In the 1950s, we witnessed the emergence of rock music, known as the Dawn of Rock ‘n’ Roll. The 1960s feature some of the most popular groups, bands, and artists known today, like The Beatles. Sidenote: my grandma was a huge fan and would attend Paul McCartney concerts all the time when I was growing up. This was when songwriting became a renowned art form, mixing soul music and rock to what we know today as contemporary rock. One thing to point out is how the music reflects the culture surrounding it; in the 1960s, a lot more thought and/or heart went into music after all of the wars across the world seemed to be coming to an end.
The 1970s and 80s were the decades of rock. However, this rock style was more progressive, as in Pink Floyd and Metalic. During this time, we would see some disco music on the surface and make waves. This would be in an era where the world was at peace, somewhat, and the music reciprocated that feeling of freedom and fun. We should all have a good idea of what living the rockstar lifestyle is like at this point, which I mention because society reflected that freedom in that era of music.
In the 1990s, we were introduced to grunge/alternative rock music, and by the mid to late 90s, hip-hop had begun to take the world by storm, with artists like Biggie Smalls and 2Pac leading the charge. In the early 2000s, hip-hop took over entirely as the leading genre, with slower music and the soul style of hip-hop leading most of the top-charting song types because of events like September 11. However, rap music is the top music genre in the 2010s and thus far in the 2020s. There are a plethora of sub-genres within it now, and there is music for everyone. However, we are watching in front of our eyes the effects it has had on our culture in America. Gun violence amongst teens is through the roof, along with the thought of living a “hustler” lifestyle because that is what rappers project in their music and music videos.
This brings me to Hall's (2005) Introduction of Notes on Deconstructing ‘the Popular’ that states, “Cultural change’ is a polite euphemism for the process by which some cultural forms and practices are driven out of the center of popular life, actively marginalized. Rather than simply ‘falling into disuse’ through the Long March to modernization, things are actively pushed aside, so that something else can take their place” (para. 1). This is precisely what happened with the changes in popular music throughout the decades. However, it brings me to a couple of questions:
Why does society reflect the type of music (music videos) they listen to in such a literal form?
Is the music a product of its environment or does it create the environment for society?
References
Hall, S. (2005). Notes on Deconstructing ‘the Popular’. Popular Culture: A Reader, 64-71.
I've been surrounded by music my entire life. My grandparents were also big fans of the Beatles, and my dad will still argue with me that Queen is the greatest band that's ever walked the earth. So, when thinking about your question regarding music being a product of its environment or creating the environment for society, I hope you don't think I'm cheating you out of an answer when I say that it's been both at one point or another throughout the history of music.
ReplyDeleteThere's an old philosophical term that goes something along the lines of "Hard times create strong men, and good times create weak men," and this same philosophy applies to music. During the decades of turmoil around the world in the 40s, 50s, and 60s, music was created to be uplifting in order to distract the masses from the horrors of reality for just a moment. As we've moved into the age of grunge, hip-hop, and R&B, music has become more complex, with genres to fit almost any mood, and each style of music has gone on to create its own subgenres. For example, trap is a modern subgenre of hip-hop, metal is a subgenre of rock, etc.
From this, I think it's easy to see that, just like any other type of art form, music can both be created by and create an environment for society to live in.
To address your question around if music is a product of its environment or if it creates the environment for society I think there is a combination. I think that there are a fair amount of artists who start off with music being a product of their environment and then grow into creating an environment for society. Artists such as Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Tyler the Creator are all exceptions where they are still creating music around the environments/experiences that they grew up with. There are other artists, such as Taylor Swift, who somehow has created a cult following which puts her in the category of creating an environment for society.
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