Musical Taste: Generational Divisions
So,
recently, I have been thinking a lot about musical tastes. Specifically,
musical tastes between generations. First, let me give a little back-story.
While perusing YouTube, I stumbled
on a video from around 3 years ago, in which a mom rants for some length about
the song “Norf Norf” by Vince Staples. She reads through the lyrics of the song,
remarking that she is horrified that music like this is being played on radios (even
if it is censored,) and that she would never let her daughter listen to such an
unwholesome song. At a few points she really breaks down, and completely rages
about music these days and how bad it is. Needless to say, the video went
somewhat viral on Facebook (this was like 2013 or ‘14 so people still used
Facebook,) and she got roasted by a lot of people on the internet. After that, the
guy that made the song ended up coming out and defending her, saying that
everyone is entitled to their opinion, and she shouldn't be ridiculed for not
wanting her kids to listen to his music.
Anyway, I didn't really care that
much about what went down (after all, this happened several years ago,) but it
did get me thinking. At one point early on in her rant, the horrified listener
says something like “And then this rap
song comes on.” The word rap is used
as if it is some sort of foul thing, like all rap music is terrible. Obviously,
this is overgeneralizing, but I would say that this is not an uncommon opinion
for parents to have about rap music, especially 5 or 6 years ago. My initial
reaction was to say “That’s just how things are. Older people have never liked
rap and never will.” But then I got to thinking: this type of thing is nothing
new. At first, rock and roll was the thing parents didn't want their kids
listening to. Then it was metal. Then rap. It seems like the genres that are
popular with kids but were not around when their parents were growing up
automatically become prey to demonization by parents. My first thought when I
thought of this was to blame older adults for not accepting change, but then I
realized something else: kids usually hate on their parents’ favorite music as
well. When I was growing up, it would not be an uncommon occurrence for one of
my parents to turn on some rock and roll song from the ‘70s only to have it “booed”
and ridiculed by my two siblings and me. That was when I realized that it wasn't
so much about parents being overprotective of their kids as it was music tastes
not generally lasting more than 1 generation.
It sounds weird, but I think it’s
true. How many kids like country or rock and roll music these days? How many
adults like rap music? Go back in time to when my parents’ generation was kids
and I think you would find that very few of the adults then liked rock and
roll, but many of the kids did. So, what’s up with that? Is the music world so fickle
that a genre can’t stay alive for more than one generation? I obviously don’t
have the experience, the authority, or the complete necessary knowledge to
answer this question, but I will give it my best shot.
I think these recurring
generational divides have 2 main causes: the desire of kids to be different
from their parents, and the fact that people often listen to the same types of
music that their peers listen to. I think it is safe to say that most kids want
to find their own way in the world by distancing themselves from their parents
in as many ways as possible. That said, it would make sense that kids would
shun the music their parents like, with the hopes of making their identity different
from that of their parents. And since kids tend to respect the opinions of
their peers very highly, music that becomes popular with kids will only become
more so as time goes on. I think there are also a few other factors that lead
to the generation taste divide. Kids tend to want to set their music apart as
edgy, so popular songs tend to delve into topics that are intended to push the
envelope. On top of that, many parents seem to forget what it was like when they were a kid, and so become worried
that this edgy music will have a negative impact on their child. These four
factors join to make the perfect storm, so to speak, to divide the musical
preferences along generational lines.
Obviously, this is by no means true
in all cases. There are plenty of exceptions to this rule. However, I think it
is pretty safe to say that this is true for a lot of kids and parents.
This topic was really interesting and I liked the writing style you used. Although there was a lot of information and reflection, it was interesting and easy to read because the you used a kind of personal tone. Good post!
ReplyDeleteI do think you're right, in general, about how these generational allegiances with musical taste cut both ways--kids ridicule their parents' once-rebellious music, while parents generally can't stand kids' music. I know that my grandfather, a jazz musician, never got over the Beatles, and used to disparage all the music *my* generation listened to with his boilerplate denunciation of the early Beatles stuff my mom was listening to as a teenager. (If he were actually aware of some of the content of the punk/hardcore/rap I was listening to at the time, the Beatles might have seemed altogether wholesome!)
ReplyDeleteBut I feel compelled to point out that rap music is now well into its second generation, with artists like Vince Staples being born around the time the "golden age" (1986-92 or so) was in full swing. You do get these generational disputes around rap still (and plenty of your parents maybe weren't listening to rap in the 1990s anyway), but often they take an old-school-vs.-new-school angle, which is rooted more in nostalgia and the idea that the music has "fallen off" from its former glory.
I enjoy the music of my parents’ generation more than they do the music of mine. I had a CD player when I was little, so I listened to music from a lot of different genres and time periods because the CDs in the house were of older music (with the exception of a few of my Disney and Hannah Montana CDs). I think that's why my taste in music is eclectic now. It's more difficult for my parents to accept the differences in mainstream music, although they do try to be open-minded, because it's natural to think of music that they didn't grow up listening to as being worse. I don’t think it's getting worse, but it’s changing.
ReplyDelete