The process of coming up with hot takes is a celebrated pastime within the broader music space. Maybe you think that there’s no “good” country music, maybe you think that classical music is due for a pop culture revival, or maybe you think Pink Floyd is the most overrated band of all time (my dad’s opinion, not mine). In any case, hot takes are meant to be controversial, and what better way to introduce you to our new DJs (and some familiar faces) than for you to read their most debatable opinions.
Zeke: Pop music is just as intelligent as any other genre
Pop music is often dismissed by music enthusiasts as being a low-quality, mass-produced genre for dummies. I strongly disagree. While often being simple, an incredible amount of time, work, and money goes into making a success pop song. The industry’s leading producers and songwriters put a great deal of consideration into following trends, finding new sounds, and balancing danceability with memorability. Additionally, pop music juggles a vast range of influences from outside genres. It’s hard to find a song on the radio today that doesn’t have elements of jazz, hip-hop, or even Latin music baked in with the catchy melodies and lyrics. Finally, the seemingly-minimal production associated with the genre can be deceiving. Audio engineers can spend days making a cohesive mix for the radio, even when there aren’t many individual elements comprising the song. Pop may sound simple, but it’s anything but.
Denver: The autoplay is a killer DJ
Lets face it, robots are better than humans, its just a matter of time before we live a Marxist dream and have them do all the work for us.
Will(aka The Gatman): The SoundCloud Era of Rap is not only not over, it continues to innovate and inspire the genre as a mainstream.
The SoundCloud Era, most popularly thought of as 2015-2019 in the underground music scene, never stopped, and artists like 33 Life, Krishu, Gum.Mp3, hesyxo, Bans Only, KarismaDaProd, 81 Drew, 3MonthstoLive, JTTHAKIDD, and others continue to push the envelope in terms of music, art, and genre. Just by looking at anyone of these artists listed, or your favorite that you can think of, there is a plethora of new music being dropped on SoundCloud that continues to defy norms and inspire the mainstream. For any further proof, look at Drake’s newest album “For All The Dogs”, available in its entirety on SoundCloud, and the influence the SoundCloud Era has had one his music, as perhaps the biggest pop artist since Prince. He has features on this album from Lil Yachty and Yeat, two SoundCloud heavyweights who grew from the underground into the mainstream and who have continued to innovate and push the boundaries of their artwork. Lil Yachty released an alternative album this year that shot up to #1 on the Alternative Top 100 and has been releasing banger after banger in anticipation of a new Hip-Hop album that sounds incredibly ahead of its time. Yeat has undoubtedly influenced the mainstream and artists like Drake, Lil Uzi Vert, and others. His sound is prevalent in so much of today’s new music, as is Yachty’s, and with a wealth of artists still releasing on SoundCloud, the “SoundCloud Era” has never died down in my opinion.
Meghan: You’re not a poser if you’ve changed your mind about an artist or genre that you previously didn’t like.
Growth is a good thing and “true fans” should encourage people who are getting into that artist or genre. Additionally, someone can find something cringey and then like it later.
Eli: EDM is not diverse
EDM is becoming more homogenized as it is going mainstream. There are fewer EDM artists who are taking the world by storm, as the early bands like Daft Punk, Skrillex, Calvin Harris and Tiesto did. It is not to say that there are not good niche EDM artists, but mainstream EDM has begun to fall away from it’s old diversity. I believe this is a commonality for all genres but I am disappointed it happened so fast in EDM.
Abel: Lyrics are the least important aspect in music
If I wanted words I would read a book!!! Not that lyrics aren’t important, they are just not exclusive to music as a medium and I prefer music that highlights other aspects.
Justin: “Indie” isn’t really Indie, and it hasn’t been for quite a while.
Despite being the Indie music director last year, and holding this genre as one of my favorites, it often blatantly contradicts its own label. Being part of the Indie music scene is now not a matter of whether you are signed to a big label or not, it is rather a descriptor much more akin to Rock or Pop. It is a musical aesthetic rather than a box that you can check yes or no on. Artists under the Indie umbrella include Peter McPoland, The Backseat Lovers, and Briston Maroney. All of these artists are signed to Columbia Records, UMG Recording, and Atlantic Records respectively. While some of the Indie darlings (namely Mitski, Phoebe Bridgers, and Father John Misty) have been able to stay independent or are signed to independent music labels, the next wave of artists within this genre are slowly jumping on the ship of major record labels in order to make it.
Khalid: Travis Scott is overrated
🤷🏽♂️
Daniel: Ringo is and always has been the best Beatle.
Like, he wrote Octopus’s Garden, which is objectively the best Beatles song. And have you listened to his solo work? If you haven’t, go listen to The No No Song and you will instantly agree with me. Long live Ringo, there’s a reason he’s one of the ones still alive.
Caden: Nickelback is actually a great band
That’s it, Enough said. Chad Kroeger is a legend.
Dayton: Travis Kelce’s new girlfriend is just using him to get her career going.
Travis Kelce is an accomplished football player. Taylor swift is just some audience member.
…and finally my personal favorite
KZUU 90.7 FM 