By DARIUS SHU CHEN KEONG
Pop music has evolved into a very narcissistic industry and they literally feed the public on what to listen rather than focusing on the authenticity of the music. Majority of lyrics today no longer has its depth and lacking good content. Is the industry implying that our generation is more narcissistic in attitude through its lyrics?
Listening to my favourite songs, most lyrics nowadays seemed to emphasis on individuality such as ‘I’ and ‘me’ showing how self-centered we have become these days.
We live in a generation where repetitive music is considered ideal. Vulgarity and swearing have become a norm and most songs nowadays associate with situations of ‘partying in a club’ such as LMFAO’s Party Rock Anthem or Black Eyed Peas’ I Got A Feeling; hatred and cheating on relationships songs such as Charli XCX’s Break The Rules or Ariana Grande’s Problem.
I feel that the lyrics of songs during the era of the 70s and 80s relate towards the theme of positive love and togetherness.
The music in that era has become a classic with their meaningful lyrics. Bands such as ABBA, The Beatles, Bee Gees and Aerosmith became famous during the 70s and 80s because of their in-depth songwriting. Today, it is almost impossible to avoid auto tune and various synthesisers to the instruments.
Music videos today tend to focus on sexual themes with many rap videos empowering the ‘gangsta’ image such as Drake’s Worst Behavior and Kanye West’s No Church in Wild. Sadly, the encouragement to embrace violence, vulgarity and elements of sex with a certain perception to the role of the African-American people will only continue to degrade the mindset of our generation.
I believe there are singers with great songwriting talent but who are prohibited by their record label to write their own songs. The record label prefers to hire an expert to write songs for the singers as these experts are deemed to know what appeal to the public.
Therefore, the contents of most songs are very similar and these songs are just another product of the ever evolving pop culture.
What makes our generation listen to pop music when there are more genres to explore?
For me, it is an undeniable fact that we are constantly bombarded repeatedly with the same music on our television, radio and streaming services. Maybe it is just another way to fit in with the crowd because it would be easier to communicate with like minded people.
There is no end to pop culture. Music is no longer just for entertainment but has become a money-making machine. The influence is big and it moves people everywhere around the world physically and mentally.
What we Gen Y can do is to get out of our comfort zone and explore new music from the young talents, who gets lesser attention in our media nowadays.
Expand your music genres beyond pop music and try to listen to songs that brings positivity to your lives.
Take a look at your parents’ old records or tapes because you never know that what you may find could change the way you listen to music forever.
Listening to my favourite songs, most lyrics nowadays seemed to emphasis on individuality such as ‘I’ and ‘me’ showing how self-centered we have become these days.
We live in a generation where repetitive music is considered ideal. Vulgarity and swearing have become a norm and most songs nowadays associate with situations of ‘partying in a club’ such as LMFAO’s Party Rock Anthem or Black Eyed Peas’ I Got A Feeling; hatred and cheating on relationships songs such as Charli XCX’s Break The Rules or Ariana Grande’s Problem.
I feel that the lyrics of songs during the era of the 70s and 80s relate towards the theme of positive love and togetherness.
The music in that era has become a classic with their meaningful lyrics. Bands such as ABBA, The Beatles, Bee Gees and Aerosmith became famous during the 70s and 80s because of their in-depth songwriting. Today, it is almost impossible to avoid auto tune and various synthesisers to the instruments.
Music videos today tend to focus on sexual themes with many rap videos empowering the ‘gangsta’ image such as Drake’s Worst Behavior and Kanye West’s No Church in Wild. Sadly, the encouragement to embrace violence, vulgarity and elements of sex with a certain perception to the role of the African-American people will only continue to degrade the mindset of our generation.
I believe there are singers with great songwriting talent but who are prohibited by their record label to write their own songs. The record label prefers to hire an expert to write songs for the singers as these experts are deemed to know what appeal to the public.
Therefore, the contents of most songs are very similar and these songs are just another product of the ever evolving pop culture.
What makes our generation listen to pop music when there are more genres to explore?
For me, it is an undeniable fact that we are constantly bombarded repeatedly with the same music on our television, radio and streaming services. Maybe it is just another way to fit in with the crowd because it would be easier to communicate with like minded people.
There is no end to pop culture. Music is no longer just for entertainment but has become a money-making machine. The influence is big and it moves people everywhere around the world physically and mentally.
What we Gen Y can do is to get out of our comfort zone and explore new music from the young talents, who gets lesser attention in our media nowadays.
Expand your music genres beyond pop music and try to listen to songs that brings positivity to your lives.
Take a look at your parents’ old records or tapes because you never know that what you may find could change the way you listen to music forever.