You know what I hate? That I'm a black guy who listens to Jet, and yet I can't talk about it with one of my friends because all of the rock bands he listens to sound like Fall Out Boy. He even went as far as to say he can't stand Jet. Jet!
Being a black kid who dabbled into pop-rock during the 90s was fun. You had your ska-influenced rock with Sugar Ray and No Doubt (not this trash Gwen has been peddling out solo). The Presidents of the United States were good, if only because they were fun to listen to. There were those first few albums by the Foo Fighters. And dear god, when did the Red Hot Chili Peppers start to get boring?
Then you've got your hip-hop/rap scene. I was never a fan of gangsta rap, so I loved those lulls during the 90s where we'd get a good party/club anthem. Gangsta rap always got the same dull reaction: look as hard as possible while only nodding your head. But the house party songs? Those always made everyone stand up and go "ahhhhhhh!!!" In that respect, I think I miss the 80s even more... and I was born in 1984.
Today? If it's not the crunk songs, it's the hyphie songs. And I live in the San Francisco area, so we basically started the hyphie movement. There's nothing quite like music that sounds like it was made for drunken dudes on E to dance to.
R&B is on the up, though. We no longer have men who cry/whine their way through every damn song, like Keith Sweat or Wanya from Boyz II Men. We seem to have traded in Jon B for Robin Thicke as our obligatory white boy, so I can live with that. And that Neo-Soul movement that D'Angelo and Maxwell made popular in the 90s is continuing on through Musiq Soulchild and Jill Scott. The only downside is the lack of Babyface, but he was a crook, anyway.
I'm getting to be such a crotchety old man, and I'm only 22.
You kids go on and listen to your Fall Out Boys and your Lil Jons. I'll be on the sofa, watchin' my stories.
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