angst wrote:...I really, like, believe this might be an unpopular opinion: but I hate it when people say blanket statements like 'all pop music is trash' or 'I hate rap.'
Honestly, like, there is a hierarchy of tastes that exists in modern society. If you're upper class, you're more likely to be... well, y'know, be a person who enjoys 'high art' like, say: classical music, or fine arts like ballet. If you're lower or lower middle class, you're more likely to take part in pop culture. For some people living in poverty, rap has served an extremely important purpose to those who listen to it. Maybe not commercialized rap, but then again it's arguable that all music gives way to capitalist necessity and turns 'commercialized' at some point, right?
Pop and rap can still be fun to listen to! Not all music has to be some intense, emotional or even intellectual experience. I'll listen to Ariana Grande and dance if my room if I want to. That doesn't mean I'm not capable of loving all sorts of other genres--anti-pop and anti-rap, folk punk, new wave jazz, movie soundtracks etc. All that means is I'm a person who likes to let go a bit, right? Who likes to take a step back and stop being so critical all the time. Because I'm so tired of being critical.
And hey, don't get me wrong: I think it's important to criticize pop culture. But when people push-off entire genres it appears almost pretentious and elitist by default. Maybe you grew up listening to Mozart, while the kid in the inner city next door will grow-up listening to Kendrick Lamar: someone who's been dubbed the voice of an entire generation of African Americans. Maybe that's not your demographic. And that's okay, too. But it's important to acknowledge that we're all made-up of our social surroundings. Nobody's taste in music has to be better than anyone else's--we don't have to adhere to a hierarchy created years upon years ago. There are so, so many factors that influence what we like!
Anyways. Sorry. Something about this thread has just bothered me, and I wanted to write it down. If this post isn't welcome or this isn't the kind-of discussion that's needed please feel free to delete it!
^^ i feel like this person has articulated it better than i can
