I was brought up listening to The Beegees, The Beatles, The Kinks, The Rolling Stones, old Rod Stewart, Motown music and other general legends.
I used to love (and still do) sitting in the living room with my dad, putting some vinyl on and chilling out, having the odd dance and having a sing-song. I even used to wear a little leather skirt and waistcoat that my mum made me to sing along and play my guitar to Suzi Quatro and her feisty, wild songs.
I'm now nearing 20 years of age - still listening to sixties and seventies music. However, now my music taste is widely eclectic and I'm a firm lover of all genres - I can honestly say this, with the exception of drum and bass and orchestrial - even though I do see why people love these genres... they're not for me!
Anyway, my newest musical love has got to be R'n'B music. I adore it. I remember the days when I was a secret lover of certain genres, but would never admit it because that wasn't cool, but I can safely say I will never hide who I am again.
R'n'B music can be really trashy in many ways, repetitive, cheesy, tacky and many people would class it as music that black people produce, that in most cases is full of drugs, sex and misogyny - however, when I listen to it I hear soul, expression, life experience, lust, desire, emotion, meaning, love, reasoning, self belief and motivation - wrapped up in a funky beat.
Yeah, women are spoken about in an extremely sexual way by the male R'n'B artist, but it's representing instant lust - the type you sometimes feel for someone when all you want to do is rip their clothes off. Everyone has felt or will feel lust, so why not sing about it? Why not talk about a beautiful woman you were instantly attracted to in a way that is a little bit x-rated?
Another thing I love about R'n'B music is with some R'n'B artists, such as Ne-Yo, his music is especially soulful - he reminds me of a modern Marvin Gaye, even though he sings about topics that are far from the respectful love songs that Marvin belted out years ago. A signifier that music is becoming more and more daring!
I love R'n'B music because on the surface it's just some funky and upbeat tune you can listen to when you're driving in your car on a really nice day and have a sing-song too.
But it has hidden depths. The jolly, happy, vibrant music can sometimes mask what they are saying in their lyrics. I sometimes hear a good R'n'B tune and disregard the lyrics, except the catchy chorus, because the music is so fantastic. However, when I listen properly to what they are actually singing, 9 times out of 10 I am absolutely mesmorised by the story I am being told.
My favourite R'n'B artist, Akon, has this effect on me. His songs are always really catchy and I love a good sing song to them, but when I listen to the lyrics I am quite astonished. I am actually being told about his previous life, his hardships, his fight to get where he is now, his culture, his lust for women and I thank him for allowing me to come inside his world and experience a life that is worlds apart from my own.
I also thank him for letting me sing and dance while I have this experience!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
You must listen to Billie Holliday if you haven't already. I didn't discover her music until about 50 years after she died. She was a heroin addict and some of her recordings are very squeaky, others are a bit too jazzy for my taste, but she does belt out some amazing, heartfelt, no-good-man, type of blues as well.
ReplyDeleteI would say her voice is a bit like Macy Gray's.