Post 6: The Apple Eve Left For Me

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Rapsody’s album, Eve, in class. I love music and partially feel like its my third parent and friend. It soothes me and is able to change my mood in any and every way. However, I never really listen to music that in depth. I usually listen to more melodic rap and r&b because I get too distracted when listening to music that’s too upbeat. This assignment of preparing for the discussion really ignited me into looking into the music I listen to.

If i’m truly being honest, I think that my ears are a bit dyslexic if that’s even possible. My friends will tell everyone around that when music comes on I say what I feel and not what the artist wrote. I am guilty. I’m not sure if I mentally rewrite the lyrics or if I genuinely don’t listen to the music. Either way, after our discussion in class I found true music again. Of course with old classic songs from Anita Baker or even Chaka Khan the music is slower and its easier to listen to the lyrics because they usually tell a story, but I wanted to focus on songs that were usually played on the radio. In this experiment, I played the song once and then played it a second time but read the lyrics as the artist was singing/rapping the song. I instantly felt ashamed. It was like I was rediscovering all of these songs all over again. With some songs I ended up not liking them anymore because I finally understood what they were saying.

I feel like such an old person when I say that music just isn’t the same anymore (even though I wasn’t alive to truly experience it). When I listen to songs by my favorite older r&b artists they have a real message behind what they’re saying. They’re singing with purpose much like how Rapsody was intentional with every song on her album. Everything had a clear purpose and contributed to the overall theme that she was going for. Now, it seems like artists are chasing trends rather than making meaningful music. However, I understand that the music industry is very lucrative now and you have to make what will sell but I think that this is where my disconnect with music is beginning. I’m beginning to lose that powerful bond that I had with music because there’s nothing to feel anymore. The lyrics aren’t intentional they’re just going for shock value or whatever sounds good in the moment.