...5 Weeks To 2012: The Death of Music
This is how I know I'm getting on a bit: because I frequently find myself saying that "Music is not what it used to be."
I have a lot of issues with today's music; I have issues with the fact that everything sounds the same (and yes, I know every era has a sound, but I expect every era to have a range of genres, and not just one genre which every other pop, R&B and rock act tries to imitate: dance); I have issues with the fact that music videos are allowed to be so explicit and are not even put on post-watershed; but more than anything, my biggest issue is with the fact that you are no longer expected to have talent to be in the music industry, and that so long as you look the part, you're fine.
I know I blog about Rihanna far too often, and that every blog post is of a negative nature, but for me, she sums it all up. She can barely sing, as far as I'm aware she doesn't write her own music (where would she find the time? She tours the world, has a week holiday and then releases another album off the back of the last), and everything about her is centred around her image. I'll give her credit where it's due and say that she has a unique voice (interpret that as you will), catchy songs and works incredibly hard, but I can't help but think about other artists out there who also have that, as well as a good voice and songwriting skills to go with it, and that perhaps the only thing she has that they lack is the ability to shake her bum about and the desire to eat a banana or make out with another woman in her music videos.
This isn't have-a-pop-at-Rihanna day, though: she is not the only person guilty of taking a dump on music, and she is still young and probably very manipulated by those around her. Artists like Beyonce need to take more responsibility for the image that they they out out, because those are the artists with talent and who have a choice in the way they present themselves. Rihanna doesn't have a choice; if she chose to dress up as a nun and sing nursery rhymes, no one would be interested. If Beyonce dressed up as a nun and sang nursery rhymes... Well, perhaps she'd lose a few fans, but at least she'd still be able to sing. Then of course we've got artists like Nicki Minaj: a once-credible female hip-hop artist who wanted to go mainstream, so got butt implants the size of Jupiter, and then started "singing" - if you can call it that.
David Guetta needs to be smacked round the back of the head with a wet fish, too. STOP MAKING SHITTY ELECTRONIC DANCE MUSIC. No, in fact, I wouldn't mind him being around if it was just him doing his own thing, but the fact of the matter is that he's taking every single credible artist there ever was, producing their tracks and ruining them. In the last year, everyone has jumped on the David Guetta bandwagon, and as a result, the sound of 2011 has been the soundtrack to ecstasy. I don't want to imagine what the sound of 2012 will be, but we're on a downward slope at the moment, and I don't know how many manufactured, auto-tuned sounds my eardrums can take.
Nothing wrong with Jessie J, if you're looking for strong female role models. But you're right, there's not a lot of diversity out there right now - bring back 'Disco Duck' I say!
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