what causes people to prefer a certain music genre?

Question

a lot of my friends are into rock...i however like rap/hip hop....and no, its not a race and color thing cuz most of my friends are black...i mean, there is this one song i like from the fray and that's it...i dont understnd fall out boy and linkin park...is it becuz of the environment i grew up in? im definitely not ghetto, so that shouldnt explain the rap side of me. my father enjoys rock. my mom prefers r&b...i grew up in a proper family, but i dont know why i prefer hip hop and rap. rock actually gives me a headache and i dont see how u can dance to it...i love to dance, so maybe thats why i like hip hop...but it is still a question in my mind.

(oh and excuse how i write some of my words, i IM a lot, so i type that way and i know how some ppl hate it. sorry if it bothers u)

i also embrace different music genres...i tried so hard to get into rock, but its just not sinking in...

Answer 1

I suppose a lot of it depends on your environtment growing up. My cd collection spans the last 50 years. Mainly b/c I was the first born to parents that were the oldest of 7 on both sides. Growing up, I was exposed to their musical tastes. Later in life I was exposed to my aunts and uncles (only a few years older than me) and their musical tastes in my pre-teens. Later in high school I started digging my own stuff but by then it was about what it meant to me, what it sounded like, or (mostly) who infulenced them. I can listen to most artists even today and pick up on chords, vocals and lyrics and pretty much nail who their influences were.

Dont get me wrong, most of my musical tastes are heavy into rock, but I do dig some rap (Jay-Z, Eminem, Ice-T, NWA) and even some country (Brooks & Dunn, Kenny Chesney, Reba, Garth Brooks). Put these next to Metalica, Pantera, Eve 6, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Dave Matthews Band, Jimi Hendrix, Chicago, Tori Amos, Simon & Garfunkul, Tool, Radiohead, Johhny Cash, NIN, Pink Floyd and you start to ask yourself, "Ok, so where is this guy coming from?"

It's all about what you like. Forget what everyone else thinks. It's your music, your ears, your car, your radio, your cd player, your iPod! So, dig it.

Answer 2

Music is the universal language......and just like food, it's an inquired taste . A melody is not assigned to a certain race or creed. Part of what attracts us to certain types of music is that we are brought up on our parents' style and taste in music and can't let go of what we grew up on. Rap and R&B are not too far off from each other.......Rap remixes a lot of our classic Soul song all the time. Rock is sampled as well in Hip Hop often.....we hear a familiar beat that we grew up with in Hip Hop and connect to it.Sometimes it's not the music that we dislike but the words...it's the lyric or the message the hooks us sometimes.....perhaps it's not that you don't like the type of music , it could be that you just don't relate to the message it sends....nothing odd about that!

Answer 3

Great answer @ Bobby G, i liked that.

I also think that it's just your personal taste. I'm mexican, so i'm not white and i'm not black but right in the middle.. My mother likes some crazy stuff like Frank Zappa, Pink Floyd, Premiata Forneria Marconi, even The Beatles, Janis Joplin and all that kinda music.. And all i listen to is hip hop, rap and R&B for some reason.. I mean, i like all kinds of music but like somebody said up there, i also have a passion for black music (no offense for saying black, i wish i was black, so dont get me wrong).. But all im saying is, it's your own taste, just like food and clothes and everything else.. I don't think it's got something to do with where you grew up in and all that..

Anyways, have a great day :)

Answer 4

I wish I knew. I'm the same way, I am a white male from Oregon, with parents that like rock and very soft rock. But I however like almost every genre, but I have a PASSION for hip hop.
Strange huh

Answer 5

Rnb coz the music sounds good year in year out a song first sang in 2007 can still be worth listening to 10 years down the road.

Answer 6

the same reason people prefer certain foods...its just a matter of personal taste.

Answer 7

well, i don't know for sure but i will guess that it depends on their personality and how they connect with the sound on a personal level. also it could stem from what kind of beat catches their attention. but once again, i don't know for sure, it just makes sense to me.