As an example. I grew up in hip-hop but at a certain point I stopped listening to new people and realised recently that I’d slept on some bangers. Like Kendrick particularly, but even people like Juice WRLD and Xxxtentacion.
The same for the Kendrick and Drake (the nonce) beef which has given some rabbit holes to go down.
So I’m wondering what I can do to keep in the loop with my younger brothers and sisters?
Is it something as simple as watching trending videos on YouTube (somtheing I’ve never done) or are there people to follow etc. I don’t like Twitter though so hopefully it’s not that.
Edit: Man I got so many replies. You guys are awesome. I am going to work my way through them all today, but I’m hella tired and off to work so may take a while. I will reply to you all.
Edit part deux: God damn I think I got all the replies.
I enjoy listening to college radio stations. They’re usually varied in music genres and tend to reflect what college students want to put on the airwaves.
I’m a fan of 88.3FM Central Carolina Community College Radio.
I’d never have thought of that. I’ll find an app with radio stations and give these a go too. Thanks.
TIL CCCC has a radio station.
Start dating a 19 year old.
Bro I ain’t drake.
I am aware that at this age gap is have nothing in common with a 19 year old other than sex.
19 is about 9 years too old for Drake.
By listening to their interests you’d keep your fingers on the youth’s pulse.
True.
I also realise I have no idea why Drake is rated so highly, dudes goofy as fuck and his music is mid at best.
Because he used to be in a wheelchair and now he’s not.
Is that what he meant when he said came from the bottom and now we here. He wasn’t talked economically, but literally vertically.
No, he meant that he grew up in Toronto’s cheap mansions and now he’s in a nice one.
Never take a break from culture. As soon as you take a year off you will be irrelevant. If that sound exhausting (it is) then congratulations; you have discovered why older people are never on top of pop culture.
“You will be irrelevant” to who? People whose identities are so wrapped up in popular culture they can’t conceive of someone liking something from 30, 50, 80 years ago? Lmao
Thanks. I’m not sure about being irrelevant but I do see that you have to put effort in to stay on top of the current culture or zeitgeist.
Start paying attention to the top new & trending Spotify playlists in genres you’re interested in.
That’s a good shout. One thing I do try is the create station on Apple Music, but it really seems to not stick to the same kind of stuff a lot of the time. Even when starting things you enjoyed and not for the ones you didn’t.
Aging? At 30? Kid, are you mocking us?
I’m in my early 20s. Just how old are you geezers??
Just add your twenties to OPs thirties, and you are close. Yes, I remember the time before smartphones, internet, and influencers.
OP here. I am late thirties to be honest.
Anyway, there has always been influencers. What would you call Norma
JaneJeane.What would you call Norma Jane.
No idea. Who is she?
My apologies, it’s Norma Jeane Mortensen who was Marilyn Monroe.
My nana used to always say Norma Jeane, well to me it sounded like Jane so just assumed it was common knowledge with the older generation
I guess it doesn’t help that I misheard her lol
OK, that name is known. Amazing when you think that she and Queen Elizabeth II are born at about the same time…
Shut the front door. That is pretty wild to think about really.
Shame she died so young.
Obligatory, f to the royal family. As I Brit I can’t stand them or anything they stand for.
Listen to music.
Interesting, tell me more about this music thing.
Its something you personally enjoy, not something you put an effort to hear of just to please somebody else. Did this help you?
I never mentioned pleasing anybody else. This is all for me my guy.
It’s easy to hear music, not so easy to keep finding music that is new.
Then proceeds to mention this is for my guy.
Have you got brain damage.
My guy is you in the context I used it my guy.
Do you have a damaged self-esteem?
yeah, but what if the music i listen to isn’t ‘with it’? what will the kids thing of me? as an old?
Why would you listen to kids anyway?
Get a skateboard and go to your local skate park. Walk up to some kids and say how do you do fellow kids? What are we listening to today?
Make sure to wear your favorite Music Band tshirt.
just let the algorithm feed you the cultural gruel
The algos are not all there cracked up to be, they get quite repetitive.
It depends on which algo/service. Pandora and I have never meshed so I just avoid that one. YouTube occasionally tosses a good one in my feed. Spotify does well enough that I pay. SoundCloud is probably my favorite.
Aside from that, I’m subscribed to a few music communities here. That has widened my net. Same with imgur - 99% of the time I’m there for the memes but occasionally someone will post something that helps me find a new band.
I’ve gotten back into going to concerts. I go by myself and end up meeting bunches of new people and we all end up talking about music, sharing the names of our favorite tracks and bands.
