My latest love affair

Since I can remember I've always had this infatuation with music. I can still remember riding in the car listening to  Thin Red Line by Glass Tiger with my mom off cassette tapes.  This tape and many others soon "disappeared" from mom's collection. Then the came the CD and I began collecting. I'm sure if I were to look hard enough I would probably find some N'SYNC albums somewhere. Don't judge. I was twelve. Girls that age these days listen to garbage like Kesha and Justin Beiber.

Through the years I generally stuck to music out of the rock genre. This being said I look back and see myself saying things like "Rap is crap" quite often.  The irony of this has had me chuckling for a little while now.  I'll still stand beside that though.  See, at that time I hadn't heard any rap or hip-hop music that was worth praise.  That is until recently.  It's difficult to put an exact date as to when it began, but within the last 4 to 5 years I began to discover hip-hop that I enjoy, and it's taking over my music library.  Now before I begin my rant I want to say that I don't have what some would call an extensive collection or frame of reference when it comes to hip-hop. I do have large collection of the artists I do enjoy, however. 

On the note of irony. As it still has me chuckling when I think of rap being crap. This so called crap is what my latest love affair is comprised of. Beginning with Aesop Rock and his perplexing metaphors and vivid parables; the amount of hip-hop that my ears are subjected to has grown exponentially since struggling to understand Aesop. Not only did he introduce me to the intellectual side of hip-hop, but the music itself is incredible. The beats and sounds that are used in his songs I find to be innovative, and no matter how many times I've heard one of his songs, I'm always hearing something new.

Kid Cudi was next into the good ole' Itunes library. One thing that Mr. Cudi has made me appreciate is music that explores struggle. This is true of all who are apart of my current obsession, but his music I feel was the first that I could see and understand the struggle as a part of the music.

Then enters Atmosphere.  Atmosphere's music takes on a whole new perspective. He's inappropriate, crude, rude, and in your face, but he addresses subjects that often hit so close to home you can't help but love it. His story telling ability is also out of this world. 

Very recently I was shown music by Macklemore and have since attended one of his concerts in Boulder, Colorado. This concert was one of the most energy filled nights I think I've ever had. Every person in that audience had a blast, and you could tell that the artists were having fun too. I was also given the privilege to see a performance by Shad. I hadn't even heard of him before the show, now I'm constantly listening to his music.

Discovering this music has made me realize that maybe we should discount every member of a particular group. Sure, mainstream hip-hop and rap may be crap (in my opinion), but that doesn't mean that every artist out there is. This is true for life outside of the music we listen to, and I know I don't have to tell you that. Or at least I shouldn't have to I would hope.