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?

 I find myself on Facebook and YouTube often, watching vines or informational videos, as well as inspirational videos and listening to music.  These aspects are what interest me most, and sites such as Facebook and YouTube allow me to view into such things on a regular basis.  Its how I keep up with whats going on in the music and lifting world today, as well as friends of mine so I can continually build my connections and friendships.  Its important for me to do so, because if I didn't have a clue on what was going on, especially with how rapidly things change and the events that people I know go through, I'd be in the dark as well as the dust of all those who would have the knowledge I wasn't able to obtain.
  In my opinion, I feel that these aspects of pop culture are positive in the sense that sites such as Facebook and Twitter allow people to connect and see what goes on with the friends or people they don't have contact with.  YouTube allows people to hear the music they like, watch the music videos that caught their attention, as well as see things that could make them laugh or even inspire them to become something more.  An example of videos that inspire many, an inspirational speaker named Eric Church makes training videos where he's not seen, but heard while a young athlete trains to become something better than he was before.  Videos such as these inspire people to go the gym and become strong so they no longer feel weak, videos that make people laugh allow them to detach from whatever could be bothering them at the time and smile a bit more.   Music videos as well as just songs on YouTube allow for people to listen to what they want to hear, when they want to hear, whether it be the new Kanye West album, or a new single released by another artist of their liking.  These aspects of pop culture bring people together by their interests and views on certain topics, and even though in some instances people disagree on an idea or view, it still allows people to communicate on any given topic.

Argumentative Higher Education Final

          Higher education is a goal that the vast majority of people strive for, knowing that the benefits it brings are great when it comes to a prosperous lifestyle off a stable income.  However, that idea of a prosperous lifestyle is often burdened by the debts that accumulate through  all the years in college to make such a lifestyle possible.  Not everybody who goes to college has to deal with debts that rack up around $80,000 in some cases, like one Darla M. Horn, who took responsibility recently for repaying her $80,000 in undergraduate loans, and even for medical students totaling around $113,000.  Ms Horn, in short, wanted to go to her dream college, and didn't really care about her finances in that time she attended NY College, leaving her home in a small Texas town on the Louisiana border in order to attend.  A happy handful if they play their cards right may only have around $20,000 in debt if they start out or only attend a community college.  Despite this however, the many who suffer from these massive debts far exceed the few who deal with the miniscule in comparison debts.  That still doesn't change the fact that college debt from borrowing leaves many people devastated in debt, and stuck repay said debts for many years even after they have graduated.  College education debts have grown to an absurd level since the 90's, and the loans borrowed ruin the livelihood of many students after they graduate.  Depending on the area of study, massive debts are understandable, such as medical or law.  However, when the major isn't in an area of study like those two the debts that are still accumulated by some college students become disturbingly high.  College is worth whatever it takes in order to have a successful future, but when the debts grow to be staggering and the major isn't medical or law related, the worth comes into question.

            The modern day is a great way to describe the situation.  College today is a not the same as it was a decade or two ago.  In a quote from "A Lifetime of Student Debt? Not Likely", written by Robin Wilson, "The average debt has more than doubled, from $9,250 in 1993 to $19,200 in 2003-4."  It only took 10 years for the  debt to double.  And even with that being said, that was a decade ago.  This can only lead to the conclusion that the debt is continually rising.  Today requires too much borrowed money in comparison to 1993, where the debt then didn't last as long as the debt of today.  With the debt having more than doubled since the early 90's,  it just shows how much is required to make something work out.  This leads me to another quote I found, that I can relate to rather well, as I'm sure many other can if not having already seen an example of.  Robert A. Sevier, senior vice president at Stamats Inc., a higher-education marketing firm in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, states "People live outside their means."  Many people  try to borrow more than they need in order to go to the college that they've wanted to go to since they were young children.  Many people borrow $40,000 when they should only have to borrow $20,000, but because many people desire more of their personal wants than the true needs that they should be able to live with.  Many people want to go to the big name schools, live in a dorm or frat, and take classes that they might not necessarily need.  It all adds up, and over time the additions of many of these extras that are not needed end up being the reason why the debts are so much higher than they should be. 

           Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of FinAid, a Web site about student aid, says it best in his quote:  "Many people don't pay attention to the debt, they want to be able to pay for the school they have wanted to go to for as long as they can remember, and they are willing to do whatever it takes."  What he means by this is that many people worry and think more about what's behind the doors of the college they want to go to, they don't think about the debt that will gradually become a chain that binds them to the school for most of their lives until the debt is fully paid.  Many people would rather go where they want to regardless what the backlash will be, and that backlash becomes the debt the accumulates over the many years they spend in their dream college.  The debt doesn't matter to them, as long as in the end they are where they want to be the idea of debt drops to the far back of their mind.

            In 1993, only 1.3 percent of graduation seniors had borrowed money currently equivalent to $40,000. by 2003-4, that number had jumped to 7.7 percent. That's more than a 5 times increase in students who needed to borrow to fund their time in college.  This proves that colleges are becoming more expensive.  With them becoming more expensive that adds on to the possibility of higher debts that students have to deal with in their lifetimes.  Take note as well, that the last poll was taken in 2003 from this article.  What would the percentage be now?  How many more college students will be spending and borrowing in the next generation?  These loans in a quote from Lauren J. Asher, who also presented the percentages and numbers stated from 1993 to 2004 a few sentences earlier, "can ruin someone for life."  There is so much truth within this one quote that it's hard for many people to bounce back from paying off all the loans and borrowed money that has accumulated over time.  In the picture above, a more recent examination of the rise of costs, provided by the article "America isn't ready for its future" by Adam Taggart, it shows how the rise not only grew from 1993 to 2004, but an even further span of growth, beginning from 1980 to 2010.  Where all these goods at one point use to cut even, college tuition has skyrocketed above all other costs, providing a more visual example of how the modern family finds it hard to afford the cost of college on its own without a form of support such as borrowing.  As shown, the cost of college far exceeds that of the modern family income.  Americas future is truly in trouble if these numbers were to continue growing at their current rate, but how could it can any worse you might ask?

            PatrickM. Callan says: “If we go on this way for another 25 years, we won’t have an affordable system of higher education.”  In this statement, Callan's words hold true.  As to prior statistics, If the increase noted earlier grew over the course of 20 years, take a moment to imagine if that were to double.  If the debts of most students grew according to this prediction, college and higher education as we know it would become unrealistically expensive.  The cost for the next generation, and the generations to follow would face hardships unlike those we face today.  Said hardships faced today are already crippling in some cases and weigh heavy on the accounts of many amongst us in America today.

              According to a young African-American student, who was not named in the article, “College is the key, as well as hope.”  His point is that in order for the newer generations to prosper in this ever-changing world,  college is the hand that guides and opens the door for possibility.  I strongly agree, as to the fact that my understanding is that for anyone regardless whether it's me or the person sitting across the room from me, college is what will truly aid in our progression through life as it continually grows more difficult than it was for the generations before us.  In order for college to be this key that we can rely upon to open the door however,  it must first be molded.  In order for it to become molded the education that acts as the molder must be affordable to those who wish to use it.  Unfortunately affordable isn't the case for many people, which is why the vast majority borrow if they don't come from wealthy homes.

            College becomes a starting point for the lives of many who attend once the degree is obtained.  It becomes the birthplace of many great memories and experiences that mold the lives of young adults who fully mature into the grown members of society in the modern day.  The problem is that all these factors of debt manifest into the reason why many don't attend college.  Some parents see what the bill will look like and the idea becomes abandoned in order to save a couple thousand that they believe could be used elsewhere.  Other people coming out of high school already have an idea of how expensive it will be and choose not to go.  This is why the potential debt of college that many people see and ignore could become real and thereby scare people into not wanting to go to college.  The flipside of this are the people that are oblivious to the looming debt that comes from them borrowing money in order to attend.  This is the craziness of debt, borrowed money, and their effects on those who attend and don't attend college.  Why does it matter?  This matters because of  how it detours some from joining the college masses, and also because of how it breaks the banks of those who do attend and borrow more than they need, like the room and board as well as other factors named earlier within the words of the paragraphs that preceded these.

            Although college is a necessity for all people looking for a prosperous life, it has shown that the debts that come as the end result for most becomes a deterrent to not go.  The thoughts of debt crushes many peoples hopes in some instances, and repels many people away.  College and higher education provide many benefits, however the debts that many acquire are abysmal and a terrible factor in the lives of college graduates as they gradually pay them off over their lifetimes.