I draw a lot of my influence from arts of all kinds. What I do is an art form, I can create and make beautiful edible pieces of art. However at this point in my life I work with my mind and my hands to create art that one can read and enjoy. With that, I get to appreciate everything that art has to offer. I love paintings and poetry and everything in between. But my favorite art form is Music. I gravitate towards a beat or a tune as if it were my own heartbeat. I feel the beat of the drum as the pulse behind my ears. The strum of the guitar is the blood flowing through my veins, and the sound a voice can make can literally shake the core of by being. I feel so strongly about quality music and I'm passionate about it, I just wonder why or how music can be made without having a shred of meaning.

I've had a long standing love affair with music, its the hole that I climb under when i need to think. It literally helps me create most of my greatest artistic contributions whether it be in the kitchen or on paper. It kind of like one song, a creation in its own right, can be the soundtrack to form another creation. Why waste such beauty and potential for a catchy tune and a spot on the charts? When did music lose its meaning? Today its just tune with some words in it, maybe a flashy video to distract from the lack of depth and understanding in the lyrics. Most artists, if we can even call them that anymore, have completely lost sight of what music is.

Lets divulge into a little history. The word Music is derived from the Greek word Mousike which means "Art of the Muses". However music can not be so simply defined. Its existence, meaning , and what it entails has been the topic of discussion by Scholars, Mathematicians, Scientists, Musicians, Artists, and everyone in between since its "creation". From the Greek word Mousike, came the Roman term Ars Musica which embraces poetry and instrument-oriented music. In the middle ages in Europe, Musica was a part of ( quadrivium) the more advanced division of the Seven Liberal Arts, which includes arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music. After this, the concept of music was split into three categories by a 5th century philosopher by the name of Boethius. He broke it down into Musica Universalis, Musica Humana, and Musica Instrumentalis. Musica Universalis and Musica Humana don't really refer to music as the noise and sounds we are accustomed to, so we won't talk about them too much. Musica Universalis referd to the order of the universe as God has created it. Before our time, when the planets and stars and everything in space were still thought to revolve around the Earth, the orbit, the movement, and the proportions of these objects were seen as music, without any sound. The last term, Musica Instrumentalis refers to music and its sounds. It was seen as the lowest form of the three Musicas, less significant. All things music whether its the instrumentals or the sound of the voice, they all fall under this form. However, how could something that was originally based in math and science be less significant?

Music is one of the oldest references in Human History, as far back as people have been living, breathing, eating, and drinking, music was there. Music is referenced many times in the Bible, the oldest texts in the world. From Angels coming down from the heavens playing the horn and the harps to mass celebrations where music was the focus, music is referenced from beginning to end in the Bible. Ancient cultures used music to celebrate, for entertainment, and for spiritual purposes, and it it still used today for these reasons in some cultures.

So with something like music that has a million translations and a million more meanings, how is it possible that one can create a piece of music with zero meaning? Its just something that has been has been bothering me for quite sometime now, but it has definitely been getting to me more lately. I feel like our culture in particular has forgotten the true meaning and significance that music presents. I can listen to Spanish based music and it still has depth and substance. Indian, Native American, and African cultures have held onto the respect that music used to receive.

American culture above all others have lost all respect for one of the oldest forms of Art in History. Music has helped shaped what and who we are today, and we simply through it aside. 95% of the music that is out today seriously makes me sick and makes me question why anyone would listen to it. You have artists like Solja Boy and Nicki Minaj, who I wonder if they have up to an 8th grade education. Well in their raps, its clear that they don't. Other artists like Lady Gaga and Ke$ha who disguise their lack of verbal creativity with flashy videos, obnoxious clothing, and ridiculous make-up. Other “great” performers just create a stupid dance and throw some words together and call it a hit. Honestly there is more of this rubbish than real music out there. It makes me sad that people actually consider this good music and listen to it over and over again, where I have a hard time listening to it for one minute.

