"Soulja Boy up in dis hoe, watch me crank it, watch me roll, watch me crank that soulja boy, now superman dat hoe" - Lyrics from "Crank dat" by Soulja Boy. Back when I was a teenager I remember I would turn the radio on and that song would always be on. Along with its very popular dance it was one of the top songs of the year according to listeners across America. With what I would call degrading lyrics, rap music made it's way into my teenage years.
I liked nearly all genres of music, rap seemed to be the most popular, it was growing and gaining people's interest all over the place. I was in a different scene, I still listened to all the music that was before my time, I liked Ska, Punk, Grunge, Jazz, 80's Pop, Classic Rock, Motown and blues. The only kind of rap that I listen to was 90's rap music like Will Smith, I liked him because his lyrics were innocent and clean.
I occasionally got into some rap songs, but I spent most of my listening time enjoying Jazz music like Miles Davis, and random 70's and 80's music like Electric Light Orchestra and David Bowie. Those were always my most played artists. My mother didn't complain about what I listened to, she enjoyed it just as much as I did. I do recall playing David Bowie once in the car when my grandma was in there and she had said "What happened to the good music?" When I changed it to Miles Davis, who is from her time, she was very much relieved. Imagine what she would have thought if I had been playing a rap song.
The reason people liked rap music was because of the catchy rhythms and beats of the song, the "fun" lyrics and because rap songs included "cool factor". People could dance to most rap songs or just act cool by cruising down the streets blasting this music, that is why it was so well known. The reason I didn't make it my number one music genre to listen to, was because I always liked music that I could relate to. I don't find myself relating to Soulja Boy's Song lyrics. His lyrics don't even make sense to me. Also, I chose to listen to Jazz because it is the first genre of music recorded and one of the most simply beautiful.
I don't know how long rap music will go on, will it die? Will it grow? Who knows? All in all, when everyone else is listening to music like "Soulja Boy up in dis hoe, watch me crank it, watch me roll, watch me crank that soulja boy, now superman dat hoe" I will continue to listen to David Bowie, Electric Light Orchestra, and Miles Davis. The good music.
