Your opinion on Western music?

[PoetGirl]

Originally Posted by Love Shine

Black and Yellow by that rapper guy (I don't know his name).

Wiz Khalifa I believe

[primavera♥]

I love Black and Yellow...

anyway...lately ive been figuring out what ive been missing out on in western music (since for a couple yrs ive been focused only on particular japanese artists and a few american artists and bands)

but now im realizing how much music i love in western music...and somehow ive been able to get back into hip hop and rap (like i how i enjoyed it when i was a kid)..plus those are definitely the more fun genres for me

I LOVE the Killers...I still love Linkin Park.
Ive also come to adore Passion Pit, La Roux, Drake

and Roman's Revenge solidified my love for Nicki Minaj (and ive come to really like other things about her...more than her music really...but i love her rapping a lot)

Thanks to my cousin ive just started getting into Marsha Ambrosius (her song "Hope She Cheats on You With a Basketball Player" made my life lol...shes so full of lovely soul)

and then I've been getting i love some other random bands like Anberlin and Coldplay and The Script (i already mentioned LP and The Killers)
and then theres lots of other good rock music. epsecially with hard rock and all. like how although theyre not a fav band, i System of a Down has some of my fav rock songs

and then theres other artists who i find can produce good music like Chris Brown, Lady Gaga (<3), etc etc....

i LOVE western music cuz it has a lot of great music imo...and sometimes its just to have fun...like with Soulja Boy....Speakers Going Hammer is awesome to me haha~

[hsienko]

I think Western music is like the sea. There are a lot of barnacles out there but there are also pretty tropic fish.


I also think you can't really compare eastern and western music because they're just too different.

[ohsixthirty]

i don't know if its my age or the fact that i've been so immersed in J-pop for so many years now, but in general i don't care for much Western music, plus i find that even when i do like a song i tend to get tired of it really quickly.

one thing about Western music that really drives me crazy are the lyrics. i am in no way claiming that J-pop lyrics are better, because i'm sure most of them are crappy too, but some of the lyrics i hear on the radio just kill me with their corniness. for example, when i first heard "Firework" by Katy Perry, i thought the lyrics were so atrocious that i actually pulled out my iPhone to ID the song just to see what it was. i just feel like in the majority of Western songs the lyrics are so trite and simple and the rhymes are so elementary.

plus, i honestly do get tired of hearing the same thing in songs over and over and over. every Ke$ha song for example is about sex, drinking, and glitter and those things are great, but it gets old after a while. maybe part of my problem is that i feel like most Western music is targeted at a much younger age range. i'm almost 29, but i feel like most Western music is targeted towards teens and college age kids, which is simply not me anymore. and yes, i realize that J-pop is probably targeted to the same groups, but being removed from the culture and not knowing the language really changes one's perception i think. i just want Western musicians to be more creative musically and lyrically.

but there definitely are catchy songs out there in Western music, and yes they are very good! i do like some songs by Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, etc... and definitely like when i hear them on the radio, they're fun, but even the songs i like just don't hold my attention for long periods of time.

when it comes down to it, i guess most Western music just doesn't grab me. there are some artists that i like a lot, like Robyn, Marina & the Diamonds, and etc... but i guess those aren't exactly mainstream Western music.

[emi♡]

^omg no, lyrics in western music omfg.

I don't know when, I don't know how, but somewhere along the way, people got really lost when writing lyrics to a hit song.

Sometimes I feel that, artists and their producers put all of their effort into the sound, and they forget the lyrics...but then they say that they're like, the most important part...so why are they so cheesy? lol

Not knowing exactly what they're saying in Japanese, for me, seriously helps. Then again, maybe like, the language, with all it's emphasis on context...doesn't really have super cheesy lyrics the way English does...but idk.

Sometimes I think it's the way English is just formed...cause even English lyrics in Jpop annoy me cause they're so cheesy lol

[Andrenekoi]

Originally Posted by ohsixthirty

i don't know if its my age or the fact that i've been so immersed in J-pop for so many years now, but in general i don't care for much Western music, plus i find that even when i do like a song i tend to get tired of it really quickly.

one thing about Western music that really drives me crazy are the lyrics. i am in no way claiming that J-pop lyrics are better, because i'm sure most of them are crappy too, but some of the lyrics i hear on the radio just kill me with their corniness. for example, when i first heard "Firework" by Katy Perry, i thought the lyrics were so atrocious that i actually pulled out my iPhone to ID the song just to see what it was. i just feel like in the majority of Western songs the lyrics are so trite and simple and the rhymes are so elementary.

plus, i honestly do get tired of hearing the same thing in songs over and over and over. every Ke$ha song for example is about sex, drinking, and glitter and those things are great, but it gets old after a while. maybe part of my problem is that i feel like most Western music is targeted at a much younger age range. i'm almost 29, but i feel like most Western music is targeted towards teens and college age kids, which is simply not me anymore. and yes, i realize that J-pop is probably targeted to the same groups, but being removed from the culture and not knowing the language really changes one's perception i think. i just want Western musicians to be more creative musically and lyrically.

but there definitely are catchy songs out there in Western music, and yes they are very good! i do like some songs by Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, etc... and definitely like when i hear them on the radio, they're fun, but even the songs i like just don't hold my attention for long periods of time.

when it comes down to it, i guess most Western music just doesn't grab me. there are some artists that i like a lot, like Robyn, Marina & the Diamonds, and etc... but i guess those aren't exactly mainstream Western music.

