MesAyah

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The backside of a relationship with a genre

My love for a genre and hate for the convention By: MesAyah I have for as long as I remember been a music lover, I popped the cassettes of Beatles , Elvis and zeppelin in from age 5 and have kept on going finding new music ever since. When I was 13 I jumped into…

MesAyah
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My love for a genre and hate for the convention

By: MesAyah

MesAyahI have for as long as I remember been a music lover, I popped the cassettes of Beatles , Elvis and zeppelin in from age 5 and have kept on going finding new music ever since. When I was 13 I jumped into the sub culture of punk music laying my love over bands as the ramones, pistols , dead Kennedy’s and Ebba Grøn. It should later on lead me in the wonderful world of hiphop. I loved sitting at home listening to meaningful lyrics and political statements and I guess that was the main tithing leading me away from punk and over to rap. I wanted more poetry, I wanted more focus on the words and I wanted to be served images. I guess this is why I at the same time was listening to Genesis, Elo, Eels and Pink Floymy behind closed doors, cause I could not share that music with my culture right?

But even though I loved the music, the genre of music, the dirty ness of the sub culture, I never ever felt connected to the group of people that should be my fellow music heads, I have always felt like the odd man out, not living the culture, not expressing the culture in the way I should have, neither with rap or punk music, I basically just loved the music I listened to. Yes I do wear baggy jeans every now and then and love my hoodies, but it kind of stops there, that narrow minded way of being, of the accepted realness or the accepted music just did not apply, and believe me I tried…….Hard. This was tormenting me in the beginning and for a long time as well, trying so hard to fit in, and fit my music into this conformed way of thinking and made me make music I did not enjoy listening to myself and could not stand for anymore. Here I had so much baggage with me musically and had chosen to use only this narrow way of making music, the dry sound and just a drum, a piano line and some snares, I wanted got make music!

i have used the last two years of setting myself free, it is the musical expression of rap I like not what sorrounds it, I just love music to much to keep it that way.  I have reached the point where music is me and I am the music I make and hopefully someone will like it too, I don’t make it to please someone, I make it to please the ONES. And that to me is freedom.

Hope you have enjoyed this little read and here is the ultimate result of that for me

28 responses to “The backside of a relationship with a genre”

  1. Kat Avatar
    Kat

    ahhhh I hate sub-genres! Good music is good music. Sub-genres have gotten so messy that many of them are based on your personal perception and make it so difficult to explain something to someone. I am always worried that I might describe it as a sub-genre that sounds unappealing. This band is a experimental psychedelic indie electro pop band. WHAT?!?

    Reply
  2. Yheela Avatar
    Yheela

    If the music’s great and the lyrics speak to you, then the “label” shouldn’t matter. To buy into the whole lifestyle of a genre/sub-genre and not see the greatness of other music is to be narrow minded me thinks…

    Reply
  3. simon7banks Avatar
    simon7banks

    An indiscreet word: “backside” generally refers to that part of your body between the back and the legs. The backside of a relationship? Interesting. The right words might be “flip side”.

    Reply
    1. MesAyah Avatar
      MesAyah

      Here my English as a second language kicks in

      Reply
  4. MesAyah Avatar
    MesAyah

    I agree with you both here, there is so much great music out there, that by greatness alone should speak to you, but it took years before I realized that it was the reason itself for no fitting the format. So we make our own, by making the music i want to listen to myself:)

    Kat: hahaha to the psychedelic indie electro pop statement. My favorite statement ever is accapella punked sound with a twist of alternative indie rock. I mean, what does that even mean.

    Reply
  5. TheGreatPlainsPoet Avatar
    TheGreatPlainsPoet

    This is not my usual choice of musical styles, but with that said, I like this. Your talent can’t be denied. Nice work.

    Reply
  6. A Voice Avatar
    A Voice

    I’m not sure that there is an appropriate analogue in Norway for the American Ghetto and it’s very particular population. That is where hip-hop and rap came from, a reality that I think is likely altogether different from depressed areas in Norway. This is one thing that will be hard to connect with. There is very little rap that I actually like because I simply don’t want to hear about “blunts, 40s and bitches” or how much ‘cash money’ someone has as ‘they rollin’.’ I can appreciate where some of that comes from due to the environment those people likely grew up in, but when that is the real point of what they want to deliver…yes, hating the convention is a good way to put it.

