Not always is it common to have the same taste in music as someone else, raising a major question: How common is my music taste?
“I guess everybody does have their own music preference, and I feel like it’s based off [[…]] I don’t know what, like, some people grow up with or like, what they’ve heard and they liked,” said OH senior Ryan Schmacht. “I was young and all, but [my favorite] was Katy Perry, and it was crazy, and then it went on to ‘now we’re at rock’ which was two very different genres, I was running from Pop to Punk Rock in a matter of seconds,” Schmacht elaborated.
Like Schmacht, students at OH have preferences of bands or artists, regardless of what others may prefer. In a recent 42Fifty Insta poll and through in-person interviews, over 70 students were interviewed on student music preferences. The top genre? Rap.
The main questions asked were for favorite band/artist, what genre of music they fall into, the reason why this band/artist is preferred, and what genre individuals believe is most common among fellow Panthers.
R&B music was a close second to rap, with pop as the third most common genre. This was followed by country, rock, metal, and hip hop. Several sub-genres were listed as well, including reggae, punk rock, indie pop, and a few Mexican genres.
Among popular genres, several artists were commonly mentioned.
Top rappers were King Von and Juice WRLD, with reasons for preference being music tempo, appearance of rappers, vocals, or specific songs such as King Von’s “O’ Block Demon” or Juice WRLD’s “Tempted.”
Other artists in this list were Kendrick Lamar, Ken Carson, Kanye West, Playboi Carti, Chris Travis, Lil Nas X, Doja Cat, and Drake. These were preferred for beats, the emotion one gets from a song, the flow of the music, self-expression in music, appearance, and lyrics.
“Rest in peace, King Von, but he is my favorite artist,” said OH senior Ahamad Ali.
R&B had common results of Kali Uchis and SZA, with reasons for preference being based mainly on relatability, inspiration, or general enjoyment of the artist, as well as one mention of SZA’s S.O.S. album. Other artists mentioned were Rhianna, Floetry, Frank Ocean, PARTYNEXTDOOR, Jeremih, Bryson Tiller, and Rochelle Jordan. Reasons for enjoyment for these artists were vocals, having grown up with the artist, high notes, or music flow.
“I like how their voices are in their music, I like how it’s slow and not too fast, or like rap,” said freshman Sofia Herrera.
Pop’s most selected artists were Michael Jackson and Bruno Mars, preferred for their vocals, musical enjoyment, and lyrics. While interviewing a student, a bystander called out, “You don’t know that Michael Jackson is the king of Pop?”
Other artists were Lana Del Rey and Mitski, who were preferred for the calmness of music, relaxation, and relatability. No specific songs or albums were mentioned.
Country had varied preferences in artists, but the Zac Brown Band, Morgan Wallen, Luke Bryan, Tyler Childers, and Sam Barber were all given answers. Reasons for preference were love songs, vocals, instrumentals, lyrics, relatability, or calmness of songs.
“I like his country songs,” stated an anonymously responding student who enjoyed all of Luke Bryan, their favorite artist.
Hip Hop artists mentioned were Nina Chuba, Lucki, and Tyler the Creator, enjoyed for their catchy songs and inspiration. A student respondent said that Lucki’s “music is mellow, but also catchy.”
Rock, alternative rock, indie rock, and metal artists included The Beatles, Waterparks, Green Day, Metallica, Cigarettes After Sex, Nirvana, Mac Demarco, Chase Atlantic, Pink Floyd, ICP (Insane Clown Posse), Bad Religion, and Deftones. Reasons for enjoyment were childhood influence, self-expressive values, lyrics, calmness of songs, and specific songs such as Nirvana’s “Heart Shaped Box” and Deftones’ “Mascara.”
“I just like the tone and it relates to me a lot,” said another of the anonymous respondents from the online survey.
As for Latin American music preference, the artists mentioned were Juan Gabriel and Yahir Salvidar.
“I like how [Yahir] brings a new type of music to the rather old feel that most Corrido has, he brings something fresh to the scene unlike other artists who keep the same formula. So he stands out above the rest,” said freshman Eddie Ramos.
“I always see someone listening to rap, and they’re always like, singing along to lyrics,” responded Herrera.
R&B followed as the second most common response when students were asked what they believed was most popular, But varying portions of respondents also believed Pop, Hip Hop or Country were most common in the school.
“I hear a lot of Hip Hop, a lot of my friends like Hip Hop, but I know a lot of people that listen to country,” emphasized OH junior Jaxon Woods.
Surprisingly, these results were all similar throughout the grade levels, and did not differ by much besides more varieties of artists preferred in said genres. They also were rather consistent with what was responded to for genres correlating to favorite bands or artists.
“I do know most of my friends, they like rap, some of them do like R&B,” commented Herrera.
I am a 1st year Staff editor for 42Fifty, a senior at Oswego High School. I know plenty that I wish to share with all, but most will remain as is for the meanwhile. You can contact me by emailing 42Fifty@sd308.org and putting my name in the subject line. We welcome comments on our articles and feedback on our publication!
I am a senior at OHS and a 1st year staff reporter for 42Fifty. I am involved in extracurricular band as Drums in Jazz 1 and pep band. To Contact me email 42Fifty@gmail.com with my name in the subject.
[…] the system is back up and running, students can suggest the music played. In a recent poll of OH students, rap and R&B are top genres students would want […]