I know, the title of this post is a little shameful, right? Everybody loves popular music – well at least most people. There have always been those random people in your group of friends who are more into Indie music or something that is so underground.
But the past two or three years, it feels like the music that was once popular is considered underground.
I’m showing my age, but I remember the days of real rappers like Dr. Dre, the Fat Boys, Naughty By Nature, the Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, Run DMC, Public Enemy, N.W. A. and Grand Master Flash.
Today you have artists like Cardi B., Nicki Minaj and these rappers who look like 14-year-olds with eyeliner tattoos all over their face with names that include symbols that should only be used in passwords to make their security stronger.
Don’t get me wrong – I like Cardi B. and Nicki.
Even Kanye West is starting to fall down the drain of crazy with all of this crazy Twitter talk about Drake and Travis Scott.
And speaking of Travis Scott, I had never heard of him until Kylie Jenner started dating him and now he has the number one album in the country? He’s not a bad rapper, but is he someone who is on the same level as Snoop Dogg or Eminem? No. No, he’s not. Neither is that Tyga guy that she dated for a while.
To be honest, popular music is falling by the waist side. Ariana Grande is very talented, but I feel like people care more about her life drama than her actual voice and music.
And some of the other female singers, BeBe Rexha and Dia Lupo, they just blend together, making me forget which is which. There’s nothing significant about them that makes them stand out. Think about Lady Gaga and how she was a force to be reckon with when she came out with “Just Dance.”
These artists, while some are extremely talented and others aren’t, are the music that today’s generation of teenagers are listening to these days.
What happened to the days of Christina Aguilera having a number one album and a song on top of the Billboard charts? Yes, Mariah Carey just released a new album, but has the single done well? Not really. What about Boyz II Men and other vocal harmony groups topping the charts? To be quite honest, I’m shocked that the Backstreet Boys had such a hit with “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” this year.
And maybe it’s because I’m a 38-year-old white girl from Georgia, but I just don’t get it. I have ALWAYS be in touch with what’s popular, listening to the newest artists, but these days? These days I’ve been listening to what I consider today’s standards – Kelly Clarkson, Backstreet Boys, Eminem – artists with actual talent.
I’ll be glad when this phase of “social media made me famous so now I can sing/rap” is over with and actual musicians with talent are topping the charts again.