I want to take the time out to share with people what real music is. In order for it to be genuine one must be able to take something away from it. You should be able to listen to a song, and pull from it a meaning and have it impact some part of you. Music was created as a form of communication and it should convey a message. What message can someone get from a Nicki Minaj song? I can think of a few, and not one of them is good. I have been able to listen to a sad song and cry afterwords because my heart truly ached. I could listen to a feel good song and it would uplift my whole mood. I wonder can Ke$ha do that?

Another reason for poor music is that some artists, not all of them, actually do have talent and really do care about the music. However they are vocally and emotionally stifled by the people who sign their checks. Eventually they trade in their musical souls for higher sales, more collaborations, and bigger and dumber fan bases. One artist that fits this bill is Kanye West who started out making amazing songs like “Family Business", "Roses", and "Jesus Walk”, collaborating with artists like Mos Def, Common, Talib Kweli, and The Roots on songs like “Hurricane" and "Get By Remix”, and now hes more obsessed with making the headlines with his actions as opposed to his music. He has now become a waste of what used to be talent.

Most of this is the consumer's fault, stupid people want stupid music. The big bad people at the top of the record labels know this. They're only trying to give you what you want.!

Some people are convinced that what they spend their time listening to and their money buying is music. Sadly most of those people are mistaken because their ignorance has been taken advantage of by the music industry. They sell this garbage for profit, and those who don't know any better pay for it. I feel like some actions should be taken to inform people of the kind of music they are actually getting. Maybe instead of a parental advisory like “Contains explicit content” there could be a sticker that say “contains no depth or meaning”. Or before a song can even make it on an album it should be checked to see if the songs have substance and the lyrics actually form coherent comprehensive sentences as opposed to just having a catchy tune!

Now with this in mind maybe some of you should take a real listen to your favorite songs and playlists and realize what you are really hearing. And when you realize that you've been terribly mistaken for quite some time now, may I make a few suggestions? Delete all of the garbage of your I-Pods and take a listen to some good music. If you are having a hard time differentiating between whats good and whats bad, remember this; if you can listen to a song and not get anything from it, clearly its not good. Also don't feel discouraged by the kind of music you find meaning in. It's probably best that you break away from the main steam stuff anyway.

If you want, actually I strongly suggest taking notice to some of these artists and theses songs. Some of them are new and some of them are older, and these older songs definitely have staying power.

   

John Mayer- My favorite Artist of all time. For the most part John Mayer doesn't care about anything else but the music. He's a beautiful artist and human being because he pretty much says Fuck the mainstream, I'm going to make the music I want. “The Heart of Life", "Assassin", "Belief", "ClarityComfortable", "Dreaming With a Broken Heart", "Edge of Desire", "Free Fallin", "Gravity", "Heartbreak Warefare", "In Repair", "Perfectly Lonely", "Say", "Slow Dancing in a Burning Room", "Stop This Train", "Waiting on the World to Change", "Wheel", just to name a few.

Justin Nozuka- "My heart is Yours" and anything from his most recent album “You I Wind Land and Sea”. Great songs, but he's otherwise pretty unknown.

Paramore- I love all of their albums and I really respect the fact that they haven't changed over time. They refuse to be labeled or classified as one genre or the other. Their most recent CD has a lot of great songs just like the two before it. “Misguided Ghosts", "Playing God", "Ignorance", "Looking Up", and "Where the Lines Overlap”. Great tracks.

One Republic- Their most recent song “Secrets” is definitely high up on my list. The violin intro is something special.

Jason Mraz- The definition of consciousness in the music industry. His song “Wordplay” is a nice big Fuck You to those trying to label him. It will give you something to think about

Gavin DeGraw- One of my favorite artists for quite sometime now. He hasn't released anything new in a few years but “We Belong Together” is a great song. He also has a song called "Belief", him and John Mayer have a song by this title. Same name, two completely different directions, but similar messages.

Brett Dennon- “Ain't No Reason” is an amazing song, I honestly have no words to describe it. Please Please Please listen and really listen to this song. It speaks about everything and if your looking for change, this is the right place to go. If you don't listen to any other song today, listen to this one.

