Mainstream Musics Decline

            Music plays a huge role in society today.  It's the music in movie soundtracks that sets the mood for scenes, the sounds you hear throughout sporting events, and what you hear blasting from car stereos, ipods, and iphones everywhere you go.  Even though the technology was a little different at its birth, rap and hip-hop music have always been this way.  However, something has changed within the last decade that has in many people's view crippled these forms of music from what made them great in the first place: Lyrical power and quality.  Many people prefer to listen to the older generations of mainstream music than today's because of reasons such as these, and it's a damn shame.  The lyrical power and quality of most mainstream Hip-Hop/Rap music today is weak in comparison to that of the 90’s and early 2000’s because not as much time or thought is put into each song.

           Back in the 90's, also considered "The Golden Era" of hip-hop, many great artists and groups began to flood mainstream music.  These artists would later become inspirations to the mainstream artists of today.   According to hiphoptop10s.com, Wu-Tang Clan, A Tribe Called Quest, and Outkast were some of the strongest groups in hip-hop and rap at the time, as well as immortalized artists such as Biggie Smalls and 2pac, who will forever be remembered in the industry.  What made these artists great however, was their quality of music and lyrical prowess.  Their songs were not compilations of catchy one liners but filled with an abundance of smooth flows and impeccable word-play.  Biggie Smalls "Hypnotize" and "Juicy" were both lyrical master pieces in many people's eyes.  In 'Hypnotize" he fluidly flows from pen to persian in one of his rhymes, even though they don't look like they would sound the same by the way they are written.  He in turn makes this not only a song that was popular in its time, but still a solid piece of work that is respected to this day by those who listen to it for its quality because it is not some modern day catchy tune, but a catchy tune from the past that was very strong lyrically.   In "Juicy", each of his verses were like a river, completely fluid from start to finish.  The lyrical skill put into both of those tracks, as well as the quality of the music itself was what made those songs so great.

           The mainstream music of today is in most cases garbage.  Artists such as Drake are respectable for a handful of songs, but he also contributes to the vast majority of artists today who make their music of catchy one liners and acronyms.  He is one of the few today that could excel lyrically, but he chooses to produce music and short quotes that are honestly over quoted on a daily basis.  But hey, YOLO right?  Other artists out today that contribute to this mainstream massacre, or take over are sort of over hyped.  2 Chainz is another one of those artists who in songs played on the radio today isn't that powerful or talented lyrically, but he can definitely make a catchy line to be used in multiple occasions.  You might notice it some time, a fine female walks down the hall and you might catch a guy break out a couple seconds later like "Look back at, whoa!  Look back at it, whoa!"  Or maybe out of the blue you'll hear something along the lines of "She got a big booty, so I call her big booty".  Its lines like these that fill the air waves and are in my opinion as well as others not that interesting or complex.  A fifth grader could come up with half these lines, that's how simple mainstream songs are becoming as far as some lyrics are concerned.  Artists like Future, who has a song like "Honest" isn't showing much variety in this mainstream hit.  Variety meaning rhyming a word with something other than the same word is not displayed here.  He ends just about every line with "I'm just being honest", and in all honestly, no pun intended, it doesn't show much time or thought put in, which is what looks like is happening to most of mainstream music today.

           Quality and lyrical skill is what truly makes a great song.  As the years have passed however quality has started to disappear.  Where a good song in the 90's had a wide variety of rhymes for every verse, a good song today repeats the same word or phrase repeatedly over the course of a verse or a whole song.  In his first verse of "Juicy", a song from the 90's, B.I.G. drops nine different bars, or a measure from when one set of rhymes starts to when it ends, like "I use to read word up magazine, Salt 'n' Pepa and Heavy D up in the limousine", and doesn't repeat one word to rhyme with the same word once.  An example of these modern day songs where repetition is abused are "Versace" where Drake repeats the same word 5 times for a line, and that same word is repeated throughout the chorus not even half a minute later 18 times.  It may be catchy to some, but as far as quality goes it does show too much.  There is also the matter of songs like "Honest" by Future, who's word choice for each rhyme is always the same.  Songs like these today are overplayed on radio stations and don't hold a candle to the music produced a decade and a half ago.

