The State of Music

I grew up in the 1970’s on music by Glady’s Knight and the Pips, Marvin Gaye, The Spinners, The O’Jays, Lou Rawls, The Jackson 5, and so many other R&B artists. Listening to the music, you felt it. It had heart and soul that you just connected with. When I got older my mother bought me my first record player, and the first 45 that I got was Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust.” I played the mess out that 45. I’ve always been the type of person who just loves music. If it sounds good to my ear, I’m into it.


I was driving home with my daughter one day and I’m flipping through the channels and then all of a sudden I said to her, “I feel sorry for your generation, because a majority of the music on the radio sucks.” All the music on the radio is monotonous. It all sounds the same, but every once in a while I’ll hear something that actually sounds good. Old R&B from the 1990’s on back I have no problem with, its some of this new R&B, but the problem I have with it is most of it has no heart and soul like R&B started out having. I’ve had to go online and find artist who are absolutely getting no airplay on the radio, and I’ve said, “This is where the heart of R&B is hiding.” The artists are online, but you have go and find them. Finding such artist as Jaguar, Janelle Monae, Lizz Wright, Myaisha, and I’m still on the look out for others, has given me hope that the heart of R&B is still alive.

What needs to be brought back is talent.  When the artist actually had the voice, and the talent, not just a look, and when you go to buy the album the only thing you like on it is what you heard playing on the radio and possibly one more track.  I've bought music like this and was highly upset, that the artist couldn't do any better than what they just put out here for people to buy.  I want to hear music that touched and opened the heart. It just made you melt. Music that when you played it you could feel it radiate through you because that's how good the music is.  I'm not even going to touch Hip Hop music.  I gave up on that back in the 90's.

I just find that now I listen to some new R&B, the old school music still touches me and has me saying to my daughter, "you don't know nothing about this!"  I then embarass her in the car singing and dancing a little while at a stop light.  I find now that I listen to soft rock, country, classical when I don't want to hear nothing else.  I love music, but I don't like the fact that the music has been butchered with monotonous tones being played over and over, through synthesised music instead of real instruments. Song by artist who all sound the same, coming out of the cookie cutter factory while some TRUE artist who deserve the exposure do not get it.  And maybe that's how they want it considering the fact that from what I've been hearing and reading a artist has to damn near sell their soul in order to be recognized and be put into the public eye.

Bottom line of it all is that I miss the good music.  You all can keep the cookie cutter artist I'm in search of discovering the REAL talent.