Welcome The Well Educated Musicians

Is it just me or does there seem to be a new trend in music of successful bands popping up from very competitive universities? Vampire Weekend members graduated from Columbia and sing about boarding schools and New England summers. Chester French is made up of two Harvard graduates that croon about girls in Jimmy Choos. My newest obsession is Mike Posner, a Duke senior, who despite being signed by Jay-Z is finishing with his degree. It makes me wonder what is it about America’s most prestigious academic institutions that is making waves in the music industry? Aren’t they supposed to be producing bankers, lawyers and politicians?

Maybe in the same way gangsta rap of the 90s drew an audience from the suburbs, Ivy Leaguers are in some way opening doors to a world the majority of us will never experience. Tupac took us to South Central Los Angeles; Vampire Weekend takes us to Cape Cod. We live in a country where Gossip Girl rules Monday nights. There has been a shift in American voyeurism from Jay-Z’s Hard Knock Life to Jay-Z’s Empire State of Mind. Maybe if John Singleton made a hit TV Show Snoop wouldn’t have to promote his new album on Martha Stewart.

Then again maybe as the white collar world implodes on itself, music seems like a more respectful option. Bernie Madoff is in prison for cheating, stealing, and ruining people’s lives. Mortgages were given to people with no way to pay them off based off a computer model that no doubt some highly educated person created. When’s the last time you trusted a politician? Health care is too confusing for me to understand, but it seems like a pretty seedy and greedy business as well. Music is one way to make a living without selling your dignity. Unless you're Britney Spears, but I'm not sure if she even graduated the 8th grade, let alone attended the same institution as Barack Obama.

On a side note, it’s interesting to think about where this money is coming from. Chester French had Kanye West and Pharrell in a bidding war over them, and Mike Posner was just recently signed by Jay-Z. While their Ivy League school mates are trying to impress old white men at Goldman Sachs, these boys are singing about seducing their daughters and getting paydays from the leaders in hip hop. They are also using their talents to create something from scratch while their counterparts are learning the finer art of running companies into the ground and then taking money from the government. At least the money the U.S. tax payers give to musicians is optional. These young artists make me smile in a very satisfying way.

Another interesting fact and I don’t know if this has anything to do with their success, but all three of these bands are in some way tied to the hip hop community. Some of the members of Vampire Weekend were in a rap group called “L’Homme Run”. Both Chester French and Mike Posner have mix tapes out with the acclaimed hip hop producer Clinton Sparks, and have worked with a number of successful hip hop artists. Maybe these were the white kids in the suburbs learning about South Central LA from Tupac.

I just hope we don’t see an East Coast West Coast war as Stanford musicians battle it out with Brown. We all know that story didn’t end well.

Also, I know that I am leaving out some bands in this discussion. I having this itching feeling that I am leaving out a pretty big one from Princeton, but for the life of me I can't think of who it is. Please let me know about people that should be added...