With the rise of social media, music has experienced a boom in new artists blending pop, dance, electro and other elements of different genres. While some people dislike this new wave, I admire the creativity and musical prowess required to produce and perform these new sub-genres.
The blending of genres of music has been common practice since the beginning of modern music. While it was a slow process, about 20 years ago musicians started reaching out and expanding genres at an exponential rate. The rise of nu-metal, which fuses classic heavy metal with rudiments of pop and techno, in the late 90s continuing to the 2000s with bands such as Papa Roach and Slipknot would eventually lead to bands such as Sleep Token, Health and Spiritbox exploring elements of pop, R&B, electric and techno alongside their baseline of metal through the 2010s and beyond. Personally, I believe this evolution is incredibly healthy for the scene and has started to bring more fans to appreciate metal music who otherwise would have dismissed it for being too “scary” or “hardcore.”
On the other end of the spectrum, artists such as Janet Jackson, Beyonce, OutKast and Nicki Minaj fused pop, hip hop and R&B to set the scene for modern artists such as Doja Cat, Tyler the Creator and SZA to take the mainstream music scene by storm. While the label “genre bending” is often applied to more niche artists, it’s very easy to find mainstream artists who experiment with different styles of music.
So, if mainstream artists “genre bend,” why do smaller bands and artists get hated on for doing the same thing? While it’s a complicated question, I have a few theories. For starters, people may just not like any changes in music. Music “elitists” are a good example of this. According to an article by The State Press, “Music elitists only respect creations that are relevant to or cater to a narrow realm of thought built by privilege and culture.” Basically, if the music in question doesn’t conform to what they think is good music, it obviously isn’t “real” music.
Easy access to social media might have had something to do with the rise in criticism as well. With an endless well of information and a keyboard, people have hundreds of opportunities to comment on the sound of new artists. While criticism is necessary for the growth of artists, negative criticism is more prominent surrounding artists who explore their limits. On the tamer side, some people can’t vibe with music outside of their comfort zone. And that’s cool! For me, the issue comes when people make fun of or dismiss music because they don’t like it. Not cool. In my opinion, all music is real music, it doesn’t matter how popular or how niche it is.
At the end of the day, it’s important to remember that all music isn’t supposed to sound the same. It’s supposed to change and evolve with time, and with this age of ultra-fast communication, our playlists and for-you-pages are filled with new, fun artists every day. In conclusion, don’t be a hater. Listen to something new today.
