Why is America’s taste in music so awful? Why do we support artists who display little to no musical talent? The music industry is no longer about producing quality music, but rather about seeing bigger paychecks. Let’s take a look at the Jonas Brothers. Just a few years ago, they were the biggest musical group to take America by storm. Now where are they? No one has heard anything about them for awhile.
The music industry spins their sex appeal with predetermined lyrics to sway the minds and hearts of young, teenage girls. This trend has existed for many years, with artists such as the Backstreet Boys and more. Today’s current trend is Justin Bieber. Just like many other critics, I despise how meticulously calculated every action, song, and appearance of Justin Bieber is. While he may have demonstrated talent in his earlier years on YouTube, he certainly does not anymore. His lyrics are all predetermined by the head honchos to be catchy and appeal to young girls’ fantasies about love and relationships. Now many people may criticize Bieber’s haters as jealous that he gets all the girls and has wealth and fame, but there is an inherent flaw with his entire image. Soon he will fade into history, and another artist will be nurtured by the music industry just like him and the Jonas Brothers.
Aside from pop music, the hip-hop and rap industry is contaminated with horrendous sounds. Side note: I fully appreciate and respect a rapper’s ability to rap. A major issue that I have with hip-hop and rap is the lack of creativity in songs. In the majority of rap and hip-hop songs, you can discern only several topics: sex, drugs, violence, hardship, and the objectification of women. First and foremost, the flagrant disrespect for women just divulges how shallow the lyrics are, and rapping about the other topics only provides a negative influence on susceptible, young minds as hip-hop and rap are widely popular throughout the country. While there are many artists who send positive and inspiring messages, they are marred by terrible songs.
Last but not least, the electric dance music (EDM) world has many issues. Creating melodies, drum lines, bass lines, drops, vocals, build-ups, and many other small technicalities that make a phenomenal dance song takes extreme talent. Having produced EDM songs in the past, I fully realize and appreciate the complexity of developing and mastering a song. However, though dubstep falls under the EDM category, it is one of the main issues with America’s taste in music. Skrillex’s songs sound like transformers copulating furiously. It almost seems like a competition to see who can mash up the most unpleasant sounds together. The assortment of peculiar to horrific sounds sound like nails on a chalkboard. It amazes me that artists such as Skrillex have so many supporters. The so-called “music” that they produce shouldn’t be considered music.
While it does take some talent to produce dubstep, it doesn’t take nearly as much talent as it takes to make house music. Anyone with enough time, dedication, and patience can produce a dubstep song, since almost all dubstep songs sound like just metallic trash being grinded by large machines. The fact that Skrillex won three Grammys shocks me and forces me to wonder what the fundamental problem with America’s taste in music is.
Yang is a member of the class of 2016.
