Before we begin anything, let's clear up the misconception that rap is music. Rap is not music. I'm not saying that it is crap, even though most of what we hear is. I'm just simply stating the fact that it's not music. Look at the above quote. It's merely poetry recited to a repetitive beat in the background. I'm pretty sure if I were to really listen to rap, some could have good lyrics. But the beat thing going on in the background just totally turns me off. I do have to admit though, Eminem's "Cleaning Out My Closet" had some pretty good lyrics, but I just can't listen to it. They're not even singing.
Now I will move on to the subject of punk music. Which I do listen to regularly. This is because of the lyrics and the sheer passion behind the music. I love the raw sound and the energy of the guitars and drums. Fills me full of energy. I also love how political the whole punk scene is. However, there is no denying that the music sucks ass. But the thing with punk is, is that it's not about the music, it's more to do with the political aspects and also the image. And some bands do it better than others. But one must also remember that the reason that the music is crappy is because of the mainstream music that was around during that time. The good shit such as Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin. They all had a nice clean smooth flowing sound to them. The whole punk movement was to go against the mainstream. And that would mean having a harder, rougher and rawer sound to their music.
Now let me move on to another problem with music these days. Unfortunately, it's nothing to do with the music any more, it's all about the image. Do you really think that Britney Spears would be so popular if she was like a nun? Would Nelly be as popular if he was the true raving homosexual he really is? What about signature bad girls like Pink and Avril? We no longer care how good they are, but whether they fit into our standards of "cool" It's sad really. I mean you look back at music from the 60's and 70's and image always played a role, but not as significantly as it does now. The number one thing you had to have was talent. The music industry is now full of a bunch of talentless (or mildly talented) pretty people.
Me, being some what of a fan of punk music, has to grudgingly admit that the beginning of punk music started the whole image craziness. What attracted kids to the punk scene in the first place was the idea of rebelling against society with extreme style and ideas. And ever since than music has gone downhill.
More to come... indeed...