So I was recently asked the question, "Do you listen to anything past the year, 1985?" Needless to say, I kinda took offense to that. I am going on record and saying that "I Am Not, Nor Have I Ever Been a Music Snob." I know folks that really, legitimately are, and I don't think that I fit into that category. You know the ones...who don't listen to anything else besides classic jazz, or to an even to a further extent....hip-hop. That's not me. If anything, I'm about as eclectic as they come. I try to give everything a listen first, and then make an informed decision based on how it sounds to me. If it sounds like crap, I'm gonna call it crap....period!
How easy would it be to just write off all of today's music as crap....especially based on what's in constant rotation on mainstream radio. But that's not all there is to this generation of music.
Look at this kid.....Kendrick Lamar...25 years old...Have you heard his debut album? If not, you should definitely give it a listen. He brings hope to those of us who thought that intelligent lyricism was perhaps a lost art. His album, Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City is one of the best selling albums of 2012, and guess what folks, he didn't have to sell out to do it...He tells a story that is uniquely his own of a kid trying to do the right thing, despite the forces of everyday life in Compton that attempt to bring him down. In one album, he has managed to conquer the concept that many of today's artists struggle with: finding his own voice.
The modern-day "King of Cool," Bruno Mars has seemingly picked up where artists like Ne-Yo have seemingly left off. Not only is he a throwback to a whole other era, but his sound and his songs are uniquely his own. You can hear one of his songs on the radio, and know off the bat who is singing. He doesn't sound like anyone else currently out, or for that matter, has been out for the last 45 years. Not to mention, his songs are ridiculously "catchy".
So I ask you, What Current Acts You Really Into Right Now? What diamonds in the rough have you discovered. Let the rest of our readers know, so that we can be on lookout for them, too....