Pop(ular)

As a devoted and self-pronounced music appreciator (would would kick major ass on Music Jeopardy), I could write NOVELS about the state of pop music and its swift decline into the mundane, trashy lyrics and overused beats we hear all over the radio now.

Remember when the "good music" was also the "pop(ular...remember where that term comes from) music"? When really musically talented bands like Dave Matthews, Pearl Jam, Silverchair, and Counting Crowes (the list goes on and on) released a song and it hit Number 1 on the Mtv AND the Billboard Charts?

A small part of me still yearns for those days- when music was at a definite high- grunge and alternative were everywhere and all over the charts. There was REAL music with guitars and true instrumentation and lyrics that meant something. And sure, that music exists now...but now it's called "indie". Remember when music like that ruled the pop(ular) charts? I long for those days. When good music was awarded with mainstream success.

Hip hop and the boy band craze changed the scene of pop(ular) music. It really did. And while I hated the boy bands (and still do) and think that they lowered the standards for pop music...I am a true hip-hop fan so I hate to see where hip-hop has gone.

Hip-hop, in recent years, has gone to this strange place. In the days of Public Enemy and L.L. Cool J (the OLD L.L......"Mama Said Knock You Out" L.L.) hip-hop was just coming to the forefront- it MEANT something. The artists were trying to say something other than how many cars they drove and "bitches and hos" they could slap. It wasn't about what it is now....NOW it seems like the purpose of POPULAR hip-hop is just to prove how much bling you own and "shorties" you've got..and it's filthy. I hate to imagine the kids that are at home listening to it...on the RADIO no less. Shit like that would never be played on the radio when I was a kid. It's annoying. And I know that there still exists hip-hop that means something- The Roots, Common, Jurassic 5, and others still represent real-hip-hop to me. I love them. But popular hip-hop has gone to a very nasty (literally) place.

But my point isn't to slam pop music in this entry. I actually wanted to praise a few artists that are starting to send pop back uphill from this deep and nasty hole it's fallen into. Here are my song download recommendations for your pop enjoyment:


Kenna- "Say Goodbye to Love"
Ethiopian-born singer. Mentored by Pharrel. Pharrel is amazing, and so is this guy. This song makes me want to dance.

Mika- "Grace Kelly" and "Big Girls You are Beautiful"
If you haven't heard Mika yet, YOU MUST. He sounds like Freddie Mercury and his songs are fun fun fun. They all make me want to dance in my undies.

M.I.A.- "Paper Planes" and "Bucky Done Gone"
She's a rapper from Sri Lanka. Very political. Very controversial. Paper Planes has been getting a lot of attention lately because the song features gun shots underscored by children singing. Of course, Americans love it, but for all the wrong reasons. M.I.A. said she wanted to put the most offensive and ghetto shit in a song and American's would go crazy for it because they love money and all things gangsta. We're stupid. She proves it. Well done, M.I.A.

Jenny Owen Youngs- "F&%K Was I"
Another British import- very self-deprecating and talented. I'm still trying to figure out how I didn't write this song.

Leona Lewis- "Bleeding Love"
Another Brit. But she's definitely pop. She was the winner of British Idol. She makes me HATE American Idol because she's actually good.

That's it for now I guess. All my praises and love to women singer-songwriters, who are doing it up bigtime this year- Sara Bareilles, Anna Nalick, Amy Winehouse, Regina Spektor, Colbie Colliat, Jenny Owen Youngs, Imogen Heap. Well done ladies. You're making me proud to be a female, which happens rarely.

AND REMEMBER- "Pop" music is only "pop" music because we make it that way. It's POPULAR. So support those great artists who are not just part of the "music industry machine" created to make "hits" on synthesizers.

WE. MAKE. POP(ULAR). MUSIC. POP(ULAR). MUSIC.

Wiz.