The Decline in Musical Lyricism is Depressing - A Coli Dissertation

[Payroll]

Nobody is squinting their eyes to read breakdowns of Trey songz lyricism

 

[Checkgamematch]

Simple just go jam some K - Rino.

This is real God tier lyrical content.

 

[CrushedGroove]

I agree 100% with OP assessment. I don't really listen to mainstream R&B or Hip-Hop anymore.

It wasn't that the content of the music has shifted so dramatically, but the way it's presented has. There was talk about sex in music for as long as music has been made, but where is the subtlety?

It's like walking in the house and slightly pichung your girl on the butt in the kitchen where the kids can't see, versus walking in and slapping her on the ass and then lifting her dress up and kissing one of her ass cheeks in front of the kids. Same message, different presentation.

Even Brand Nubian would have songs where a nikka would have to get his ass beat sometimes, but they overwhelmingly promoted black love and self-respect.

I find myself liking a lot of newer UK R&B, and Jazz. It has the feeling I miss and a lot more instrumentation. Most of my rap music I listen to has been Christian rap. They really been really dope the last 5 years.

Check out
Reconcile - Light in the Trenches
Aha Gazelle & Starringo - Secession
Samm Henshaw
PJ Morton

 

[dora_da_destroyer]

Simple just go jam some K - Rino.

This is real God tier lyrical content.

@The Ruler 09 is back

 

[MrSpook]

I wouldn't go that far as to put it to this extent. I just think music has largely been catered to a particular crowd. It seems as if Pop (popular) music was a bit more diverse in years past. Pop music wasn't always cookie cutter, watered down bullshyt like we have now. Hell, Stevie Wonder and MJ were chart toppers as "Popular" artist back in the day and their music is legendary and mature. But you also had room for your Madonna's and such. Diversity. You had the bullshyt and you had the real shyt. Something for everybody to eat to. Now it's all bullshyt. It seems as though actual "artists" whom care about the art are being marginalized and pushed to the back in favor of those talentless people with pretty/handsome faces and huge social media followings.

Nobody cares about substance anymore. Or I’ll say a good portion of todays people, especially those in my generation. It’s about the now instead of tomorrow or how the music sounds years later. They only care for what’s trendy and riding in the moment. It’s a lot of attention over interest these days. Lack of substance usually leads to that.

 

[Amo Husserl]

Forgot to reply, but what I was going to say was that this is the gradual shift we’ve seen since the last century. As the entertainment industry has grown, high culture has been sacrificed for pop culture. In our day, that shift has come to a very critical point as the balance has been fully disrupted. The drop in lyrical content and subject matter is a symptom to a much more widespread sickness.

Ultimately, when business models and marketing are more important than the content that’s when Pop culture gains a decided advantage over high culture. Our generation particularly lives in a time where nearly our entire capacity to imagine is fully and decisively co-opted by industry. So as such, it’s a very difficult ask to have an outside the box view of cultural creation. The business is so efficient that even the ones that believe themselves to be “different” or representing high culture are themselves compromised and remain within the common paradigms which keep things stagnated.

I’ll leave it at this, if culture becomes a commodity it has to conform to the realities of market forces. The commodities that have a quicker turnaround, are easier to create, and are relatively cheap will win out over the opposite. High culture also comes with its potential baggage as artists might be more inclined to create works that push the societal envelope. So pop culture serves an added purpose by allowing business to curate a marketplace of simplified cultural realities for the masses to choose from much like a pair of shoes. The ideal mores that they want inculcated within them to maintain a culture of consumers over thinkers are sold as fashionable and progressive lifestyles yet maintains their proximity to properly conformed society. In the end, culture is utilized to maintain status quo rather than be a tool to actuate a better human society.

You seem versed in the Frankfurt School.

