If there are people out there who feel like I do, shouldn't there be a campaign out there to save the music from these fake "artists"?  

Maybe I'm rambling a little, but it's just a thought....

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