Since the revolution of music and artists breaking the mold for what everyone is used to, there has aways been reasons to question the validity of new sounds and genres.
More recently, with Hip-Hop becoming the most popularly loved music form in probably the entire world - it has branched off and grown in areas that traditional hip-hop lovers find confusing and unsettling.
Whether it is "The South", "Tight Jeans", "Solja Boy", "Autotune", or other scapegoats for the direction hip-hop has branched to . . . it makes me think about not the music itself that is the cause for an outcry, but the market of the music.
No matter how much you claim to dislike what you hear on the radio today, it is there for a reason. Great musicians aren't getting their shot, under talented artists are becoming today's stars - but have you ever wondered why? If there is a market for Autotune and tight jeans, and songs that revolve around a ridiculous dance - then it is going to continue to become more prevalent (as it does everyday). Consumers are consuming it - providing millions of YouTube views - thousands of downloads - paying for it - BUYING it. Record labels are businesses, so why wouldn't they put out music that appeals to the masses? That is how they make money after all. So when you say Solja Boy is bringing down hip-hop . . . No, he is just running in a lane that is currently supported heavily by consumers. YOU. There is not a music dictator that forces anything onto the public. Record companies aren't responsible for spoon feeding music to listeners. They are responsible for making shareholders happy, for producing money making entities, and the only way to do that is to put out music that the public will consume.
Today's music market is about instant gratification. The everyday radio listener isn't looking for a classic album, they are looking for something to make them feel upbeat on the way to work stuck in traffic. Or a dance song to listen to in their favorite nightclub. The music market has turned what used to be all about creating an ALBUM, or a CAREER, into creating a HIT SONG. It has brought down the quality of music for all of the wrong reasons, but guess what - we as consumers are the music market.
So for everyone who complains that real hip-hop is no longer appreciated, and that it is being changed into something that it wasn't meant to be - who cares? If your favorite artists are still out their making music that you enjoy, what does it matter what video Flo Rida and Lady Gaga are releasing on MTV? If you aren't a fan of the music, then you do not have to listen to it, you do not have to support it, and you do not have to CONSUME it. If you support the artists and the genre of hip hop (yes, hip hop has turned into a large span of genres) that you like to listen to, then that's all that matters.
If you hate what you hear on the radio, then change the channel. Buy and Ipod. Get Sirius/XM Radio. But if you listen to it, and CONSUME it, you are contributing to its growth. Instead of hating on music you don't like, focus on the music that you love.
By the way . . . I HATE a lot of music. HAHA
This is an interesting take on this subject, from a musician's perspective. LISTEN!
"They say Hip-Hop is dead I beleive its just the fans..."
More recently, with Hip-Hop becoming the most popularly loved music form in probably the entire world - it has branched off and grown in areas that traditional hip-hop lovers find confusing and unsettling.
Whether it is "The South", "Tight Jeans", "Solja Boy", "Autotune", or other scapegoats for the direction hip-hop has branched to . . . it makes me think about not the music itself that is the cause for an outcry, but the market of the music.
No matter how much you claim to dislike what you hear on the radio today, it is there for a reason. Great musicians aren't getting their shot, under talented artists are becoming today's stars - but have you ever wondered why? If there is a market for Autotune and tight jeans, and songs that revolve around a ridiculous dance - then it is going to continue to become more prevalent (as it does everyday). Consumers are consuming it - providing millions of YouTube views - thousands of downloads - paying for it - BUYING it. Record labels are businesses, so why wouldn't they put out music that appeals to the masses? That is how they make money after all. So when you say Solja Boy is bringing down hip-hop . . . No, he is just running in a lane that is currently supported heavily by consumers. YOU. There is not a music dictator that forces anything onto the public. Record companies aren't responsible for spoon feeding music to listeners. They are responsible for making shareholders happy, for producing money making entities, and the only way to do that is to put out music that the public will consume.
Today's music market is about instant gratification. The everyday radio listener isn't looking for a classic album, they are looking for something to make them feel upbeat on the way to work stuck in traffic. Or a dance song to listen to in their favorite nightclub. The music market has turned what used to be all about creating an ALBUM, or a CAREER, into creating a HIT SONG. It has brought down the quality of music for all of the wrong reasons, but guess what - we as consumers are the music market.
So for everyone who complains that real hip-hop is no longer appreciated, and that it is being changed into something that it wasn't meant to be - who cares? If your favorite artists are still out their making music that you enjoy, what does it matter what video Flo Rida and Lady Gaga are releasing on MTV? If you aren't a fan of the music, then you do not have to listen to it, you do not have to support it, and you do not have to CONSUME it. If you support the artists and the genre of hip hop (yes, hip hop has turned into a large span of genres) that you like to listen to, then that's all that matters.
If you hate what you hear on the radio, then change the channel. Buy and Ipod. Get Sirius/XM Radio. But if you listen to it, and CONSUME it, you are contributing to its growth. Instead of hating on music you don't like, focus on the music that you love.
By the way . . . I HATE a lot of music. HAHA
This is an interesting take on this subject, from a musician's perspective. LISTEN!
"They say Hip-Hop is dead I beleive its just the fans..."
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