By Annie Wen
Staff Writer

Music is a big part of the lives of our generation. In the hallways, kids almost always have their earphones in. In the classroom, one of the most commonly asked questions is “Can we listen to music while we work?” Listening to music is a favorite pastime of kids nowadays.

Music is always developing and changing with the times. New artists are always introduced, and the ones who have been in music for a long time are always coming out with new music. But lately it seems like music has lost the meaning it used to have.

Everyone has a different taste in music, but this lack of real “soul” is evident in all genres. Of course everyone is familiar with Michael Jackson, King of Pop. His music is completely different from popular artists today, such as Lady Gaga or Justin Bieber. Many pop artists today use a lot of special effects during live performances to try to amp up the entertainment factor.

Pop artists today are more known for their personal lives or their antics off-stage rather than for their art of music.

Rap is a genre of music that has been heavily criticized. A lot of rap music today is very profanity-heavy and does not sound very intelligent. Rap artists such has Notorious B.I.G. or Tupac or Eminem are known for putting a lot of thought into their lyrics and being very clever and they embody the best quality of rap: the ability to tell a story.

I personally am a big fan of Eminem; I like him because he is honest in his songs. His music is based on experiences in his life. He raps about struggling to raise his daughter, issues with his ex-wife and mom, problems with other rappers and losing his best friend and uncle. His music is very relatable, and it really just tells everyone the story of him. But rap artists today are no longer making that kind of music but rather what I call “club music.” What many people call “rap” music today is really just generic music that is played at parties or in the club. If you stopped bobbing your head to the beat and doing that ridiculous dance move and actually listened to the words, you might realize that you have no idea what the song is talking about.

Do you by chance happen to be a fan of Taylor Swift? Taylor Swift is one of the most popular artists today and is considered to be a “country star,” but Taylor Swift’s music differs greatly from older country artists, such as The Dixie Chicks or Patsy Cline. The kind of music that Taylor Swift makes cannot really be considered pure country. It definitely has pop mixed in to it, as is the case with many country artists of today. While this is not necessarily a bad thing, it is definitely a change from what country music used to be.

Music has come a long way. While change is inevitable and not unwelcome, it has affected the reality of music. While new ideas and innovations are cool when it starts to take away the rawness of music, it is no longer a helpful tool but rather a hindrance.