Pop Culture Commentary – Hip Hop

I think that the generational gap in music preferences is not so much a matter of culture as it is a matter of options. There are so many different genres of music and so many artists at our disposal that the older generations don’t need to get involved with new music if they don’t find it appealing. If they aren’t exposed to it, they probably won’t find a reason to listen to it, let alone prefer it over the music of their generation when they were teenagers.

As a child, my parents only listened to classical music, falling into the superstition that it would aid their children in developing a better level of intellect. So it wasn’t until I was in middle school, the typical years of rebellion, that I started listening to other genres of music including hip hop, rap, country, pop, and the usual Billboard Top 200 that my peers exposed me to. For the first time, I knew how my parents felt. It wasn’t that I was out of touch with the taste of my peers, but I found that because I was raised to listen to a specific type of music, I found that the more deviant the music was from what I used to, the harder it was for me to understand its appeal. I was accustomed to something more familiar to me.

To this day, I find that I still gravitate towards singer-songwriter artists who incorporate strings, orchestral accompaniment, a simple piano, or soothing guitar into their compositions. But I also know that when in the right social setting, I could “talk dirty” with 2 Chainz or “drop it low” on the dance floor with my friends.

I believe that this all has a lot to do with the amount of exposure a person receives to a specific type of music. I’ve noticed that my teachers and professors are more open to experiencing different tastes in music because they are around students and the younger generation the majority of the time. They pick up on our “culture” and are more in tuned with the digital age of remixes, rap, autotune, etc. Alternately, people placed in nursing homes or care units with others their age are less accustomed to today’s music because they aren’t exposed to it as often. The only time they may hear something from Billboard’s Top 200 is on a trip to the super market or in the waiting room of their dentist’s office.

Music itself will always be systematically the same. A major chord will always be a chord where the root, third, and fifth interval are held. The arrangement of the circle of fifths, which is what composers follow to transition from note to note will never change. This is all essentially the same. What has changed is the message.

I think that, though there is nothing wrong with a difference in genre preference, there is definitely a problem with what newer music is communicating to the youth of today. Songs by Frank Sinatra or the Jackson 5 were sweet and kind. Frank sings about “flying to the moon” when he realizes that he’s in love. Michael writes about “hearing a symphony” whenever the girl he’s sweet on is near him.

One topic that has been a popular subject of music, regardless of time period, is love. There is an enormous difference in what each generation believes “love” really is. According to older songs and lyrics of the time, love is the way someone looks at you, holds you, how very, very extraordinary they are to you. But today lyrics suggest that it’s the amount of money your sugar daddy can provide you, how many material things he can buy for you. That’s not what love is. That’s consumerism and lust blurring the senses. You love what the person gives you, not who they are. I think it gives people unrealistic ideas of what a relationship should be. It’s skewed a lot towards the sexual part of it, not the mental or emotional connection because we “ain’t got time for that.”

Elaborating on this, past lyrics describe sex as love making; something gentle, tender, hesitant, and sweet. This is why I like listening to music by artists like Kina Grannis or Jason Reeves who describe sex with words like “divine imperfections,” “entwined,” “together,” and “fragile.” They treat it as something intimate. Today, a lot of rap and hip-hop lyrics are more about sweaty bodies, grinding on a dance floor, under the influence of alcohol, that ultimately leads to being “f***ed up against a wall” during a one-night stand. I believe this is why some older generations find it vulgar and offensive, stating that the original genres of rap and hip-hop have somehow “died.”

What’s terrifying is that ideas like this are becoming the “norm” and younger girls are starting to believe that being treated like an object are socially acceptable. In rape culture, we are constantly blaming the victim. Why? She wasn’t the one doing the raping. She was raped. She didn’t commit the act, the rapist did. If a girl dresses provocatively, she is considered a slut because “she was asking for it.” But on the alternate side of the spectrum, a girl who dresses conservatively is considered a prude. A woman who demands to be respected is considered a “feminist.” And a woman who stands up for other women is a “dyke.” There is just no winning.

We live in a time when woman, especially young girls, are so insecure about themselves and will do anything to fit into societal expectations. Insecurity is being glamorized and taken advantage of. Rappers write about being able to get sexual favors from women just because they called their breasts or butt “sexy.” Maybe they talk about how good a woman’s curves look in her skimpy outfit and how that resulted in them getting laid that night. The idea of being called “beautiful” seems like something chivalrous but in my opinion, it’s the most basic form of a compliment you can give a woman. There are so many word in the English language and “beautiful” is the only lyric you can come up with? Nowhere do they mention the woman’s personality, her passion for painting, or her fear of spiders, how her grandmother passed away from breast cancer when she was just a little girl, or anything else that may define her as a person. She is just an object and if he “plays it right,” he’ll “get it in tonight.”

It’s disturbing. Women are losing their sense of dignity. We used to have artists like Destiny’s Child, TLC, and Queen Latifah singing about female empowerment. Today, most girl groups have disappeared. Who can young girls look up to now? I can only think of two: Little Mix and Fifth Harmony. Both groups are relatively unknown, though they spread the message of girl power with their songs “Salute” and “Miss Movin’ On.” Being female and growing up in this generation, I’ve been considered a “prude” and consider it an accomplishment that I have made it 22 years without being called a “slut” to my face. But why is this even something I have to worry about? I shouldn’t have to be proud of being called a prude over a slut. I should be proud of who I am as a person, a mind, a female. That’s the main problem with today’s music: the message, not the sound. No wonder the older generation doesn’t like it. I don’ t like it either.

#rapeculture #feminism #socialcommentary #metoo #hiphop