10 Years Of Music

I didn’t quite take a moment to acknowledge the decade. It’s amazing what happens in 10 years. My interest in music began more than 10 years ago, but I think the landscape that we were once accustomed to has changed the most in 10 years. The rise of file-sharing and Web 2.0 really began right before my teens which is why I’ve titled this blog entry as such–it’s a figurative sum, not a literal one, but the truth is I got into music at a time when walkman were dying and bootleg CD’s were what kept the music going. Little did we know even that would be damn near obsolete 10 years later. Mp3’s were a great alternative, but 56k connections and the possibility of getting a computer virus made downloading feel like entering a Red Light District. Napster helped solved that (somewhat), but even that had limitations.

I digress.

For most the moment of clarity came before the ball dropped, for me it comes now. I can almost remember being 13 years old, bumping a Biggie CD I probably bought off of a friend.

I was a bigger Hip-Hop head then than I am now. I guess the floodgate which is the internet not only watered down the game, but watered down my interest. I read an excellent article in today’s Arts & Leisure section in the Times about what the last decade has presented for the music industry and how radically different the landscape is. It’s even more mind boggling that I lived through it all.

On a lighter note the Hip-Hop side considers what’s changed in 10 years just within the culture. I won’t go through the trouble of linking back since I’m kind of tired looking through Google for the best links, but here are a few to marinate over…

• Jay-Z vs. Beanie Sige
• The Rise of 50 Cent Nas and Jay-Z squashing beef
• The slimming down of jeans and shirts (myself included)
• The above listed ties into the yuppification of rap music but I’ll save that for another blog entry
• Lil Wayne turning into a household name

I wonder what the next ten years holds…