From Doo-Wop to Hip-Hop: Arts Column

As most musical tastes go, I’m entering a new phase. It is a strange one, having followed a period of experimental music like Umphrey’s McGee, The Fiery Furnaces and LCD Sound system. My current undertaking rejects all music that isn’t from the ’60s or produced from black musical influence. My choices vary within that idiom, from The Velvet Underground to the Jackson 5 or from Martha Reeves and the Vandellas to Public Enemy. It reminds me of one of those mix CDs your friend left in your car, where you put it in because there’s nothing else to listen to and you’re confused that Queens of the Stone Age follows Rufus Wainwright.\nIt reminds me that half the time, we really are about what our music means and not how it actually sounds. After researching a great deal about the bands I’ve been listening to, I realized that where they come from puts them all on the same mix.\nThe Velvet Underground front man Lou Reed, for example, had extremely influential success with the band for his provocative song writing dealing with topics such as transvestites and drug culture, subject matter that in its time was extremely taboo. Although the band did not reach a state of commercial success, it is noted for its extreme underground appeal and is considered one of the greatest bands in rock history for its abrasive messages.\nSimilarly, the ever-controversial, racially charged rap group Public Enemy created the same influential hysteria some 20 years after The Velvet Underground. With the help of the ’90s rap world’s empire, Def Jam Records, the group kicked off its career of subversive anthems such as “Fight the Power” and “911 (Is a Joke).” And while the group was highly criticized for black militancy, its legacy remains today and has even earned it a selection for the preservation of its album, “Fear of a Black Planet” in the Library of Congress.\nNow, as we all know, there is a growing trend in an emphasis on depth or substance in music. We’ve thrown out Christina Aguilera for Cat Power and Ricky Martin for Stephen Malkmus. What is so great about this is that this movement toward better music actualizes the validity of all musical forms. It bridges the gap between our love of one style of music and a disdain for another. By evolving into the taste of songs that sound unconventional, are eclectic in form and say a whole bunch of stuff, we are getting closer and closer to not only understanding music as a whole, but also, each other.\nSo next time you burn a mix CD, don’t be afraid to follow Marvin Gaye with Radiohead. Celebrate the eclectic nature of music and broaden your understanding.