Every day I hear pretty degrading music, as it's fairly common among college students. But does it influence me to live the way they live? No. Does it make me more aggressive or angry if I hear explicit lyrics? No. I believe that however I'm already feeling influences the music I listen to and not the other way around if there even is any correlation.
I appreciate every genre that comes along. Music is an art and the different sounds that people come across are each a unique perspective on life, just as you would discover in a museum of visual art. Every artist has their own way of expressing love, struggles, and success. I love listening to jazz, classical, pop, country, electronic, musical soundtracks, rock, and especially hip-hop, for all the different sounds and stories.
As a pianist growing up, I have always been keen to the background music and the embellishments of the melody and harmony. The consideration of the lyrics come after. Every time I hear a catchy beat I get sucked in just as much as the next "basic" person. I immediately want to start dancing and hit repeat so that I can learn the words and the way they are sung. Whatever the content of the song is, I'm already captivated by the background music so it gives me somewhat of a positive mindset toward the song.
Once I start honing in on the lyrics, I try to decipher their meanings. I look up what pushed them to write. I cry when they hurt, I cheer when they celebrate. And I especially love how fast people can rap. I love the way the words flow. I love the way people collaborate with each other and talk about each other in each other's songs. Obviously, sex and drugs should not be condoned, but hidden behind those songs are actual stories of people's lives. Listening to various genres gives me a piece of different cultures that I would not necessarily understand without the artists sharing their stories.
There is value to the businessmen in the music industry who put out controversial music, whether or not people want to admit it. They successfully reach out to the masses and bring them together for a common cause. It is fascinating to me that some of the "garbage" artists turn out to be the most successful entrepreneurs in the industry because they have recruited a solid number of talented individuals to sell millions of records. Artists won't go down in history if they aren't pushing the envelope, so naturally, they are going to cause a scene.
When producers put together certain sounds and certain words it enhances how I feel, rather than causes certain feelings. I definitely believe that music is put out to get a certain reaction from people, but I don't think the reaction is meant to say "be more like us." I think the reaction is supposed to be more of an understanding of where the artist is coming from and reaching out to people who relate to the ideas and the sounds. That being said, I am going to keep listening to whoever effectively gets these latter reactions out of me.
Just as I have transformed tremendously as I progress into adulthood, I appreciate artists who continuously transform their music as an expression of their changing lives. My favorite example of one of these artists is none other than Miley Cyrus, as she has transitioned from Hannah Montana to twerking sensation, and now back to her roots. Her controversial actions in early adulthood were not a result of the musical influences she had, given that she was raised by the most influential musicians of country.
She had already made the decision to get rid of her Hannah Montana persona before she established herself as a hip hop artist and before people decided she could be a dangerous influence. Her music was merely an expression of what she was going through in her life. My understanding of where she was coming from is not to be confused with condoning the risque behavior. I am honestly proud to still be her fan so I can see her beautiful journey of growing up and relate it to my own journey, even though we lead completely different lives.
Also, regardless if you are a Miley Cyrus fan or not, I highly encourage reading her latest Instagram post here. I came across it while I was developing my article and it is a beautiful statement of her journey and how her music is developing as she grows up.
I am not sure that I can really convince someone that it is okay to listen to whatever music they want, because I don't know if they see music the same way I do--I would hope they don't take every song literally and try to live out the lyrics when it does not pertain to their lifestyle. What I do know, though, is that I appreciate the open mind I have to all kinds of music and my ability to understand what it takes for them to create each song. If my mood tells me to listen to an obscene song, so be it, because my musical palate is always evolving and just like with food, every different taste of music is necessary for me to explore in order to pick out the good from the bad.
