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Anyone that knows me knows I have a deep, burning hatred for modern pop music. Now it’s not just blind rage, mind you, I have legitimate reasons of why I think modern pop music is shallow, vapid trash selling itself off as music designed to appeal to the masses. A note for those reading this, I am NOT saying that this is the case for all popular music, I’m saying that modern electronic pop music on the Top 100’s is lame, and we all deserve better than that nonsense.With that out of the way, let me lay out my reasons for why I think modern pop is boring, lame, and shallow.LYRICAL CONTENT:Alright, in any genre you’re going to have nonsense, that’s inevitable. But what I’ve noticed is that modern pop tends to have more repetitive nonsense, and in some cases, nonsensical flow, nonsensical poetry, about nonsensical topics designed to sell.Don’t believe me?Let’s look at the chorus of the top song of 2018, currently at the top of the Billboard Top 100’s. Ariana Grande’s “Thank U, Next,”:“Thank you, next (Next)Thank you, next (Next)Thank you, nextI'm so fuckin' grateful for my exThank you, next (Next)Thank you, next (Next)Thank you, next (Next)I'm so fuckin'...”Literally any idiot with a basic sense of English, and can write basic poetry can come up with something better than this. Despite this, Ariana can actually sing really well, proving there’s only so much you can do to polish a turd.What makes this worse, however, is that Ariana Grande DID NOT write these lyrics. Yes, in all cases of modern pop, including the ones on the Top 100, this song had SIX producers. SIX people wrote this, and it’s so damn repetitive, and lazy that literally anyone else could have done better with the same tools.Let’s compare this to the lyrics in the chorus of the top metal song of 2018, which according to Loudwire, is Judas Priest’s “Lightning Strikes”:“Walking through fire, fate's in my handsWaiting for lightning to strikeMan on a wire, bearing the brandWaiting for lightning to strikeLightning to strike”While it certainly isn’t poetry of the likes that would make Edgar Allen Poe proud, it isn’t as repetitively nausea inducing as Ariana Grande’s song. The title of the song is repeated THREE times as compared to SIX times in one chorus. What’s more, the writing is more intelligent, showing more of a sense of flow, and just repetitive enough that it’s catchy, not annoying. Not only that, but the whole album Firepower was written by the BAND, and produced by TWO men. As we can see, they did FAR BETTER than the producers of the TOP SONG OF 2018!!Well, what about other examples? Well, let’s go to the bottom of the top 30. The 30th most popular song on the top 100’s is Cardi B’s “Money”:“Look, my bitches all bad, my n---as all realI ride on his dick, in some big tall heelsBig fat checks, big large billsFront, I'll flip like ten cartwheelsCold ass bitch, I give broads chillsTen different looks and my looks all killI kiss him in the mouth, I feel all grillsHe eat in the car, that's meals on wheels (Woo!)”What in the hell is THAT?! And that’s just the first verse! While she does have good rhyming, there’s no meaning to any of it.Now let’s compare THAT disgrace to the 30th most popular metal song of 2018, which is from what I can gather is Rivers of Nihil’s “Where Owls Know My Name”:“And then I wished you awayI lost those memoriesOf the days we weren'tForsaken. Why don't weJust relax our eyesAnd fall into a dreamLet it take my mindWhere owls know my nameAnd it gets colder every day”Again, the metal verse shows more intelligent writing. And what’s worse, Cardi B’s “Money” had four producers and three songwriters, whereas “Where Owls Know My Name” had TWO producers and the BAND wrote the song. Again, they did a much better job.Modern pop music is literally an example of the phrase, “too many cooks spoil the broth.” While the producers may be talented, and some of the songwriters for pop artists sure know how to write catchy hooks (I will freely admit that), too many hands in the production leads to generic, vapid, and unintelligent lyrics.And this is without mentioning the biggest reason why I believe pop music is shallow.MUSICIANSHIP:In any modern pop song these days, I can only name a handful of singers that actually sing without