In today's world, we listen to music of all kinds, from blues to gospel, from country to hip-hop and R&B, but has anybody noticed how music has changed from when our parents were kids until now? Well I have, and I must say I’m starting to like the old stuff. Here’s why.
1.The sentiment in music has changed from “Honey, I love you” to “I just want to kiss you down low.”
2. In today's music, there is no substance. For example, rap music from the late 80's had meaning. Even when N.W.A did a dynamic change they kept it to its roots just as the Sugarhill Gang did. But now if you listen to so-called rap artists such Soulja boy, lil Uzi vert, etc., they’re just taking away the craft of real music and making noise.
3. Today's music is so dead. To the point that you have artists like Drake, Tory Lanz, June's Diary and Robin Thicke sampling great artists such as Marvin Gaye, The Winans, the late great Prince and as wall the King of Pop, the late Michael Jackson. They are trying to salvage what’s left of yesterday's pop culture into today's modern pop culture. Just like the poet/rapper Nas had once said on his 2006 album, "hip-hop is dead,” meaning the creativity and respect in lyrics no longer the same.
4. Musicians now don't work as hard. You have celebrities like Kanye West who claim that he’s a real artist and a musical genius, but in reality, if you listen to Quincy Jones and Prince they are the ones who are true musical geniuses. Why? Because artist like them took the time to learn all the instruments they wanted to work with and hone their craft. Don't get me wrong: there's nothing wrong with sampling. Just don't do it the way Robin Thicke and Pharrell did, which in their case led to a copyright lawsuit. This leads to point five.
5. Today's music lacks originality in terms of sampling and using other artists lyrics. In Motown, music had so much emotions and solidarity to the point you can imagine the lyrics as a masterfully painted portrait. Now you no longer have that any more. Well.... except for Beyoncé’s audio-visual, which to me is not the best but at least she trying hard to push boundaries and give offer us some creativity.
In today's music, we need more of that comfort, solidarity, substance and that flavor of respect instead of that that trash we listen to on the radio in the morning on our way to work. We just need the raw realness of yesterday’s music in our day-to-day life.