So I've been a an eclectic music enthusiast all my life. My interests lie in all the genres and what they have to offer. Not being particular to any single type or style of music, I can still enjoy the main themes of the music, whether the emphasis lies in the lyrics or the construction of the songs (beat, strum patters, instrumentation, electric/synthesized effects, etc.). Most of all, I tend to enjoy the ones that find me in the right place at the right time. For example, I, like many adolescent American males, was really into Linkin Park whilst in middle school onto high school, for mostly the reason that the message about finding your own way and sorting out your values through suffering in relationships with others or your circumstances was appealing. Not to mention that the mix of styles that Linkin Park's sound represented was diverse and brought out a lot of good rhythms and beats. Then, one didn't want to be constrained, but allowed to pursue their own brand.
At another point, I got into hardcore Rap, with favorite artists being the Wu-Tang Clan, Ghostface Killa, Method Man, the RZA and the GZA, Redman, etc. For me then as a high school student, I was trying to settle into a rhythm, have an attitude that spoke of experience and a rough exterior, all the while looking to beat the oppressive situations I encountered. To a very limited extent did I really understand the message of the songs I listened to, but I could understand how the beats, the gritty tones and repackaged sampled themes implied a very proscriptive worldview of reappropriation, adaptation and overcoming one's situation.
Music for me is enjoyable, not because of a musical hierarchy telling me that because I'm this or that in terms of my upbringing I have to listen to this type of music, but because it's diverse sounds and voices all have something to say about my(our) human condition, and that its a language we can really appreciate through opening the context of our own cultural worldview.
My own listening patterns are very messy and it's difficult to put a finger on any commonalities to the music I take in as a whole, which makes it equally difficult to talk music with other people sometimes. But I wouldn't have it any other way. Just in the same way that the things you pay attention to speak to you and communicate their own values (it could be anything, like sports, music, cooking, art, architecture, etc.), being able to enjoy music is an important part of my cultural/experiential health.
As an aside, people will listen to the music they identify with, which often ends up being from their ethnic background. on a superficial level and a broad way of saying so, White people like Rock music, and country, Black people listen to Rap and R&B, Asians have their K/C/J-pop and techno, etc. To an extent, they're all mainstream varieties of music.
But, as an Asian American, I see that many ABAs (asian born americans) assimilate and move towards the existing popular genres of American music. I wonder if there will ever be a time when our own musical influences will split off from the mainstream and become an entity of it's own? Like, not Jay Chou, but like (or going further than) Mike Shinoda or Amerie, Rachel Yamagata, etc.
What are your opinions? is there a movement I don't know about? what do you see?
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