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.
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?
I just take older bands/artists that I like, and look up “artists similar to…” On Google, and start from there. Easy enough.
music-map.com works great too.
Yes I’ve seen this before but never saved the link. Thank you.
I think the difference is that as a kid music is forced on you from all kinds of sources: parents, friends, radio, etc. So you don’t realize how much time you actually spent just listening to new music.
As an Old, you probably don’t have nearly as much random exposure, i.e. you control when you listen to music now. Which means the answer to your question is that you have to consciously set aside time simply to listen to music. It may feel like a “waste of time” for each track you think is shit, but that’s just part of the process.
Good luck, and thanks for coming to my Ted talk.
https://everynoise.com/engenremap.html
I’m in my mid-40s and I love searching for new (and old) music. It makes me happy. Maybe I start with an artists I like and just go thru the rest of the label. You just have to break the habit of listening to the same thing and challenge yourself.
You can only sort of ever keep up.
The main issue preventing you an Old, from finding more about people who are Young, is that the Young don’t exactly love the old filling up their spaces, trying to remain hip.
This is exemplified by the slow death of social networks as they grow in popularity. A new social network pops up, its quickly populated by the youth. Slowly, as it becomes more popular, Olds start creeping in, until there are so many Olds that the youth want to go somewhere else because they no longer have privacy.
When Mom and Uncle Jim are in the conversation, everything is suddenly less cool.
Happened to MySpace first, and it’s happening to Facebook right now. It’s basically ghost towns of people who will be dead soon.
We are limited because the youth will always want their own private spaces where they can truly be themselves without their weird expectations of the older generations. If you’re older with zero expecations for the youth, congratulations: you’re unusual, so don’t hold it against the youth that they assume you’re just another boring old person who is going to judge them for something. Most adults are out here judging them, so give them a break on assumptions they might make about you.
I used to keep up with music through YouTube channels, but even the ones I used to follow are aging up and soon enough those people I was listening to are Old now too, and they’re doing the same thing as me, trying to keep up with what’s hip and good.
I understand the desire to do so. New music is often so good, and I really get sick of people who act like the music they grew up with is the best in history. It’s not, and it never will be. Music is always growing and making music is more accessible than ever, which means its really exploding and evolving. There’s never been a better time to love music.
However, as Olds, we’re just going to miss a lot of what’s cool with the kids simply because we’re Olds. So much is just going to naturally be hidden from us.
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.
Honestly, just follow some Instagram meme pages or browse SoundCloud’s rap playlists. As a young person™️, this is how I’ve always found stuff, including xxxtentacion and lil peep when I was younger and they were both still around. If you’re worried about “invading” our spaces like the other comment says, I think that sentiment is changing. I’ve befriended some older peeps online just for having anime pfps and stuff lmao.
That’s one of the reasons I spend a lot of time in forums like this. To keep up with the latest stuff.
But then the latest stuff started being hella weird and I still couldn’t follow it even knowing the origins and context of popular trends and now I’m grumpy about kids on my lawn. 😬
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.
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.
Just listen to what you like, don’t be a creep
This is a weird take. It’s creepy to want to keep up to date with current trends.
Kendrick Lamar is a certified beast and my life is better having found his music than not.
Anyway, what does it say about a person if they don’t want to continually learn, grow, and move out of their comfort zone.
I hope you’re not projecting.
🚩 asking Internet for help to keep up with the young crowd and you say others are projecting. Old creep your comment is projecting 😂
Motherfucker read the room.
The only person here with a weird take is you fam.
sounds like you don’t know what the words you’re using mean, owing to the incredible stupidity you have
Hey, yo, the music’s not yours m8. you didn’t make it, so who’s being the creep
What could be more current than the beatles?
There is always more current in ACDC.
Hang out with high schoolers.
Found Matt Gaetz’s account.
Hey now, I didn’t say to take them across state lines.
Just my opinion, but I feel like you’re far to concerned with being “current”. No offence.
I’m 48 and when I was younger I swore up and down that “I wasn’t going to be like my parents, stuck in my ways musically, blah blah blah.” But you know what, it doesn’t actually matter. Literally at all. It’s vapid pop culture stuff that in adult world, no one actually cares about. Your friends aren’t going to be your friends simply because you like the same music as them. You’re social circle isn’t going to rise and fall based on how “current” you are because outside of highschool, literally no one gives a damn.
Like what you like. Listen to what you want. and don’t worry about staying “hip” because the entire concept is subjective and meaningless in the actual day-to-day world. No one is going to shun you for not knowing what’s happening between Kendrick whats-his-face and The dude from Degrassi. And if they do, they’re not really the kind of vapid social media obsessed people you should be associating with at your age anyway.
Again…just my opinion.
I think you might have my motivations a little confused.
I don’t want to be current myself. I want to keep up with current art, as it’s fascinating. Should I have not gotten in Beethoven and Chopin because those were before my time?
I don’t listen to vapid pop, pop music and what’s popular in different genres are two different things. I know I’m flogging this horse in a few comments, but Kendrick is certified lyrical genius and I never would have found him hadn’t I put the work in.
It’s not to make friends, hell I’ve got too many friends and I don’t need anymore. I don’t even share the new stuff with them as they don’t care, which is cool.
I do like what I like , hence I want to find more of what I might like you know.
I know you said it’s just your opinion, but I hope this gives more perspective on my intentions here, this is for me and me alone.
Ah. Gotcha. Makes sense.
From my initial read it sounded as though you were suffering from some kind of pop-culture FOMO, which is what I was responding to. If you’re just looking to find new stuff for yourself, than more power to you. But I still think you’re giving it a little too much thought. New tastes, new likes tend to come quite naturally without really hunting. Very much like you discovered Kendrick. You didn’t go out searching, it just came up.
To use myself as an example, at 48, most of my new music has come from just hearing something I like on the TV and looking it up. I discovered “The 88” through How I met your Mother and Community. I loved the theme music from Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and was pleasantly surprised to learn that not only was it an actual band with MORE music, but it was literally a side gig for a comedian that I had already been enjoying for years. (Valley Lodge, if you’re interested. They don’t get enough love.) I discovered the Decemberists and Hawksley Workman both because I was trying to impress a girl at two different times in my life, but it turned out I really dug it.
My point is, don’t go looking for what’s popular, just keep your ears open and listen for stuff you like. Just looking by studying what’s popular at the time would have made me miss most of the bands I just mentioned.
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
Nah, tired advice. I was literally on a remote island for most of a year, and missed out on Harambe and clowns and whatever else happened that year. But if you have a real interest in pop culture you stay in tune. Most older people don’t stay on top of it because they don’t care to, which is fine it’s not for everyone.
