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Music for a woman who currently only listens to classical and whose young daughters are threatening to listen to rap

Posted over 2 years ago
My cubicle-mate at work, Sue, is in her late 40s. Her husband plays upright bass in various orchestras in the area for a living. They both pretty much listen exclusively to classical music. They have two daughters, who are in third and fourth grade, respectively. Sue is really worried that the more precocious of the two, Emma, is going to start listening to rap solely because Sue doesn't like it. Sue currently doesn't listen to ANY pop music, or anything other than classical, AT ALL.Now, I adore hip hop music and I told Sue I'm going to make her a mix of songs by current non-classical bands/artists so that she can slowly start educating herself in the ways of rock/pop/hiphop and thus encourage her daughters to listen to GOOD music, and not the horrible crap they play on top 40 radio. This is quite possibly the most difficult mix I've ever had to make, and I'm going to be stewing this one in my mind for a while. I am totally open to suggestions that any of you may have!The songs I'm considering and some reasoning in the comments...
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Comments (19)

  1. gollygee
    gollygee says Here are some of the songs I'm considering. I'm trying to give her a really wide range (for now) so I can feel her out and figure out what she's more inclined towards. As I look at this list I'm definitely leaning towards more folk-y rock, and steering away from more punk and hardcore rap-ish stuff, but trying to sneak some hiphop in at the same time... The District Sleeps Alone Tonight- The Postal Service (a good tranisitional song from rock to electronic music) Red Right Ankle- The Decemberists (just an all-around fabulous song) Mis Shapes- Pulp (epic, dramatic) The Bachelor and the Bride- The Decemberists (good, upbeat singalong) We've Got the Jazz- A Tribe Called Quest (sneaking in some rap) La Femme D'Argent- Air (as close to classical as techno gets) C'mon Billy- PJ Harvey (her songwriting is so sophisticated) Good Fortune- PJ Harvey (see above) Silent All These Years- Tori Amos (piano) Brotha- Jill Scott (sneaking in the beats) With or Without You- U2 (great songwriting and emotion in a pop song) Born Slippy- Underworld (another epic techno song) Nothing I Haven't Seen- Beck (the whole Sea Change album is gorgeous) Apple Tree- Erykah Badu (more beats, great vocals) Both Hands- Ani DiFranco (is this too folky? I might just be putting it on the mix because I like it so much :D ) Don't Tell Me- Madonna (good pop song infused with beats) Karma Police- Radiohead (obvious reasons) What do you think? Am I going in the right direction or am I completely missing something? Thoughts? :)
    Permalink posted 02/12/2007
  2. justcheez
    justcheez says you should probably slip in some jurassic 5 or ugly duckling. just to sort of drive home the point that not all hip hop is male chauvinistic, gangsta trash.also, from what i remember they're both not big on the profanities. Concrete Schoolyard is my fave jurassic 5 song and is the one that comes with my official dairy-based thumbs up.
    Permalink posted 02/12/2007
  3. gollygee
    gollygee says Oooh, I love J5, good call! Muchos gracias! :)
    Permalink posted 02/12/2007
  4. Viva La Britt
    Viva La Britt says This is quite a formidable task you're taking on - I admire your ambition :) As for your direction, I dig it- Radiohead + Tribe= can't be beat. Good to see you in the MOGhood, gollygee.
    Permalink posted 02/12/2007
  5. gollygee
    gollygee says Yeah I'm back in action on Mog, I was on a brief haiatus during the holidays and then business travel at the beginning of February. More posts coming soon! :)
    Permalink posted 02/12/2007
  6. justcheez
    justcheez says i really dont have any other ideas! i think im almost the polar opposite.. i'm 20 and although i have grown up surrounded by rock in all its forms, i'm pretty much screwed when it comes to jazz or classical or blues or anything like that. unless you went the way of putting tracks by bands like interpol or bright eyes or something.
    Permalink posted 02/12/2007
  7. Kiddo
