By Mia Arita Garcia
There's something in music that has withstood the test of time generation after generation in which we still value it greatly in our everyday lives.
Junior at Rialto High School, Jairo Tapia, let us know about his music journey. Like many, his story starts way back with his family. “Funny enough, the first ever song that got me into the music scene was 'Hips don’t Lie’ by Shakira because when I was younger, my family would always play it and… it just somehow led me into exploring more music aside from whatever genre she was.”
Fast forward to middle school, Jairo states that his go-to artists specifically for rap were Eminem, for R&B it was Jacquees, and he switched off between System of a Down and Metallica for rock. He wasn’t one of those people who limit themselves to just one type of genre.
Despite his obviously alternative appearance, Jairo wants to make known that he is not the metalhead that everyone believes he is. He comments on this fact, “I just like long hair, it really suits me best. People are always so surprised when I tell them that it’s more of a style choice.” Jairo doesn’t plan on cutting his hair anytime soon to fit into the mold everyone else wants to give him and says “It’s funny, especially since an artist I believe people wouldn’t even think I listen to is Peso Pluma. I really love Spanish music actually.”
Now delving into a deeper topic, music has such an undeniably deep influence on one’s life that it’s impossible to acknowledge the change. Jairo states “Music has had such a profound impact on my life since a majority of my day is spent listening to it. Whether it’s in or out of school, I'm always listening. To say music doesn’t play a big part would be idiotic.”
Music subjectivity is also quite a sensitive subject today where, if you don’t have the “objectively right” opinion as someone else, you’ll probably get made fun of for your music choices. Jairo says “Yeah it’s obvious music is subjective because if it wasn't, then everyone would have the same taste and that’s really boring. For the fact that there are different genres and different branches to those genres, it just goes to show that everyone has their own specific music preferences.”
He also makes known that he dislikes people who police others about what they listen to by making the following statement, “I think everyone has the right to listen to whatever they feel like listening to. It doesn’t hurt anyone so why should it matter? Sure some genres are a bit wack, but that’s what makes each music experience unique since everyone is not tied down to the same style. I really love that part of music. However, there is one genre that I believe is just so lame and pointless to listen to. Which is obviously country music. It’s of course catered to more Southerners but even then I don’t understand what there is to like because all they talk about is trucks and girls and [school-safe word for a drink that inebriates you]. It’s really lame and whoever listens to it should reconsider their life choices.”