In the first grade, I was used to genres like dubstep and pop music because it was all the rage in the early 2010's. Everywhere you went, no matter what you were doing, whether a quick errand to the supermarket or a trip to the electronics store, artists like Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez and Britney Spears would play in the background in the shops, and would annoyingly follow you by repeatedly playing in your head with its extreme degree of catchiness. I knew I wasn't keen on whatever was popular and that I needed something different. One week, in around 2013 or 2014, I was in the car with my father, and he started playing 'Drag the Waters' by Pantera, a heavy metal band. I never heard anything at all like it.
I was instantly hooked and decided to listen to some songs on the album, and it was undoubtedly one of the best decisions I ever made. The aggression of the guitar tones, the intensity of the singer's voice, the force put into the drums, I was never subjected to anything this extraordinary. I remember as a child, I'd stomp around and walk aggressively for good fun whenever their songs played. I was probably the only first grader you ever heard of who listened to Pantera.
As the years went on, I never really listened to a lot of music until I passively and casually listened to what my dad was playing in the car. This was around the 4th grade. There'd be a couple pop hits and rap hits here and there until he started to play the genre of Nu Metal. Nu metal is a subgenre of alternative metal that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop, funk, industrial, and grunge, which sometimes involved the use of electronic instruments, altogether making it a very unique subgenre of rock and one of the most influential genres marking the millenium, that is the year 2000.
Upon listening to this genre, I heard enough to know that it was also some of the best pieces of audible art I heard at the time. Although these bands sometimes weren't as aggressive as Pantera, some of the emotions induced by listening to them felt deeper. The versatility of this genre with hints of rap and electronics with rock made listening to their genre an incredibly immersive experience. The band that got me into this genre was Linkin Park. One of the band's singers, Chester Bennington has left an indelible mark on music history as one of the most influential and talented vocalists of all time. His singing, along with the lyrical skills of Mike Shinoda, the other singer of Linkin Park, arguably the greatest expert in complimenting rap with rock, made Linkin Park a substantially unique band to kickstart the 21st century, with their hit album, Hybrid Theory, released on October 24th, 2000. Other Nu Metal bands that defined my last years of elementary school were Limp Bizkit, Korn, Deftones, Saliva, System of a Down, Sepultura, Papa Roach, Drowning Pool, Incubus, and so on.
A couple months before I turned 10, as intrigued I was by the aggressive style of music put out in the Nu Metal genre, I found myself to be fascinated by a more positive tone of music that was part of a genre called Punk Rock.
At this point of time, I was exposed to more mainstream artists like Sum 41 and Good Charlotte. Their early 2000's way of energetic power chords and rebellious themes made it an alluring experience, coming home and playing their songs after school. The entire aesthetic vibe of disobedience and flouting authority with the embodiment of the wayward spirits of the youth with this genre's ability to condition the listener to allow himself/herself to let the music's zestful tones channel through the listener made this all the more a genre that stands out from what you normally hear in this day and age. The cultures, hobbies and mindsets that punk rock as a genre has affiliated or associated itself with include skateboarding where it's not allowed, wearing piercings or makeup, the principles of insubordination, the life of an adolescent, heartbreak, relationships, all perfectly describe the life of a youth.
And needless to say, ten year old me loved every single aspect about it, and seventeen and a half year old me still does to this day.
To be continued..
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