“There’s no good music out there anymore” is a complaint I’ve heard many times before by folks who are dying to hear some good R&B/Soul and Hip Hop music. I beg to differ...I feel that it’s out there if you look for it. One major problem is the complainer is looking on the radio or God forbid BET! STOP!! The best place to discover new music/artists is the World Wide Web and word of mouth…at least that’s how I see it.
Back in the day especially in high school, I was a radio junkie. I listened to it all the time and I even remember sitting there with my tape recorder waiting for my favorite song to come on so I can tape it. Then I would listen to it over and over again on my walkman. (Remember Walkmans? I had one of those yellow Sony sports walkmans! LOL!) Now, I hardly ever listen to the radio unless one of my boys is DJing.
Sometimes I wonder if it’s age that makes us think that most of the music out there especially in the mainstream is shit? Cuz I’m sure my parents certainly didn’t like all the hip hop I used to blast in my room growing up.
All I do know is that once I started looking into it, I found out about loads of great artists and music from the net and through word of mouth. Some of the stuff I’ve stumbled upon may have been released a year or more ago but who cares? It’s still new to me and besides, no matter when you discover them, the artists appreciate you listening. There are tons of websites and blogs nowadays to make discoveries. HoneySoul.com was and always will be one of my favorite music sites. It’s not as popular as it was before but myspace.com opened my eyes and ears to new music and artists. I found myself interacting with like minded people with similar music tastes and would often talk about who to check out etc..on places like facebook, twitter and other blogs/message boards. I’ve even been lucky enough to meet some of the artists and can call a few of them friends as well, all of whom I’ve mentioned here plenty of times before.
This also brings me to my other point or frustration as I like to call it. As I see my friends and other artists I listen to, share their talent via mixtapes, albums, live shows and videos, I often listen/watch in awe and get irritated as to why more people don’t know about them. It really hits me when I go to a concert or see a video of a live performance. So much talent is out there going unnoticed! How can you and I help in this respect? I’ve learned that simple word of mouth works. That’s why I started facebook groups for certain artists; Darien Brockington’s being my most popular one. Whenever I talk music with friends or just people in general, I not only speak about the artists I’ve met or know personally but folks that I generally listen to. Artists like D-Brock, Yahzarah, Daru & Rena, Reggie B, Foreign Exchange, Carlitta Durand, Choklate, Eric Roberson, Dwele and Peter Hadar to name a few. It’s not all just about R&B/Soul either, there’s plenty of dope hip hop out there too: Supastition, Little Brother, Tanya Morgan, Murs, Jay Electronica and Tona etc. (I plan to post cllickable links to all the artists mentioned soon, in the meantime, Google them!!)
Some folks say that I’ve come a long way from being just a fan and I’m getting noticed, respected etc. While all that is great, I feel all I’m doing is spreading love and just happened to make some great connections with certain artists and well known soul/hip hop bloggers.
I’ve got some tentative plans in the works….things that I hope to do with regard to this blog and my love for music. If it all works out, everything will come early next year. Until then, I’ll keep on spreading the love…I hope y’all will too!
Back in the day especially in high school, I was a radio junkie. I listened to it all the time and I even remember sitting there with my tape recorder waiting for my favorite song to come on so I can tape it. Then I would listen to it over and over again on my walkman. (Remember Walkmans? I had one of those yellow Sony sports walkmans! LOL!) Now, I hardly ever listen to the radio unless one of my boys is DJing.
Sometimes I wonder if it’s age that makes us think that most of the music out there especially in the mainstream is shit? Cuz I’m sure my parents certainly didn’t like all the hip hop I used to blast in my room growing up.
All I do know is that once I started looking into it, I found out about loads of great artists and music from the net and through word of mouth. Some of the stuff I’ve stumbled upon may have been released a year or more ago but who cares? It’s still new to me and besides, no matter when you discover them, the artists appreciate you listening. There are tons of websites and blogs nowadays to make discoveries. HoneySoul.com was and always will be one of my favorite music sites. It’s not as popular as it was before but myspace.com opened my eyes and ears to new music and artists. I found myself interacting with like minded people with similar music tastes and would often talk about who to check out etc..on places like facebook, twitter and other blogs/message boards. I’ve even been lucky enough to meet some of the artists and can call a few of them friends as well, all of whom I’ve mentioned here plenty of times before.
This also brings me to my other point or frustration as I like to call it. As I see my friends and other artists I listen to, share their talent via mixtapes, albums, live shows and videos, I often listen/watch in awe and get irritated as to why more people don’t know about them. It really hits me when I go to a concert or see a video of a live performance. So much talent is out there going unnoticed! How can you and I help in this respect? I’ve learned that simple word of mouth works. That’s why I started facebook groups for certain artists; Darien Brockington’s being my most popular one. Whenever I talk music with friends or just people in general, I not only speak about the artists I’ve met or know personally but folks that I generally listen to. Artists like D-Brock, Yahzarah, Daru & Rena, Reggie B, Foreign Exchange, Carlitta Durand, Choklate, Eric Roberson, Dwele and Peter Hadar to name a few. It’s not all just about R&B/Soul either, there’s plenty of dope hip hop out there too: Supastition, Little Brother, Tanya Morgan, Murs, Jay Electronica and Tona etc. (I plan to post cllickable links to all the artists mentioned soon, in the meantime, Google them!!)
Some folks say that I’ve come a long way from being just a fan and I’m getting noticed, respected etc. While all that is great, I feel all I’m doing is spreading love and just happened to make some great connections with certain artists and well known soul/hip hop bloggers.
I’ve got some tentative plans in the works….things that I hope to do with regard to this blog and my love for music. If it all works out, everything will come early next year. Until then, I’ll keep on spreading the love…I hope y’all will too!
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