    In respect to this other part: “Yes I do wear baggy jeans every now and then and love my hoodies, but it kind of stops there, that narrow minded way of being, of the accepted realness or the accepted music just did not apply, and believe me I tried…….Hard.” I’m reminded of something that Ihsahn said well over a decade ago now. He said that he realised he didn’t have to look extreme to have extreme beliefs or to make extreme music.

    I’ll say more after I’m able to hear this music. It looks like something didn’t load on my end.

    Reply
  7. A Voice Avatar
    A Voice

    “You’re not born with abilities / you build them”

    I am very interested in hearing what you are capable of doing with a LP. I am very interested in hearing what you can do with an EP, especially if there is a way around iTunes.

    Have you given it any thought or had the chance, yet?

    Reply
    1. MesAyah Avatar
      MesAyah

      I have two singles and two ep’s out on iTunes and I also have a live EP out on spotify, I run my own distribution company so I am lucky enough to include myself in that rooster. If you want more of the sound I got going on her check my last two singles, and wait for the EP. If you want to hear what I can bring to an. EP. Check out life in soulitude and paradise of paradigms on ITunes

      Reply
      1. A Voice Avatar
        A Voice

        When I think of iTunes I think of music dying. I think of it that way because people talk about it in terms of songs and only songs, as if artists go out and make a record full of filler around a few stand out songs. As someone who doesn’t just prefer physical media but has over 650 CDs threatening to collapse three bookcases…well, I like songs but I like albums more. You know, a strong body of art?

        I also think about how ridiculous iTunes is when it comes to organising your music library, putting songs in the wrong order on albums and the problem of synching music with the player. iTunes reminds me of our problems with technology and post-modernism’s rape of art.

        With that said, I do recognise it’s benefits and that for a great many artists it’s the affordable solution to traditional publishing and distribution. After all, it isn’t just people that don’t respect music that is killing the music industry, it’s the executives.

        In the next few weeks I’ll do what I have to with iTunes to get a hold of your music. Then, I’ll burn them to a CD and give Apple the finger and, much like Slim Shady, tell them that I still don’t give a fuck.

        Oh, and about ‘One Step Forward’…I think that’s helping me to figure out what to do with my fiction. Thank you for that.

      2. MesAyah Avatar
        MesAyah

        I agree with a lot of your points here. ITunes killed the album format and a large part of music, lyrics and booklets are a huge part of a release and it’s not the same in digital print. On the other hand, digital releases has helped so many independent artists through the years, myself included. Music is now open for everyone and the variety out there is an amazing bank of music instead of a controlled organ giving out their subjective view on how music should sound like.

        If you want to I am more than happy to get you some hardcopies if that is preferable. I have that too:)

      3. A Voice Avatar
        A Voice

        You bastard, you’ve been holding out on hardcopies!?!?!

        I would DEFINITELY be interested in physical media over digital media. Just put up a comment on one of my posts with your preferred e-mail address and we can take it from there, work out international shipping and such. As you know, all of my comments are moderated so there’s virtually no chance of your preferred e-mail being made readily available.

        On that note, I’ve been thinking of getting a secondary e-mail account for use with this WordPress, one that can be made public. I didn’t think there was a sufficient draw to do that (I still don’t) but considering it more would be helpful.

  8. withheldindarkness Avatar
    withheldindarkness

    I think a reason for a lot of rap not finding a market outside of the USA is because of the material, as another person stated most the world can’t relate (or aren’t interested) in their commentary (I once bought a DMX album, he spends half the album taking about how tough he is, and the other how bad ass he is … had one good on there that had some deeper meaning). I too went through my punk phase, now am more into the metal music (although if music is good I will listen to it, who cares about genre). I find it ironic that a lot of these genres (and sub-genres) were about trying to not be the norm, yet then their styles are so uniform (that is one thing I loved about punk … it was all about individual expression, I never felt like I had to look a part). Love going to metal concerns now in my pastel shirts … just so I am different to the black shirt and jeans norm. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
  9. PilgrimPlanet Avatar
    PilgrimPlanet

    Reblogged this on AG and commented:
    After pretty long time..something good for the ears…

    Reply
  10. billiescauldron Avatar
    billiescauldron

    I like this song very much. Although I do not like the picture. I understand many are out there and need lifted out from where they are at. If the music they listen to helps bring them out by looking up to the artist then this is good. Many out there will not listen to Bible carriers preaching to them. Sometimes it requires someone else to do the dirty work, cleaning in ways understood by the heart.