 

[Hathaway]

Forgot to reply, but what I was going to say was that this is the gradual shift we’ve seen since the last century. As the entertainment industry has grown, high culture has been sacrificed for pop culture. In our day, that shift has come to a very critical point as the balance has been fully disrupted. The drop in lyrical content and subject matter is a symptom to a much more widespread sickness.

Ultimately, when business models and marketing are more important than the content that’s when Pop culture gains a decided advantage over high culture. Our generation particularly lives in a time where nearly our entire capacity to imagine is fully and decisively co-opted by industry. So as such, it’s a very difficult ask to have an outside the box view of cultural creation. The business is so efficient that even the ones that believe themselves to be “different” or representing high culture are themselves compromised and remain within the common paradigms which keep things stagnated.

I’ll leave it at this, if culture becomes a commodity it has to conform to the realities of market forces. The commodities that have a quicker turnaround, are easier to create, and are relatively cheap will win out over the opposite. High culture also comes with its potential baggage as artists might be more inclined to create works that push the societal envelope. So pop culture serves an added purpose by allowing business to curate a marketplace of simplified cultural realities for the masses to choose from much like a pair of shoes. The ideal mores that they want inculcated within them to maintain a culture of consumers over thinkers are sold as fashionable and progressive lifestyles yet maintains their proximity to properly conformed society. In the end, culture is utilized to maintain status quo rather than be a tool to actuate a better human society.

Exactly. Business has overtaken the art. They're supposed to work hand and hand because you can't have one without the other in the music business. But now, everything is dominated by numbers just like sports. It's suffocating the artform. This reminds me of a story from Marvin Gayes book.

I'm paraphrasing but when he was inspired to do his politically conscious album Whats Going On at Motown, Berry Gordy heard the song and said no. He didn't want Motown to get involved in politics. He wanted them to keep doing what they had been doing, making music for young people.

So Marvin was like aiight fukk it, I'm leaving and going to another label. Had Berry like

So they compromised and released the single Whats Going On. That shyt took off on the charts immediately and Berry Gordy had to fall back. Subsequently, Marvin composed his best album in my opinion. The business moved the fukk out the way so the true art could thrive.

nikkas don't care about that shyt now. It's all about the paper. That's why you got fukkboys like 21 Savage out here perpetuating gang violence and the murder of black men but he's on record as saying it's just an act; an image to basically sell records. That shyt makes me sick to my stomach.

 

[Hathaway]

Nobody cares about substance anymore. Or I’ll say a good portion of todays people, especially those in my generation. It’s about the now instead of tomorrow or how the music sounds years later. They only care for what’s trendy and riding in the moment. It’s a lot of attention over interest these days. Lack of substance usually leads to that.

This is the main point. Legacy. None of this shyt we ridin to today will be played 30 years from now. This shyt ain't no classics. Nothing on Beys new album will come on at my family reunion 35 years from now and make me wanna get up and dance on some "oooo shyt y'all young nikkas don't know nothing bout this". No lasting effect. Nothing. The microwave generation. They want everything quick fast and in a hurry. No substance.

 

[Checkgamematch]

@The Ruler 09 is back

Lmao

 

[Lord Beasley]

lack of lyricism is part of the reason why that new brent faiyaz album is wanye basura

 

[987654321]

This is the main point. Legacy. None of this shyt we ridin to today will be played 30 years from now. This shyt ain't no classics. Nothing on Beys new album will come on at my family reunion 35 years from now and make me wanna get up and dance on some "oooo shyt y'all young nikkas don't know nothing bout this". No lasting affects. Nothing. The microwave generation. They want everything quick fast and in a hurry. No substance.

I heard some artist say some shyt about learning to make songs they would still want to perform decades later. If nothing else, I can’t wait to drag my grandchildren out to go see lil uzi to see him, 57 years old, chanting:

“Put a Glock in my purse (Huh? Purse)
Put a Glock in my purse (Yeah, purse)
Put a Glock in my purse (Yeah, purse)
No, this is not a purse (Yeah)
How the fukk this a purse? (How?)
Ain't no lip gloss in it (Uh-uh)
Only lean, Penicillin (Penicillin)
All my nikkas, they dealin' (Dealin')”

I agree and lament that music is made with no concern about legacy or longevity. I expect it out of the newer, younger artists; it’s more disappointing with the older artists who chose to conform. I saw Erykah Badu, recently, and it still made my heart swell how fresh everything felt.

