Just Let The Music Confiscate My Soul

A love letter to music.

Dear Reader,

This post is actually, a love letter to music, which has been my coping mechanism since time immemorial. I don’t know how to explain this but music is like the air that I breathe to live. It’s just as important as water for me. I can’t even imagine a life without music. Many of you might relate to this.

You see, music taste is subjective. Everyone likes different genres in music. But it all comes down to one thing. Are we really getting affected by it? Is the music really changing our brain chemistry in a way that mundane conversations with real people and the hustle and bustle of world can’t? If your answer is yes, then you get it! Congrats!! you’re a music lover. Not everyone can experience music and love it the way we do.

I listen to all kinds of music. Pop is my most listened to genre, followed by alternative, r&b, folk, indie, and also hip hop/rap. Yes, in one of my earlier posts, I talked about how I hate rap songs ‘cause they are borderline unlistenable and really derogatory towards women. But no, I was wrong. Not all rappers are like that. We have talented female rappers like Doechii, Nicki Minaj, Doja cat and many more who have their own distinct rapping style offering new perspectives and possibilities in this male dominated genre.

The one and only male rapper I like is none other than Kendrick Lamar. Honestly speaking, I didn’t know much about him before listening to ‘Not Like Us’. I had only heard bad blood and freedom with his feature and that was it. When I heard not like us, it was like, an eye opening moment for me. I don’t know what kind of crack did he put in this, because this song is so fucking catchy. I don’t know how to tell you guys. The way it starts, his cadence, enunciation, vocal inflexions, voice changes here and there. Everything about this song is just amazing which makes it a masterpiece for me.

Kendrick Lamar is a poet. The way he crafts his songs is just like how we poets write poetry. I was so mesmerised by his artistry, that I decided to listen to his latest album, GNX and let me tell you, it’s a masterpiece. All the songs talk about something truly personal to him, in a way that’s inspiring, amazing and jaw dropping sometimes. One of the songs from GNX is reincarnated. I love this song so so much. The song talks about how Kendrick went into a past life regression therapy session and what all he got to know about his past lives. After talking about his past lives, he goes on to have a conversation with father aka God about how he should use his talents for the betterment of the world and to not someone let down. What an idea!

Apart from Kendrick, I listen to Doechii’s mixtape, ‘Alligator Bites Never Heal’. Superb, amazing, brilliant, never been done before, exciting, and really promising. Anxiety is number one in my household regardless of what people say about it on TikTok and Instagram. Along with rap, pop music is my most preferred genre to listen to. Like, I don’t need the right time to play a pop song. It just makes sense to play a Taylor Swift song at any point of time and it will hit with the same intensity. Ariana’s voice always sounds angelic regardless of what she’s talking about. Speaking of Ariana, her deluxe version of eternal sunshine is just a masterpiece. The best deluxe album we have gotten in years. Every artist that I listen to serves different styles of music and I have the same amount of respect and affection for all of them.

1. Taylor Swift:- Her strength is impeccable songwriting, storytelling, and emotive singing. Her songs always make you feel something even if you haven’t been in that situation.

2. Ariana Grande:- Her strength is her vocal delivery. The best vocalist of this generation. Her latest album eternal sunshine, has really cemented her as an excellent songwriter as well.

3. Sabrina Carpenter:- Her strength is her sense of humour and the quirky personality she portrays in her music. Listening to her makes you feel summery in the best way possible.

4. Billie Eilish:- Her strength is also her unique voice and the way she sings. I don’t know, it just feels so her. No one can sing her song better than her.

5. Lady Gaga:- Her strength is the way she commands a song and infuses it with her own energy. You can’t sit still while listening to a gaga song. You just can’t.

6. Selena Gomez:- Her strength is her delicate voice. Yes, she isn’t the best vocalist in the world but does she have to be? She can deliver a hit with the way she sings and that makes her singing voice unique. She can make a song feel relaxing in the best way possible.

7. Lana Del Rey:- Her strengths are whimsical songwriting, calming voice, impeccable world building, and incorporating really interesting melodies in her songs that might not be conventional.

8. Beyoncé:- She’s the queen of vocalists. Her strength is her aura and the way she can make any song her own just by her angelic voice. Yes, she takes help from many songwriters for her songs but is it bad to have a team and create something with a group effort? It’s not mandatory to be a solo songwriter for a pop-star.

These are my most favourite artists. I listen to them all the time. Other favourites of mine are Chappell Roan, Gracie Abrams, Olivia Rodrigo, Tate McRae, Addison Rae, Florence, Halsey, AURORA, Kate Bush (a legend) and many more. Each and every one has their own personality that shines through in their works. Really excited to listen to new projects from all of them.

Now, you might be thinking, don’t you listen to any male singers? The answer is yes, just one. Harry Styles. No one else, according to me has an attractive personality or charm that forces me to check their discography. Harry has a really good voice, he’s a good songwriter, and is a really good performer on stage. He has all the things a good male pop-star should have. Waiting for his next album patiently (what a joke?!).

These are my favourite artists. I listen to them every-time. Even now, while writing this, I’m listening to Don’t you (Taylor’s Version) by Taylor Swift. Listening to songs makes me realise that the world is still full of colour and not a black and white scene. Sometimes I don’t pay attention to lyrics and get lost in the sound of music and sometimes, I hear the lyrics and suddenly I’m in my feels. This is what music does to me. I just let the music confiscate my soul, just like Ariana Grande said in her song past life.

My day starts with plugging in my earphones and playing songs on shuffle. I take a shower while listening to music and having my own concert in the bathroom. Songs keep playing on my way to college. Whenever I’m bored in college, music comes to rescue me. I come home while listening to music, and again play a concert in my bathroom while taking a shower. In the night, I sleep while listening to music.

You won’t believe this but I have a separate phone entirely dedicated to music it just has the Apple Music app with all of my music downloaded on it. So, the reason for this stupid thing I do is nostalgia. When I was a child, I had an iPod classic with my favourite albums saved on it. It’s discontinued now so putting your music on it is actually a nightmare, if you don’t want to buy every song from iTunes. Anyway, so to make up for the iPod, I got another phone and just download the Apple Music app and now, it works just like my iPod. Love ittt!!!!

Some might say, listening to music all the time is harmful for ears, especially if you use earphones most of the time, but to me, it’s my only coping mechanism. I only use earphones when I’m not at home. This way, I’m not damaging my ears or some might say becoming deaf. Like, I don’t understand this. Why is everyone so against of listening to music frequently? Like are you jealous cause you don’t have my excellent library full of superb songs? Don’t you want to feel that escape from this horrid world we live in? If yes, then let yourself lost in music and experience euphoria (musical euphoria you can say).

I would like to end this post by quoting some lyrics from Addison Rae’s song headphones on.

“So l put my headphones on (I put my headphones on)

Listen to my favorite song (Listen to my favorite song)

Soaking up the rain (Ah)”

It’s nothing like Grammy worthy songwriting, but it’s honest, relatable, straightforward and catchy. That’s what matters. If you relate to a song, it doesn’t matter how it is. Keep vibing, keep listening and keep finding new artists and new songs. Thankyou so much for reading.

Farewell.