Today's Music: Best Ever?

One Republic, Fall Out Boy, Iggy Azalea, Nicki Minaj, Ariana Grande, Maroon 5, Nico & Vinz, Echosmith, Ed Sheeran, Pitbull… Okay, admit it, how many of you are lost? I have to admit that if it weren’t for the summer of 2013 and satellite radio, I would never know some of the most fun music I have ever heard. In today’s popular music I have heard of some of the top performers like J Lo, John Legend, Robin Thicke Beyonce and Taylor Swift. It’s not like I have been living in a bubble but in some ways I have been.


In 2013, I spent about two weeks sitting by the community pool watching my kids swim. The lifeguards had the radio on, tuned into some “top 40” station. The tunes were poppy and feel good. I have to admit my toes tapped and I did feel good when listening to them. When I started driving my kids to summer camp, I listened to the “hit” channel on my satellite radio and my kids happily sang along. I have no idea where my kids heard these songs and I felt very out of the loop. Then I watched the BET Music Awards and my eyes were opened. First, they were opened to Robin Thicke. I had no idea that kind of groove was out there and the combination of the rap with the singing was brilliant. Turns out, nothing new! Blurred Lines started it all with me. After that I could not get enough of Get Lucky, Treasure, Radioactive, Can’t Hold Us, Thrift Shop, Roar, Drunk In Love,  Wake Me Up…among others. I felt like dancing in my seat and not in my seat. I am always a fan of a song with a good groove, no matter what the musical style and these songs did not disappoint. Some might think they are just pop diddies with no substance but that’s not true either. These songs cover a range of love, lust, self-empowerment and silliness. In today’s world of TV, movies and music nothing is off limits and that shows in the music as well.

2014 brought more of the same with Problem, Shake It Off, Fancy, Happy, Rude, Am I Wrong?, Cool Kids, Dark Horse, A Sky Full of Stars, All of Me, Talk Dirty, Classic, Sing, Timber…sound familiar yet? Most people have heard of Happy by Pharrell Williams. Probably one of the most infectious songs to come out of the past year of offerings. Basically, you are dancing to this unless you are already dead. Besides danceable fun grooves, there is also the combination of rap and singing into most of these top tunes of the past 2 years. This is nothing new and has been standard in R&B for years but it was new to me. Most people, my age, hear the word rap and don’t want to listen anymore. But like the songs that are fun, the raps are the same way. There is no cursing or violence in these raps but there is plenty of discussions of fine “booty.” Fancy, Blurred Lines, Timber, Sing and Classic and many more have brilliantly combined these musical styles. Almost every song on J Lo’s latest release, AKA, is an exciting mesh of rap and singing. My favorite song being, Booty, a tribute to women with boom in all the right places. Her seductive lyrics combine in contrast to Pitbull’s rap, “I wanna take that big ‘ol booty shopping at the mall, I wanna pick it up and put that booty in my car,” and becomes more fun than should be allowed in one song. J Lo commented in an interview that R&B/pop performers love to perform together and don’t feel territorial or competitive. She had asked Steven Tyler, when they were on American Idol together, if he ever thought of teaming up other rockers and do the same thing…he said, “No.” Not that this doesn’t happen, it just isn’t so often. Maybe that is why I never hear a new rock song on the radio unless it is “alternative.”

I believe music (as with all creative endeavors) should evoke the listener to feel something. If I listen to music and don’t feel anything or don’t want to move to it…I am not interested. I really don’t care if these artists are “one hit wonders,” or “flash in the pan,” performers. They will have a lasting effect on music and on me. As I hear my daughter sing along to the radio, I know that some lyrics cross generations, “I wish that I could be like the cool kids, ‘cause all the cool kids, they seem to fit in…” and I am happy to sing along.