Music & Me - Current Loves and Recommendations

 As a musician, something I appreciate is the variety of genres and styles found in music throughout the world. I grew up listening to music from the 80s, especially 80s rock recommended by my dad. As I grew older, I started to listen to popular music that everyone else listened to. I eventually branched out into more genres and styles that were not as recent and modern, and I feel that this has helped me expand my appreciation for music as a whole.

To start, one of the genres I absolutely cannot live without is K-Pop. I didn't start delving into this genre until my last couple of years in high school, and something about the vibes and the colors and the sounds just made sense to me. K-Pop contains a variety of styles within the genre, including R&B, rock, and even traditional sounds. One of the groups I have been listening to for a while is BTS, a seven-member boy group that has developed a variety of sounds in their songs since 2013. The song I wish to share is "Black Swan," released in 2020. What stands out to me from this song is the use of guitar and other similar stringed instruments as part of the instrumental background; the combination of traditional sounds and modern acoustic background music works with the chill vibes in this song.

 Music is a tool to help express emotions and touch people in a way that no other thing can. For me, I have to go back to what I was raised on and the memories that those songs bring to me. As I mentioned earlier, I was raised on 80s music; one of the artists that always stuck out to me was Michael Jackson. When I was much younger, my mom and I would go to the waterpark during the summer with some friends of mine. On the drive over to the waterpark, my mom had a collection of CDs with a variety of songs from the 80s. One song that always reminds me of going to the waterpark and spending time with my family and friends is "Wanna Be Startin' Something," released in 1982. The vibes of the song felt very energizing and upbeat, reminding me of when I was just a young girl enjoying my summer.

 

I try to be open-minded in learning about different musical genres, as this helps me understand people through a common interest. However, I cannot connect with country music the same way I connect to other genres of music. To this day, I can only think of a small handful of country songs I actually like and choose to listen to. Although I live in Charleston and country music is especially popular where I live, and I appreciate how it brings people together, it has just never been a genre that speaks to me. One song I especially cannot stand is "Big Green Tractor;" everything about it screams "stereotypical 2009 country song," which is definitely not my cup of tea.

To end this, my music taste changes depending on the day. I especially love when my close friends introduce me to groups and genres that I've never heard of. I hope that throughout this class, and from everyone in this class, I can expand my music library globally and become more aware of the world around me. Please enjoy "WWIII" by Canadian rock/pop group Grandson, introduced to me by a close friend of mine.