By Amarah Stevenson
Each generation has had its fair share of musical artists. Our grandparents had Elvis, The Beatles, and Al Green. Our parents’ generation had Nirvana, Madonna, and Michael Jackson. Whereas our generation has Beyonce, Doja Cat, and Justin Bieber. Seeing how music has evolved over the years is truly amazing.
One thing that’s amazing about music is that it’s universal. So many people listen to it and in different ways as well. You have R&B, pop, country, rap and now KPop (Korean Pop) is starting to become more and more popular. From listening to music on vinyl records and cassette tapes, to listening on our phones with Bluetooth, the way we listen to music is also constantly changing.
Carmen Maret, a music professor here at Grand Rapids Community College says she remembers listening to Prince, Madonna, Michael Jackson and Black Sabbath when she was growing up in the ‘80s. One of the first music videos that she saw was “Thriller” by Michael Jackson and Amy Grant was her first concert.
GRCC student Melvin Smith, 25 from Kalamazoo, says that he grew up listening to Kanye West, Lil Wayne and OutKast. His first ever concert was to see Lil Wayne on his America’s Most Wanted tour in 2013.
“The first song I ever remember hearing was “Good Morning” by Kanye,” Smith said. “My mom would play it for me every morning before school.”
Samaria Alexander, another student here at GRCC from Rockford, says she grew up listening to the likes of Adele, the Migos and Nicki Minaj.
“I’ve been listening to Adele since I was in middle school and I’m 24 years old and the fact that she’s still making good music is amazing,” Alexander said. “I went from listening to her on my first IPod Nano in 2009 to streaming her “30” album on my IPhone in 2023.”
Music has been around for ages and seems to just get better with time, with each generation developing its own unique sound that will last for generations to come.
