In an era when life has taken on such a fast rhythm that we sometimes forget what we did the day before, the phenomenon of becoming a singer grows day by day — to the point where nearly every neighborhood and alley has a singer of its own.
If we look at the last century, up to the early years of the twenty-first, singers within any given geographic area of art were so few and so singular that a large part of society knew them. Singers often replaced their second name — their father's name — with the name of their region, and often with the name of their tribe; that is, they attached the name of a city, a region or their tribe to their own names. This could be seen as a kind of regional artistic representation, and it led the people of those areas to become fans of these singers without any particular reason — sometimes it was regional loyalty that prevailed, rather than attachment to the voice and performance of the singers themselves. Beyond this, some singers carried a more inclusive title alongside their names, so that they could present their voices and songs to listeners as singers of every region, and their voices would not be confined within a particular boundary.
Today, however, because so many people have taken up singing, this circle has shrunk — so much so that those who sing now often use the names of their neighborhoods as suffixes to their names. The reason the circle has become so small is the sheer number of people who sing and are known in society as "singers"…
Here we can ask: why are so many people singing, and why do they want to become singers?
Why was the number of people engaged in singing once so much smaller than today, when we can't even keep up with memorizing their names? What leads us to the reasons is uncovering the goals behind singing, now and in the past…
Artists are often faced with questions: why do old works never lose their flavor, still listened to by young and old alike, while today's works live no longer than a week — at most — among their listeners? This is the essential point that deserves reflection, especially since today's capacity for playing, arranging and recording is at a far higher level than in the past, when works were recorded with live instruments in very simple studios.
One of the differences between these two eras of song may be this: in the past, a music group with great skill in playing and arranging, and with tasteful composition, would search for a singer who could rise to the level of their music — so they found the best and worked with them. In this era the reverse has happened: someone who believes they have a good voice goes looking for musicians and a band to make something for them. Musicians, treating this as a source of livelihood (which is their legitimate right), deal with the situation and, out of necessity, work with every kind of voice — and it matters little to them what that person's level, ability, style, range, delivery, vocal color and emotional expression are like! Does it add anything to the art of music — or not?
If we want to understand what the goal is of those who now want to be known as singers, we must trace the motives that lead someone to think of becoming a singer without any distinctive or remarkable talent being found in their voice. Admittedly, a subject like this requires careful scientific and academic analysis — one that examines every aspect, psychological, social, artistic, material and many others, within the framework of academic research, and sets out its causes and goals.
But if we look at the subject very simply — at their work, their releases and their appearances on television programs — we arrive at the fact that the main goal of all the effort, exhaustion and expense poured into these productions is not to add something to the art of music, nor is the great concern that song and music be of a high standard or that something be made that did not exist before. Instead, the focus is on how to make something that breaks viewing records on social media in its first week and puts them ahead of their professional rivals in view counts; how to gather many fans around themselves who support them with the most likes and comments; how to have the most photos taken with them in public. Beyond that, it doesn't matter to them how long the work they present stays with the listener, or what step it adds to art in general and to music in particular.
As we may remember, over the past few years the practice of borrowing melodies from the neighboring peoples of the region and "Kurdifying" them by singing them with simple Kurdish lyrics went from an isolated case to a widespread phenomenon, taking over a share of the song landscape. Instead of thinking about creating new melodies, singers began searching through the songs of the region's peoples and brought back melodies that were catchy and easy to memorize. Within a short time, this model of making art spread rapidly through music and song, for the sake of creating a temporary feeling and atmosphere. This is not a strange phenomenon in itself; it exists in the music and songs of peoples all over the world. But those nations have not given up composing new melodies, and using other nations' melodies has not become a substitute for new work and new tunes. With us, it crossed that line, and melody-writing declined to a very low level because ready-made, imported tunes were available…
Translated from Kurdish. Read the original article in Kurdish.