[Cincinnatus]

I have a theory in my head that I'd like to share. Most [mainstream] music is beta as fuck.

I haven't listened to a modern top 40 in years, but where I used to work, we had XM radio, worked four 10-hour shifts per week, and listened to a set schedule every week:

Monday - 60's channel
Tuesday - 70's channel
Wednesday - 80's channel
Thursday - Classic Rock

Listening to 40+ years worth of popular music, I've come to the realization that damn near all mainstream music features beta, whiny, non-manly lyrics. Thursday was the only day I really liked on that listening schedule, when I could hear blues-rock like Cream. Even then there were plenty of duds. Most mainstream music is sappy, poppy bullshit, and if I listen to the lyrics, I get pissed off at the beta-tude of it.

Anybody else feel like this? I should comb a modern top 40 list, look up lyrics, and post choice pieces of beta-tude as an example.

This is just a generalized complaint, those more interested in a specific example should peep thegmanifesto's thread, Is Drake the softest rapper of all time?

Also, here's a blues tune that most players should dig:

Muddy Waters - "Hoochie Coochie Man" (January 1954)

Quote:

The gypsy woman told my mother before I was born
You got a boy childs comin' gonna be a son of a gun
He gonna make pretty women jump and shout
Then the world wanna know what this all about
But you know I'm him, everybody knows I'm him.
Well I'm the hoochie coochie man, everybody knows I'm him.

[Kish]

We went from this:

To this:

[Thomas the Rhymer]

I agree. I was wondering about this the other day.

Is mainstream music beta because most men are beta and that's the only thing they can sing about?

Or are men beta because they are constantly bombarded with cultural memes of betaness? If you don't have contact with someone alpha, you are basically drowned in this beta Matrix with no clear escape route.

[Only One Man]

(07-18-2012 12:08 AM)Thomas the Rhymer Wrote:  

I agree. I was wondering about this the other day.

Is mainstream music beta because most men are beta and that's the only thing they can sing about?

Or are men beta because they are constantly bombarded with cultural memes of betaness? If you don't have contact with someone alpha, you are basically drowned in this beta Matrix with no clear escape route.

Most mainstream music nowadays, sadly, is manufactured to appeal to a mass audience. Females make up at least half the population. They want to appeal to females as well as males. Females, for the most part, want to listen to music that they can relate to emotionally, whether it be from female singers or from guys singing/rapping about their relationships/infatuation with a girl and whining about their other problems. They also tend to follow the herd mentality with music and executives know this.

Females can't (usually) relate to guys singing/rapping about crime/violence, masculine competitive nature and bragging, sick wordplays and rhymes for their own sake, deep thoughts about the universe/life, and fucking lots of girls with no emotional connection, which equates the girl/girls to a commodity like money or booze.

As was mentioned in the Drake thread, real ass hip hop doesn't appeal to many females, so it never became super popular until the mainstream stuff began to soften, become less masculine, and attempt to appeal to women as well.

[Handsome Creepy Eel]

Yes it is. But girls love it because the singers are alpha, which is just the right amount of contrast.

[Deluge]

Even old school rock has beta lyrics, just because they do doesn't mean they're bad songs though (specifically the last two).

[Hades]

I think that most singers are generally alphas, and most alphas have oneitis at least once.
But to consider alpha/beta lyrics, how popular would a song like "I Smashed Her, Her Twin Sister, and The Lunchlady In a Foursome, 'Cuz I'm a Badass" be? Nobody would be able to identify with it.

[keepreal]

Is classical music alpha or is it neutral? It invokes sometimes touchy emotions, but it is elegant.

[Architekt]

(07-18-2012 04:35 AM)keepreal Wrote:  

Is classical music alpha or is it neutral? It invokes sometimes touchy emotions, but it is elegant.

A lot of classical musicians were absolute players during their time. Definitely alpha.

[Tengen]

Don't forget television as well. In fact, just live by the mantra that everything popular is wrong.

[Kitsune]

I've got an answer to all of this: Heavy metal.

[Architekt]

@Kitsune: One of my friends once quoted Judas Priest as being one of the manliest bands out. I had to remind him that their vocalist is actually gay. I do love me some heavy metal though.