Well, Ayu is not really having a huge radio airplay for a while now... Most mainstream big pop acts (and I'm using "pop" as "popular", not as the music genre) are targeted to younger people, people who spends more money on their idols... not only in the US, but in Japan too... Just a few pop acts can make it with an adult public, that's why most of them fail after a certain age... They get too old for their usual age group, and too "teen" to more mature people...

U can filter ur eastern music by downloading only what interests u... But maybe u r searching for western music in the wrong places...

[Picaflor 7/4]

I keep up to date with my western artists like katy perry, rihanna, britney spears, lady gaga, etc. but besides that, I don't listen to the radio. I can't stand listening to certain songs and would rather just listen to my own music where I can choose what is playing.

[Kingdom]

Originally Posted by ohsixthirty

i don't know if its my age or the fact that i've been so immersed in J-pop for so many years now, but in general i don't care for much Western music, plus i find that even when i do like a song i tend to get tired of it really quickly.

one thing about Western music that really drives me crazy are the lyrics. i am in no way claiming that J-pop lyrics are better, because i'm sure most of them are crappy too, but some of the lyrics i hear on the radio just kill me with their corniness. for example, when i first heard "Firework" by Katy Perry, i thought the lyrics were so atrocious that i actually pulled out my iPhone to ID the song just to see what it was. i just feel like in the majority of Western songs the lyrics are so trite and simple and the rhymes are so elementary.

plus, i honestly do get tired of hearing the same thing in songs over and over and over. every Ke$ha song for example is about sex, drinking, and glitter and those things are great, but it gets old after a while. maybe part of my problem is that i feel like most Western music is targeted at a much younger age range. i'm almost 29, but i feel like most Western music is targeted towards teens and college age kids, which is simply not me anymore. and yes, i realize that J-pop is probably targeted to the same groups, but being removed from the culture and not knowing the language really changes one's perception i think. i just want Western musicians to be more creative musically and lyrically.

but there definitely are catchy songs out there in Western music, and yes they are very good! i do like some songs by Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, etc... and definitely like when i hear them on the radio, they're fun, but even the songs i like just don't hold my attention for long periods of time.

when it comes down to it, i guess most Western music just doesn't grab me. there are some artists that i like a lot, like Robyn, Marina & the Diamonds, and etc... but i guess those aren't exactly mainstream Western music.

I have a little over eight years until I reach your age, and I sure hope age doesn't affect my music tastes! But then again, all my idols are older than me or my age so they will be changing musically along with me!

[hsienko]

Originally Posted by ohsixthirty

maybe part of my problem is that i feel like most Western music is targeted at a much younger age range. i'm almost 29, but i feel like most Western music is targeted towards teens and college age kids, which is simply not me anymore. and yes, i realize that J-pop is probably targeted to the same groups, but being removed from the culture and not knowing the language really changes one's perception i think. i just want Western musicians to be more creative musically and lyrically.

I was reading an article today that was talking about the same thing and it pointed out that a lot of music sales today are by children, tweens, teenagers, etc. so a lot of music today is geared towards that demographic so it will sell and make a lot of money. That's why a really ****** song by like Nickelback or Justin Bieber will be super popular and a song by some genius artist will be virtually unknown by most people.

[Ranma Matsuri]

Well, for me, it's radio that's absolutely killing me. The Top 40 the last 5 years have sucked so much ass. I used to love listening to radio, all day long and now I can barely listen to it during a car ride for 10 minutes without shutting it off and putting on my ipod. Yeah, I know you can't judge the state of music simply by what's on radio but radio used to be a big thing and the only source of music before mp3 players and CD players so it does worry me when there's nothing on it that appeals to me. What makes it worse is how every pop station seems to have the same *****ty playlist and it's just frustrating how I have to filter the music in my own backyard by searching for it and putting it on my mp3 player much like I do Asian music. I can count on my hand the amount of more recent acts that actually put out something listenable. Riri, Nikki, Gaga, Robyn... can't think of any more. lol Everyone else I listen to has already reached their peak or is "old news" so to speak. It's a shame that to get quality pop music I have to keep going back to Britney, Madge, and basically anything else before 2005.

