Music. It brings people together, shares their stories, crosses barriers. Songs have the power to evoke emotion, recall memory, and soothe the distressed. Music is the driving beat of the soul, or in this case the South High student body. If you’re lost on what to listen to or need some fresh jams, let’s see what kind of music the students of South listening to this fall.

In a recent survey of South High students, the student body reflected a favoritism towards the genres of hip-hop and pop. An overwhelming 45% percent of respondents said that they listened to hip-hop and 42% of respondents listened to pop. These two genres ruled the song choices of the student body, beating out other genres like country, indie, and K-Pop. Songs favored by students also came from these two genres including hits like Lucid Dreams by Juice WRLD and ASTROWORLD by Travis Scott. Other hip-hop and pop artists like Post Malone, NF, and Billie Eilish were also highly favored as musicians that students liked.

Besides songs taken from the Spotify Global Top 50 playlist and the Billboard Hot 200, there were other artists and songs that students seem to enjoy. Interested in listening to something new and refreshing? Unafraid of a language barrier? Want to just listen to something new? A few students shared what they felt that South should listen to besides the standard hip-hop or pop track. Junior Hailey Vanstelle passionately recommended,

“BTS… It might not be in English, but if you look up the lyrics of nearly any song from BTS, they’re absolutely amazing. They also write and produce 99% of their own music. They have something for nearly anyone, as they have done almost every genre of music from rap to ballads to EDM to rock to pop… They’ve also done so much more than just make music. Their music deals with actual issues, and they’ve partnered with UNICEF for their Love Yourself campaign.”

Providing input from a completely different genre, Junior Connor Ninneman insists that,

“People should take a listen to the band Breaking Benjamin. Yes, they are a rock/metal band and I understand that not many people like that type [of music], but in fact, not all of their songs are heavy at all… I believe if people actually listen to the lyrics, many people could deeply relate to the messages the band is sending through.”

Conversely, not every song, artist, or genre is meant for someone. People have different musical tastes and their opinions are valid. Not everyone has to be into rock or R&B or Latin music. That is okay. Senior Dayne Grohman did not recommend any artist or genre and advises students to,

“Check out different genres of music that you haven’t listened to. Listening to different kinds of music will give you a different kind of love for it.”

Music. It is diverse, ever-changing, different for everyone. What someone can or should listen to is best summed up by Sophomore Steven Guth who said,

“I don’t really care what everyone else listens to, as long as I can listen to my stuff.”