Problems with Today's Music and its Effects on Today's Children

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

"Drizzy Drake"

I can't help but ponder about the music industry these days and seriously wonder what is happening to the quality of pop/rap/R&B music. I didn't think the day would come so early, when I would start saying, "Back in the day (for me, the 80s and 90s), the music was amazing!" If you scroll through my IPOD, you will see a serious amount of pop, rock, rap and r&b music from the 1980s and 1990s - music that, in my opinion, had amazing authenticity, zest and soulfulness to it. Which artist today could possibly compare to Sade, Boys to Men, Tears for Fears, Tony! Toni! Toné!, and the list goes on! Interestingly enough, I am more than disappointed in how the music industry today packages artists out of their natural element and into some prototypical, cookie-cutter image in the name of sales. I am talking about guys like 50 Cent, Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, Drizzy Drake, to name a few. These artists claim to be "hard," but what do they even know about a hard knock life? These artists are prepackaged to look tough, rough, and people buy into the images because the look and the sound are enough to convince people that these artists know what it is like to live a rough lifestyle. If you spend some time seriously researching these artists' backgrounds, you'll be surprised to know the actual truth about their relatively tame origins.

Now, on the radio, songs have gone from relatively "sexual" to downright nasty. One of the songs that won't leave the airways these days is the song entitled, "Birthday Sex," by Jeremih. Some people may like it, but in my opinion, this type of song style is worse than music produced by Keith Sweat, which is really bad. I don't mean to pick on these artists, but I am seriously tired of hearing songs on the radio that should not be heard by young children (who walk around singing these lyrics and also implementing these words into their daily lifestyles). I understand that the music industry is very liberal and has the right to put out whatever songs it chooses to, but we need to be way more mindful about what the more popular radio stations (and television music channels) are choosing to play over and over again.

For those of you who may think that this music is simply a part of your culture, I beg to differ with you: since when is our culture based on drugs, sex and crime? Isn't there anything more substantial to urban or pop culture? I understand that these themes have always been present in music on some level (particularly since the days of Elvis Presley), but it has gotten substantially worse, and has arrived at one of the most base and disappointing levels of artistry - it even pains me to even call it "art." We need to re-evaluate the music that we choose to buy, listen to, and re-think what we allow to represent American music culture, as well as the overall culture of younger generations today. Otherwise, children today will unfortunately continue to be influenced by songs that may have a decent or good beat, but have zero substance and deleterious effects in the long run.