Episode Transcript
Speaker 1 00:00:01 Welcome to the Music In Mind podcast, where we are bringing music back to the conversation. I am your host, Ryan Robinson. Welcome to the first recording of the Music and Mind podcast. This is Ryan Robinson, your host. I am here sitting with my first guest, my lovely wife, Desiree Robinson. Say hello to the people.
Speaker 2 00:00:38 Hello,
Speaker 1 00:00:41 <laugh>.
Speaker 2 00:00:42 So sorry, was I supposed to say more? I'm so honored to be here. This is wonderful and so excited to be your first guest.
Speaker 1 00:00:51 <laugh>. Yes. I think you were available
Speaker 2 00:00:53 <laugh>,
Speaker 1 00:00:55 Uh, for the first podcast subject. We just won that. Talk about why haven't you been listening to
Speaker 2 00:01:02 These days,
Speaker 1 00:01:03 <laugh>? Honestly, you know how much I love
Speaker 2 00:01:06 Music. Well, okay. So it's not that I don't listen to music, cuz I do, I I don't listen to the radio anymore. So I have my playlist of songs and like my go-to artists that I listen to. So I do listen to music. I just don't listen to what's popular.
Speaker 1 00:01:24 <laugh> what's the latest year <laugh> on your playlist?
Speaker 2 00:01:28 Um, I, I think, um, maybe 2003, 2004. Maybe <laugh>,
Speaker 1 00:01:42 We'll have to check that later.
Speaker 2 00:01:45 <laugh>.
Speaker 1 00:01:46 But explain to me why you don't listen to what's on the radio today.
Speaker 2 00:01:52 Um, honestly, I just, I feel like if you're listening to something kind of like a book, you have to connect with it, you know what I mean? You, you take a book, for example, like you can sit there and read your favorite subject and time goes by so fast. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And the next thing you know, you're like, I've been reading for five hours. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I need to go to bed, I gotta get up in two hours. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Or you could read a textbook and you're falling asleep before you finish the first paragraph. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, if you don't connect to it, if you don't relate to it, you know, it's, it's pulling teeth and I, I just, I don't, I don't connect to the music anymore and like, it just, it doesn't speak to me. And so I'd rather listen to something that makes me feel good. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, something that gets me excited, wakes me up to start my work day or, you know, a song for the day. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know mm-hmm. <affirmative> an album for the day back when you could actually listen to a whole album. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, and it gives you feels mm-hmm. <affirmative> that don't feel that way about today's music anymore.
Speaker 1 00:03:02 You mentioned the album, which is probably the biggest thing that I
Speaker 2 00:03:08 Missed. You know what? I lied. I lied. The last album, the last recent song that I listened to. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> Bruno Mars.
Speaker 1 00:03:19 Ah, 24 Kara,
Speaker 2 00:03:21 Cover to cover. I can listen to that cover to cover.
Speaker 1 00:03:25 Yeah. That, yeah. You can't skip a track
Speaker 2 00:03:27 On that album. Well, it's only 10 tracks, but <laugh> those 10 pack a punch.
Speaker 1 00:03:33 It's worth it. Worth the listen. If you haven't listened to 24 Kara Magic by Bruno Mars, I don't know where you've been, but it is an album that's reminiscent of the nineties.
Speaker 2 00:03:47 Uh, hence he's Why I love it.
Speaker 1 00:03:49 New Jack Swing, little bit of the, uh, slow Jams.
Speaker 2 00:03:55 What was that? Slow Jams. Get the draws. Deluxe album. <laugh>
Speaker 1 00:04:01 The mixed tape. Yeah. You wanna bring that out only for certain occasions, of course. Um,
Speaker 2 00:04:07 When you're looking,
Speaker 1 00:04:09 So we were just talking about the album of Bruno Mars, 24, Kara Magic. What do you think makes a good album anyway?
Speaker 2 00:04:18 Um, I'd probably have to say like, tells a story. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, if I can follow along with the music, um, I don't mind it being so like, everything doesn't have to be serious. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, I, it just has to have some type of purpose. Like, what was that panda song that came out? You know which one I'm talking about? Oh, the one that Tia kept saying. Pen Penda. Yes. Pen Penda. It drove me insane. <laugh>. Like what? Like seriously
Speaker 1 00:04:51 What? By designer?