[UrbanNerd]

In the hip-hop world, these type of discussions always come up. Although I despise the more "beta" lyrics and "chick songs", the fact is that women are more likely to buy CD's and goto concerts. Since these artists have to either sell units or get dropped...they opt for making songs directed to women.

[j r]

(07-18-2012 02:19 AM)Handsome Creepy Eel Wrote:  

Yes it is. But girls love it because the singers are alpha, which is just the right amount of contrast.

I was just about to post the same thing. Being famous, even not being famous, but being on stage, grants status. The combination of a high status man throwing out beta bait is the absolute female killer. The problem is that regular dudes see this and think they can get away with the same thing. They can't.

As for the change in music, you have to remember that different people turn to music for different reasons. The early blues singers, for instance, were dudes who figured out that playing guitar in juke joints, drinking whiskey and chasing tail all night, was a much better alternative than killing yourself in the fields to support a family. The same is probably true of most forms of popular music, in the beginning the dudes making it are from rough backgrounds. As a genre becomes more mainstream and gets a wider audience, you see a lot more people getting into it who come from more comfortable backgrounds.

[Veloce]

(07-18-2012 04:35 AM)keepreal Wrote:  

Is classical music alpha or is it neutral? It invokes sometimes touchy emotions, but it is elegant.

Depends. During most time periods classical music was around, the male/female dynamic was much different. Roles were much more traditional, so men still exhibited chivalry and such towards women. That said, Schumann was a huge beta, super feminine music and his girl cheated on him with Brahms who was a fucking alpha. You don't get more alpha than Beethoven or Liszt, who both set Europe on fire with their music and dominant personalities.

Which reminds me of that stupid fucking song by Phoenix called "Lisztomania". Lisztomania was an actual phenomenon in Europe, bitches were going cray over this guy, throwing their scarves at him in concert (today's equivalent of throwing her panties on stage) he was the best pianist in his day and legend is that he was one of the greatest to ever live, not to mention his ballsy, aggressive, sometimes violent compositions. And now we have some beta ass French group writing a bullshit pop song about it and the lyrics have nothing to do with the actual Lisztomania.

I'd throw Prokofiev in the alpha mix too, with his "Fuck you" attitude to existing musical conventions in Russia. Reportedly during one of his first public symphonic recitals, his own music teacher walked out of the concert in embarrassment. Today he's consider a pretty revolutionary and game-changing composer.

And then you got Bach, who once pulled a sword on an instrumentalist that argued that his solo was too difficult. Pretty weird guy, married a couple cousins, had a shitload of kids (fearless rawdogger with a creampie fetish) and wrote some of the most eternal music any human has ever contributed. While playing Bach, many musicians experience something of a connection to the man, who has been dead several centuries. I myself play several of his pieces and can attest to this feeling. It almost feels like a dialogue. At one point Bach composed for several cathedrals every day, and there are some crazy tall tales about him walking extremely large distances to get around Europe. The amount of work he published is mind boggling, and more than most humans could accomplish in several lifetimes. Pretty fucking alpha.

[Saladin]

Aces High is amazing live. Iron Maiden is probably my favorite band out there.

The Weeknd is also very alpha in terms of lyrics. The music sounds beta but the lyrics are straight player material.

[MMM]

A perfect example of a beta song is the reggae hit “She’s Royal.” It’s a pedestalizing ditty that gets the fat cows and fuglies scrambling to the dance floor to dance and sing along to the syrupy lyrics in a haze of entitled bliss. Of course the song was written just for them, the princesses that they are.

Some choice lyrics to turn your stomach:

She's Royal, Yeah So Royal
And, I Want Her In My Life.
I Never Knew Anyone So Divine, No
The Way She Move To Her Own Beat
She Has The Qualites Of A Queen, So Supreme
Ooo Ooo What A Natural Beauty
No Need No Make-Up To Be A Cutie
She's A Queen, So Supreme

And When They Ask What A Good Woman's Made Of
She's Not Afraid And Ashamed Of
Who She Is,

She's Royal, Yeah So Royal
And, I Want Her In My Life.
I Never Knew Anyone So One Of A Kind, No, No
The Way She Move To Her Own Beat
She Has The Qualities Of A Queen, My Nubian Queen
Ooo Ooo What A Natural Beauty

[Veloce]

See how long you can make it through this:

[porscheguy]

When I was in high school, The Chronic was released. Boyz II Men was also popular. When most players had a girl in the car, I can assure you Boyz II Men was more likely to be playing in the background, not Deez Nuuuts. Yes, Boyz II Men is clearly more beta than Dre. But here's how it works:
1. Deez Nuuuts + solid game= FAIL because it sends her anti-slut defenses through the roof.
2. Boyz II Men + beta anti game= masturbation, alone. She thinks you're a nice guy or a pussy, so FAIL
3. Deez Nuuuts + beta anti game= epic FAIL. It sends out a vibe that says you're just creepy.
4. Boyz II Men + solid game= Win. You're giving her what she thinks she wants (i.e. nice and dependable, respects women.) And what she really wants (uncertainty, a guy with options, etc.)

[Hotwheels]

The answer is rock/metal.

Not fucking 80's anthems either.

Lyrics for All American Nightmare by Hinder;

Let's go
Nightmare
Rock

Dressed head to toe, black on black
Three bunnies in the, back of my Cadillac
Which means it's going to be a good story to tell
Cash, grass and ass on the highway to hell
Careful what you wish for when you dream

I make the good girls bad and the bad girls worse
Nice guys are last 'cause I'm always first
I'm a freak show sucker for how it feels
Turn the girl next door into hell on heels

I'm red, white, blue tattooed and just don't care
I'm your all American nightmare

If you wanna run away I can give you a ride
I'm a one way ticket to the darker side
Come with me, baby, let's lose some sleep
Don't mistake me for a dream

I make the good girls bad and the bad girls worse
Nice guys are last 'cause I'm always first
I'm a freak show sucker for how it feels
Turn the girl next door into hell on heels

I'm red, white, blue tattooed and just don't care
I'm your all American nightmare

They try to lock me up and throw away the key
But they're never gonna hold down a freak like me
I'm an outcast, smokin' grass, livin' for free
I got everything you want but nothing that you need
Stick to me, baby

Oh, I make the good girls bad and the bad girls worse
Nice guys are last 'cause I'm always first
I'm a freak show sucker for how it feels
Turn the girl next door into hell on heels

I'm red, white, blue tattooed and just don't care
I'm your all American nightmare
I'm your all American nightmare
I'm your all American nightmare
And I got nothing that you need

[Screwston]

(07-18-2012 02:26 AM)P Dog Wrote:  

Even old school rock has beta lyrics, just because they do doesn't mean they're bad songs though (specifically the last two).

I don' see a problem with that, because women acted like women back then. It's a completely different ball game now days.

[the chef]

there's plenty of good hip hop coming out nowadays... literally so many talented musicians putting out good shit. some are popular and some aren't.

i can see how people can hate on 90% of the radio shit though.

[polymath]

(07-18-2012 02:26 AM)P Dog Wrote:  

Even old school rock has beta lyrics, just because they do doesn't mean they're bad songs though (specifically the last two).

Dude that Beatles song isn't beta...it's about kino.

[keepreal]

(07-18-2012 04:46 AM)Architekt Wrote:  

(07-18-2012 04:35 AM)keepreal Wrote:  

Is classical music alpha or is it neutral? It invokes sometimes touchy emotions, but it is elegant.

A lot of classical musicians were absolute players during their time. Definitely alpha.

But a lot classical opera is all about love and shit? Hedonism and promiscuity frowned upon back then? I guess the aristocrats were players on streets and gentlemen at the court.
Yeah, I wonder did beta peasants get a chance to listen to classical music?
I mean usually only the upper class or upper middle class could afford to go to nice opera/symphony dressed nice. Would a lot of upper class be considered alpha, cuz their status? What about their behavior, I suspect some softie, and some arrogant entitled guys(deep side weak from pampering), and etc....

[Hannibal]

I hear so much beta shit at work and at school that I have to listen to death metal when I get home to cleanse the palette.