MUSE MAGAZINE
HOW COUNTRY CAN SAVE THE FUTURE by Angus Merry Before I delve into my spiel about Country and how I feel it can change the industry in coming years, I first want you to re-evaluate what music means to you. Not what it means to your friends, or your family, or whomever else might impact your disposition when it comes to the music you pump through your shiny new Air Pods – but you, the reader. So much of how we view things is impacted by others, and rather than consulting our own position on such topics, we often join the mob – pointing and yelling with torches in hands– never realizing why we actually do so. Hell, I’m guilty of this. I hate One Direction and I have absolutely no idea why. So, with what I’m about to talk about, in all of its cultural volatility, please attempt to read forth with an open mind.
20
Back in 2017, Post Malone came under fire for certain comments that some felt undermined the sentimental depth of hip-hop as a wider genre. “If you’re looking for lyrics, if you’re looking to cry, if you’re looking to think about life, don’t listen to hip-hop.” Obviously, some people felt that these comments were absolutely ridiculous, considering Post has garnered his fame solely from the same genre he so easily criticized – but I can’t help but feel these comments were taken out of context. From reading further, it seemed that he was trying to say that today, much of what falls under the category of ‘hip-hop’ isn’t nearly as lyrical, or emotional as it used to be. And in that regard, I very much agree with him.