It's weird... with Eastern music I feel so young because of all the silly, cutesy idol music I like to listen to but with Western, it's like most of what's on radio is too young for me. It's like what ohsixthirty said, when I was younger I used to not care about lyrics (it's partly how I can easily listen to music in languages I don't understand) but I think listening to so much Japanese has had the opposite effect on the music I can actually understand. Now I'm actually paying attention to what's being sung about and most of it is so unbelievably cheesy and juvenile I have trouble believing that adults wrote it. I don't care about the subject matter, it's the actual writing that seems weak and lazy. "Firework" is the perfect example. The song is an absolute cornball and the first time I heard it, I thought for sure it'd be a flop. I couldn't believe how well this song did and people on forums and the like were calling it "the most inspirational anthem of the year". O___o Last year was full of similar hits, songs geared toward the miserable and emo youth of America that need to be told that "you're perfect the way you are" because they need to feel like they're individuals since they're not smart enough to have an identity of their own. I'm just so tired of looking at the Top of my beloved Pop music and feeling lost and intellectually insulted.

*sigh* Meh... maybe I need to go back to Rock and Metal for a while.

[JackieRos]

I was always in western music but there was a time where I didn't want to listen to anything besides asian music.
But then I started to feel left out when people asked me what kind of music I listen to
and if I liked this western song so I started looking at billboard charts and found some music.
I loved it immediatly but I stayed away from rap music but then I started to listen to Missy Elliot, Kanye West etc....
(I like a few rapper's song)
I usually listen to pop and trance.

Sometimes their lyrics can be shallow but I usually stay away from artist with those lyrics.
My main queens are Ke$ha and Lady GaGa

I like western music

[dreamland2.0]

I don't listen to 'western' music much. I don't enjoy it. I have never really listened to mainstream acts from North America so nothing has pretty much changed my whole life. I only listen to a select few artists that perform in English. I don't think 'Asian' music is superior I simply enjoy it more than what I have heard of popular acts that sing in English and at the moment don't feel like branching out. =)

[NintendoHTF1242]

Originally Posted by ohsixthirty

every Ke$ha song for example is about sex, drinking, and glitter and those things are great

ROFL! Know your information before you start hating on an artist. Ke$ha has songs called Hungover, Blind, Dancing With Tears in My Eyes and The Harold Song. All about heartbreak to some extent. Not referencing sex, drinking (well, minus Hungover) or glitter. Sorry, but you're doing what my friend did. She hates on MiChi and blindly said "all her songs are covers". The hell? If you're gonna hate on an artist, at least try to say something legit. Maybe if you worded it as "Ke$ha has a majority of songs that are about sex, drinking, etc." then maybe that would've made more sense. But saying "EVERY" ruins your argument.

[Piccolo]

Western music has killer rock. All I have to say.

[untitledforayu]

I love threads like this, where people post thought-provoking opinions rather than dumbly fan-personing ayu/their favourite artist.

I think J-Pop, and more generally 'Asian music,' appealed to me for the same reason as most people on this forum. During my mid-teens I started losing interest in mainstream chart pop (maybe because it started declining in quality, maybe I just wanted to be different) and a friend introduced me to Ayu. Looking back, I think her music was appealing because it had the accessibility of mainstream western pop music, but approaches 'pop' in a different, more exciting way for a western kid.

I became obsesssssed with J-Pop, based on how amazing I found Ayumi's songs and albums to be (the idea of interludes was insane back then haha) and was always trying to find more j-pop artists to fall in love with. Hikki became a favourite and I loved Namie Amuro and Ai Otsuka... but the more j/k/c/m/BLAH-pop I listened to, the more I realised that the J-Pop really isn't any better than western pop and that the depth, inventiveness and quality of Ayu and Hikki's music was really an exception to the rule. To me, (early) Ayu and Hikki aren't at all representative of the quality of asian music- they're way above the standard. I started hating this forum because it over-rated so many artists I found to be really mediocre and plain bad. So sorry, AHS.

So eventually I became interested in alternative and "indie" western music once i over-played ayu and stuff and I have to say that it's without a doubt the most brilliantly creative, forward-thinking and diverse area of music I've heard.

That being said, the western mainstream is great too, provided you listen to the 'right' stuff. I mean Lady Gaga's stuff is so much fun (minus Born This Way, perhaps) and right now, I think Rihanna's definitely ruling the scene.

I don't want to make unfair generalisations, but I think that people who listen to Ayu/Hikki/Namie/Kuu/K-Pop groups/etc. listen to a very small selection of western artists. Just look at the last.fm profiles of people who mainly listen to asian music or at the very active 'general music' threads here on ahs and it becomes pretty apparent that most j-pop fans listen almost exclusively to chart-topping pop divas like xtina and britney and gaga.

