Motown Or Hip Hop?

So which type of music has done and contributed more to our American culture?

My vote goes to Motown.

As a young skinny Hispanic kid, my first exposure to Motown was back in the late 60's.
It was the pop music of the day and it was everywhere, you would hear and recognize certain songs no matter where you would go.
But my first time I experienced a real connection with this type of music came in the very early 70's.

My parents were hosting a party, the house was extremely crowded and everyone was dancing to the sounds traditional Mexican music.
I wasn't really into music at that time but I knew repition of any kind was extremely annoying.
So it didn't take long for the constant and repetitive oompa-pa oompa-pa beat and the accordian sound of Mexican Ranchero music to wear me out.
And wear me out it did.
So I took refuge in an isolated room just to get away from it all.
We had moved some of the furniture from the rest of the house in to this small room just to make room for the party, and in this room was our brand new stereo console, much like the one pictured here.



It had the top of the line black and white CRT in the center, a turn table on the left and an AM FM radio solid state stereo on the right side.
Btw, the term "Solid State" is actually a precursor to the term "High Tech" both used to describe the top of line technology of its time, and both now obsolete, but I digress.

Anyway, I plugged in the console and started fumbling with the big stereo knobs, dials and switches.
Wasn't long before I got the white noise sound of static as I turned the dial between stations looking for something interesting that would catch my ears.

And then I found it.

That's when I was introduced to the hypnotic bass line and the accompanying high hat..

. . . . .



Then came the strings and later the trumpet, and don't forget the funky guitar track.

I had never experienced anything like this before and it was welcome change from the Mexican music from just a few minute before.
It was like I was along for the ride, not knowing where I was going, but it was all good.

After several minutes, it was almost like I was meditating as I kept getting onto the song.
The first time I had ever made a connection with music of any kind.

Then, came the powerful vocals, and BAMM!

"It was the third of September."
The day I'll always remember, yes I will.."

I was floored as I listened to the lyrics and the rest of the song.


Looking back, that was a truly memorable night for me that I remember as a kid.
Never really made a connection with any hip-hop song, ever.

Given the true racial tension of the time, Motown was still able to produce true American classics that have stood the test of time, which is how good music is always measured.
So my vote goes to Motown.

What do you guys and gals think?

Thanks for your time.

Alx