Articles/Essays
The articles on here are pretty much long rants requiring a bit of research, some even giving advice. There is a variety of essays, from written essays to photo essays.
March 2008
FM Radio (Thanks to Radio, I don't have to spend my money on music)
FM Radio. Almost all cars have it. It’s great for music lovers. But, honestly; is it a way to discover new music, or hear the same old songs over and over again?
Top 40 is the work of the devil. Not really, but listen: Top 40 stations play the Top 40 songs on the Billboard Charts. So, you’re probably gonna hear the same song three times or more a day.
Luckily, most Top 40 songs suck (and yes, I don’t mean that I just don’t like them, I mean they completely suck balls). So I listen to a Rock radio station as an escape. The bad news is that it isn’t as much of an escape as I would like it to be.
I guess you could call it a radio thing. The newest Rock songs are constantly played on the station, as well as older songs (but mostly new songs). It’s quite annoying. Why are the newest songs always played, even on Non-Top 40 stations? The most obvious answer is that labels want their artists to get radio airplay, so when people hear their song on the radio, they go buy it.
However, this isn’t always the case. When I first hear a new song on the radio, I either: love it, hate it, or think it’s OK.
If a song is constantly played on the radio, and my first impression is…
Love it:
Over time I may begin to not like it as much. But I never hate it.
Example: “The Pretender” by Foo Fighters (It now gets on my nerves)
It’s OK:
Usually, I begin to appreciate it a little more. Either that or I begin to dislike it.
Example: “Fake It” by Seether (I now love it), “Paralyzer” by Finger Eleven (I don’t like it too much anymore)
I hate it:
Over time I may appreciate it more. Either that or I continue to hate it.
Example: “Been Caught Stealing” by Jane’s Addiction (It’s not a new song, but a prime example; when I first heard it, I thought I was going to start bleeding out of my eardrums. Unfortunately, I still feel that way).
Why is this going on? Songs I used to love now annoy me. Is that what you labels really want to do? Think about it.
It’s not your fault if when I hear a song I hate it. And yes, it is quite clever of radio stations to constantly play it so I will gradually begin to like it (or maybe I’m just weird). But look at it from another point of view. How about the people that do like the song? You don’t want them to lose interest, do you? But, wait: I’ve got it figured. If I like a song, I’ll go buy it. If I decide later I don’t like it, I don’t get my money back. You keep the money. So why would you care if I don’t like it anymore?
However, you guys don’t always get money. Say I like a song. I may over time not like it as much, but I never hate it. Why do I really need to buy that song, then? It’s always played on the radio, after all. (A good reason is sound quality, because if you had a brain you’d know that CD sound quality, even iTunes song quality god forbid, is far ahead of FM radio quality. But then again, most people don’t give a rat’s ass about sound quality.) Seems like that’s your biggest dilemma, then.
Rap Music
Today's music sucks. There's good rock, but a lot of the rock is just emo crap. And much of it sounds the same. But, allow me to get to the point here: Rap music is evil.
I'm sure you've heard of rap music. It's easy to identify. Someone (usually black) rapping over synthesized or sampled beats. Actually, rap music is just the act of putting rhymes over beats.
So how is rap actually music? Easy: it's not. It has no meaning whatsoever. None at all. Let's talk about the lyrics, now, shall we?
The bulk of rap lyrics is about, you guessed it, sex. It's so demeaning. The lyrics make girls seem like, well, nothing. That's right, nothing. Just objects for their pleasure. Sexual pleasure. "Nah, they don't matter, girls. God made them so we can f--k 'em," they'd probably say.
Personally, I think Ludacris and Snoop Dogg are the worst out there, lyrics-wise....but there's plenty more. Come to think of it, every rapper pretty much is like that. An exception though, is Eminem. Sure, he's got the bad lyrics and all, but it isn't all about sex. In fact, many of his songs are about his crappy childhood and his dislike of his parents.
Rappers shouldn't be allowed to talk s--t about women this way. Like I said in a previous rant "if you're not gonna respect 'em, don't f--k 'em!" But what really pisses me off is that female rappers rap about the same stuff! Sex, sex, sex. Oh well, I guess sex is a special gene found in black people. Sex is their first priority, obviously. And don't call me racist for saying this, because I'm not calling all black people sex-addicts.
I hate how rap is moving up on the charts these days. Currently, about half of the songs on the top 40 charts is rap/hip-hop! The other songs, well, they're pop and rock (not hard rock, FYI). Why is rap enjoyed so much nowadays? Why? It's s--t. If you want to listen to some real music, try:
Rolling Stones
the Beatles
Bruce Springsteen
Black Sabbath
Van Halen
Metallica
Now, I'm not naive. I am fully aware that some of my favorite bands, Slipknot, Korn, and System of A Down, are looked down upon by many people. I'm not one of those people that thinks everyone likes my music and if they don't, they're stupid. So many people think of heavy metal as crap. "Just loud noise with all screaming. The work of the devil." I don't care. Sure, I know heavy metal isn't crap, and I sometimes wonder why people hate it so much, but I'm not naive. Many rap-listeners are naive, though. And that pisses me off. Oh yeah, and many of the metal-haters are the perfect example of an American: a follower. Only does whatever other people are doing. Yeah, they usually listen to top 40 pop, pop-rock, punk-pop, and rap. So why should I care what they think?
For example, there is this one song called "Two Step" by Unk. What are the lyrics about, anyway? Two-stepping? Besides, wasn't there a song by Ciara called "One, Two Step"? They are both about the same dance move, right? Forgive me if I'm wrong, I don't know all the dances to rap songs. Oh yeah, that's another thing. Whenever a new rap/hip-hop song is released, there seems to be a special dance made just for that song. Like the "Soulja Boy.""Can you do the Soulja Boy? Do the Soulja Boy!" Everyone know the freaking Soulja Boy. Sometimes I wonder if rap and hip-hop today exists only to make people dance.
Each rap/hip-hop song is pretty much the same. Let's see.... slightly different lyrics, same concept though.... pretty much the same beats, maybe in a slightly different pattern. Can anyone actually find the distinction between each song? Honestly, sometimes when I hear a rap song I don't know whether it's "Cyclone" or "It's Goin' Down." Most songs are one-hit-wonders, anyway. Like "A Bay Bay." The dude, Hurricane Chris, sucks. So he knows how to use a synthesizer and make beats, and rap over them. Oh, and he knows how to create a meaningless, three-word catchy chorus line. I bet there's a hell of a lot more talent out there, more than Hurricane Chris. You know why he got a record deal? Because he knows someone. That someone hooked him up with a big-time executive, and the executive wanted money because he's a greedy asshole, and he knew that although the song was stupid, people would go for it, because hey, people are stupid. So he signed him, people bought his song, it became a top ten ringtone, the executive guy made lots of money. That's the way it works.
Rap will never take the place of rock, even if rock is the least popular type of music on the planet. Rock musicians will always be the ones with talent, and rap musicians will be popping up by the hundreds in the surge of hope to become famous. If rap doesn't ever change, then, well, trust me: It's gonna be hard to get a record deal. Be f----n unique.