Which musical artist best represents your city right now and why? (transplants, school)

[Vincent_Adultman]

For Seattle I'll go with Ayron Jones. For the obvious reasons like he is constantly repping the city - one of his videos features the city prominently and he has a song called "Filthy" which is classic Seattle slang.

But the deeper reason is because he borrows musical elements from iconic Seattle artists like Jimi Hendrix, Nirvana and other Grunge bands, while blending it with more contemporary aspects. I'll admit, it has a little bit of a generic vibe but in a way that's appropriate because Seattle has honestly become a lot more generic compared to the days of Jimi Hendrix and Nirvana.

Here are a couple of videos:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkI1EQy9un8


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-n8OVbYtzI

[BigCity76]

^ That was pretty good. The sound definitely reminded me of early-mid 90's grunge.

[masssachoicetts]

New Jersey (not a city, but collectively its own culture that self removed itself from NYC and Philadelphia)

1. Bruce Springsteen
2. Bon Jovi
3. Whitney Houston
4. Frank Sinatra
5. SZA

For Boston:
1. Aerosmith

[The_Quiet_One]

For DC I'm going with what might at first be considered an unconventional choice:

John Philip Sousa

He was born in DC and spent his childhood there. His marching songs are still played by military bands in DC on a regular basis. The songs are staples of every fireworks show and parade in the nation. When a tourist is walking around the monuments in DC, a John Philip Sousa is probably playing in their head.

[elchevere]

That certainly was the case 20, 30+ and more years ago….is that still the case today—especially with people your age?…..(not familiar with SZA).

Wouldn’t that be like saying The Grateful Dead still represents SF today, even though the counter/hippie culture is long gone and Jerry Garcia is dead?….not familiar with today’s contemporary, relevant musicians from there.

Originally Posted by masssachoicetts

New Jersey (not a city, but collectively its own culture that self removed itself from NYC and Philadelphia)

1. Bruce Springsteen
2. Bon Jovi
3. Whitney Houston
4. Frank Sinatra
5. SZA

For Boston:
1. Aerosmith

For Miami Camila Cabello and Pitbull probably represent Miami today, as opposed to Gloria Estefan from yesteryear. Shakira and Pharrell live here now; not sure whether to include them or not—do transplants count?? All of the above have international appeal.

[thedirtypirate]

Bigger cities don't have a single 'persona', but I was just trying to think of somethings that cross boundaries for different cultures


for philly, the collective pain from the opioid epidemic over the last two decades...


for the youth revival of the city


and does anything get more philly than a song with Meek and Rocky? lol

[masssachoicetts]

Originally Posted by elchevere

That certainly was the case 20, 30+ and more years ago….is that still the case today—especially with people your age?…..(not familiar with SZA).

Wouldn’t that be like saying The Grateful Dead still represents SF today, even though the counter/hippie culture is long gone and Jerry Garcia is dead?….not familiar with today’s contemporary, relevant musicians from there.



For Miami Camila Cabello and Pitbull probably represent Miami today, as opposed to Gloria Estefan from yesteryear. Shakira and Pharrell live here now; not sure whether to include them or not—do transplants count?? All of the above have international appeal.

yeah i didn't see now.

[AshbyQuin]

Kur

Kur raps about enduring/overcoming the pain, struggles and challenges that come with living in the rough streets of Philadelphia.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R40Dm_8vIlE

[achtung baby]

Originally Posted by Vincent_Adultman

For Seattle I'll go with Ayron Jones. For the obvious reasons like he is constantly repping the city - one of his videos features the city prominently and he has a song called "Filthy" which is classic Seattle slang.

But the deeper reason is because he borrows musical elements from iconic Seattle artists like Jimi Hendrix, Nirvana and other Grunge bands, while blending it with more contemporary aspects. I'll admit, it has a little bit of a generic vibe but in a way that's appropriate because Seattle has honestly become a lot more generic compared to the days of Jimi Hendrix and Nirvana.

The intro is definitely very Jimi Hendrix. I love Jimi Hendrix. (Why did I always think he was from San Francisco? I spent summers in Berkeley when my sister went to school there. His influence was everywhere.)

And I remember the days of Nirvana. We the Gen X came of age during the Grunge days, I actually never cared for Grunge but in 1992 Smells Like a Teen Spirit was the teenage anthem, play the intro kids went wild.

Music these days certainly have become more generic and corporate, one song requires 6 producers and autotune, and “borrowed” demos from other people. (I’m looking at you, JLo.)

I think Heart (Anne and Nancy Wilson) is from Seattle too.

I’m not too familiar with Hip Hop genre and I have only been living in Houston a bit over a year. I love the Arcade Fire, the Butler brothers grew up in the Woodlands (went to school in Montreal and formed the band there.) so I count them as from Houston.

Bruce Springsteen does rep NJ. Jon Bon Jovi is a very nice guy but his music is so so so cheesy.

Tracey Chapman is also from Boston. So is the Cars.

No comment on the Miami artists, I rolled my eyes so hard when my teenage daughter listened (by the peer influence) to Pitbull for a few times. We raised her better than that lol.

There was a dance-pop group from Miami called Will to Power in the ‘80s and early ‘90s. Their biggest hit was a medley of Peter Frampton’s Baby I Love Your Way & Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Freebird. The guy who formed the group was this bodybuilder/club bouncer looking guy with p*rn mustache driving a Harley Davidson and read Nitezsche. It’s very “clubby” and my daughter had to listen to them all the time whenever we were in Miami.-fun memory.

[Vincent_Adultman]

Originally Posted by masssachoicetts

New Jersey (not a city, but collectively its own culture that self removed itself from NYC and Philadelphia)

1. Bruce Springsteen
2. Bon Jovi
3. Whitney Houston
4. Frank Sinatra
5. SZA

For Boston:
1. Aerosmith

But I'm talking about currently, not historically.

Edit: I see that you've acknowledged that in a post above, sorry for the redundancy.