What I'm trying to say is that western music is really good and fun to listen to if you keep your taste diverse. It's easy to think that it all sounds the same or that the lyrics are bad, but dig around a bit and there's plenty to love. (Actually I kind of prefer it when pop songs don't have very meaningful lyrics haha because they're usually not written by the singer and the end product sounds insincere and cheesy).

Eurgh, loooong post. Sorry!

[primavera♥]

Originally Posted by emiko

^omg no, lyrics in western music omfg.

I don't know when, I don't know how, but somewhere along the way, people got really lost when writing lyrics to a hit song.

Sometimes I feel that, artists and their producers put all of their effort into the sound, and they forget the lyrics...but then they say that they're like, the most important part...so why are they so cheesy? lol

Not knowing exactly what they're saying in Japanese, for me, seriously helps. Then again, maybe like, the language, with all it's emphasis on context...doesn't really have super cheesy lyrics the way English does...but idk.

Sometimes I think it's the way English is just formed...cause even English lyrics in Jpop annoy me cause they're so cheesy lol

western artists with great lyrics have become greatly appreciated by me...especially in a day when rappers (who supposedly are good lyricists have crappy lyrics at times)....some of my fav artists probably happen to have lovely lyrics...but some dont. and well, if the music is good, ill generally be fine.

[happiholic★]

Originally Posted by PoetGirl

Wiz Khalifa I believe

Yes! I knew he had a weird name that reminded me of 'wizard'. But, I do love that song.

About Western lyrics. Yes, some artists do have cheesy songs, I agree so much about Katy's song 'Firework' and I do find it hilarious when the tweens talk about how that song is "so the story of my life". However, sometimes it does fit the artist. Like Nicki Minaj, her odd lyrics make me laugh ("Haters you can kill yo'self!" Best lyric ever!). And there are plenty of amazing lyrics by Western artists, even the ones who have odd lyrics on the radio. Gnarls Barkley's albums have some pretty amazing song lyrics. Sometimes you need to listen to album tracks for the real gems. Unfortunately, the songs that are released are geared toward a certain audience.

Also, Asian lyrics are hardly any better, and I bet most people can't understand half of what is being said. Kuu has some real... interesting lyrics, although I do give her props for writing the majority of her own song lyrics. Actually, to me, no matter what language, or what they are singing about, I deeply respect artists who write their own lyrics.

There are manufactured Western and Asian artists. And what's so bad about it? Sometimes I need that song about clubbing to just take my mind off stuff when I just wanna dance. I just prefer that the singer themselves wrote the song. But alas, so people just have no talent for that kinda stuff.

[Kingdom]

Originally Posted by untitledforayu

That being said, the western mainstream is great too, provided you listen to the 'right' stuff. I mean Lady Gaga's stuff is so much fun (minus Born This Way, perhaps) and right now, I think Rihanna's definitely ruling the scene.

I don't want to make unfair generalisations, but I think that people who listen to Ayu/Hikki/Namie/Kuu/K-Pop groups/etc. listen to a very small selection of western artists. Just look at the last.fm profiles of people who mainly listen to asian music or at the very active 'general music' threads here on ahs and it becomes pretty apparent that most j-pop fans listen almost exclusively to chart-topping pop divas like xtina and britney and gaga.

yes to Lady Gaga, yes to Rihanna

If you look at my last.fm though (I'm a Kuu/Ayu fan when it comes to Japanese) my library is small but diverse. I listen to a lot of western music compared to about 2/3 years ago!

[emi♡]

Originally Posted by Love Shine

About Western lyrics. Yes, some artists do have cheesy songs, I agree so much about Katy's song 'Firework' and I do find it hilarious when the tweens talk about how that song is "so the story of my life". However, sometimes it does fit the artist. Like Nicki Minaj, her odd lyrics make me laugh ("Haters you can kill yo'self!" Best lyric ever!). And there are plenty of amazing lyrics by Western artists, even the ones who have odd lyrics on the radio. Gnarls Barkley's albums have some pretty amazing song lyrics. Sometimes you need to listen to album tracks for the real gems. Unfortunately, the songs that are released are geared toward a certain audience.

omg I Nicki Minaj's crazy lyrics, even when they're so stupid lol She's like, at least creative, you know?

And now every time I hear "Firework" I can't stand it. "Even brighter than the moon"? What amazing lyrics. Only she could have come up with that line.


And I think the album tracks thing is really true. Songs played all the time on the radio really don't give the artists proper credit imo.

[hsienko]

Originally Posted by emiko

omg I Nicki Minaj's crazy lyrics, even when they're so stupid lol She's like, at least creative, you know?
.

Yeah my favorite lyric is "Rah Rah, I'm dungeon dragon, I'm startin' feel like a dungeon dragon."


I feel that a lot of western lyrics are bad and/or deal with the same lame and stupid subject matter and it gets boring after a while.