As the 1960s fizzled out, the world lamented the prospect of a Beatles-free decade. Meanwhile, The Rolling Stones spread their wings as the biggest rock band in the world, knocking a couple of balls out of the park with Sticky Fingers and Keith Richards’ personal favourite, Exile on Main St.
In the mid-1960s, the Stones had gradually migrated from their initial sound rooted in classic rhythm and blues music. Although they began to embrace a more pop-orientated sound, much to original bandleader Brian Jones’ frustration, The Rolling Stones never entirely lost touch with their roots. Crucially, Richards maintained a style packed with traditional blues riffs and Chuck Berry-harkening embellishments.
It’s no secret that tastes tend to stagnate at some ill-defined point in mid-adulthood; many heated intergenerational dinner table conversations can attest to this. It appears that, for Richards and many artists of his generation, the ‘80s presented a cut-off moment.
The Stones’ 1978 album, Some Girls, reflects the band’s affection for contemporary disco music, but the following penchant for sample-based hip-hop was a step too far for Richards. “I don’t really like to hear people yelling at me and telling me it’s music, AKA rap,” Keith told The Telegraph in 2023. “I can get enough of that without leaving my house.”
Throughout his career, Richards has revealed a passion for jazz and classical music but reserves contempt for modern pop music, especially when it involves rap – or “yelling,” as he describes it.
Richards also discussed hip-hop music in a 2015 conversation with the New York Daily News. He claimed that “what rap did that was impressive was to show there are so many tone-deaf people out there. All they need is a drum beat and somebody yelling over it, and they’re happy. There’s an enormous market for people who can’t tell one note from another.”
Continuing his conversation with The Telegraph, the guitarist said he “want to start complaining about pop music” but gave his opinion all the same. “It’s always been rubbish,” he asserted. “I mean, that’s the point of it. They make it as cheap and as easy as possible, and therefore, it always sounds the same; there’s very little feel in it.”
Richards also lamented that, beyond the “yelling,” modern music relies too much on synthesised elements. “I like to hear music by people playing instruments,” Richards added, taking aim at electronic music. “That is, I don’t like to hear plastic synthesised Muzak, as it used to be known, what you hear in elevators, which is now the par for the course.”
