Opinion: Today’s Pop Music vs Old School Pop Music
November 5, 2021
Have you ever listened to your parents playing their favorite music from the 80s? I know mine do. “Thriller By Michael Jackson” and many other songs made in their times in my opinion, were a lot better because the music was for everyone from all walks of life. It was not all about violence and drugs. It was more about dancing and partying for everyone to relax after a long week. Every kid, every parent, and almost every grandparent was listening to these musical anthems that celebrated unity and a love of the music. Compared to today, most grandparents and parents do listen to the latest music like “Leave The Door Open By Bruno Mars” because the lyrics have that old-school vibe that can get its listeners to dance.
Many of the latest music has been for a specific audience. Artists such as Beyoncé, Jay Z, Eminem, or Nicki Minaj all have their styles on how they produce and distribute their music. They have released music that fits more of an older generation while still standing the test of time to branch across generational gaps. Unlike artists like Shawn Mendes or Justin Bieber, who fit more of today’s style of music. But again the artists I just mentioned also have received their musical inspiration from older generations like Prince, Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey, just to name a few. However, If you ever listened to a few songs they sound almost similar like “Same Old Love” by Selena Gomez and “Havana” by Camilla Cabello “have almost exactly the same slinky, snap-accented intro” according to a Popcrush article. Lately, I’ve been seeing a trend in how the music has been shifting back to the 80s vibes. Some songs have sampled those dance beats that got our parents up to dance at the house parties in the 90s. A lot of TikTok music producers have actually posted a few videos taking the popular songs in the 90s and other songs from past generations and mixing popular music in recent years including 2021 to make a totally different song and maybe even better than the original version and man you would be amazed at what these music producers can do.
Another example of this would be“Don’t Matter To Me” by Drake featuring Michael Jackson. But there’s a catch… Michael Jackson had originally recorded the song solo in 1983. Drake sampled the song to feature Michael Jackson. From sitting at school during lunch, spending time with our friends while playing our favorite songs, or on a very long road trip with our families while our parents are playing their favorite tunes, pop music or any type of music plays a role in our everyday lives. Whatever the case may be, just remember that whatever song you listen to, it may have gotten the inspiration from older generations way before any of us were born.