Thursday, July 11, 2013

Pandora, Hip-Hop, and Old Age

Have any of you guys ever heard of Pandora?  For those of you that don't know (I'm being facetious here) Pandora is a website that provides user specific music play lists based on personal preferences.  Because I'm a Hip-Hop snob I never really believed the site could randomly select songs that would satisfy my listening needs.  I'm complex and overly critical when it comes to lyrics and beats.  To my surprise Pandora is much more intuitive than I anticipated.

That being said Pandora has confirmed my belief that Hip-Hop has evolved into something I don't particularly care for.  I don't say this because I don't respect the artists of today or appreciate and understand what they are trying to accomplish, I say this because I'm old.  Hip-Hop has always catered to the youth and now that it is mainstream the target market is even less reflective of my listening preference.  If I had a choice between listening to songs from the golden age of Hip-Hop or present day I'll take the golden age.

Pandora helps me cut out all of the riff raff, the rapping Dalmatians of the world.  I can listen exclusively to legends and MC's with lyrics that are thought provoking.  In addition I find myself liking songs I previously found boring or corny.  My wisdom, experiences, and reflection make it easier to relate to the content.  If I can find new songs from the past it creates an infinite catalog of music to sample.

Because my generation is the first to grow up with Hip-Hop everything that happens is trial and error.  There's no frame of reference with regards to this demographic on this subject.  Some of us will sound like grumpy old men sporting sweat suits and Versace shirts while others might be sitting front row at a Two Chainz concert.  In the end it's good to have the option to stay in my lane.  Thank you Pandora.

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