In an interview with BBC Radio 6 Music, Sir Elton John criticized modern pop music, citing that few pop stars actually write their own songs.
Sir Elton John has something to say about the state of current pop music. In a recent interview with BBC Radio 6 Music, the legendary singer-songwriter expressed his displeasure with contemporary pop music. To put it directly, John said that most of the present hits on charts are “not real music.”
In the interview, the ‘Rocket Man’ singer was vocal about his support for ‘people who write songs’. As reported by The Independent, John remarked how finding songs that had been written entirely by the singer had become a rarity.
So, who are his favorites? Father John Misty and Lemon Twigs. Referring to the former, he told interviewer Matt Everitt: “He reminds me a little bit of me the way he writes songs.” John also lauded American singer Conan Gray, saying: “He’s the only person in the American Spotify Top 50 to actually write the song without anybody else.”
Going deeper into his perception of the songwriting process, John explained: “I liked it because it’s proper songs. You look at most of the records in the charts — they’re not real songs. They’re bits and pieces, and it’s nice to hear someone write a proper song.”
Over the course of the interview, he also delved into the anatomy of the modern pop song and how its perceived as good or bad by the listener. For John, countless artists who write ‘proper’ songs do not get enough radio play, whereas ‘songs made by a computer’ find a permanent place in the mainstream.
“There’s plenty of people that do but a lot of them don’t get played on the radio because they’re too sophisticated, and we get songs made by a computer all the time, and I’m not interested in that.”
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That’s not to say that John is not a fan of all modern music, though. Recently, he featured on Lady Gaga’s Chromatica on the track ‘Sine From Above’. John has also vehemently supported the likes of Rina Sawayama, Mac Miller, and Young Thug for their artistic prowess.
Check out ‘Rocket Man’ by Sir Elton John:
