The following paragraphs, taken from the middle of a formalpersuasive essay, present and develop the claim that today’s musical artists don’t haveambition or creativity.
Read the selection and write a discussion board post of at least 200 words that identifies and evaluates the patternsof development this author used to make his or her point.Make sure to answer the following questions:
What types ofdevelopment are used, and where? (More than one pattern is used in thisselection).
Which are themost effective?
Which are leasteffective, and why?
Though the history of American music is full of innovation,current artists don’t seem to have the same ambition or creativity. Americanpop artists haven’t offered listeners any truly new music styles indecades. Right now singers such as Jay-Z and Lil Wayne are carrying on thetraditions of rap, not only with their music but with “looks” that featurethe ballcaps and bling made “kool” a generation ago.Promotional photos of Sugarland and Tim McGraw show them sporting thepointy-toed boots, Wranglers and oversized belt buckles of pastcountry stars; similarly, listeners have no trouble identifying the look or themusic of a “cross-over artist” such as Taylor Swift. AsGlen Gamboa writes in an article for Newsday, Swift’s music ison the country and pop charts, and she collaborates with artists from manygenres (34). What that versatility shows, however, is only Swift’s ability tomove from one conventional musical style to another. When she goes country,both are sweet as a Georgia peach. When she sings pop songs, listeners areimmediately reminded of sugary pseudo-punk singers from two decades ago. Her“Fearless” album isn’t on top because of its originality, asJim Malecwrites in his review, but because it’s unoriginal and the topsingle is “cliché” (Malec). A historical comparison of Billboardmagazine’s charts also notes this lack of innovation, since the magazine hasbeen shuffling today’s talent into the same old top categories of R&B,rap, rock, and country for 30 years. Reports on what was charting in 1979 showthe same top categories. Sure, today’s charts have added categories such as topdigital albums, and best-selling ringtones (“Billboard charts”).These categories, however, distinguish new kinds of music delivery, rather thannew musical styles.
Perhaps the most telling example of what’s lacking in today’smusic is the rise of Michael Jackson’s “This is It,” which became the numberone R&B album in the country posthumously (“Billboard charts”). A musicianwho rose to fame in the late 1970s, Jackson hadn’t released new musicin almost 10 years, Rolling Stone records, until the posthumous release of“This is It” in October of 2009 (“Discography”). In fact, news reports afterthe release revealed that the album’s title track was actually written back in1983, in collaboration with a previous generation’s popstar,Paul Anka (“Paul Anka Strikes Deal”). Yet, when Jacksondied in June 2009, the reaction to his music proved that theindustry hadn’t moved past him. He even had the same marketdemographic, as 10-year-old Joshua Thompson demonstrated in his reaction to allthe media coverage of Jackson’s death. A typical tween, Thompson listened tomany types of current music and watches current videos. From the first newsreport of Jackson’s death, however, he took every opportunity to watch the TVspecials that featured Jackson’s early music and videos. He begged to stay uplater than usual on several occasions, because he didn’t want to missa re-showing of the “Thriller” video. Evidently, he wasn’t theonly one who reacted that way. According to an article in Entertainment Weekly,Billboard recently changed its rules to count sales of albums more than 18months old, because some of Jackson’s earlier albums were outselling currentwork (Vosick-Levinson). That Jackson’s songs would be relevant to a10-year-old, and current music-buyers, highlights the fact that today’smusicians haven’t found new styles and subject matter to replace what theirelders were singing about 20-30 years ago.
