The Sincerest Form of Flattery
As I cruise about my hometown in my mighty Nissan Altima, I enjoy tuning into our local popular music stations. While I will be the first to admit that popular music isn’t my favorite genre, I do find a song or two to be worth the listen. That being said, I am finding that popular music is becoming increasingly uncreative, more so than ever before.
From a simple music standpoint, many of the songs today are complete rip offs of other songs. Eminem’s “Mockingbird” and ” Jibbs’ “Chain Hang Low” take melodies from the children’s songs of “Mockingbird” and “Do your Ears Hang Low?” respectively. Lloyd, in his song “You,” and Nelly, in his song “N Dey Say,” directly steal the hook from the 1983 song “True” by Spandau Ballet. Apart from directly stealing melodies, many popular songs today consist of three of four notes modified with a synthesizer.
Even if you focus on the lyrics of these songs, you find that they are becoming increasingly repetitive. Take for example the song Buy U a Drank by T-Pain featuring Yung Joc.