Mumble Rap. One of the biggest musical mistakes of our time. And for some strange reason, it’s becoming more and more popular as time goes on. 

Lately, as I’ve been scrolling through the top iTunes charts, or even taking song recommendations from friends, I’ve realized something. The music that has gone mainstream is getting worse as time goes on. I mean, Mumble Rap? Why do we care so much about how much money a guy has, or how many Bentleys a guy can buy? Rap used to have flow and a story, and, yes, some artists still stick with it. But come on, do we actually like Tekashi and Lil Peep? When did we lose our taste in musical talent?

In reading about why popular music evolved to this, I found some interesting things. First of all, we tend to go with the flow. If our friends all say, “yeah, this music is good,” the odds of us listening to it are greater. But that’s not all, a study done by Professor Adam de-Paor Evans of the University of Lancashire concluded that Mumble Rap is “…lazy.” It exists because people didn’t want to take the time to write a song with meaning. When you can “string occasional words together, like ‘cat,’ ‘sat’ and if you’re lucky, ‘mat,’” it isn’t very hard to make a song. But for almost any other artist or genre of artists, there’s a purpose behind what they’re writing.

When listening to music, it should bring emotion. It should be something with a story or evoke a genuine feeling. Mumble rap, being literal mumbling put to music, doesn’t do any of those things. It’s useless words being thrown into your mind, evoking no feeling or thought whatsoever. We need to re-evaluate what we know to be good, or valuable in the music industry. And I know for a fact that it wouldn’t have become a popular genre if big names in the celebrity industry hadn’t made it one.

In this situation, I think I have a solution. Hop on to your music app, whatever it may be, and listen to some good old fashioned rap. Think about the differences between the two, and humbly begin listening to the correct category again. We all make mistakes after all, so it’s not too late to change.