           Now some may say that the music of today far exceeds the music of the past generations.  They might claim that Biggie and Pac were dope, but Lil’ Wayne, Drake, and Tyga are the best in the game today, overlooking artists such as Kendrick Lamar and Big K.R.I.T. or Joey Badass.  Unfortunately, these claims come from a lot of middle school and high school kids who find little interest in music produced a decade and a half ago.  Upon hours of tedious searching, I could not find one site or source the backed these claims.  Even searching “Modern day Mainstream is great” led me to forums and conversational threads where just about everyone bashed modern day hip hop and rap, referring to it as garbage and similar terms.  A post on a forum, known as GiantBomb.com shares my thoughts exactly.  The post, #10by JazzyJeff states “There’s some good stuff, but it’s mostly garbage. Kind of a shame…”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-kkQ3MBniE&feature=player_detailpage

This video shows a number of different views and takes on how lyricism is or isn't making a comeback into modern music, and how artist such as Lil Wayne and Rick Ross are not the same lyrically as artists such as Kendrick Lamar or Big K.R.I.T.  In the “mainstream bucket” as they mentioned, lyricism is sparse.  They also noted that big mainstream artists like Lil’ Wayne and Rick Ross are not as high on lyricism as people like Kendrick and K.R.I.T. are.  What was stated and has been noted through this paper, was that what’s big in mainstream music and what captures a lot of attention today are hot beats, not so much what’s said or put forth in the lyrical aspect.  This justifies how when I said that the quality of music today is not as solid as what was made in the “Golden Era” of rap and hip-hop music.  They also noted that other artists today like Chief Keef are not as strong lyrically as a Big K.R.I.T. because they did not study or fashion their style of music after older generation rapper like Dr. Dre and Bun B.  Both of these artists are also from the 90’s, verifying that quality wise and lyrically, the 90’s and early 2000’s were stronger in mainstream music.

            There's also a point that the music of today is not being produced or made to the fullest.  In an article called "Why Conscious Rap Does Not Sell", written by ProfessU, rapper Trinidad James discusses how his music is more about the numbers on the check than the message delivered.  Going deeper into the article, this point was proven through the lyrics of long time rap presence, Jay-Z.  The article pulls lyrics from his song "Moment of Clarity":  "Hustlers and boosters embrace me and the music I be making, I dumbed down for my audience to double my dollars, They criticized me for it, yet they all yell “holla”, If skills sold, Truth be told I’d probably be, Lyrically Talib Kweli, Truthfully I wanna rhyme like Common Sense”  Through his lyrics he states that he could rap differently, but it wouldn't provide as much of a profit as if he dumbed down his lyrics as he does now.  By the sound of it, today's music is more about money than it is quality.

           Mainstream music has gone to waste over the last few years.  According to Mike Lynn, a blogger,  "Mainstream music has gone downhill and is gradually getting worse by the day"  Many have noticed that, and a decent sized group has not.  Quality of music is just as important as how catchy it is.  This generation however bypasses the aspect of quality, and as consumers, only look for the freshest beat that catches their attention and a line or phrase that they can over use and pull out in any situation as stated with the 2 Chainz reference earlier.  There isn’t much quality in music if all you’re saying is “Versace, Versace, Versace, Versace, Versace” to make part of a verse, or ending every couple of words in each verse with “I’m just being honest”.  There just isn’t as much thought of power behind most of the lyrics in the music that’s been produced the last few years.  They may have worded it differently through all of their views, but Mike Lynn, #10by JazzyJeff, Mike, Ken, and the others from the video agree that the lyrical power and quality of most mainstream Hip-Hop/Rap music today is weak in comparison to that of the 90’s and early 2000’s because not as much time or thought is put into each song.

Mainstream Music's Decline

             Music plays a huge role in society today.  It's the music in movie soundtracks that sets the mood for scenes, the sounds you hear throughout sporting events, and what you hear blasting from car stereos, ipods, and iphones everywhere you go.  Even though the technology was a little different at its birth, rap and hip-hop music has always been this way.  However, something has changed within the last decade that has in many people's view crippled these forms of music from what made them great in the first place: Lyrical power and quality.  Many people prefer to listen to the older generations of mainstream music than today's because of reasons such as these, and it's a damn shame.  The lyrical power and quality of most mainstream Hip-Hop/Rap music today is weak in comparison to that of the 90’s and early 2000’s because not as much time or thought is put into each song.