You’re going to have to blaze your own trail. There’s so much new music being made every day that it’s very much a “needle in a haystack” thing.
Plus, don’t automatically rule out a band because they’re not new. That is, Alien Ant Farm was never on my radar until last year. Their cover of “Smooth Criminal” hit my SoundCloud recommendations. It’s from before MJ died…anyway, I’ve listened to some of their stuff and added some to my playlists.
Keep your ears and mind open.
Thanks for this. Soundcloud has been shouted out a few times on here so I’m gonna hit it up.
Do you have a few music communities on here or how you found them. Wait Imgur can up my severely lacking meme game?
Concerts is a good idea and I like to do things like that on my own anyway, nobody I know would ever come to a classical music venue so had to fly solo.
AAF Smooth Criminal is fire. Now I gotta go give it a listen it’s been a minute.
Yeah, it’s been years since I went to a show. Went to see Grouplove a couple of months ago and nobody I knew was familiar with them (very sad) so I decided to fly solo. Going to see Bleachers soon. Again, by myself.
Imgur will help your meme game, though not your sex appeal.
On here, I just started searching for things like “indie,” “alternative”, etc. I haven’t really come across too many communities dedicated to individual bands…well, none that I am interested in. YMMV.
SoundCloud has been worth the subscription fee, imo.
Early 30’s here. I was at a small gathering my best mate put together about a year ago, and his 19 year old nephew was there. He expressed his interest in anime and we got chatting. While showing me some newer anime-related TikTok stuff (I have no social media myself and haven’t really kept up with modern anime), I heard some fucking awesome ‘aggressive trap’ stuff and asked him who the artist was. It was Lil’ Darkie and I was immediately hooked. I went down a rabbit hole searching his best stuff as well as other similar artists, and now have a huge playlist of great music I’d have never discovered on my own.
imo music discovery is a pretty organic process for most people. It’s cultural and spreads via word of mouth. Chatting with younger people may be the best way to go, but understand that the youth rightfully don’t want us in their spaces lmao
What could be more current than the beatles?
There is always more current in ACDC.
JS Bach?
My dude, I’m the same as you and I just keep radioing shit on Spotify and shazaming shit I hear and doing the same for TV shows and movies and tapping into the Spotify premade playlists from time to time. Works aight enough.
Some good one here. Thanks.
Bandcamp is nice, they have a curated genre section that updates frequently. College radio stations as someone mentioned, then just Shazam or whatever or look at their playlist online. I hate Spotify because it just gives you pop shit and doesn’t do anything niche or indie. There’s also SoundCloud, they make curated playlists of new stuff frequently. Sound cloud also has labels on there which curate some of their newest bands. It’s super easy to find niche indie labels I think. Lastly, look at lineups of local music spots. I used to listen to Deezer for finding non-US artists, but haven’t used it in a while since Bandcamp is kinda great about covering everywhere.
Thanks. I’ve not heard of bandcamp so I’ll have a look at that. +1 for the soundcloud shout out too.
As someone else said, bandcamp is pretty good. Their articles are, so far as I can tell, written by actual people and thus have more soul to them. I’m sure some asshole is plotting to replace them with LLM, but until then!
Also, go to shows. Go see live music. Usually folks have opening acts. Sometimes you can even make friends.
Thanks for pointing out bandcamp, I’ve not hit the other comment that mentioned it yet.
College/independent radio
44 year old, lifelong metalhead here. I refuse to listen to a bands current album if it isn’t my favorite of theirs. Too many bands phone it in after only a few years. So, I definitely need to find the latest music available. Metal Injection has a ballot every year of about 200 albums. Of course it isn’t a definitive list, but it’s enough for me to keep up with everything.
This is helpful as I also like a bit of metal. System of a Down are probably my favourite so I’d love to find bands like that. It’s Serjs lyrics I like, like the conscientious hip-hop genre I feel lyrics more than the music although being a banger doesn’t hurt you know.
Thanks.
Unfortunately, I’m the total opposite. I choose the music over lyrics, but I know where you’re coming from. Most people value lyrics.
This is going to be weird because I’m about to recommend someone that isn’t metal at all, but the lyrics I find are amazing. Meg Myers. She is a straight killer with her lyrics.
The Morning After is a strong suggestion. The cool thing, it’s not one of her more popular songs, so if you like it, you’ll find a lot more from her.
Thanks for the recommendation I’m vibing to this right now. Loving her voice and the minimal production of the music is nice.
To touch on your point about most people going for lyrics. I’ve not found that to be the case, anecdotally, as everyone I know doesn’t care about lyrics and they just enjoy the sound of the music.
