Thursday, May 7, 2009

Music Today.. MAN, NOW I GET IT!

Way back when, when I was a teenager.......... you know, when teens were the coolest thing in the world and anybody over 30 was considered OLD............. I remember so many days riding in the car with my parents and thinking, how could they possibly listen to all these OLD songs from the 70's and the 80's.

Why wouldn't they leave the station on E 93, the hottest radio station on the air?

Nobody wants to hear some guy singing about sittin' on the dock of the bay (why is he just sitting there?) or some dude havin' a thing goin' on with Mrs. Jones!

It's funny because when you're a teen, almost nothing your parents do could be considered cool. Especially when it came to the oldies.

My dad use to literally HATE when I listened to 2Pac (My all-time fave and biggest star crush ever) in my room... at full blast... with my door closed.

I just didn't get it? What did he have against a true rap legend expressing himself through rhyme?

You'd think that he woulda taken the time to realize that Pac wasn't REALLY disrespecting women when he dropped the track, "Wonder why they call you B*TCH" He was trying to get girls to stop doing things that get them labeled.

LOL! It's funny now when I look back because I just didn't understand what was really wrong with writing SEX YOU UP going down the pant leg of my jeans and why that almost caused me to get a beat down.

It was just a song! I tribute to Milly Vanilly!

Fact is, I have grown into those two people that raised me. I've lost my music hipness, so to say and have completely stopped watching to BET and MTV.

My best friend asked me WHY and at that time I really couldn't express an answer, but truth be told, today's music, and music from when I was a kid, often is offensive and degrading to women. I'm not ready for my 9 and 7 year old boys to start calling women B's and talking about the chick in a bikini with the fat a$$ dancing up on Lil Wayne.

It's pretty bad that it has come to this point that there is so much in music that I am not ready for my kids to be exposed to.

Even favorites such as Soldier Boy have influences in the lyrics that are not exactly kosher for kids, yet it surprises me to hear it played at school events.

Now, I'm not saying that I ban my kids from music all together, because we do still listen to what comes on the radio, but I'm much more cautious now because I know some of these songs are likely to say ANYTHING.

I've always got my finger in the pointing position and ready to change the station at a moment's notice!

I completely understand why my parents were more into the oldies now. Because they certainly were and still are considered goodies.

And most of them have less cause for concern.

Lots of music today seems to be just something thrown out there coming from that part of the mind that is SENSELESS!

I mean, what the heck is a STANKY LEG????

5 comments:

Ali said...

I'm not even sure I want to know what a stanky leg is!

Unknown said...

Amen! I couldn't have said it better. My daughters listened and liked the Drifters and oldies. Sometimes, they'd be outside playing and singing "Under the Boardwalk". It was funny but it taught them music appreciation and we didn't have to worry about them listening to stuff that was questionable.

Barbara said...

HA! I couldn't tell you what it is girl... but I will tell you that if you hear it enough times, you'll succeed in becoming brainwashed and subconsciously be doing the Stanky Leg!

I really feel what you said and all I can say is ditto =). The majority of mainstream is NOT cool... I heard Ziggie Marley perform a song from his new album this morning and its something that I think would be a great addition to your kid's music collection. Its an album just for kids and its called Family Time... you can take a listen at http://www.ziggymarley.com/

MBB Founder and Editor Denene Millner said...

Girl, my iTouch is my BFF... can't do the radio anymore... it's a mess. Thanks for the heads up on the Ziggy cee dee... albums by his brothers, Damien and Stephen, are a HUGE hit around here, and we listen to them often. Much better than the stanky leg (though my 16-year-old looks right ridiculous doing the dance, which makes us crack up EVERY time!)

Happy Mother's Day!

Yet said...

Look, I do NOT claim the stanky leg. In fact, that's out of my generation (than gosh)! I love oldies (even though I'm in my 20s) and I will listen to them now and when I'm older. hehe. Oh but i'll listen to new music too...soldier boy...why did u have to bring him up? WHY?