            Back in the 90's, also considered "The Golden Era" of hip-hop, many great artists and groups began to flood mainstream music.  These artists would later become inspirations to the mainstream artists of today.   According to HIpHopTop10s.com, Wu-Tang Clan, A Tribe Called Quest, and Outkast were some of the strongest groups in hip-hop and rap at the time, as well as immortalized artists such as Biggie Smalls and 2pac, who will forever be remembered in the industry.  What made these artists great however, was their quality of music and lyrical prowess.  Their songs were not compilations of catchy one liners but filled with an abundance of smooth flows and impeccable word-play.  Biggie Smalls "Hypnotize" and "Juicy" were both lyrical master pieces in many people's eyes.  The lyrical skill put into both of those tracks, as well as the quality of the music itself was what made those songs so great.

            The mainstream music of today is alright at times, but in most cases garbage.  Artists such as Drake are respectable for a handful of songs, but he also contributes to the vast majority of artists today who make their music of catchy one liners and acronyms.  He is one of the few today that could excel lyrically, but he chooses to produce music and short quotes that are honestly over quoted on a daily basis.  But hey, YOLO right?  Other artists out today that contribute to this mainstream massacre, or take over are sort of over hyped.  2 Chainz is another one of those artists who in songs played on the radio today isn't that powerful or talented lyrically, but he can definitely make a catchy line to be used in multiple occasions.  You might notice it some time, a fine female walks down the hall and you might catch a guy break out a couple seconds later like "Look back at, whoa!  Look back at it, whoa!"  Or maybe out of the blue you'll hear something along the lines of "She got a big booty, so I call her big booty".  Its lines like these that fill the air waves and are in my opinion as well as others not that interesting or complex.  A fifth grader could come up with half these lines, that's how simple mainstream songs are becoming as far as some lyrics are concerned.  Artists like Future, who has a song like "Honest" isn't showing much variety in this mainstream hit.  Variety meaning rhyming a word with something other than the same word is not displayed here.  He ends just about every line with "I'm just being honest", and in all honestly, no pun intended, it doesn't show much time or thought put in, which is what looks like is happening to most of mainstream music today.

            Quality and lyrical skill is what truly makes a great song.  As the years have passed however quality has started to disappear.  Where a good song in the 90's had a wide variety of rhymes for every verse, a good song today repeats the same word or phrase repeatedly over the course of a verse or a whole song.  Examples of these songs are "Versace" where Drake repeats the same word 5 times for a line, and that same word is repeated throughout the chorus not even half a minute later 18 times.  It may be catchy to some, but as far as quality goes it does show too much.  There is also the matter of songs like "Honest" by Future, who's word choice for each rhyme is always the same.  Songs like these today are overplayed on radio stations and don't hold a candle to the music produced a decade and a half ago.

            Now some may say that the music of today far exceeds the music of the past generations.  They might claim that Biggie and Pac were dope, but Lil’ Wayne, Drake, and Tyga are the best in the game today, overlooking artists such as Kendrick Lamar and Big K.R.I.T. or Joey Badass.  Unfortunately, these claims come from a lot of middle school and high school kids who find little interest in music produced a decade and a half ago.  Upon hours of tedious searching, I could not find one site or source the backed these claims.  Even searching “Modern day Mainstream is great” led me to forums and conversational threads where just about everyone bashed modern day hip hop and rap, referring to it as garbage and similar terms.  A post on a forum, known as GiantBomb.com shares my thoughts exactly.  The post, #10by JazzyJeff states “There’s some good stuff, but it’s mostly garbage. Kind of a shame…”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-kkQ3MBniE&feature=player_detailpage