    Kiddo says Well, as for hip-hop, I can tell you that my mother - who is nearly 52 - LOVES Outkast's "Hey Ya!" She made me put it on a CD for her, and when she got her new cell phone, I was like, "Cool. I can assign you a ringtone for when you call me now. What song do you want?" And she says, "I want 'Hey Ya!' Shake it like a polaroid picture!" Then I was like, "I don't have that. What else do you want?" And she was like, "I want 'Hey Ya!' That's what I want!!!!" Like a spoiled child. You might also find a few more ideas for cool kid music "here":http://www.pancakemountain.com.
    Permalink posted 02/12/2007
  8. justcheez
    justcheez says ohmygosh! henry rollins! i have the most heterosexual man crush on him EVER.
    Permalink posted 02/12/2007
  9. Kiddo
    Kiddo says Henry Rollins: "And remember kids, bags are not toys." Wisdom for the ages.
    Permalink posted 02/12/2007
  10. Dale
    Dale says That list looks pretty darn good. My only thought is that perhaps some Spiritualized so she can see that an almost-orchestrasl sweep is possible in pop music. Maybe "Stop Your Sobbing" or "Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space". Of course, we'll leave the drug references out.
    Permalink posted 02/12/2007
  11. MrFrost
    MrFrost says This is tough only because the kids are so young (4th and 5th grade). Some songs could be free of profanity, yet still have adult subject matter... So off the top of my head, here are a few songs with no profanity, and suitable subject content. 2pac - keep ya head up ludacris - runaway love Erykah Badu feat. Common - Love of my life Nas - I can The dove shack - summertime in the LBC
    Permalink posted 02/12/2007
  12. dj ivi
    dj ivi says massive attack? erykah badu... it seems appropriate to include as much female-centric hip hop/rap as possible. something like this lady here : http://mog.com/manda-mina if i can think of more positive female hip hop i will comment again...
    Permalink posted 02/13/2007
  13. gollygee
    gollygee says Those are all awesome suggestions, thank you so much you guys! I'm definitely just concentrating on songs to ease Sue into modern music, it would be way too hard to make the CD for both her AND her kids. I'm hoping to get an idea of what modern music she'll like and then make a separate mix for her kids later on. I've made mixes for kids before (separate ones for age 6, age 8, and age 12) so I have something to work from there, but I don't want to just make copies of those mixes for Sue since she's not inclined to like much of what's on them since they're mostly '80s songs. I'm just hoping she at least responds well to folk and R&B at this point! :)
    Permalink posted 02/13/2007
  14. Kate
    Kate says Here's a few more: Ray Lamontagne Amos Lee Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan "Ballad of the Broken Seas" Cat Power "The Greatest" Aceyalone (great conscious hip-hop) My Morning Jacket Belle & Sebastian Rodrigo y Gabriela (classical guitarists who interpret metal songs) Cut Chemist "The Audience's Listening" Honeycut "The Day I Turned to Glass" Looks like I could keep going for hours, so i'll just stop there :)
    Permalink posted 02/13/2007
  15. gollygee
    gollygee says Kate, many of those bands are on my list of music to check out, this will be a perfect excuse to listen to them! Thanks so much! :)
    Permalink posted 02/14/2007
  16. mermonkey
    mermonkey says Didja finish it yet? Post back with the tracks! i love your tribe pick, if you want some more emphasis on the pre-gangsta rap/hip-hop, howabout: Arrested Development? De La Soul? KRS-1? Digable Planets? And is she paying you back with a classical mix?
    Permalink posted 02/23/2007
  17. gollygee
    gollygee says Yeah, another post is coming soon! I have to totally re-work the mix, she told me the other day that she gets bored with folk but absolutely loves percussion. So now I have to start all over. :D It's going to be way more rap/techno heavy now, which is awesome! And yes, she's making me a classical mix too, which I'm really psyched about! I haven't heard good new (to me) classical music since History of Music class in college. :)
    Permalink posted 02/23/2007
  18. davidaarong
    davidaarong says If you like the postal service, check out this track from The Moon and Monday: http://mog.com/davidaarong/blog_post/144721 - David www.audiodrums.com
    Permalink posted 02/25/2008
  19. davidaarong
    davidaarong says Also, check out these tracks from The Long Division if you like the Postal Service: Neighbors: http://mog.com/fistula_spume/blog_post/150554 Honey Pot: http://mog.com/davidaarong/blog_post/151764 - David
    Permalink posted 03/24/2008

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