after sorting through my extensive cd collection, i realized that i have a variety of music running through my stereo. depending on the certain mood of my life at the time, i decide which music better suits me. sometimes it’s alternative, sometimes it’s soul, sometimes it’s jazz… does this variety in musical taste rip the person i am at the seams, signifying that i am never one person? and is this bad?

people say that you can tell a lot about a person by the type of music they listen to. does listening to weezer one moment and christina aguilera the next mean i’m two different people? does it mean i’m fooling myself when i say i can relate to either one artist?

for as long as i can remember, it was always proper among the intellectuals or social elite to only listen to one type of music. you’re either a hardcore incubus fan or a hardcore britney fan or a hardcore metallica fan or a hardcore doors fan. splicing any of the different genres makes you some sort of derelict hybrid. however, the hybrids also form their own miscellaneous genre.

it’s universally acknowledged that liking a certain type of music makes you a certain type of person. (i will not go into details about the attributes, as i’m sure you’ve all experienced this one way or another.) and even listening to something considered the “antithesis” of your musical genre labels you a fake, a poseur. this is because people think music should be branched out and divided into some sort of caste system where you’re only allowed to converse with those of the same caste. i wish things weren’t so black and white, but it’s true.

music is merely a stepping stone to more social segregation. although you may choose to socialize with someone who idolizes the backstreet boys, while you yourself choose bob marley, you’ll always find these nit-picky differences in your values that reflect from something as simple as musical interest. conversely, it’s a lot easier to relate to people who have the same values as you and, coincidentally, also worship the same music demi-gods.