Rant #11 - "Taste Your Tastes"

Everyone likes a little something different. I don't think that's anything new or shocking. What always amazes me a little bit, is the "my music is better than yours" argument. I think I clearly have certain genres that I gravitate toward if I'm in an indifferent mood. But so does everybody. Recently, a follower discussed how I give better reviews toward the hip hop stuff, because I like it more. I talked to this person already, but I wanted to share with everyone. Yeah, I like rap. I listen to new rap a lot trying to find good stuff. Is it my favorite? Nah. I still listen to classic rock and my favorite 90's alt rock bands more than rap. I'm not at all 'easier' on hip hop artists because I like the genre. In fact, I'm probably harder on the artists I know and like because I expect more. It's hard for me to really hand it to a country or pop artist that seems good, because I don't know a lot by them. Sure, certain acts like Ke$ha - I'm going to be straight up with you guys on those. If I can't stand something, I'll never encourage you guys to listen to it. But that's the same with any genre, including rap. What might be misleading is that I don't often do 'new' albums on Tuesdays, so the rap I do review tends to be my favorite.

Anyway, this whole rant is about listening to what you love. But do it the right way. I love rap, I would never look down on someone who didn't enjoy it too. It's not for everyone, I get it. I might ask you to listen to a track or an album of something I think is amazing - and you know what? You should! If I've learned anything from my months of music blogging, it's that my tastes really change day to day. There has actually been days when I've WANTED to listen to country. I never thought I'd say that. Give everything a chance...you never know what you'll end up thinking of something new. Stick to what you love - because hey, you love it. Encourage others to listen to the stuff you love. Everyone likes talking music with a friend about their favorite band. But when they don't groove on it as much as you do, don't be mad. It happens. Ask them to give you something they love - so on and so forth. Listening to music, good or bad, is still fun. Cracking open a new album and putting it on as loud as it goes always feels like a treat.

I guess in short - I do this because I love music. I'm not here to convey my love of certain artists to you guys - my primary reason for blogging is simply to listen to music. Secondly, sharing stuff I learned about with you guys. Many of you have turned me on to new bands that I now really enjoy. Hopefully you've come up with something like that as well. If not, keep reading - eventually, you will.