2008 Woodie Awards
A lesson in music appreciation
Jesse Kimbrel
Issue date: 3/13/08 Section: Opinion
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Yeah, there are some good bands out there, even some great ones, but it seems for the most part, the majority of music today is filled with former American Idol contestants.
What the hell? What happened to good, wholesome gangsta rap or rock music being written on heroin? Now we have pop stars popping more pills than rock stars and rappers shooting e-mails instead of gats.
From my understanding, Kanye West and 50 Cent released their last albums on the same day. I am color blind, but isn't that like wearing royal blue in a Blood-dominated hood?
West sold more records upon release than 50, yet he's not dead. Mr. Cent is a bad looking dude, and even he let this stand.
The Wu-Tang Clan would've brought the ruckus and sewed Kanye's anus closed if he pulled that kind of funny business 12 years ago.
2Pac would have gone ahead and told 50 how he had sexual relations with Mrs. Cent and someone would've received a bullet wound of some sort.
I don't think violence is an answer to anything, but rap was better when there was some blood being shed.
Perhaps there's no relationship between the two. Maybe it's because all of the great ones are either retired, too old or dead.
Times have changed, and the listeners are suffering from it. There are still some good rappers, including Kanye West and 50 Cent, but it's different.
Even though rap remains the one genre loaded with good music, it all sounds so similar, and it just doesn't scare you anymore.
Rap isn't the only genre that's not what it used to be. In fact, I am much more of a rock fan than anything else, but most of the bands I listen to today have been in my collection for nearly 10 years.
Aside from Diddy once covering a Led Zeppelin song, there's not much of a connection between the two genres, yet they're both a part of the music industry's demise.
Maybe everyone is to blame, such as MTV for creating a market for lip synchers or Clear Channel Communications, which operates more than 1,100 stations in the United States. The company owns all of those channels that play the same 40 songs over and over again.
What about all the pirates out there who burn instead of buy? Can you blame them? This week, Janet Jackson is No. 1 on the Billboard charts. Sweet, let me run out and buy that.
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