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Super Bowl LIX has made Philadelphia and Kansas City into cultural rivals for now. This raises an interesting question: which of the two cities has the best music? When you delve into this topic, it’s not hard to pick a winner.
Before Super Bowl LIX, let’s reflect on the music Philadelphia gave us
When people think of the music industry in the United States, three cities come to mind: Los Angeles, New York City, and Nashville (though you’ll only think of Nashville if you have any regard for country and Western music). Despite this, Philadelphia has given us its fair share of heavy hitters. Some of the most iconic acts from the City of Brotherly Love include Billie Holiday, Hall & Oates, Boys II Men, Patti LaBelle, Sister Sledge, Will Smith, Pink, Todd Rundgren, Chubby Checker, and Meek Mills.
Again, Philly is not NYC, but it has a pretty solid lineup of artists. It goes across genres. It includes Holiday, an artist who might be the single most prominent legend in the world of jazz music. If she were the only singer ever to come out of Philadelphia, the city would still have a massive musical legacy. In addition, Philadelphia has made its mark on R&B (Hall & Oates, Boyz II Men), rap (Smith, Mills), rock (Rundgren, Checker), and pop (Pink).
Kansas City has given us 1 legend and 1 legend only
Kansas City is a much different story. One of the musicians from there was Burt Bacharach, a pop music cion. Billboard reports Bacharach was behind seven different No. 1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 during a period spanning from the late 1960s to the mid-2000s. He was a once-in-a-generation songwriting talent whose impact on the industry cannot be overstated.
Outside of him, Kansas City’s contributions to the world of music are relatively slight. Artists from that city include Tech N9ne, BloodPop, Big Joe Turner, The Pruitt Twins, Amanda Fish, Samantha Fish, the Kansas City Chorale, and the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra. Unless you are a big fan of the obscure, you probably haven’t heard of many of those artists.
No matter who winds Super Bowl LIX, Kansas City might be more relevant than Philadelphia
Of course, it’s not that people from Kansas City are less talented than those from Philadelphia. There are just way more Philadelphians. Business Insider reports that Philadelphia has a population of over 1.6 million, while Kansas City only has a population of about half a million. With that in mind, it’s no surprise that more celebrities are from Philadelphia. With all due respect, Kansas City seems more like a place for football than a place for groundbreaking music.
Of course, music fans from Kansas City can still sleep well at night despite the fact that their city can’t compete with Philadelphian music. The most famous fan of the Kansas City Chiefs is Taylor Swift. She has done more to raise the team’s profile than any of its players. In addition, she’s a far better mascot for the team than K. C. Wolf. Swift might just be more popular than every musician in Philadelphia combined.
Philadelphia might have better music to offer than Kansas City. However, there’s still a good chance that Kansas City is still more musically relevant now, thanks to Swift’s association with the Kansas City Chiefs.
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