While on my way to Philly for an art festival, my mother turned on The E.N.D. (Energy Never Dies), the Black Eyed Peas’ latest CD. As I was reading, my ears were battered by the sounds of synthesizers, bad rapping and talking -not singing - to the melody of the keyboard and other instruments that were utterly unrecognizable. I couldn’t tell if the whole CD was that bad or if, like Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal, it was a satire perhaps about the status of today’s music. As I yearned with every fiber of my being to rip my ears out, I couldn’t help but wonder: is this what music has turned to? Have the administrative emperors and empresses of the music world become completely tone deaf? Has music been reduced to nothing but two-step beats and abstract voices? Are real singers destined to be confined to idol shows and church choirs for the rest of their lives?

We’ve come so far from the days of the days of doo wop, scat and even boy bands. Some say for the better, others for the worst. I believe it’s time for a musical revolution. But where do we go from here? Do we take a step backward and look towards old-school hip hop, doo wop and classical music? Or do we invent a new, original sound that will become its own classic and inspire future generations? Could we possibly find something deep within the hybrid bands hailing from many-a-genre? Or it is it a short lived kick, destined to fail after several weeks in the number one spot? We’ve seen those like Prince and Michael Jackson who successfully stepped over the rock/ r&b boundaries but, was it a case of good timing or something else?

According to WILL.I.AM’s acknowledgements on the Black Eyed Peas CD, “It is the END of that wonderful era … It gave birth to wonderful artists, fantastic and beautiful memories … it is the END of that Paradigm … But the energy.never.dies.” Looking at The E.N.D., perhaps if I listen closely, it is making a deep a statement. Perhaps The E.N.D. symbolizes the end of cacophony and the beginning of actual creativity. Or considering it came out on a wave of musical insanity, maybe it’s the end of good music and the end of creativity and the beginning of the Cacophony Era.