Supposedly, the Program Activities Council (PAC) sent a link to everyone to vote for the genre students want for this year’s concert. The link used to offer choices of rap, EDM, rock and country. As a fan of genuine music, I wanted everyone to vote for rock.

Unfortunately, the choices have since been limited to country and hip hop/R&B. This move was probably done based on the majority of votes thus far going to rap and country. However, that seems very premature, since only about 700 of the 11 thousand students had voted at my last check.

[media-credit name=”Courtesy of OrgSync” align=”alignright” width=”269″][/media-credit]

I said PAC supposedly sent the link because I couldn’t find it anywhere in my email. In fact, I had to brave the convoluted land of OrgSync to locate the poll. To eliminate confusion, here is how to get to it: go to applications in Mavzone, select OrgSync and then click on the organizations tab in the upper left corner. Scroll down to PAC and click on their box. The link to the poll is on the right side of their page.

Clicking on the link to the poll presents the voter with the genre options previously mentioned. I would argue there are only really two options: rock and country. Too bad one of those was removed. 

Attending concerts ought to leave life-long impressions upon the attendee. I can remember most concerts I attended fondly because they were put on by real artists. I remember a few concerts with regret because the supposed artists were nothing more than sell-out, talent-less individuals/groups with no real staying power because all they did was pander to a temporary fad in music.

The concert PAC put on last year brought in Lil’ Yachty, a currently popular mumble-rapper. While the attendance of the concert was very impressive, Lil’ Yachty is just one of a many “artists” that nobody will remember 10 years from now. I’m pretty sure that most of the individuals who attended last year will increasingly become more embarrassed than proud they were there. 

To a certain extent, that’s okay. Youth is the time to make bad choices. When I was young, I’m ashamed to admit I went to a Backstreet Boys concert. In terms of talent, that’s the same thing students were treated to last year: commercialized music that had no real meaning.

That’s why rap should absolutely not be voted on this year. We shouldn’t have another concert to be ashamed of a decade later. 

It’s not to say there aren’t real rap artists. There are indeed very talented artists in the genre that have staying power and memorable music. The problem is those artists aren’t going to be within the reach of PAC’s budget. 

In rap, you get what you pay for, and all we can afford is mumbling nonsense.

Both rock and country have genuine artists that capture genuine meaning with their music and lyrics. The music actually makes audiences feel something rather than simply inspiring twerking and other gyrating motions.

The staying power of the genres is a testament to their impact on music. Rock and country have been around for a very long time and both genres will continue to linger long after mumbling is gone.

Since both are real music performed by real artists, it then becomes a matter of how you want to feel. That is why rock needed more votes and should still be an option. Rock energizes the audience and leaves them feeling pumped up for hours afterwards. 

Most of the students here are young, so the pumped up beat of rock embraces their youth and energy in a manner that country just can’t match. 

Why attend another concert for an artist nobody will remember? Don’t waste your time with that. Vote for something worth remembering. Vote for real music. Vote for rock – assuming PAC will reverse their premature decision of removing it as an option.