the aid of lip syncing and autotune. Ever hear some of the Top 100 singers WITHOUT auto-tune? I can only count like four singers of the top 100 that can actually sing really well, those being Ariana Grande (proof that she tries her best given the nonsense her producers keep giving her), Lady Gaga, Demi Lovato, and Adele. The rest sound wretched.Sure metal is full of wretched singers, but they make their voices work in the context of the music (Sleep’s a great example), they hire vocal coaches, they growl, or they work on it. Point is, while metal does have some awful singers sometimes, they aren’t trying to bullshit you into thinking they can sing.Seriously, this video shows some of the top pop singers right now without auto-tune, and I can only give a handful of great vocal performances here.Even if I give some of these pop artists their due credit, their vocals still don’t match the power of the likes of:Bruce Dickinson:Rob Halford:Ronnie James Dio (RIP):King Diamond:These are what I would consider as some of the best singers in heavy metal, and while King Diamond’s vocal technique is rather strange, remember what I said about strange vocal techniques in metal. He makes it work within the context of the music. And his vocal range is undeniable.All of these vocalists are achieving notes and a level of power that the pop singers just can’t hope to match.Well, that’s singing out of the way, let’s talk about the music itself.Ever heard ANY pop artist in the Top 100 that played a real instrument in their top songs, or better yet, HIRED professional session musicians to play real instruments? Not any of them as far as I can see. All the background music is is electronic music and sampled beats played on sampled drums that literally any idiot with a keyboard and a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation, software for recording and mixing) can write. I got some flak from my friends for this, but the MIXING process says nothing about the talent required to make electronic music. If you have the same equipment and a DAW, you too can write a hit, no instruments required!While metal still requires the instruments to be recorded and mixed by a professional, the engineers require the musicians to actually write the music, and PLAY IT on REAL instruments.Here’s Ariana Grande’s “Thank U, Next” without any vocals:There’s no talent required to make instrumentation like that. None whatsoever. While I do commend the engineer for their mixing skills, that’s the only good I can say about it.Let’s compare THAT, to the instrumentation of Iron Maiden’s song, “Powerslave”:Let’s see, real guitars recorded on real amps, good. A real bass player playing real bass phenomenally, and a real drummer, playing real drums.There’s no comparison here. Objectively real instruments are much more pleasing to the ear, at least for me.So now we can freely establish that pop music literally requires no talent to produce. All you need is a computer, mixing software, a microphone, an auto-tune machine or pitch correction software, sampled beats, and a lame, but somewhat catchy hook, and you too can write a top 100 hit.Let’s compare that to what it takes to produce a metal song:A computer, mixing software, microphones, a bass guitar, a guitar, real drums, musicians to play said instruments, a vocalist with decent technique, amplifiers so you can hear the aforementioned guitars, a DI box for both the bass guitar and the guitars (for reamping later, if that’s your thing), an interface with which the DAW can see the signal coming from the microphones, and an engineer that can record all of this and mix it.A LOT goes into the production of music, I won’t lie about it, but recording real instruments takes A LOT more effort on part of the musicians that are playing the instruments, and the engineers recording the musicians playing the instruments.With pop, anyone can do it. Playing real instruments is hard work, never mind the amount of effort to record said instruments.Since it’s hard work, and requires a fair bit of knowledge to do, it’s no wonder that pop musicians DON’T use real instruments nowadays. It gets in the way of the record company making its money.Funnily enough, it wasn’t always like this. Michael Jackson used to be the king of pop music. He could sing, was a great