Every person has their favorite genre of music, and most cling to one genre in particular. When I went to school in 'the south', the two main music options on that campus were country and rap. Both genres are fine by me, my earliest memories are backed by a soundtrack composed of The Statler Brothers or Garth Brooks and Eli Young Band has been growing on me; at the same time, Lupe Fiasco may not rap as quickly as others, but I still cannot help but like him, and Eminem is the best artist. During this time, I also claimed that Taylor Swift was not country and that I did not care for her, even though her new album, Red, shows that Swift has been working towards becoming a country artist (and I truly like listening to Swifty's music, but you don't tell a cute southern guy that you prefer Taylor Swift over something by Blake Shelton or Big and Rich; it's just not smart).
Once you grab onto a genre and hold onto it like a vise, you cut yourself off from listening to a lot of good music. For most of my high school years, I listened only to alternative music and convinced myself that I wanted to listen to The New Pornographers, BRAHMS, or The Bridges more than I wanted to listen to Ke$ha. Her music is amazing though and she does not get half the credit she deserves. She is better than BRAHMS (they're one of those bands that's just better live) and we can just call it a tie between The New Pornographers, The Bridges, and Ke$ha; I cannot compare them objectively.
As difficult as it is to admit, I really do like Selena Gomez, and I have absolutely no (acceptable) explanation for this. Her music is just catchy, it's great to play on the highway (especially after that one AM mark), and I might like "Hit the Lights" more than I would care to admit. At the same time that this former Disney star continues to resurface in my playlists, I can never get enough of Eminem. The reason why Eminem is (and always will be) better than any other rapper, is because he does not worry about impressing his fans and his lyrics are becoming more mature and honest with each album. Even artists like Wiz Khalifa and Rick Ross sound like they're trying a little too hard to get attention from their fans sometimes, while Eminem just lays it all out there for you, unabashedly, sharing his deepest emotions. "Difficult", "You're Never Over," or even the slightly commercialized "Not Afraid" have these raw emotions that are overlaid with stories and memories that do a better job of explaining his feelings, and evoking those feelings in his listeners, than any two line lyric filled with four types of symbolism ever could.
Lady Gaga is this huge worldwide phenomenon and everyone and their mother (literally) likes her. I cannot stand her but, despite my personal feelings, there was a time when I listened to songs like "LoveGame" rather than Lady Danville or ALL CAPS just because it was the popular music to listen to. Most of her songs have meaningless lyrics and are just not as great as her devoted fans seem to think they are; I can see how it would be easy to get hooked on her, but I just can't (get hooked).
Arcade Fire is supposed to be the epitome of alternative music and, for a while, I really tried to like them, but they only have one song which I can listen to in full. The same thing happened with The Black Keys; I really wanted to like them, but I just could not. Instead, listen to Ra Ra Riot. They are just as great an archetype of the alternative genre as these other bands and, in my opinion, so much better. Their albums just keep getting better too; The Rhumb Line was the best alternative album, until The Orchard was released. Once you find a genre you love, do not get hooked on the most popular band in that genre, because you may end up missing out on great bands that give amazing performances.
There was a time when I thought Third Eye Blind was amazing, then I saw them live. Now, I would much rather listen to Pitbull; he is so awesome live. Seriously, I did not even notice I had heat stroke until my friend asked, "how are you not sweating right now," because his stage presence, and appreciation for his fans, is so great that you just get sucked into the performance. They are at two completely different ends of the genre spectrum, but Pitbull is, by leaps and bounds, a better choice than Third Eye Blind.
No matter which genre you proclaim is your favorite, everyone has that one artist or band that they will cross the genre lines for. Rap and country are so closely intertwined (both are rooted in story telling, based on personal experiences), while rock, pop, and alternative all share the same concepts (back beats and verse and refrain structures) that no one can fall in love, and listen to, one sole genre. Try listening to everything you're presented with; just because you have a softness for ABBA, does not mean that you cannot fall for Foxy Shazam.
- E
