We FINALLY Have Engaging Music Once More!
My thoughts on Andre 3000's new song and my hopes for the future of music.
So I was on my way to work the other day and while changing radio stations I came across Andre 3000's new song titled “I Swear, I Really Wanted to Make A “Rap” Album but this is Literally the Way the Wind Blew Me This Time” on NPR. I only got to listen to an excerpt, so I had to listen to the entire song later at home. Within the first thirty seconds I could hear the groove that would be used as the backbone of the song. But there was a catch. The groove has no percussion instruments. The groove had no bass. It wasn’t even the REAL backbone. Instead the groove was FELT through tonality.
The song itself is just shy of twelve and a half minutes and somewhere between three and six minutes in I said, "Finally!" to my wife. Finally someone wrote something popular that wasn't made with a cookie cutter. I didn't hear an intro that was a dumbest down version of the chorus. The song didn't use the form verse-chorus-verse-chorus-A REAL BRIDGE IF YOU ARE LUCKY-chorus-chorus-DONE-comercial break. There was no lyrical hook that was so in-your-face and catchy that you can't remember what the verse lyrics are.
Instead I was treated to two things. The first and most important was the journey. Instead of listening to a song with a title where the title is the main lyric and the song is written around the title, I got to read the title and then follow the "wind" as the artist felt it. Knowing some of the artists other works helped me to feel HIS "beat" within thirty seconds. Beyond those thirty seconds I got to enjoy the transitions, context, and textures of something unique.
That's where the second treat comes in. Music today is so overly processed. If your song isn't 2.5 to 3.0 minutes long, has a lyrical hook, barely modulates key, has a bridge that is eight bars or less, has a basic rhythm that middle school kids can tap on a desk, AND has the bass cranked to eleven then good luck being heard! Unless you can get a huge social media following, no one will listen to your song. With such a fresh example of what music can be, the second treat is that this song is a middle finger to the music industry.
We finally have something popular that is engaging.
I cannot stress that enough. I grew up in the 80s and 90s. With musical ideas in the form of New Wave, Grunge, Thrash, and more I was exposed to a literal world of sonic textures. Today I feel like we've compartmentalized music so much that we can sum up most genres as Pop, Rock, Country, Rap, or Other. There are, of course, sub-genres like Metal, Thrash, Black Metal, Punk, Post-Punk, and so on, but that's been snowballed into the "Other" category. With only Pop, Rock, Country, and Rap the format has taken over.
If it's Pop, then target younger females with your lyrics. If it's Rock, then turn up the distortion and play power chords only. Country has twang and a short lyrical hook. Rap gets the trap beat. And that's it, folks.
But now we have a place to start within Andre 3000's new creation. I am hopeful that the Music Industry begins to see that engaging the listener is profitable. This way other artists with unique perspectives can come forward and be heard. When I listen to new music I expect nothing. I just want to be engaged. I don't need a beat, hook, or provocative lyrics. I want just to be engaged! If you feel this way as well, then check out this new song below and leave a comment on what you think about any of this. I think that the more people show interest in engaging music that the more we will begin to heard "Engaging" music as the next genre.
