As an example. I grew up in hip-hop but at a certain point I stopped listening to new people and realised recently that I’d slept on some bangers. Like Kendrick particularly, but even people like Juice WRLD and Xxxtentacion.
The same for the Kendrick and Drake (the nonce) beef which has given some rabbit holes to go down.
So I’m wondering what I can do to keep in the loop with my younger brothers and sisters?
Is it something as simple as watching trending videos on YouTube (somtheing I’ve never done) or are there people to follow etc. I don’t like Twitter though so hopefully it’s not that.
Edit: Man I got so many replies. You guys are awesome. I am going to work my way through them all today, but I’m hella tired and off to work so may take a while. I will reply to you all.
Edit part deux: God damn I think I got all the replies.
Because I wanted to keep up with changes in art, as well as understanding the younger generation more.
There is huge divide between generations from the elders and it’s usually due to ignorance or superiority and it achieves nothing.
I honestly think your view is weird. Why wouldn’t you want to understand your fellow humans more.
Preferred music doesn’t do much about it. Your focus in it was the main thing that confused me.
If you had mentioned having discussions about ideas I would understood better.
Again, you mentioned music, which for “understanding my fellow humans” is fundamentally irrelevant to me. Discussions about philosophy, ethics, or politics are much more relevant.
Or maybe you just want to understand why they like the music they like and nothing beyond that, which is valid, but painting it as “understanding fellow humans” is a little too grandiose.
Do you not believe that music, particularly the lyrics, is a snapshot in time of what the artists ideas and beliefs are?
You can use the zeitgeist to get a measure of how things change over time. As I believe music is the most emotive form of expression.
It once was. Now music is mostly the result of an industry churning sellable platitudes and blandness.
When you have sensible artists who talk about things beyond their own petty and minimal experience, perhaps. This is less and less frequent.
In any case, for me music is a very personal pleasure, I don’t compare notes frequently regarding what one “needs to like to be up to date”. I like what I like, and it’s not very transferrable. I rejoice when I find matches, but I don’t want to “learn what I must like” to be “modern” because that “gives me the pulse of the zeitgeist”.
Alls I can say is you’re listening to the wrong kind of music is you think all current music is vapid.
I’ve already mentioned Kendrick, who won a Pulitzer Prize I might add. There are plenty of people with conscientious lyrics. Dave would be an example from the UK, his album We’re all alone in this together is top tier. Three rivers is legendary and very political.
I don’t want to seem like I’m being aggy here, but perhaps you could take my approach to seeking out this kind of stuff as there is more than just industry knocking out clones. Sure there are plants and stuff but there are real artists out here still.
It’s honestly quite arrogant to think great artists stopped at our generation my guy.
And all I can say is that your reading comprehension is lacking if you attribute me saying that all music is valid. I said “mostly”.
And I had said so, I would agree. I, however, didn’t.
In any case, if music is your main focus, you could have used more prominence in the question, because your formulation seemed to indicate that there were other things you wanted to “keep up with” too. If I had understood that music was your primary focus, I would have abstained from participating. Which I will start doing right now.
No problem.
Take care.