"Today, nobody cares..."

"Today, nobody cares but, tomorrow, they will" -- Lupe Fiasco

So, I know for a fact that I'm in the wrong generation. Today while I was cooking for my girlfriend, I was playing some Gregg Allman and she said it was hurting her ears. So I tried to find some common ground by playing Wynton. She still couldn't get with it. Who can't get with Wynton?!? Come on people. We have to listen to more than this super processed music that they feed us. All this Lady Gaga and Beyoncè is not good for our creative genius. The Waka Flockas and, yes, even the Cam'rons hinder our ability to grow intellectually.

This leads me to one of two conclusions:

Conclusion 1 - The entertainers of these days are not true musical artists. To be an artist, you should be making something that has more than a surface level value. "BOW BOW BOW!!!" has no value Mr. Flocka. Neither does "Uh oh Uh oh Uh oh Uh no no" Ms. Knowels (yes, Beyoncè was born with a last name and it was not Child). What happened to songs like "What's Going On?" that served as conversation pieces, much like the works of art on my end tables do? I want to be able to have a talk with my girlfriend about the social value of music that I hear on the radio, as opposed to the lack thereof. These days, I get excited to hear an entertainer who intellectually entertains, but even then, the entertainer is not putting out any sort of social commentary but instead he is just a great wordsmith.

Conclusion 2 - We are too dumb to appreciate real art. When our generation does get a true artist who makes conscious social comments, we put him/her on the same level as the intellectual entertainers/wordsmiths. Fabolous and Drake should not be put on the same level as Lupe Fiasco and Talib Kweli. We use Jill Scott's music to serve as background music while we make love as opposed to discussing the value of the lovemaking she is singing about. That's like paying for a stick of gum with a $100 bill and asking for no change; It undervalues the $100 bill and is just plain stupid.

Come on people! This is why contemporary music is more of a form of entertainment than an art form. Let's ask for more from our musicians and of ourselves. I want to think!!!!



Litera scripta manet. - Unknown