Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
I’m not one of those people who bemoans the current state of hip-hop and R&B. I’m able to enjoy much of the music that’s released nowadays and ignore, without judgment, the music that is not intended for me. Music has changed so much since I was younger — something that I’m sure my parents also felt — that it would be insane for me to get stuck in my era as the one that matters most.
With that said, every now and then a current artist drops a song that is so reminiscent of the era of music I hold near and dear that I can’t help but listen on a constant loop as a sign of nostalgia and appreciation. Such is the case with a song that I heard while perusing Instagram one day: Muni Long’s “Made For Me.”
While doing my daily Instagram scrolling for videos of pets doing funny things, friends teaching me about new things and checking my DMs for the neverending stream of memes that my sister sends me, I saw a video (on mute at first) of some young man strolling down some street somewhere singing his heart out. He took a hat off an older gentleman’s head, which I thought was staged but upon rewatching the video, I think that old man was just as annoyed as he looked. Anywho, when I unmuted the video, I heard a song about lost love and heartbreak that had the early-and-mid 2000s swing that allowed singers to go on vocal runs that had you singing at the top of your lungs in cars and elevators. I had no idea whose song it was or if it was even recent — social media tends to pull songs from decades ago back into the zeitgeist.
Anywho, I surfed the comments for the artist — Muni Long. The song, “Made For Me,” was released in September 2023. It was written by Long and produced by the team of long-time collaborators and hitmakers,…
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