America's Lovely Hit Singles | Teen Ink

America's Lovely Hit Singles

June 11, 2009
By bagofskittles SILVER, Aurora, Colorado
bagofskittles SILVER, Aurora, Colorado
5 articles 0 photos 2 comments

“I like that boom boom pow, Them chicken jackin’ my style, They try copy my swagger…” Boom Boom Pow, The Black-Eyed Peas, the number one on our Hot 100.
Take a look at our Billboard Hot 100 and see what we average people are paying $1.29 on our iPods to listen to. This week, our top 5 consist of hip hop and pop. Artificial drumbeats and lyrics consisting of relationships, sex, and dancing is what the American public wants to hear. In the 11 through 20 we’re starting to get to some music that actually uses some musical talent to compose but even at that, the vocals and drum beats are pretty basic. Also the lyrics are again bland, with only a couple of songs showing some meaning behind them.

Back in the day, our music showed emotion behind their songs. The Beatles wrote about love and anti-war, Fiona Apple wrote about her scarring experience when she was a child, even our old school rap showed segregation and the pain of living in the streets. But now, all we care about is catchy beats that you can shake your hips to at a party. Now there’s nothing with having a hook in your song, but there’s no magic in the songs that puts shivers down your spine and make you truly think what the artist went through to write that song.

Let’s also look at what our superstar single stars actually look like. Most of the women on the top 10 have been know to show a lot of their “assets” on stage. Most of them also certainly don’t wear their natural hair color and style. The men are mostly muscular, tan, and have the attitude of “I rule the world, you all just live in it.”

Only a couple of people in our music industry are breaking these chains and truly showing their real self: Beyonce with her curves and real singing talent, Sean Kingston with a huskier weight and nicer attitude, and Kings of Leon singing about the pain that the world is going through to name a few.

I know if people read this, there will be people either rolling their eyes or wanting to argue with me, but truly, look in your iPods, and see what your “idols” are truly singing about.


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This article has 6 comments.


on Nov. 25 2011 at 7:08 pm
sophza PLATINUM, Sacramento, California
21 articles 14 photos 47 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." ~Ferris Bueller

I like listening to songs that give me strong emotions, so I have my share of stupid dance songs (Party Rock Anthem?) and deeper songs. But yes, the radio songs are getting really repetitive, both musically and lyrically.There are the occasional few who break the musical pattern or thematic pattern, but then everyone just follows suit and it becomes the norm again.

on Oct. 12 2011 at 12:41 am
JairG_JazzTenor BRONZE, Glendale, Arizona
1 article 0 photos 4 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Don't play whats there, play whats not there" -Miles Davis-

thats  a great factor on why i dont listen to a lot of rap. the music that i have is either a type of rock (Prog, Alternative, Grunge) or a type of Jazz

on Aug. 29 2011 at 12:09 pm
Xella714 BRONZE, Salem, Massachusetts
3 articles 1 photo 18 comments
I agree most of the songs on the radio are just not interesting to listen to

on Jul. 7 2010 at 11:08 am
JustAnotherOwl SILVER, Unknown, New York
6 articles 0 photos 378 comments

Favorite Quote:
"See, we don't really care who you are;
Everyone is capable of looking up and wishing on a star.
So catch it, so contagious, this day-dreamer's disease,
And hope can be your sword, slaying darkness with belief."

"Sanctuary"- Paradise Fears

I'm not saying that the atricle is wrong, but you are categorizing most teens as having music about sex, drugs, or alcohol when that isn't actually the case. I avoid getting music that talks about any of that and the music I listen to is much different. Owl City and the Jonas Brothers are my two favorite artists and most people dislike them because they are more innocent than what is on the radio these days. Maybe you should write an article about how awful it is for someone to dislike music because it is innocent, not hate on music that isn't as innocent. No matter what any songs are about, they have a different meaning to different people and to the artist the songs that you are calling meaningless might mean the world to them. I know this is an opinion article, though. And that is my opinion.

on Oct. 21 2009 at 6:22 am
ApathyEyes SILVER, Tallahassee, Florida
8 articles 0 photos 7 comments
im a teen and most of the songs i have on my ipod have meaning. maybe im just weird, but if someone is talking about absolutely nothing ina song i tend to hate it and badmouth it. some teen musical stars are picking up their game and singing about real things and others need to.

Sunshineyday said...
on Jul. 25 2009 at 8:13 pm
Hee hee! My ipod is full of socially conciuos songs. Very few songs I have are from after 2000. Most are from the 60's(or sometimes 70's) - and if that makes me a hippie- so be it!