BRITTICISMS

For me, “indie/alt” covers of hip hop or r&b songs feel like a reflection of the way we listen to music now as well as a tribute to popular styles of our youth. A couple of things:

• The internet and our access to a variety of different musicians, singers, albums, and genres of music within a matter of seconds has changed the way we listen to and consume music. I can’t know for certain, but a part of me understands that the bands and artists that I most enjoy most likely would not have been a part of my life without constant access to the internet. It was during those late nights my freshman year of college that I first started listening to many of the musicians I still call my favorites. I think this has been a similar experience for a number of different people. Their tastes are now expansive. Perhaps they wouldn’t have given the local hip hop or r&b station a chance in the past, but now they can sample and discover and genuinely enjoy.
• To expand on that, I’m always amazed by the number of people who listened to the same r&b hits of the 90s that I did. I grew up thinking that music was a “black” thing, but I quickly learned that music, perhaps more than any other form of art, is a great means of bringing different populations together. And although we might look different, many aspects of our youth were similar. A lot of us saw Brandy sitting up in her room. A lot of us had one of those days like Monica. A lot of us sang along to the Pied Piper of r&b or watched D’Angelo in front of that black screen.
• Not every cover will be great, or even good, but I do believe they come from a genuine place of love and respect and admiration.
• Because really, who can deny the greatness of “Countdown?”