Speaker 2 00:04:53 I don't under, I didn't even know who I couldn't. Yeah. Like if he had a gun to my head, I, I wouldn't know
Speaker 1 00:04:59 Who
Speaker 2 00:04:59 That was. I would be a gunner. Okay. I, I'd be a goner, but I'm just saying like, it doesn't have to be serious, but it, I loved like suit and tie. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> loved it. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> loved it. It had like a grown feel to it. Or, um, like the title Track 24, Kara Magic. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> amazing. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> amazing. It had like, some thought
Speaker 1 00:05:25 <laugh>. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> thought to it,
Speaker 2 00:05:26 Thought to the song and it just, like the whole album was, it was catchy. It was witty. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, what was the one where, like Colin, is it calling on My Love Ways?
Speaker 1 00:05:39 Yeah. Colin on my Lovely.
Speaker 2 00:05:41 Yeah. Like it was cute and it was catchy, but there were lyrics to it. Yeah. And then at the end when he is like calling Halle Berry <laugh>. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:05:50 Yeah. You don't see that very often anymore or hear that <laugh>, uh, like an interlude in the middle of the song. Yeah. Talking to the lady
Speaker 2 00:05:59 On the phone, that's almost like, um, like a nod. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> to like seventies. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, like Barry White. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know Barry White. Barry White would talk to you? Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:06:11 <laugh> Isaac Hayes.
Speaker 2 00:06:11 Oh, he talked to you too. Talk to you. I mean, even the Isley Brothers.
Speaker 1 00:06:15 Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:06:16 You know what I mean? Like, it makes you feel some type of way, like you can groove to it. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> like you can follow along to it. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1 00:06:26 <affirmative>, you can relate to the story.
Speaker 2 00:06:28 I can relate to it. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I can mm-hmm. <affirmative>. I can't say that with most music today.
Speaker 1 00:06:35 So you hit on several singles, like suit and tie, uh, 24, Kara Magic, that kind of set the tone for what kind of album you would be expecting or
Speaker 2 00:06:48 Granted. Well, that's funny because I liked Suit and Tie. Yeah. When it came out as a single, I hated the album the first time I heard it.
Speaker 1 00:06:54 Oh, you didn't like the 2020
Speaker 2 00:06:55 Experience. Oh, hated it. I hated it.
Speaker 1 00:06:58 Uhhuh <affirmative>.
Speaker 2 00:07:00 Then the next time around <laugh>
Speaker 1 00:07:02 You
Speaker 2 00:07:03 Liked it? It grew on me. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> it, it, it was different. And I think it was cuz the album was a little disjointed.
Speaker 1 00:07:10 Okay. Okay.
Speaker 2 00:07:11 And you had to take, it wasn't a journey, it was a road trip.
Speaker 1 00:07:16 Yeah. In 24 Karat, or sorry, 2020 experience.
Speaker 2 00:07:21 Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:07:22 I would say, I would agree that there were long tracks.
Speaker 2 00:07:25 They were bangers, but they didn't like flow from one track to the next
Speaker 1 00:07:31 Because they had like the extra beat at the end of it and some of those songs. Yeah. So like, uh, strawberry Bubble Gum, like had
Speaker 2 00:07:38 A break. 90% in the album.
Speaker 1 00:07:41 Yes. Had a, and then the second part of 2020 experience part two. Part two didn't have as many breaks. So when we are talking about albums that are grown and they make us feel good, do you think that it has something to do with the music that we listen to when we were younger that makes us feel good when we listen to 'em?
Speaker 2 00:08:15 Um, yeah, I definitely think it's almost nostalgic, but like I said, I feel like it has a lot to do with the content of the music. You know? Um, you could play an intro and even still, like in TV shows and movies today, they play a throwback and everybody instantly knows the song. You know what I mean? Um, you can't really say that for the music that's come out in the last 10, 15 years. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, the pickings are kind of slim. There's a lot of, um, one hit wonders mm-hmm. <affirmative> now and you know, it's Let me catch your ear real quick and they're gone. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know mm-hmm. <affirmative>, they might have thrown out an album, but do people really remember them? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, but Luther Vandross, you could play an entire album, A and the B side <laugh>, you know? Right. You could listen to the entire collection of Chaka Con. Um, we did that the other night, last night, <laugh>. We did. Yeah. I mean, even our, our 17 month old loves it, you know what I mean? Um, there has to be something to it. The craftmanship of it. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, um, what was the, that artist, the DJ who was trying to, um, Cassidy.