This video shows a number of different views and takes on how lyricism is or isn't making a comeback into modern music, and how artist such as Lil Wayne and Rick Ross are not the same lyrically as artists such as Kendrick Lamar or Big K.R.I.T.  In the “mainstream bucket” as they mentioned, lyricism is sparce.  They also noted that big mainstream artists like Lil’ Wayne and Rick Ross are not as high on lyricism as people like Kendrick and K.R.I.T. are.  What was stated and has been noted through this paper, was that what’s big in mainstream music and what captures a lot of attention today are hot beats, not so much what’s said or put forth in the lyrical aspect.  This justifies how when I said that the quality of music today is not as solid as what was made in the “Golden Era” of rap and hip-hop music.  They also noted that other artists today like Chief Keef are not as strong lyrically as a Big K.R.I.T. because they did not study or fashion their style of music after older generation rapper like Dr. Dre and Bun B.  Both of these artists are also from the 90’s, verifying that quality wise and lyrically, the 90’s and early 2000’s were stronger in mainstream music.

            Mainstream music has gone to waste over the last few years.  Many have noticed that, and a decent sized group has not.  Quality of music is just as important as how catchy it is.  This generation however bypasses the aspect of quality, and as consumers, only look for the freshest beat that catches their attention and a line or phrase that they can over use and pull out in any situation as stated with the 2 Chainz reference earlier.  There isn’t much quality in music if all you’re saying is “Versace, Versace, Versace, Versace, Versace” to make part of a verse, or ending every couple of words in each verse with “I’m just being honest”.  There just isn’t as much thought of power behind most of the lyrics in the music that’s been produced the last few years.  The lyrical power and quality of most mainstream Hip-Hop/Rap music today is weak in comparison to that of the 90’s and early 2000’s because not as much time or thought is put into each song.

Is Lyricism Coming Back To Mainstream

  This video shows a number of different views and takes on how lyricism is or isn't making a comeback into modern music, and how artist such as Lil Wayne and Rick Ross are not the same lyrically as artists such as Kendrick Lamar or Big K.R.I.T.

Lyricism in pop culture music of today

When view from the standpoint of an artist of today, mainstream music of today is lacking in lyrical power.

I will be successful with this thesis because I can provide many sources to prove that, as well as a deep understanding of what lyricism brings to music and how it makes songs better.  Also, by writing from the standpoint of a modern day artist, I can show how lyricism is a foundation-like element and how some songs just don't match up to others because they miss that element.

Naysayer Backup

According to Bill Myers Online, fast food is beneficial to many Americans because of its conveniency.  It can be found in many places throughout a single city or town, and when people are in a rush or under a time crunch they can obtain the food without leaving their car.  With the efficiency of drive through windows, the food is delivered quicker when it’s ordered.  MSN Money also makes note that on top of convenience, “the food is also very inexpensive.” 

The Naysayer

Fast food is the reason why America has become the most obese country in the world.  The amount of filth produced from these establishments that are are distributed on a daily basis to children and adults alike are the reason why people gain more weight than desired, and produces the end result that surrounds us today, an unhealthy nation.
  Some might say that fast food is essential to the working class and the poor.  It gives an easy, quick meal to anyone for a few bucks.

Simple Pop Culture Evaluation

Miley Cyrus, otherwise known as Hannah Montana when she was still a saint and young woman.  Now she is at the forefront of pop culture, twerking away her innocent image she had created growing up as a star of a very popular Disney show.  Think about that for a moment, shes pulled a totally 180 from how she use to be, and those who watch MTV and VH1 couldn't be anymore proud, unlike those of Disney.  She use to be the role model for young girls everywhere, including my sister, but her type of fans have likely changed, whether by personal disgust, or by protective parents who dont want their little girls to know or see what she's become.  It's a shame in a way, that a person so respect for the right reasons could still be so respected, but by i different audience and crowd of people, not to mention an opposite set of reasons.  This displays how much of pop culture today has to do with a sometimes negatively influential  idol, whether its because they twerk in front of many people on a national stage, or because they're living the high life on the popular drugs around today.  When I think about it, pop culture hasn't changed much.  Marilyn Monroe is the idol of many today for a similar reason, though the reason has really evolved from that era.  Sex sells, and its true by what Miley represents when she does her thing.  Is this what pop culture should  be though?  Is pop culture supposed to be a child star evolving to a naked woman on a wrecking ball?