Poetry & Music

the difference between poetry and music is minimal, music is poetry with instruments, and poetry, if being performed, uses vocal passion in order to portray emotion. what is happening to mainstream music today is a lack of poetry and an escalation in material wants. there are always going to be musicians out there that stand tall against the mainstream and make the music that they want to even if they aren't getting paid 1/4 what the mainstream musicians are. last year lil wayne made 20 million dollars despite being in jail most of the year. lil wayne's top selling song is "lollipop" and the lyrics go as follows:

"OK, little mama had a swag like mine
She even wear her hair down her back like mine
I make her feel right when it's wrong like lying
Man, she ain't never had a love like mine
And man I ain't never seen an ass like hers
And that pussy in my mouth had me loss for words
Told her back it up like erp erp
And I made that ass jump like jerk, jerk
And that's when she lick me like a lollipop (oh yeah I like that)
she lick me like a lollipop (I like that)
she lick me like a lollipop (I like that)
she lick me like a lollipop"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IH8tNQAzSs

sorry for the vulgar lyrics, but if you can see, there is little that could be considered poetry in these lyrics. all this song is is a demeaning song towards women accompanied by a not so catchy beat. this song received about 75.5 million views. does that mean that 75 and a half million people have lost all ability to comprehend conscious lyrics? unfortunately it's a possibility.

on the other hand there are musicians out there that want to make music that carries a message even if the big record producers won't sign them for million of dollars. one group that i would like to put out there for example are called the "Blue Scholars". they don't have a record deal, they don't make millions of dollars each year for selling out to the big record companies that just use you as a puppet, but instead they put themselves thousands of dollars in debt creating music that they want people to hear, one line from a song is "i wont rest until my stories have been told"and that's exactly what they do, they tell stories, whereas lil wayne talks about the mass amounts of money he makes and the women that he can get into bed with him.

november 30th, 1999 was considered the battle of seattle. the happenings of this day are told perfectly by rapper Geo from the blue scholars in the song "50K Deep".

November 30th, 1999
No sunshine

The body rock stopped, probably got caught by the cops
Nearby, somebody got shot
But parties don't stop and the parties don't care
It's a stick-up, it's why we got our hands in the air

Still demanding a share, refrigerators bare
'Cause they wanna see trade get free and not fair
But we are not blind, we are not there
We don't got time left to spare to not care

On the last day of November, swellin' in ranks
Went to chant down the mighty IMF and World Bank
A gathering of people in peaceful assembly
Onward to Westlake to disrupt the entry

Walk along steady, riot squad ready
To protect every last dignitary's ass
But this started when they herded us like cattle in a fence
Protesters gettin' restless without an exit

They threatened to arrest us, we pushed back and then
A hail of rubber bullets hit teens and old men
I admit, had to split when the first gas canisters hit
Felt it burn in my eyes, nose, and lips

They tried to blame it on the anarchists, garbage
I was there, I'll tell you right now the pigs started it
But they distort it in the news
Talkin' bout stompin' down Niketown wearing their shoes

But the body rock stopped, probably got caught by the cops
Nearby, somebody got shot
But the parties don't stop and the parties don't care
It's a stick-up, it's why we got our hands in the air

50,000 deep, and it sound like thunder when our feet pound streets
50,000 deep, and it sound like thunder when our feet pound streets
50,000 deep, and it sound like thunder when our feet pound streets
50,000 deep, 50,000 deep

Yeah, now, the body rock stopped, probably got caught by the cops
Nearby, somebody got shot
But parties don't stop in the south
So take your shoes off when you come into my house

I had to duck out 'cause I knew I stuck out in the crowd
After many years growin' up brown in this town
Now this is what democracy looks like
Not what you all had in mind for tonight

Mr. Mayor, shell-shocked for 5 days straight
Press conference, lookin' constipated and pale
Tossed a homie in jail, wasn't even protesting
Wrong place, wrong time, learned a quick lesson

But this is not a question what we did to deserve this
Rich kids went and got arrested on purpose
But was it worth it? My first inclination
Globalization is the root of the pain

Made the reason that they left and the reason that we came
Catch my breath, blood pulsates my brain
And they called it a riot?
Huh, I call it an uprising

And they call this a riot?
But nah, I call it a uprising
And they call this a riot? Nah man, fuck that
I'm a call it a uprising

50,000 deep, and it sound like thunder when our feet pound streets, yo
50,000 deep, and it sound like thunder when our feet pound streets, come on y'all
50,000 deep, and it sound like thunder when our feet pound streets, yeah
50,000 deep, and it sound like thunder when our feet pound streets
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afgHqFOPDN0

this song has received 68 thousand views on youtube

this song is just as much a protest song as any other, but what people don't understand is that they are disregarding the music that is poetry and has a message and forces us to think, and people have been persuaded by the music that is catchy and that the radio forces us to listen to.