OLD SCHOOL vs. NEW SCHOOL

Sensei Mel
Feb 19, 2017
3 min read

Hey guys, so the other week I was watching the New Edition Story with my parents (I highly recommend watching this, it's so good) and when it ended my mum said 'music is really not how it used to be', followed by my dad saying 'yh I miss the music of our era…real music not the stuff the play now'. Then it got me thinking, as someone who grew up listening to old school and boy do I mean A LOT how does music of my generation and the one prior compare. I'm Nigerian so normally you'd expect at family parties the music would be majority afrobeats but nah here's where my family diverts, we listened and danced to oldies. By the time you were 8, you'd know how to dance to Candy (the electric slide) and know all the lyrics to Roses are Red by Mac Band. So yeah, it's safe to say I have a bit of knowledge when it comes to this topic.

I think the real difference between old school and new school R&B is that the lyrics were more meaningful, relatable and memorable before. Like I can't be the only one who has imagined my love life being soundtracked by 90s R&B or looking like the music videos of that time…like a boy outside my window, on a stormy night in a black trench coat. From New Edition to Donell Jones all the way to Aaliyah, the music in those days just sounded better maybe because more instruments were involved, who knows? Also I think our parents tend to prefer music of their generation because they had a bit more of a physical connection to the music. They used to buy lps and cassettes maybe even cds, but nowadays we just download music; so there's no physical evidence we bought anything. But I definitely think new school R&B is more experimental than old school! There's more intertwining of different genres meaning the beats and melodies are more fun to listen to. And the lyrics aren't just about love and romance so a greater proportion of people relate to them compared to old school.

When I got a little older because of my love of old school R&B, I decided to check out the rap and hip-hop side of oldies. I really clicked with certain artists i.e. A Tribe Called Quest, Nas and Biggie. I think the raw, unfiltered and authenticity of rap and hip-hop at this time is what appealed to me most. For example if you had beef back then the diss track you would drop would include names and direct insults ( listen to hit 'em up by 2pac, I'll put the video below) !!! Nowadays most artists just sneak diss to their hearts content. However new school hip-hop/rap is still lit, like when you're at a party and hot nigga by Bobby Shmurda (yes, I know this song is old but it's in this decade so it's new school) comes on anyone and everyone is up. With new school it's more house party-everyone dancing music whereas old school is like underground club-head bopping.

So that's it the decisions yours…you a bigger fan of the new or still f**k with the old? Let me know what you think. Thanks for reading, don't forget to share.

p.s. I made a playlist of some of my favourites of old and new school R&B and Hip-Hop/Rap (80s + 90s vs. 00s + 10s). There's loads more but there'll be a part two of these playlist in the future.