Pop Goes the Music

I love my friends dearly, but sometimes they just get on my nerves. Especially when we talk about the type of music we like. My one friend and I like pop, rap and hip-hop, while two of my other friends like alternative and rock. Whenever my one friend or I even mention anything related to pop my other two friends have a fit. But whenever one of them mentions something about say, Korn, we don't say anything bad. I don't have anything against Korn, they're good musicians, it's just that I don't enjoy that kind of music as much as I do pop. I don't recall ever really saying anything bad about Korn, other than 'I don't like their music.' I mean I will listen to Korn if they are on the TV or radio, but I don't have their CD or anything. I just like a different style of music.

However my two friends don't show the same respect and consideration when I mention the music I like. It's like they don't consider pop musicians "real artists" or something because they don't play their own instruments. I consider the voice to be an instrument, especially if you can sing like Christina Aguilera or harmonize like *NSYNC. People in choirs don't play instruments, but aren't they still musicians? Lots of lead singers in bands don't play instruments but they are still musicians.

The point that I'm trying to get to is that I hate it when people don't give pop music the credit that it deserves. I mean wasn't "I Want It That Way" by the Backstreet Boys considered one of the best songs of 1999? (Even though I didn't really like it.) And Christina Aguilera won the Best New Artist award at the 2000 Grammy's, which she deserved. So what if none of the other pop acts won any awards, that doesn't make them any less of a musician does it?

Oh, also since those groups don't play their own instruments I shouldn't call them boybands, but boy groups. This just goes along with my earlier argument about them being "real artists." As much as I try and explain to people (mainly my friends) about why I listen to the music that I do listen to, they just don't get it. They say I just listen to it because it's the popular music or I just like them because they are cute. So what if they are cute, that just adds to their appeal as artists. When I first liked *NSYNC I liked them for their music and because I thought they were funny (as in they made me laugh at their goofy antics.) And that was back when I was more into alternative music. But I grew out of that kind of music because it was too dark and depressing and it brought me down. My life already sucked enough, I didn't need the music I listened to make me feel bad too. So I started listening to *NSYNC because they made me feel happy and good about myself. Their music helped me get through my parents messy divorce. They led me to like other pop acts, which in turn led me to like hip-hop and rap. Pop music is "happy music" as someone once said and I like it. I'm sick and tired of being made fun of for liking a "boyband." I said earlier that I liked Korn, which is true to a point, it's just that when I listen to their music I feel bad and it makes me angry with its tone. I don't want to be any more angry or confused then I already am. I want to be happy and pop music makes me happy. Why don't people understand that?