The Birth of Rock & Roll

Today would have been the birthdays of Eddie Cochran and Chubby Checker. Will played a few bars for them tonight

Howlin' Wolf  How Many More Years

Link Wray

To me the cultural question of "why" boils down to the "why" that continues today - youth have a natural rebellious attitude towards "mainstream" culture - ie the dominant culture of their parents. Blues with its African roots was quite literally influenced by the hardships of life. Practically the main point of Elvis' music was to be sexual at a time when sexuality was very oppressed. 

Modern youth seem very deprived of music that is actually counter-cultural. Only the surface-level facade of it. And many of them seem to be inherent nihilists as a result. Growing up in a world with dumb beliefs and not having a truly countering movement against it... Just the pretend version, which only makes the smart ones even more cynical. Too much stuff is simply manufactured and manipulative. I can't think of a single modern popular artist who has anything worthwhile or deep to say in their music."

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Sorry to be so late to the discussion, but as a professional musician I cannot disagree with this assessment more.  I often hear this sentiment, or similar, mostly from people who have little to no knowledge about "modern popular music" beyond what is commonly played in mainstream media.

An analogy might be found in television.  In certain critical circles, the past 20 years or so have been described as a Golden Age of TV.  But if your diet consisted solely of network pablum like the various incarnations of C.S.I., or lowest common denominator sitcoms, you would consider that assessment ludicrous.  The problem is one of perspective.  Consider the following erroneous argument:

All in the Family > Big Bang Theory; MASH > C.S.I. Daytona Beach (or whatever the latest iteration might be) THEREFORE 70s TV > TV today.

Similar erroneous argument applied to music:

Beatles > One Direction; Neil Young > Billie Eilish THEREFORE Popular music in 60s/70s > Popular music today.

Given a less narrow perspective, however, things get much more complicated.  I would argue two main points:

1. In general, music today is much richer and vastly more democratic than the music of previous generations.  Of course this doesn't make today's music better, but it is difficult, if not impossible, to justify such aesthetic judgements.  I mean, is Neil Young really better than Billie Eilish?  In my opinion he is, but it's awfully difficult to prove objectively.

2. Specifically, the most popular music today is misunderstood, at best.  Some of the most interesting recent music comes from the world of hip-hop, for example.  I'd argue that Kendrick Lamar's music is as powerful as the music of the best protest artists of the 60s and 70s, to name but one of literally hundreds of similar examples.

[Your implication that nihilism is a typical counterpoint to prevailing shallow social trends is interesting.  I think you might be right.  It begs questions regarding the inherent value of youthful nihilism, however.  Many of us go through a nihilistic stage on the road to adulthood.  Perhaps for many of us it's a necessary step...?]

It all takes time, of course, to assimilate all of the new sounds into one's own musical vocabulary.  Buddy Holly and Little Richard initially offended the sensibilities of the previous generations.  Once their music and ideas became part of the popular lexicon, however, their music and ideas ceased to offend; more importantly, their music began to be celebrated for its originality and progressiveness.  The same is true today.

A short listening list:

1. Social / Political Commentary

Kendrick Lamar - How Much a Dollar Cost

IDLES - A Hymn

2. Genre Expanding

Billy Strings - Turmoil and Tinfoil