Green Grass and Tea Leaves

So, by now you know that I am black woman.  You’ve probably also figured out or have a faint suspicion that I like alternative rock music.   Your suspicions couldn’t be more correct.    An eighties baby who primarily listened to Hip Hop and R & B growing up, I just became more more alienated by the music.  I think the era of the Wu Tang Clan and the early days of artists like Lil’ Wayne probably were it for me.  College was the final frontier in terms of my tolerance for hip hop artists. I listened to rap music at parties, but it was beginning to lose its appeal.   By my senior year, I think rap music was already in the periphery of what I considered suitable entertainment.   I could tell you all the reasons why rap music had to go, but I am sure you can figure that out without me saying a word.  So, there’s no need for me to go there.  My mid-twenties marked the end of hip hop for me which left a gaping window of opportunity for alternative rock.

There was a musical void in my life and a nagging in my soul for music that spoke to my better, more introspective self.  Alternative rock has love, loss, vanity, alienation, depression, and all the range of emotions and experiences people go through in life.   It contrasts the excessive bravado and glorification of debauchery in rap music with men who were able to be both sensitive and powerful, expressive and still manly.   Thus, the consistent residency of the white male and, to some degree, the white female artist in my music collection was born.  Even artists like Pink and Katy Perry, who are somewhat more on the pop side than the alternative side, have put out a couple of songs  that I’ll listen to over and over.  So, in short, I had to cross over musically, and it was truly because I wanted music that makes me feel alive, not music that is depressing and makes me feel dirty.  Music should accentuate our ability to feel like we are human (heart and soul) not bombard us with so much empty stimulation that we feel as  hollow inside after listening as we did when we first turned it on.

In addition, the I never realized how beautiful the guitar sounds.  Even with my previous forays with music by the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Guns and Roses, I still did not have the appreciation that I’ve gained for the guitar in recent years. The music industry really needs to step up its game. Maxwell, Sade, and a few  other artists sprinkled in here and there can’t represent all that there is for more mature black listeners..  So, even R & B is ill-equipped to give me the breadth of quality songs to listen to that I would like.  I’ve thought about writing my own music a lot.  However, those thoughts aside for a while, alternative rock has become one of my genres of choice.