Eighth Blog Post

After reading about and discussing in class the differences and similarities of country and hip-hop music, I have realized that there are many stereotypes put on both of these types of music. The stereotypes are more towards the people who listen to the music rather than the music itself, but it is something I had never realized until the survey was done in class. And what was even more interesting was the results when we surveyed for how we though other people would describe country and hip-hop music listeners. When looking at how the surveys turned out, I notice that there are no words that are similar to describe the people who listen to country and hip-hop music. People who listen to hip-hop music are stereotyped to be almost like juvenile delinquencies, being described as aggressive and dangerous. On the other hand, country music listeners are stereotyped to be the considerate and nice people, being described as loners and patriotic. But in my opinion, hip-hop music listeners and artists are just as capable of being described in that way. Not all hip-hop music include profanity. For example, in class we discussed how the hip-hop music artist Common, who is known for his tasteful style of hip-hop because of the music he makes and his meaningful lyrics. But when he was doing something at the White House, news broadcasters were making a deal of how a "thug" was to be there. People are too quick to judge people based on race or their occupation. Just because he is a hip-hop artist people think he is trouble and a bad person. When it comes to country music and artists, there are songs and artists that are just as, if not more, raunchy and distasteful than hip-hop music. Just look at some of the music videos that some country music artists make. "Honky Tonk Ba-Donk-A-Donk" is a good example. Having a music video with women being showcased as having an amazing butt does not portray the "loner" and "patriotic" characteristics country music is said to have. Some songs are even entirely about making love to someone and the things the singer would like to do with or to a certain someone. There are also just as many country songs as hip-hop songs with references to alcohol. And since country music is easier to understand than hip-hop, the lyrics come through more clearly so people hear the lyrics about making love and whatever else the singer wants to do. What Chuck thinks is important for music is the authenticity of the music and the artists. He thinks there are too many artists singing about things they really don't understand or situations they have never really been through, but they sing it because someone wrote lyrics that sound good when put into song. There's a difference between "real" and "fake" music. Being able to understand the song by actually hearing the lyrics clearly is also a part of authenticity. If a person can't understand the lyrics, it kind of defeats the purpose of listening to the song because the lyrics are a large portion of why a person listens to a song. I think that music does have an impact on people who listen to it. For some people, music is therapy and it calms them down, while for others it is just something they listen to while doing tasks, to pass time, while driving, and other things. Different genres of music give people different characteristics. From my perspective, people who listen to reggae or indie music seem to be very relaxed, go-with-the-flow kind of people. People who listen to rock/heavy metal music may be a little more sensitive and edgier. I'm not trying to stereotype, but this is just what I notice. You can't judge someone based on their style of music choice, and there are certainly people out there who listen to a music genre you never would have guessed they would be into.