Speaker 1 00:09:41 DJ Cassidy.
Speaker 2 00:09:42 Yeah. Yeah. Like he was trying to bring it back and I don't know what happened to his album, but you know,
Speaker 1 00:09:51 Paradise Royale.
Speaker 2 00:09:52 Sure. <laugh>. But I'm just saying like, he understood and he understands that, you know, you can't just throw something together like mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, he was bringing in Neil Rogers and mm-hmm. <affirmative> orchestras and, you know, he was crafting the music mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know mm-hmm. <affirmative>, he wasn't sampling. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know mm-hmm. <affirmative> because back then there wasn't anything to sample. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:10:13 It was all original. Yeah, yeah. To write it out and everything.
Speaker 2 00:10:18 Yeah. Like you had to find the ORs. Georgia on my mind had a full orchestra. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> who does that anymore? Yeah. They don't, they sample it.
Speaker 1 00:10:29 Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:10:30 I'm talking to you Kanye. They sample it.
Speaker 1 00:10:33 Yeah. Kanye has good samples.
Speaker 2 00:10:35 Oh yeah. Where Kanye Where where? We're we're. That's another podcast. We're not gonna
Speaker 1 00:10:39 Talk. That's another podcast though.
Speaker 2 00:10:41 No.
Speaker 1 00:10:42 Maybe we'll bring Desiree back to
Speaker 2 00:10:44 Oh
Speaker 1 00:10:44 No, what happened
Speaker 2 00:10:46 To Kanye podcast? Nothing. It's nice to say
Speaker 1 00:10:48 About the new Kanye.
Speaker 2 00:10:50 Oh yes, dear God. No.
Speaker 1 00:10:52 Uh, well I will say this, you bring up a very good point about how much music disconnection is actually not even long lasting. It's almost like Kool-Aid now. You just put the powder, put the sugar spin around a little bit and you have what you need. It's not like a fine wine. And one of the things that you also brought up too is like, these artists go away so quick. It's almost like,
Speaker 2 00:11:22 I mean, when we were in college, like it was all one hit wonders. You know what I mean? Like, it's, it's a banger next
Speaker 1 00:11:30 Well they are reminiscing.
Speaker 2 00:11:32 It's a banger. College games right
Speaker 1 00:11:34 Next. Oh, I, I would say that,
Speaker 2 00:11:37 I mean, we went hard, don't get me wrong. We went hard when we heard our song, but it lasted how long? It didn't even college, it even lasts the whole four years of
Speaker 1 00:11:48 College. Yeah. Laffy Taffy. That was a bad one.
Speaker 2 00:11:51 It was like two and a half solid years next.
Speaker 1 00:11:55 Well, no one stays relevant anymore. I think it's because people's attention span is limited Now
Speaker 2 00:12:02 That's a shame
Speaker 1 00:12:03 Because they don't have time to really listen to
Speaker 2 00:12:06 And then I go back to my playlist.
Speaker 1 00:12:10 So nowadays we don't even know when albums are coming out.
Speaker 2 00:12:15 I blame Beyonce for that. It's all her fault. What album was it when she was just like, overnight dropped an album. People were like, oh my God, can that she dropped that album? Do you remember that?
Speaker 1 00:12:28 Yeah. Like
Speaker 2 00:12:29 She started this like,
Speaker 1 00:12:30 It was the Beyonce, the
Speaker 2 00:12:32 Was the Sasha Fierce or the Four or mm-hmm was when I stopped listening.
Speaker 1 00:12:37 Probably when you stopped listening. <laugh>, it's the one that had the drunken love on it.
Speaker 2 00:12:42 Is that four?
Speaker 1 00:12:44 No.
Speaker 2 00:12:44 Was
Speaker 1 00:12:45 It Sasha Fierce? It's just the, it is the self-titled Beyonce album.
Speaker 2 00:12:49 Let's fact check that. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:12:51 I I guarantee cuz there's a music video for every song.
Speaker 2 00:12:56 Well that's just excessive.
Speaker 1 00:12:59 Well there's no one making music videos anyway. They don't have the money.
