The Urbanite Chronicles – Today’s Music Is A Bunch Of Noise
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If you grew up in an urban area then you know that music and life can sometimes be confused for identical twins. The new Jay-Z album drops and he’ll speak of the latest fashion you just purchased or explain how his work ethic is similar to yours. Maybe you’re driving home from work and the new Mary J Blige song comes on the radio and her situation is exactly like the situation that you and your current man toy are going through. You see to me music is my life and sometimes I like to hear it real loud while I’m sipping on a drink made by a nice looking woman wearing a cut off t-shirt in the middle of winter at my favorite bar.
It relaxes me. Music helps me take my mind off of all the bills, drama and traditional corporate nonsense going on in my life. Bob from accounting seem to think I’m the complaint box, so I hear all about all of the problems with the new system IT installed. And not to forget about how his wife doesn’t appreciate him and is no longer throwing it back in the bedroom.
Yet, the critics of our urban life want to demonize our music. They say its too violent, too misogynistic, too materialistic, too shallow, and just a bunch of noise. Well maybe this is true, but in the urban area I live in music is an art that is only reflecting the life I see everyday I walk out of my apartment. I hear the factory worker downstairs yelling at his wife when he comes home to a dirty house. I see woman, after woman coming out the apartment of the man with the Benz. I see the young lady across the hall go into her house in work clothes then come back out in designer shoes, the latest fashions and a new hair due each week. I hear the music bumping so loud that it shakes my walls when group of college students buy a new CD. This is how I know its Tuesday.
But every now and then I see the pink piece of paper stuck in one of their doors on the fifth of the month when rent is due, that’s really when I hear the music of life protruding out their homes. Sometimes I smell an herbal aroma mixing with the beats of life over the lyrics of Young Jeezy, Snoop Dogg, Lil Kim, Soulja Boy and Weebie.
So the next time you think of talking about how the music of today sucks, take a minute to listen to the lyrics and you might just get a glimpse into one of your neighbor’s lives.
