What Happened?

I'm not sure where I missed it, but music used to be something to listen to and make out to. Nowadays, rap is something you can't even understand what they are saying. Most of it is about drugs, making money, or prostitutes. Back in my day, music was hanging out with your friends and enjoying listening to music. Rap actually told a story about life and it meant something.

I'm not that old but I grew up with the boy bands like Backstreet Boys and N-Sync, and singers like Keith Sweat, Michael Jackson, and let's not forget about Prince before he became a symbol. Purple Rain was the movie to watch or the music video "Thriller." Those were the days when everyone was not really trying to kill everyone.

It was the days to chill out playing some hoops, hanging out in the park, or for most girls, making up dance moves in your garage with your friends to music. R&B has gotten better with Usher and Alicia Keys, country has gotten better with Jason Aldean and Toby Keith, but in my opinion, rap has gone downhill. Old school rap and true rap was back with Eminem, Dr. Dre, and Snoop Dogg. That is when rap was rap. It wasn’t like it is today.

Yeah, they might have some songs that call each other names, but a lot of it had to do with their own lives and how they have been treated. A lot of bad things happened back then in society, but it was because of race or gang wars and not too much because of music. Music pretty much talked about the subjects and what their opinion was about it.

I hate it for kids nowadays that don't get the privilege to hear good music. I tried to name off some groups and singers to my 28-year-old nephew who had no clue who I was talking about. The only thing I could think was that was a pure shame. He was so into his own era of music and his favorite was heavy metal, but he didn't even know anything about Aerosmith, or AC/DC. He had no clue who Guns n Roses were or Twisted Sister and all I could do was laugh. It was just too funny how kids are growing up with music that is either garbage, or talks about being disrespectful, calling names, and inciting violence, or life is all about how much money you have.

What are mosh pits, anyway? Who cares to dive out onto crowds hoping they will catch you or banging your head until you have a headache. I just watch some of these headbangers and I get a headache, not to mention I can't understand a word that is being said from the group singing, if that is what they call it.

Heavy metal and rap are by far the hardest things for me to listen to today because you can’t understand the lyrics of what they are talking about and you might even catch a bad word every now and then, but that’s all.

I take that back. Sometimes I will catch them talking about drugs and women using the B word. Sex sells but some of the things they say are demeaning to women and it shows disrespect to all women. I guess that it makes women feel that they can get to a rapper if she is willing to get dirty with him, I don’t know.

I'm sorry that the youth today don't get the chance to hear good music and music that meant something. I don't care how old I get, I will still listen to music of the 80s and 90s until the day I die.