dancer, a great performer, and could write decent music. Rap wasn’t always like this either, I grew up during the Notorious BIG and Tupac days, where, granted, the rappers would sing about how rich they were, but they added in real topics that mattered into their flows. And when discussing the flows in those two rappers, let’s compare Notorious BIG’s “Things Done Changed” to the current song holding 30th place in the Top 100 Cardi B’s “Money”:“Things Done Changed” lyrics:“Remember back in the days when n---as had wavesCazal shades and corn braidsPitching pennies, honeys had the high-top jelliesShooting skelly, motherfuckers was all friendlyLounging at the barbecues, drinking brewsWith the neighborhood crews, hanging on the avenuesTurn your pages to 1993N---as is getting smoked, G, believe meTalk slick, you get your neck slit quick'Cause real street n---as ain't having that shitTotin' TECs for repSmoking blunts in the project hallwaysShooting dice all dayWaitin' for n---as to step up on some fighting shitWe get hype and shit and start lighting shitSo step away with your fist-fight waysMotherfucker, this ain't back in the daysBut you don't hear me thoughThings done changed”“Money”:“Look, my bitches all bad, my n---as all realI ride on his dick, in some big tall heelsBig fat checks, big large billsFront, I'll flip like ten cartwheelsCold ass bitch, I give broads chillsTen different looks and my looks all killI kiss him in the mouth, I feel all grillsHe eat in the car, that's meals on wheels (Woo!)”To really drive this point home, Biggie was 20 years old when he wrote “Things Done Changed.” That’s a testament to great talent and great songwriting.It’s clear that pop musicians cannot compare to music that actually had feeling and meant something. Now it’s all about how rich they are, how much sex they’re getting, and other nonsense topics, and they have reused these same tropes AD NAUSEAM. It’s getting old, it’s getting lame, and it sounds wretched.Pop music used to be fun to throw on at a party, rap music used to have some meaning, but it’s clear these two genres lost their way, and became a shell of what it used to be.Metal, on the other hand, I freely admit, does produce some nonsense that’s autotuned, played on sampled instruments, and sampled drums, that sounds retched and lame. Bands like Design the Skyline:And Asking Alexandria:These bands prove, that that lameness is starting to creep its way into metal. To fans of Asking Alexandria, if you think I’m lying that they are using pitch corrected vocals, you must be deaf, because it’s so blatantly obvious to hear. As metalheads, we shouldn’t allow garbage like this.But that aside, while there is garbage in modern metal, there’s also NUMEROUS examples of modern metal bands from all genres kicking ass and taking names, playing real instruments and giving off stellar performances. Bands likeKhemmis:Skeletonwitch:Holy Grail:Enforcer:Amon Amarth:Dark Funeral:Angra:And SO MANY others all show that metal still hasn’t lost its way, despite that bullshit starting to creep in. I’m sure there exists a pop artist trying their best to write catchy tunes but also trying do something unique and new, and playing music with passion and meaning. They likely exist, and existed before, so we know it can be done.I feel sad for pop music fans, they are being sold a shit sandwich and being told that they like it. You deserve better than that. Say no to this bullshit, demand BETTER performances from these artists. They’ve been selling you the same product for years now written by the same men, and sold as is.Don’t believe me? This article shows that all of your favorite modern pop hits were written by the same two men.Every song you love was written by the same two guysIt’s time to start saying no, and start demanding performers on par with pop music greats like Michael Jackson and Prince. Rap fans, it’s time to stop writing those vapid slant rhymes with no sense of rhythm or flow, and start demanding great rappers on the likes of Tupac and Notorious BIG, who had soul, passion, and KILLER flow and rhythm. You deserve better than what they’re selling to you.To all music fans, myself included, we should demand nothing less than excellence! Excellent performers, with exceptional talent in singing or instrumentation, writing