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There is no comparable large metropolitan area in the US completely devoid of a music scene like DC. From top to bottom pretty much no acts have broken out here in the past decade. The city has a rich musical heritage with Duke Ellington, Marvin Gaye, John Philip Sousa and the 80s hardcore punk and emo scene but the DC area is pretty much an artistic void now. It makes DC a sad artistic void without character, I've pretty much felt that since I was a young teenager.
DC also has the worst radio in America. There's no college radio that plays breaking music and all the radio is corporate owned except the public stations.
There is no comparable large metropolitan area in the US completely devoid of a music scene like DC. From top to bottom pretty much no acts have broken out here in the past decade. The city has a rich musical heritage with Duke Ellington, Marvin Gaye, John Philip Sousa and the 80s hardcore punk and emo scene but the DC area is pretty much an artistic void now. It makes DC a sad artistic void without character, I've pretty much felt that since I was a young teenager.
DC also has the worst radio in America. There's no college radio that plays breaking music and all the radio is corporate owned except the public stations.
Wale?
J. Holiday??
Tabi Bonney???
Meshell N'Degeocello????
Tank?????
Raheem Devaughn??????
CCB???????
Wale?
J. Holiday??
Tabi Bonney???
Meshell N'Degeocello????
Tank?????
Raheem Devaughn??????
CCB???????
You crazy!
Only one I've heard of is Meshell, I dont really listen to rap or R&B. Only somewhat recent other group I can think of is Thievery Corporation. Not taking anything away from the artists you've mentioned but the DC music scene is still pitiful for such a large area. Areas with like 1/20 of the population like Athens, GA and Gainesville, FL outpace it.
I think the rock/punk scene in this city is pretty mediocre.
But it hardly seems fair to claim that DC's music scene sucks when, by your own admission, you don't listen to much of the music that artists throughout the city are churning out these days. In addition to r&b and hip-hop, DC is home to some really exceptional jazz talent. I think that's one area in particular where the city punches above its weight.
I've seen a bunch of local bands in the past few years that are really good, such as the Cassettes and Exit Clov. Are they popular or nationally-known? No, but who cares? I like what I like and I don't see why anyone else should be different.
Go to the Rock and Roll Hotel, Red Palace, Black Cat backstage, Iota, Velvet Lounge, DC9 and you can find tons of local bands. Maybe those kinds of places are not your scene, but they appeal to other people. You can't say the city is "devoid" of music when off the top of my head I can rattle off six or seven clubs that regularly host local music.
Looking at the other top ten metropolitan areas, do Dallas, Houston and Miami have a better selection of rock clubs than these? Miami clearly has a better dance and hip hop scene, but for rock, I'm not aware. I've actually heard Miami is pretty bad for rock music. Dallas and Houston are almost certainly better for country music but for rock I don't see them as being better than DC.
I have lived in two cities smaller than DC (Tampa and Charlotte) and I can definitely say that at least as far as rock music goes, DC is much better as one would expect from its larger size.
Just because DC hasn't produced many famous artists recently doesn't mean they won't again in the future.
Who even cares about radio anymore? The Internet has almost entirely supplanted it as a place to find new music. As more people buy the technology that allows them to play podcasts and Internet radio in their cars, this trend will only accelerate.
Last edited by stateofnature; 01-24-2012 at 11:44 AM..
Who even cares about radio anymore? The Internet has almost entirely supplanted it as a place to find new music. As more people buy the technology that allows them to play podcasts and Internet radio in their cars, this trend will only accelerate.
This is undoubtedly true. I can't remember the last time i "discovered" an act because it got played on the radio. Well, broadcast radio anyway. There are a couple of XM channels I listen to that have introduced me to bands I wasn't familiar with.
I don't care much for music since it's already downhill.
Quote:
Originally Posted by stateofnature
Who even cares about radio anymore? The Internet has almost entirely supplanted it as a place to find new music. As more people buy the technology that allows them to play podcasts and Internet radio in their cars, this trend will only accelerate.
There is no comparable large metropolitan area in the US completely devoid of a music scene like DC. From top to bottom pretty much no acts have broken out here in the past decade. The city has a rich musical heritage with Duke Ellington, Marvin Gaye, John Philip Sousa and the 80s hardcore punk and emo scene but the DC area is pretty much an artistic void now. It makes DC a sad artistic void without character, I've pretty much felt that since I was a young teenager.
DC also has the worst radio in America. There's no college radio that plays breaking music and all the radio is corporate owned except the public stations.
there have been quite a few R&B acts out this area..as others have posted
wale pretty much the only rapper to make it big
the hiphop station here suck too.. i usually listen to bmore 92.q station cuz they atleast play alot of their local artist and other underground tracks unlike dc stations where all u hear is wats on the top 20 billboard charts over and over and over again
The radio? what's that? oh yeah now I remember, that thing that attempts to put out music but fail miserably.
"Hey, you want to hear the most annoying sound in the world" you don't have to watch Dumb and Dumber, just turn on the radio.
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