Pop, jazz, rnb, hip-hop, soul, country, rock and many more… Music is an indispensable part of our lives. Most of us love enjoying great music. However, the phrase “good music” differs from person to person. The music that has no meaning, but a catchy beat might be loved and seen as art by thousands of people while other may think it is just trash and not worth to listen. So, the question needs to be answered is: is there a specific criterion to count a music as a form of art?
Everybody knows the extremely popular song “Asereje” by Las Ketchup. It became really popular after the moment it was released. If you read the lyrics of the song, you will see that it has actually no meaning! It is not giving motivation nor inspiration and we cannot find a moral from this song. How did this song become really popular then? Answer is clear: catchy rhythm and repetitive lyrics.
According to a study published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology, songs with more repetitive lyrics are processed more fluently; consequently, they are adopted more broadly and quickly in the market. In the case of “Asereje”, even though you turn off the song, the words in chorus still play in your head. You keep humming and with the help of people like you, song with a meaningless lyric becomes a hit!
Another example of meaningless song is Macarena which was even a greater hit. The song again had repetitive lyrics but this time in extra we got a dance. People really loved the dance that they didn’t really feel the need or curiosity to search the meaning of the song. They enjoyed the choreography with the catchy beat and still, Macarena is one of the trending unforgettable songs.
These were the examples of the songs which loved by nearly all parts of the generation. In addition, we have a new style of music which is more appealing to young people. New solo musicians release their songs freely, mixing them with pop or other genres and see them as art. The listeners of these singers usually look if the song has cool beats that will sound good playing at the background of their reels, stories, posts or just make them feel and look cool. No matter how nonsense the lyrics are, if the beats are cool, they love it.
However, music should make us understand something. When we check the lyrics we must realize something. The music should be something new to us every time a new song is released in order to seen as art. Songs with same structure, continuous nonsense of lexis shouldn’t be called art. They can be liked, as everyone have different tastes and have the right to choose what they prefer to listen, but they shouldn’t be called art. Because art must make us feel different emotions strongly, we must feel like we have just entered a new world when we start the song.
So, the crux of this whole discussion is art is a way of expressing emotions aesthetically. The singers who find the subject of their song as if by rolling a dice and the ones talking about nothing will never be able to produce art.