exceptional songs. We buy the music they make, so I feel if we’re going to spend our hard earned money on a product, it should be worthy of our time.To summarize, here’s Glenn Fricker’s video on how the fans deserve better, and I agree wholeheartedly with him:THAT is why I find pop music so bland, so predictable, so devoid of any soul or taste that I can’t be bothered to waste my time with it. And what’s more, the songs at the top of the Top 100 are played EVERYWHERE. We are forced to listen to it when listening to the radio, shopping at a store, and at major sporting events.Metal, despite a few lame examples, has largely been devoid of that nonsense. We still have killer musicians playing with passion and soul, and giving real performances that can’t be played by a computer. We largely HATE unreal performances, and demand excellence from the bands we listened to, and it’s paid off, as Spotify showed that metal fans have among the highest loyalty to the genre.https://insights.spotify.com/us/2015/04/02/loyalest-music-fans-by-genre/We created a mutually beneficial relationship with the artists we enjoy. They write music we like and demand from them, and in turn, we support them by downloading their music, and buying real copies of the albums or some of their merchandise. If they release bullshit, we don’t buy that album, and we rightly call it out as not deserving of the badge of excellence. When they release killer albums, we buy it in several versions, buy merch based off that album, listen to it over and over, and when the band tours to promote it, we buy several tickets to see them live, and for some people, they’ll follow the artist across the country to see them live.As such, these artists are staying relevant FAR longer than any pop artist, with huge ravenous fan bases.Icons like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest have stayed relevant for close to 50 YEARS since they formed, and are still producing awesome music. That’s a testament to stellar songwriting and stellar musicianship.Pop music fans, it’s time you get some real musicians, it’s time to start demanding better, because you deserve better.Rap fans, what the hell happened?! What’s this mumble rap garbage with nonsense lyrics and no flow? It’s time to start demanding better, because you deserve better. Rap has always been something I appreciated because of how great they were with lyrics and flow. There are modern MC’s out there spittin’ fire, yet we have shallow, vapid shit like Lil Yachty selling millions?! Time to start saying no to this shit and start supporting MC’s that have killer lyrics, killer flow, and killer rhythm. I know it can be done, as modern MC’s like Tech N9ne, Jedi Mind Tricks, and Immortal Technique exist.Remember guys, MACHINES push sound, they don’t make music. PEOPLE make music, and that’s the way it should be.NOTE: I am not saying that all pop music is trash, far from it. There are some great pop artists that prove they are beyond the nonsense. What I’m saying is the crap we’ve been fed from the Top 100 modern pop artists is not deserving of the praise its getting. It’s lame, it’s weak, and we all deserve better.EDIT: Edited for sense of flow, and to give a shout out to rap fans. I personally know many fans of hip-hop that feel as I do about this.

There are numerous world records, past and present, held by women in fields that are equally open to both men and women. Here's a sampling:Author J.K. Rowling holds the record for the fastest selling book in history. Her novel Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows sold 8.3 million copies in the first 24 hours after its release at midnight on July 20, 2007.Swimmer Diana Nyad in 1979 set a world record for distance swimming (both men and women) of 102 miles over open water from North Bimini Island, Bahamas, to Juno Beach, Florida without the use of a protective shark cage. She completed her swim in 27.5 hours. Her record still stands.Tennis player Serena Williams currently holds more grand slam titles than any tennis player in history, male or female, a total of 15. A number of women hold this kind of “champion of champions” record.Akiko Yazawa won the world championship of backgammon in 2014. She held her title for one year and continues to be on the list of “top greats” in backgammon.

