Sonic Boom

As a white kid from the rural Midwest, my choice in music has been criticized on occasion by my family and peers. Unsure of what attracts me to the genre of hip-hop, I'm frequently asked why I-- someone who as a boy was a classically-trained pianist, and who is knee-deep in country and rock territory-- would be interested in rap. Although plenty of local white teenagers around this area bite into the MTV hype of rappers like Yung Joc, Young Jeezy, Young Buck, Lil' Wayne, and anyone sporting either a G-Unit tattoo or a blinged-out grill, few seem to be interested in the likes of Public Enemy, the Wu-Tang Clan, or Nas.

You know, actual hip-hop. Music.

The winter before last, I had never really listened to rap, primarily jamming to the stylings of "Weird" Al Yankovic and a few rock bands; Styx, Queen, and Aerosmith come to mind. When alone and surfing on the web, I came across a few music videos by Eminem, someone who I had obviously heard quite a bit about, but I had never actually heard. Since I was extraordinarily bored, I decided to watch a video (at the time, "When I'm Gone" was a huge hit, so I started with it). Although retrospectively speaking, "When I'm Gone" is one of Em's less impressive offerings, I was swept away by the vivid imagery, the interesting wordplay, the energy, and the intense emotions evocable by a genre that I had previously dismissed as misogynist, ultraviolent, and ultimately not meant for me.

I settled on buying a CD, and I selected Eminem's Encore. Yes, I know it is considered by most critics to be his worst studio album. Likewise, I know there are atrocious songs throughout the album that encourage judicious use of the skip button. But tracks like "Mosh," "Like Toy Soldiers," "Yellow Brick Road," and "Never Enough" cemented my growing interest in rap. Over the next year or so, I continued my casual interest in Eminem, buying The Eminem Show and The Marshall Mathers LP.

Eventually, I began to look to other artists on Eminem's label Shady Records, buying Obie Trice and D12 albums. It wasn't until December of '06 that I decided to branch out, anxious to explore hip-hop, wide-eyed with amazement at the untapped potential the genre had.

It's been about four months or so since I began to seriously expand my library, and I have a wide variety (both good and bad, mostly the former), ranging from the aforementioned politically conscious Public Enemy to the energetic poetry of 2Pac, Nas, and Jay-Z, from megaproducers like Dr. Dre and Kanye West to the likes of Mos Def, DANGERDOOM, and Rakim. Most of my recent purchases have been advised by Rizoh, and everything he's recommended I have thoroughly enjoyed. I can offer no higher praise than that.

In short, although I recognize hip-hop (like any brand of music) isn't for everyone, don't dismiss it simply because of what you hear on MTV or what you think it's about. There are as many different voices and outlooks out there as there are artists, and you might be pleasantly surprised by what you hear.