Speaker 2 00:13:02 That too. That too. I think, uh, radio killed the, what is it? What's the song? Uh, I don't Killed the radio. Kill the Radio Star. Yeah. I feel like, um, that MTV show, like making the video kind of killed music videos.
Speaker 1 00:13:21 Well,
Speaker 2 00:13:21 It's like the beginning
Speaker 1 00:13:22 And the end. We don't have any shows like 1 0 6 and Park anymore. We don't have
Speaker 2 00:13:26 Slow Death
Speaker 1 00:13:27 T Oh yeah. They tried to bring it back and it was terrible. They
Speaker 2 00:13:31 Don't have, because the music is terrible. They can't connect with the artists.
Speaker 1 00:13:34 They didn't have t r l
Speaker 2 00:13:36 Was gone. It's like Whack-a-Mole. They're like Pop up
Speaker 1 00:13:39 Here. Well they're all gone now. So I it
Speaker 2 00:13:42 Exactly. It's
Speaker 1 00:13:43 Whack-a-Mole. So now you don't know when albums come out unless you get a text message from your friend that hey, they came out. The fact that I had to tell you and I haven't been telling you when good music has actually come out
Speaker 2 00:13:56 Actually. So, but I think, you know, when good music is coming
Speaker 1 00:13:59 Out, I asked my barber <laugh> <laugh>, he
Speaker 2 00:14:03 Tells me, well somethings never changed.
Speaker 1 00:14:05 Yeah. He, he tells me, he's like, oh you need to try, you need to listen to this cuz it's just so hard to discover good music nowadays. No, you, you typically see
Speaker 2 00:14:13 Self-titled album 2013
Speaker 1 00:14:15 I told you self-titled Beyonce album. That was what dropped overnight. And everybody wants to do the Beyonce and just drop an album overnight unannounced with no promo. But you're not Beyonce so you can't do that. <laugh>
Speaker 2 00:14:30 Uh, even Beyonce shouldn't Beyonce.
Speaker 1 00:14:32 Well Beyonce's never done it again. Exactly. It's a one time thing. Uh, speaking of Beyonce, let's talk, let's talk about one genre of music that's not, that is near and dear to my heart, which is R and b I miss r and b.
Speaker 2 00:14:53 You missed New Jack Swing.
Speaker 1 00:14:55 Yeah. Dangerous album. Michael Jackson. For those who listening who are listening, one of my favorite albums of all time,
Speaker 2 00:15:06 It probably is one of the best albums of all time
Speaker 1 00:15:09 Cuz it's Michael Jackson. But I find that r and b has lost its ability to Love
Speaker 2 00:15:19 You. You know what? I think you're right. The last r and b album, I don't even say I purchased, like downloaded, um, was Black Rose a Tyrese album, A Tyrese. And it failed. It failed horribly. Like there
Speaker 1 00:15:35 Were some good tracks.
Speaker 2 00:15:36 Yeah. But he was whining like r and b, like good r and b. Like
Speaker 1 00:15:42 There you have those winers
Speaker 2 00:15:44 Take him back. <laugh> take them back, honey. Like he just like, no, just stop. Go home.
Speaker 1 00:15:50 You have those winers though. You have the Keith Sweats. We haven't had a Keith Sweat,
Speaker 2 00:15:56 But the whole album was just whiny.
Speaker 1 00:16:00 There was a marriage
Speaker 2 00:16:01 Song in there. Again, Tyce is very whiny recently. Oh God.
Speaker 1 00:16:06 Okay. <laugh> only on this podcast for you <laugh>. We hear that. But I will say this though, I miss the fact that you can listen to an album of r and b with Yik your mom.
Speaker 2 00:16:22 Absolutely.
Speaker 1 00:16:23 And not have to worry
Speaker 2 00:16:24 About Absolutely
Speaker 1 00:16:25 Skipping the
Speaker 2 00:16:26 Song. Absolutely.
Speaker 1 00:16:27 Because they dropped the F bomb.
Speaker 2 00:16:29 Do you know how many times, do you know how many times I've put our daughter in the car and like just start at the engine and the radio's on and I feel like I have to turn it down cause I have no idea what's gonna come through the speakers. Yeah. And I feel like da, my dad is judging me when he puts her in the car.
Speaker 1 00:16:43 What you're listening to. Yes.
Speaker 2 00:16:45 <laugh>. Because I'm listening to my phone. When I'm listening to my phone, I turn it up <laugh>.