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!!!!Ahhhh, finally a question I have truly been waiting for.Ok, after working 20 years as a Correctional Office within the Colorado Dept of Corrections, I have seen many really wonderful craft items manufactured by inmates. Some of the items I have seen, one would question how on earth did they get that sent in? The answer, they didn’t, they made it themselves. First, within the CO DOC, there are certain approved items that may be purchased through the DOC Canteen as hobby craft items. i.e., water color paints, colored pencils, drawing papers, etc. Then there are selected outside sources available to purchase from. i.e., beads, larger poster board (larger pictures), and damn near anything else from Dick Blick: Art Supplies, Crafts & Framing and a very few other select hobby craft suppliers.Now many of the standard pictures of friends and family on a poster board from photo were of good quality, which showed show hidden talent. Both in the artist and in the other inmate paying the artist with extra canteen goodies of course. So to start photos were a dime a dozen in prison. The paintings that really stood out were the ones that even placed highly exacted detail on the subject. That one wild hair coming down the forehead, the color separation within a mustache. That tiny little mole. that little freckle that only appeared with the smile. The shadow from the full moon or setting sun with the blending of the colors. OK, yeah, we even had a few of the heads used in escape attempts. This also helped to change the regulations on count procedures from just counting bodies (or pseudo-bodies) to stand up, living, breathing inmate count. And if the offender did not feel like standing, we made sure all the other inmates knew why. 99.999% of the masks were caught way before the intended use.Construction paper: One of my favorites. Some of the absolutely wasted talent came out in the use of construction papers. One of my all time favorites was one offender who who sit at his desk during his free time and do nothing but draw. His drawings were always sent out to his father who easily sold them through differing avenues. They commanded a very premium pricing. What were they. Flat drawings of all kinds of vehicles to cut out and glue the tabs together. These drawings were vehicles in the length of 12~18 inches easily. He would do all his drawings absolutely freehand and never once use a ruler for any straight line. Everything was free hand. His drawing were so detailed you would thing someone sent a picture copy of a major trucking company to him to glue on, but NO! Free Hand!!! he somehow knew exactly where to make a fold, a tab, a cut, etc. He would draw all that on the construction paper and send that out to dad. He kept some samples in his cell and the quality was truly unbelievable.Another offender, would build his dream homes in his cell. His skilled use of a paper base, glue, and really tiny pieces of gravel would come to life as the interior of a house. He would design multi-room houses and build them over a period of 2 to 3 months. Between the cardboard, colored pencils, and fine gravel, his artistic abilities really astounded me. Everything in his houses were to scale and meticulously placed. Truly and artist who missed his calling.Another construction artist used the core(s) of toilet paper rolls. He learned to make some of the most beautiful southwest art one could ever wish to see. Everything he made was, of course in miniature! He collected the cores, mashed them down to as fine a powder he could added an Elmer’s glue base and in no time at all he had desert dried and bleached steer heads, complete with the horns. These were mostly about 9 inches from horn tip to horn tip, with the face about 6 inches long. No BS, this kid would even put in the bone seams with a minute crack. He would paint them to either be a natural sun bleached color or a more traditional southwest multi-paint color scheme.Finally, another one of my favorites were the books that when the pages were turned, different pop up characters and scenes would appear. The inmates could buy books from various permitted sources. Some of the inmates would choose to purchase story books for younger children, not to read, but to listen to as it was read to them. The objective being, while the reader was telling the story, the young child could flip a page and have a scene from the story pop up. Flip another page, another scene, etc, etc. So the story books the inmates purchased were used to guide them in the construction of the pop up books to match the story teller’s reading.And, finally, another fine example of wasted talent. A Harley Davidson motorcycle made entirely from paper. 100% paper. The detail, this boy put into it. Gear cables, tire tread, spokes in the wheels, the pleated seat. the chrome engine. Everything about that bike would make a grown man cry if he could own the real thing. It looked as if he ordered from highly detailed toy manufacturer. This this was my first exposure to the correctional homemade art project arena. God, it was a beautiful bike. Extremely detailed!!And so, I was a bit taken aback on some of the talent that came to light in prison. I never ceased to be amazed at the creativity of a captured mind. There was, and still is, a significant amount of hidden talent that was/is in prison and need(s)ed to be released. Many of the boys were misguided in wrongful directions in life and made mistakes, but that never once meant they were not human and without feelings or compassion for others. There is a lot of talent hidden away and, unfortunately, it does not come alive until a time of incarceration.The photos below were all garnered from the great www via GOOGLE search Images. The photos below are great works of art by their respective artists, however, these photos truly do not do justice to the drawings and other artwork I had the pleasure of viewing. The truck and book are probably the closest to the actual artworks.All pictures courtesy of Google web search