    Reply
  11. seedofbilly Avatar
    seedofbilly

    Loving this post, I’m nominating you for a Versatile Blogger Award. Keep up the good work 🙂

    Reply
  12. I’ve been nominated for a Versatile Blogger Award! | seedofbilly Avatar
    I’ve been nominated for a Versatile Blogger Award! | seedofbilly

    […] 1. https://mesayah.wordpress.com/2013/02/27/the-backside-of-a-relationship-with-a-genre/ […]

    Reply
  13. slickrickmed Avatar
    slickrickmed

    Reblogged this on .

    Reply
  14. hoopoeinanoak Avatar
    hoopoeinanoak

    hey, thanks for following my blog!

    i can relate to what you describe to have been your relationship with a certain music strain and the supposed sub/culture behind it. i believe i am the same way, and not just with music. i started listening to hiphop when i was ten, i think, but i was drawn to the music – not the visual and lifestyle representation of it.

    hiphop (whatever is meant by it today) is to this day one of my favorite genres but you would never tell that my looking at me or having a conversation with me. i am drawn to the raw power of unapologetic lyrics over a hard beat, not the baggy jeans. moreover, it seems to me that the real-est rappers today are not part of the hiphop establishment, either. for various reasons. cakes da killa or mykki blanco, for example, are labeled queer and snubbed by the mainstream. however, it is them who are taking rap music to the next level. they bring rebellion to the table thus linking it to the original rock music in its attitude… whereas the mainstream rappers are stuck in a vicious cycle of self-admiration…

    i can go on about it but i hope my point is clear. anyway, i will be stopping by to read more. cheers!

    Reply
    1. MesAyah Avatar
      MesAyah

      Amen to that! We share a lot of the same points

      Reply
  15. whiskeyhicks Avatar
    whiskeyhicks

    For starters, as a struggling blogger, I appreciate the follow.

    Much like others here I too was rather alienated by rap music, it wasn’t that I didn’t like it I just felt it didn’t relate to me. Honestly as a 13 year old kid struggling through school, girls, and video games can I seriously relate to “the man keeping me down”, “smoking chronic”, or “drinking gin and juice?” Sadly, no, I couldn’t. But it’s so much different now, I’m able to find artists I can relate to not just in day to day life, but on an emotional level perhaps even teaching me something about life I personally can’t understand.

    Suffice to say, my opinions on the genre have differed dramatically in comparison to when I was a kid and I honestly believe that it was artists such as yourself who were to cause my opinion to change.

    Reply
    1. MesAyah Avatar
      MesAyah

      I agreed so much with these words that I posted them on my page for others to read

      Reply
  16. Soapmouth Avatar
    Soapmouth

    You and I are very much alike in that sense bro..Keep up the good work!

    Reply
  17. wodezitie Avatar
    wodezitie

    I enjoyed your music. Fierce and yet soft. Nice melody!

    Reply
  18. Maryanne Avatar
    Maryanne

    I can totally relate to this. For two years of my life I identified with punk rock and dressed the part. But I like all types of music so I figured that I’ll just dress how I like and not pigeon hole myself.

    I think by feeling like an odd man out means that you are truly an individual — and that’s a good thing, of course! 🙂

    Reply
  19. Round Table Avatar
    Round Table

    It’s nice to see people embrace the conscious aspects of hip hop, as well as their individuality and personal style. Thanks for following!

    Reply
    1. MesAyah Avatar
      MesAyah

      That’s originally what hiphop is all about:)

      Reply
  20. realityenchanted Avatar
    realityenchanted

    Hey! So you are a music box? But before you can say that you are synonymous with music, you should be sure not to take sides. Music is very varied. In every genre is a voice, a melody, a tune, magic.
    Thanks for following my blog.

    Reply

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