Speaker 1 00:16:52 So you can even say now that the music, the music still had the same message. It just wasn't as explicit as it is now.
Speaker 2 00:17:01 Oh, absolutely. There is music that I listened to in the car with my mom when I was little and I listened to it, you know, years later. And I'm like singing along and went, oh my god, what did I just say? Like finally realizing what they meant. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. Like it wasn't all in your face and blatant and just nasty.
Speaker 1 00:17:25 Well now it takes, it takes some creativity to find other ways to say,
Speaker 2 00:17:32 Well that just goes to show you that they're not very creative.
Speaker 1 00:17:36 Well what's the motive? Are they really doing it for the music or are they doing it for the money? That's the question.
Speaker 2 00:17:43 Or doing it for the ladies.
Speaker 1 00:17:47 That's true too. That's true too. So one last topic. Album. Shortness. You said Bruno Mars was 10 tracks, right?
Speaker 2 00:17:59 10 really good
Speaker 1 00:18:00 Tracks, 10 really good tracks. Most albums nowadays are at least 10 tracks.
Speaker 2 00:18:09 Oh, are they at
Speaker 1 00:18:10 Most? 12 <laugh> Good ones Real good ones.
Speaker 2 00:18:14 Do you think, name me a recent album that had 12 good tracks? I'll wait.
Speaker 1 00:18:21 Uh, I would say Jay-Z's 4 44 had one. I don't know if any r and b album that had 10 tracks though. Uh, besides Bruno Mars.
Speaker 2 00:18:32 What would you call him? R and b. What'd you call him? Pop.
Speaker 1 00:18:35 They categorized him as r and b.
Speaker 2 00:18:37 Yay. Good job Bruno. I knew I liked it. He's
Speaker 1 00:18:39 Like r and b Pop
Speaker 2 00:18:40 <laugh>.
Speaker 1 00:18:41 But remember r and b used to be pop music.
Speaker 2 00:18:45 I'm sorry. When
Speaker 1 00:18:48 When Usher Neo. Okay. All those guys were on the top 10 on the billboard.
Speaker 2 00:18:54 That was like a very short span of time. That's right. And it was a very narrow window of artists. It
Speaker 1 00:18:59 Was like 10 years. That was for 10 years. Maybe you got it bad. Sh you don't have to call sh I'm naming all those <laugh>
Speaker 2 00:19:13 Songs. <laugh>. You are.
Speaker 1 00:19:15 But there are those r and b songs used to be on the top and then hip hop kind of dethroned it and
Speaker 2 00:19:23 It wasn't, I wouldn't say it was hip hop. It was like not quite techno, but it was like dancers. Like what, what would you call that? Like dancing music. Like
Speaker 1 00:19:35 Electronic? Yeah, dance hall music. It wasn't Dance hall electronic music. It kind of took it a little bit and then they tried to bring it back and then they lost it to hip hop. Hip hop is the number one genre that people listen to now. It, it's over rock music
Speaker 2 00:19:51 Now. People are okay with being ratchet. Everybody wants to be ratchet.
Speaker 1 00:19:57 So, and it's not to say that the, some of the music isn't good <laugh>, but it's just hard to find good music nowadays.
Speaker 2 00:20:10 So. Agreed.
Speaker 1 00:20:12 So as we close this podcast, we're just talking about how
Speaker 2 00:20:17 Good we have not come to an agreement. <laugh>. This is a split household, ladies and gentlemen.
Speaker 1 00:20:24 Yeah. She won't listen to anything before 2003. Unless it's
Speaker 2 00:20:32 After 2003.
Speaker 1 00:20:33 After 2003.
Speaker 2 00:20:34 Unless, unless your name is Bruno Mars or Justin Timberlake. Even stilt Justin. That last album. I don't know buddy.
Speaker 1 00:20:40 Yeah. That I don't, I don't know what happened with that one. Thanks, uh, Desiree for jumping on the podcast. I, uh, appreciate you having availability, <laugh>.
Speaker 2 00:20:55 You're welcome. My pleasure.
Speaker 1 00:20:57 And uh, for those tuning in, make sure you subscribe to the Music and Mind podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you receive podcasts. The next episode is gonna be one you don't want to miss. So, uh, thanks for your time and we'll be talking to you soon.
