Whenever I think about the word “selling out,” I tend to think about famous music artists, whom I used to listen to and admire while growing up. These artists include Taylor Swift, Avril Lavigne, Kelly Clarkson, and many more. I loved these artists because they seemed original to me, in their styles and ways of writing music. They also wrote about many meaningful topics and wrote about them in intricate ways. For example, when Taylor Swift came out with the songs “Tear Drops on My Guitar” and “Fifteen,” they touched the hearts of many young girls everywhere—however, this did not happen because of how “catchy” they were. These songs were deeply loved because they were very sincerely written, original, and beautifully composed. Similarly, Kelly Clarkson and Avril Lavigne also wrote very sincere songs such as “Behind These Hazel Eyes” and “Fall to Pieces,” popular songs, which reached out to many and had strong meanings. I, along with many others, admired the ways these women wrote music back then. However, now, when I listen to their most recent work, all I feel is disappointment.

Their new songs are repetitive, annoying, and are NOT thought provoking at all—and in a way, it makes me and many others feel let down. These artists no longer use the same techniques they used while writing music in the past, and seem to put in less work as a result. They don’t have well-thought-out lyrics anymore, and write retarded, unoriginal choruses, which anyone can come up with, such as “shake it off!” and “my life would suck without you!” What happened to their poetic lyrics? What happened to their originality? To me, it seems like it was all taken away because of money and the need to stay “popular.” For some reason, today’s generation gravitates towards mindless and repetitive music, that almost anyone with an instrument or a singing voice can write. Today’s society is attracted to artists with barely any originality such as Iggy Azalea, Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj, and many others who DO NOT HAVE ANYTHING IMPORTANT TO SAY. All these artists write about today, are their assets, their haters, their money, and lovers—nothing that can speak to or move an audience. Yet somehow, these kinds of artists continue to stay popular… and it infuriates me because like I said before, ANYONE can write the kind of music these artists are putting out today. And if artists like the famed Taylor Swift, continue to sell out, where is the creativity and originality of the youth going to go?