Today’s post is a direct continuation of what I posted yesterday. I’ve been writing about music and creativity in general, and hip-hop more specifically, both its positive and negative aspects. Yesterday’s post was about whether, now that I try to live my life in a more deliberate way, I should stop listening to ‘negative’ music that I constantly enjoyed when I was younger, music that served as a sort of coming-of-age soundtrack to my life throughout my early adolescence. A part of me clearly understands, or at least acknowledges, its detrimental effect, on my subconscious mind if nothing else, but the part of me that still lives in the past just doesn’t want to let go of the songs I once cherished and enjoyed, even if I mostly listen to different genres of music these days. If you haven’t been reading my most recent posts leading up to this one you might wonder why I’m even making a big deal about this, about listening to ‘negative’ music, and about not being able to let it go. Well, it’s a big deal to me because, as a rapper myself, my main argument is that hip-hop should be respected and treated as a positive artform with great potential and power to uplift, and I’ve been criticizing the majority of rappers in general for failing to realize this, or for realizing it and simply ignoring it, therefore failing to use their talent, as well as their platform, in a responsible way, and giving in to the pressure to simply create whatever will make them the most money. It feels awkward to be writing such things while consuming the exact content I’m condemning. The reason I write about not being able to let go of the music I grew up on, is because of my chaotic personality which loves a good random mess. This personality ‘trait,’ if that’s what it can be called, makes me want to hoard everything, so to speak. As I grow, I never let go of things that have been important to me in the past. Instead, I try to combine everything together. I stack identities on top of new ones, interests on top of new ones, and to me it feels very natural. I know this has culminated in a very strange personality, but it’s comfortable to me so I just roll with it and hope for the best. I don’t quite know how to properly explain it, this love of the random, or of the everything. It’s a really peculiar feeling which I’m sure I’ll explore further in future posts, as I have in the past a bit. Now, you might be wondering what I even mean by positive or negative music anyway. There’s a lot I’ve written on this blog about the duality of life, about how everything we do in this world seems to be made up of a rhythmic balance of positive and negative forces that are in constant motion, which is the reason why the only guarantee in life other than death is change, constant change. So, can some music be truly negative, overall? Well, if it can, does that depend on the intention that it was created with, or does it depend, rather, on the overall effect that it has on the lives of its listeners, on our world and its population as a whole? This is a huge question which could lead to a very interesting debate, but I doubt we would arrive at a sure conclusion by the end of it. In the face of this uncertainty, I would argue that the responsible approach to being an artist would be to constantly remind yourself that you have an amazing opportunity to make a positive change in the world, and to create positive, life-changing art to the best of your ability. Unfortunately, many wouldn’t agree with me on that. They would say that, in the face of such uncertainty, we should simply create what we like, and that whatever happens to the people who consume our ‘art’ should be none of our business. We are not gods; we have no business in directing others’ lives, and whatever they do with their lives is not our responsibility, right? Well, that’s the easiest way to feel like your conscience is clear, but I’m not really satisfied with it. We’ll go further into this tomorrow though, and see where we end up.
I appreciate you reading my post of at least 500 words for today. As you now know, I make music, and would appreciate you listening to my song ‘I Can Feel It’ which I wrote, produced, recorded, mixed, and mastered. It means a lot to me. Much love y’all.
rebel eye 