My research question is about
the similarities and differences of the modern popular music in the United
States. First of all, I want to do a brief background introduction to explain
why and how did I choose this topic. I started to listen to English song when I
was 12 years old, it is already 7 years until now. Even though English is not
my first language but still I really enjoy them. I started to play the piano 8
years ago and this gave much more interest than before. The interest in both
music and the language made me addicted to English songs. This is where and how
I started.
So, right after
I decided to listen to English songs, I began to search online. Popular music,
or pop music, is the first kind of music that appears on my screen. In general,
popular music is a huge criterion that includes every kind of music, it is just
different from what we called “classical music”. Popular music is very random,
there is no certain limit for pop music. It can include any kind of instruments
or music style it needs or wants. Pop music is what most of the people love in
the modern time, and it is developing very fast since the 20th
century. There are couple special characteristics about pop music. First of
all, pop music is very easy to understand and you will feel relax when you
listen to it. You may not get what a musician wants to express when you listen
to a classical piano piece from the 1700s, but you will definitely understand
what does Justin Bieber mean when you listen to his songs. Another thing is
that pop music is very people-based and it is related to our daily life a lot.
It can reflect our feeling or our experience during daily life and people can
easily find something in common. Last thing about pop music is that pop music
is more like products and it is updating every single day. The song that is
popular in last week will drop to rank 10 in this week. That is how fast pop music
updating. People are living in a fast pace world and they always want something
new, something fresh, something that can give them stimulations. This is why
pop music develops so fast and becomes dominant in today’s music market. The
representative for pop music I choose is Michael Jackson. He is very popular
and famous all over the world and his music combines all kind of music that
exists in the world. He is a warrior that explores and creates a new era for
pop music. His music includes pop, jazz, R&B, and so on, also his dance is
fantastic as well. If we look closer, then Justin Bieber will be another good
example. His most recent album, Purpose,
is an excellent album that includes pop, R&B, soul, and even rap. The
melody, the text, and the meaning of the text are amazing.
The
next kind of music is Rap. Rap is first emerged among the blacks in New York
City. This kind music is very special because it doesn’t need melody, it just
needs rhythm for most of the time. The spirit of rap is that people are expressing
their true feeling and their true experience in the daily life. Rap may have
dirty words or complaining about life, but it is a kind of music for no doubt.
There is no rank or discriminations between music. I want to say that rap music
is the same as pop music or country music or R&B music. And nowadays more
and more pop songs will have a section that feat a rapper. It gives the song a
new life. Rap in pop music breaks the traditional limit and stereotype of rap.
Also, there is a song called one man can
change the world. This song is produced by Big Sean and it encourages
people to be positive and consistent to face and come over all the difficulties
in life. It gives people hope about life, instead of complaining about life.
Another good example will be the empire
state of mind produced by Jay-Z. This song just describes what does New
York City looks like and people’s perspective about this city. This city is
very mixed, developed, you can experience cultures all around the globe in one
single city. Rap is more like a part of the culture, not only for black people
but also for the all human race. It is a strong musical way to express one’s
opinion and attitude towards life.
Another kind of music I want to talk about is
country music. Country music first emerged from the Southern countries in the
United States. It is also a music form that people use to express their feeling
about life. But the melody and music is very instrumental and most of the
country music is accompanied by guitar. But of course there are tons of
different instruments in country music just like in pop music. As times goes
on, the country music from the 21st century is actually a little bit
different from the traditional country music when it first appeared. It has
more elements from the pop music, the form of the music doesn’t have to be the
A+B form. It has more freedom and the rhythm and content are varied from singer
to singer. The most famous representative for modern country music is Tylor Swift.
Tylor Swift is very popular and her style is considered under country music. Her
song is mostly based on the personal experience and the content are about
relationships or love and so on. This shows that country music is getting
closer to pop music and what people want to hear is actually about the feelings
or experiences that express in a country music form. But there are traditional
country music singers as well and I really enjoy them.
All in all, different kinds of music are
equal with each other and they are all fantastic. English songs are very
pleasant to me and I will try to updating more examples in the future. You can
talk about music with me any time you want, just leave a comment below and I
will reply. Hope we all enjoy our music!
