When did "voice of a generation" become the new "King/Queen/Prince/Princess of Pop"? It's not enough to simply be a popular musician, with healthy record sales, relevance and a faux royalty title? Now you and your music have to speak for millions of people?
This lofty title is getting tossed about by and in the name of music artists that have barely made it (Justin Bieber), are still trying to make it (Lil Mama) or have made it but still have a ways to go (Taylor Swift). To be fair, sometimes this title gets foisted on singers by other people. For example, in an interview with the Associated Press, Wyclef Jean called Bieber and Trey Songz voices of the new generation. And recently, Scott Borchetta, head of Swift's label Big Machine Records, touted Taylor as the voice of a generation in defense of her highly-criticized Grammys performance. Borchetta's coronation of Swift in that situation was particularly confusing, since it seemed to make the argument that young people don't really care about singers being able to sing well. (Tell that to Ashlee Simpson and Cassie)
In these instances, the blame might not be on the artist themselves, but those who represent them. But still the whole paegant-like title is puzzling and vague in its criteria. What qualifies Justin Bieber or Taylor Swift as the voice of a generation? Because they have popular songs? Do the songs "Baby," "You Belong With Me," "One Time" and "Teardrops On My Guitar" reveal some complex, underlying truth about this generation of teens? Do these songs truly encompass the full range of ideas, thoughts and contributions of this generation?
In some cases, the lofty title is self-proclaimed. Kanye West, God bless him, called himself 'the voice of this generation' in an interview with the AP. While Lil Mama presumptuously labels herself "the voice of the young people." Yes, because "Lip Gloss" lets the world know everything there is to know about being young in America.
Music is everything to all people. It can entertain and it can provoke thought. It can inspire and it can depress. It can inspire calm and it can inspire revolution. But it's important to be a bit more nuanced when it comes to this whole "voice of a generation" thing. All of the aforementioned artists make (or made) music that speaks TO a generation. Can people in their teens identify with the outsider, high school politics of Taylor Swift's "You Belong With Me"? Sure. Can people in their 20s understand where Kanye is coming from in describing the inner turmoil of discovering one's place in the world as he does in "The College Dropout"? Absolutely. But to speak FOR someone is to speak in place of them, and while some of these artists make great music, it's far too limited in scope to speak for any generation. Plus, with Facebook and Twitter, the voices of the younger generations have never been easier to find.
So musicians, music critics and all ye other vultures of pop culture, ease up on the voice of a generation proclamations. Plenty of people in those respective generations have no problem communicating for themselves. Just because you like a frothy pop song doesn't mean that it, or the artist who recorded it, define you. Lil Mama is not the bullhorn that youth needs.