The combination of her singing and the band gave me a euphoric feeling that I’ll probably still feel 25 years from now.

I still listen to and enjoy some newer artists, even the ignorant shyt, but I’ll always financially support the timeless shyt that has real effort out into it.

 

[ISO]

You saying trey songz was some lyrical god?
The fukk going on here

Trey used to have some meaningful songs

 

[987654321]

Exactly. Business has overtaken the art. They're supposed to work hand and hand because you can't have one without the other in the music business. But now, everything is dominated by numbers just like sports. It's suffocating the artform. This reminds me of a story from Marvin Gayes book.

I'm paraphrasing but when he was inspired to do his politically conscious album Whats Going On at Motown, Berry Gordy heard the song and said no. He didn't want Motown to get involved in politics. He wanted them to keep doing what they had been doing, making music for young people.

So Marvin was like aiight fukk it, I'm leaving and going to another label. Had Berry like

So they compromised and released the single Whats Going On. That shyt took off on the charts immediately and Berry Gordy had to fall back. Subsequently, Marvin composed his best album in my opinion. The business moved the fukk out the way so the true art could thrive.

nikkas don't care about that shyt now. It's all about the paper. That's why you got fukkboys like 21 Savage out here perpetuating gang violence and the murder of black men but he's on record as saying it's just an act; an image to basically sell records. That shyt makes me sick to my stomach.

21 is an interesting case that I’ve tried to follow since that first tape with metro boomin. He started out pretending not to be able to rap, then gradually showed that he actually could kinda spit here and there. It’s not like the past greats, but his overall attitude has changed and it shows in the lyrics sometimes. He seems to be in stuck in that “I don’t want to be too preachy” trap like early Jeezy. I truly feel he’s going to eventually stop caring and start adding more depth and positivity to his music.

 

[dora_da_destroyer]

@Hathaway changing the font after one brave soul gave this thread life 2 weeks later

But yes, music is very trash and I’ve accepted that society across races and income levels had been dumbed down pretty viciously over the last 15 years. You see it in music of all genres, tv (reality tv made people a lot dumber and lot more accepting of frivolous trash), social media, politics, schools, etc. but it is lightweight offensive for so many artists to be about that bullshyt

 

[2Quik4UHoes]

You seem versed in the Frankfurt School.

Admittedly no, a lot of my post was observation but I might’ve read up on it in some books on neoliberalism.

Exactly. Business has overtaken the art. They're supposed to work hand and hand because you can't have one without the other in the music business. But now, everything is dominated by numbers just like sports. It's suffocating the artform. This reminds me of a story from Marvin Gayes book.

I'm paraphrasing but when he was inspired to do his politically conscious album Whats Going On at Motown, Berry Gordy heard the song and said no. He didn't want Motown to get involved in politics. He wanted them to keep doing what they had been doing, making music for young people.

So Marvin was like aiight fukk it, I'm leaving and going to another label. Had Berry like

So they compromised and released the single Whats Going On. That shyt took off on the charts immediately and Berry Gordy had to fall back. Subsequently, Marvin composed his best album in my opinion. The business moved the fukk out the way so the true art could thrive.

nikkas don't care about that shyt now. It's all about the paper. That's why you got fukkboys like 21 Savage out here perpetuating gang violence and the murder of black men but he's on record as saying it's just an act; an image to basically sell records. That shyt makes me sick to my stomach.

That was the ingredient that really brought the shift. Enough people had to be convinced that the “Get the bag at all costs” mentality is valid. That’s why people are whorish brands instead of artists.