Whether it’s Classical, Hip-Hop, Jazz or Rock’ n ’Roll, we all have a favorite type of music. To many people, a favorite genre is a lifetime love, almost a pillar of who they are as a person. Is it possible that your favorite type of music could reflect aspects of your personality? After some surveying, countless hours of Google research and some good ole fashioned sleuthing, I have made the definitive guide to “What your favorite music says about you.”
Electronic Dance Music (EDM)
If EDM is your favorite genre, chances are you have found yourself shoulder to shoulder with random strangers at a concert and you aren’t really sure what is happening around you but you love it. On stage, there are so many lights flashing you think you are going to go into a seizure until the smell of the sweaty guy in front of you brings you back to reality.
You look up to the stage and watch the DJ mixing the beats of different songs. He is making the song build into a dreamy crescendo; you know what's coming. The chorus flows and the suspense builds, this is what you live for. The beat drop hits you like a punch to the chest. Or was that the guy in front of you? Doesn't matter, you are in the clouds bouncing with the crowd. Nothing can touch you.
The lights come on and the concert ends signaling you to go home for a well-deserved night of sleep. In the real world, you're an outgoing person, you love good friends and good times.You are very creative and have a passion for the arts. However, EDM fanatics average lower IQ’s than all other genres besides one. Don't sweat it champ, because Electric Forest is coming up and that’s all that matters. So rage on you party animal.
Country
Country fans are rugged individuals who wear cowboy hats and love to roll coal in their jacked up Fords. Some would even describe them as more American than a Bald Eagle playing baseball on the Fourth of July. They have a habit of mixing different words together to form a new language that only they can understand.
Fans of country music are known for being close-minded and hard working. They lean conservative on a political spectrum and the majority of them are white. If you are a country fan you probably own at least 5 guns for ‘self-preservation’ purposes, and you have more deer mounts in your living room than you can count.
You're a good ole boy and the only thing you fear more than Hillary Clinton in office is God himself. So go and get yourself some of Mama’s sweet tea and turn on the cable box because it’s Sunday and Dale Earnhardt Jr. is about to win in Daytona. Yeehaw!
Hip-Hop
Are you a baller who has to watch his budget? Are you a self-proclaimed gangster who has never been in a fight before? Do you attend a private school but have a hustler’s ambition? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then chances are you are fan of hip-hop.
Now before I go any further, I will say that hip-hop is my favorite genre, but I can’t stand calling it anything other than rap. So for the sake of my sanity and because I don't want to type out hip-hop anymore I will refer to it as rap. After a survey of college students, I found that rap was by far the most popular genre of music. An attribute of many rap fans is that they can have an almost reckless type of confidence. The kind of bravado that makes you follow a cute girl on Instagram and like a bikini picture from four months ago, #blessup my friend.
The beauty of rap is that it can make you feel like a king even when you are handing out fries at McDonalds. Rap fans on average have the lowest IQ’s; this is not surprising after I turned on the radio and heard the song “Down in the DM” —Seriously, if you ever wanted to know what it feels like to lose brain cells just listen to a verse of that song — Back to topic, studies have also shown that Rap fans are the least environmentally friendly music fans, but that’s just what happens when you put 30 inch rims on your uncle’s 1995 Impala. Keep on riding dirty homeboy and never forget that if Drake can go from Degrassi to the hardest rapper in the world you can do it too.
Rock n’ Roll
Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, The Doors, these names have enough clout to make any Rock fan give out a passionate “Freeee Bird!!” at the top of their lungs. A Jimi Hendrix guitar solo has been the cause of countless tears and undergarments being thrown on stage, and the heavy metal of Metallica has sent countless die-hard rockers to the hospital for excessive head banging.
Rock fans are the most diverse group of fans. On one end of the spectrum there is the gloomy Marilyn Manson type of rockers who paint their eyes black and dye their hair purple. Then there is the punk rock fans who never really grew out of high school, you can find these people walking down the street with their hood up singing obscure Green Day songs while they wallow in their own self-pity.
Then there are the old school rock fans. The latter is by far my favorite because they are the people who raised us — our parents. I never realized how closely related today’s rappers are with the rockstars of the 70s and 80s until I really dived into the discographies of artists like The Doors, Tom Petty and The Rolling Stones. Only then did I realize that the rockers back in the day were just as much about partying, drugs and booze as the modern rapper.
Could this mean that our parents could have been — dare I say it — cool people back in the day? Probably not, but it’s fun to think about a young papa Matos going to a AC/DC concert and doing the air guitar to the intro of "Thunderstruck." Research suggests that Rock fans tend to be more introverted and creative. Also, contrary to any type of logical thinking, studies suggest that heavy metal fans tend to be more gentle and loving than any other type of music fan. So next time your dad tells you that the genre you listen to isn't music, just remind him that his dad said the same thing to him once. Until then, strap up those leather bracelets, tighten your bandana and put your lighters up to the sky for those who rocked before you.
I chose the genres by doing a survey of friends and random people and picking the most popular genres among them. Special shout outs to alternative, pop and reggae that didn't make the list, but were in contention. If you looked at one of these genres and think you need to explore some new music go and find me on Spotify, my playlists always bring the heat.