The Script- I fell in love with The Script long before most people knew about them. They're this really dope band from Dublin, Ireland. That's probably why their music has depth. “Fall for Anything, Talk You Down, Before the Worst, and I'm Yours” are especially good songs.

Bird York- "In the Deep" is the title song from the movie Crash. Take a listen to this one. Its pretty dramatic

John Legand- “This Time” is a really great song.

Mos Def- A conscious rapper and one of the only rappers I listen to. I've been in love with his music since he was mostly underground. He's been in a couple of my favorite movies also. Listen to “Mathematics, Get By Remix, and Hurricane”.

Common- a great collaborating artist, also on Hurricane

Talib Kweli- He is one of the best rappers and has been for a long time but rather than being signed he created his own record label with Mos Def. He holds true to real Hip-Hop. Check out "Get By and the Get By Remix".

K'naan- His Dusty Foot Philosopher is the greatest barely known album. “In the Beginning is one of my favorites” and “Waving Flag” is the song for the 2010 World Cup.

A Fine Frenzy- Beautiful vocals and instrumental. “Ashes and Wine” is very meaningful song.

Iron and Wine- Very different from what I usually listen to, but they definitely worked their way into my normal playlist because of how great their songs are. Some already know their song “Flightless Bird, American Mouth” from the Twilight soundtrack. Its a really good song

Tracy Chapman- a female artist that my friend actually got me to listen to and I was instantly hooked. “Fast Cars and Change”.

Pearl Jam- one of their older songs “Last kiss” makes me cry almost every time I hear it. They still resonate with me after all these years.

Nas- Very controversial artist. His raps are legit and he's has now collaborated with Damian Marley to pretty much rock the foundation of everything we know. "Distant Relatives" is the best album of this year in my opinion.

Kings of Leon- “Manhattan and Closer" are great songs, and those came before their Use Somebody track.

Kenny G- I've been listening to Kenny G for about 10 years mostly because of my dad. Kenny G plays the saxophone and has been hated on since 1986. His 1996 album, "The Moment" is one of my all around favorite albums. Its mostly instrumental with the exception of two songs featuring Baby Face and Toni Braxton. His music leaves so much room for interpretation because you don't have the words there to tell you what its saying. You have to dig a lot deeper to get what he's trying to say. I love that. I suggest everyone get a copy of this album and try to figure it out.

Joss Stone- such a big voice for such a little girl, and she knows how to use it. She does a song with Common that I absolutely love. There is a food reference in there thats unexpected but speaks so true to the rest of the song. “Tell Me What Were Gonna do Now”.

Jacks Mannequin- This one was a suggestion from another friend. “Dark Blue and Swim”, two really good songs.

Drake- One of the only new rappers that I actually respect. Buy his new album and take a listen to track #1 featuring Alicia Keys "Fireworks".

Craig David- Older but better than the rest. “Unbelievable and You Don't Miss Your Water"

 Jaiden- “Escape”. There is little known about this artist or any other song by him. I can barely find anything on him. But I Love this song.

Counting Crows- Everybody should know and love the song "Colorblind", but I think we should all listen to it again.

Corinne Bailey Rae- British born and soulful as hell. Shes unchanging and unrelenting. like her music.

Citizen Cope- "Let the Drummer Kick" is another one of those really good songs that need a little bit of love.

Chris Isaak- I'm dating myself with this one but “Wicked Games” is a great one.

Carter Burwell- Pianist, great ballads, anything by him is amazing.

 And one can't go wrong with Bob Marley and Tu Pac.

 Kenny G has said "It’s the intellectuals who write the reviews. People read these things and think that these are the people who know the most. Maybe I’m a dreamer, but I think the ordinary guy has as much right to say, This is a good song’ as somebody who is in the music business". Just to set everything in perspective, I say what I say because I can. I'm as good a judge as the next person. I might be better than the professionals because I actually care about what I've said. “Say what you mean and mean what you say!