Braden Smith – opinion editor.
When I was a youngster and my musical tastes were first taking root, I had a fervent distaste for all rap music. I just thought it was stupid people talking about how rich they were, how many drugs they took or how they had a large following of “bitches and hoes.” Not to mention there didn’t seem to be much variety to the genre.
This, however, would not remain the case. Though it was a long process, my opinion slowly started to change during the years.
It started with Gorillaz, a group that certainly blends a variety of genres into its music. The first time I heard the group was when I saw the music video for its song, “Clint Eastwood,” on Cartoon Network. I was enthralled with the amazing visuals and the blending of various instruments to create a uniquely addictive sound, both of which combined to accentuate Del Tha Funkee Homosapien’s hard-hitting raps.
I was blown away, but not converted. Rather, I made an exception. “Rap is OK when Gorillaz does it,” I would tell myself.
As the years continued, though, I started to make more and more exceptions. I started to discover instrumental hip-hop songs that I couldn’t help but enjoy. I fell in love with sampling. I started watching the hip-hop oriented anime, “Samurai Champloo.”
I eventually concluded that perhaps rap isn’t all bad. This opened the floodgates. Once I started looking for rap, I found some amazing artists. What’s more is that I would often find underground rappers who hated and decried mainstream rap for the same reasons I denounced rap in the first place.
As a result, rap and hip-hop music had more of a presence than ever in my musical repertoire.
Now, what’s the point? The point is that, as a result of my musical journey with rap, I learned something valuable: It is impossible to dislike a genre in its entirety. I used to say that I hated rap, but that was only because I had never heard any good rap. Rap was only what I heard everyone playing on the radio and in mainstream media in general. Eventually, I learned that the rap genre wasn’t what I hated; it was mainstream rap. Now, I could debate the issue of why I think mainstream rap is terrible, but that is an issue for another day.
What I’m really trying to get at is, when you say you hate a musical genre such as country, do you really mean that? Or do you mean you only the hate the country songs you hear often? The music you hear on mainstream radio does not define the genre as a whole.
This is why I have grown to love non-profit radio. It’s because it will play the music that commercial, profit-driven radio wouldn’t play in a million years.
I used to hate country just as much as rap, and I similarly discovered that I only hated the country music constantly playing on the radio. I once went to a local concert in my hometown and discovered an amazing, local country singer/songwriter. Upon this event, I realized there was good country music in the world; I just hadn’t been listening to it.
I challenge you to broaden your horizons a bit. Don’t denounce a genre simply because you don’t like what you have heard so far. It’s impossible to hate an entire genre because you have no way of listening to every single song of that genre and making a judgment based on it as a whole. I guarantee that if you truly appreciate the art of music, you can find good music in any genre. (Although my definition of good music may differ from yours.)
I’m not saying you can’t prefer specific genres over others. I just mean that you can always like at least some part of every genre. Personally, I have some trouble picking favorites, since I’ve taken this idea to heart and have acquired a wide array of music. I think this is a good conflict to have because it makes you more well-rounded musically, something any true lover of music should strive to achieve. You may think you listen to a wide variety of music, but I bet there has always been one genre that you refuse to touch. There may be quite a few. No matter what you may be saying to yourself, I’m sure there is some music in that genre you will enjoy.
With this in mind, go listen to some different music. I assure you that if you work at it, you can find enjoyable music from every genre out there, and trust me, there are many, many genres to choose from. Make music an adventure, not just an experience. I know that sounds cheesy, but just do it. You won’t be disappointed.