Many people have prejudices

That start out from childhood

Not just the hurtful kinds

But ones against new things

Things they did not grow up with or were not used to

 

Some children eventually grow out of them

Some hold onto them throughout adulthood

Mine was a musical prejudice – rap

I only liked rock

Everything else I could tolerate – except rap

 

"Rock has people playing instruments, rap doesn't

Rock has people singing, rap just has people talking

Rock is 'real' music, rap is not"

This was the basis of my prejudice

And though it limited the scope of my musical appreciation

I childishly clinged onto it

Refusing to be persuaded

 

Until one day

I was willing to give something new a chance

Curious yet skeptical

I pressed play on a rap album

That would forever change my musical life

 

Immediately,

Ominous, extraterrestrial cherubs flood my ears

Piano grazes the song and leads the vocalists

A soulful harmony so satisfying and infectious

Classical instrumentation flourishes

It all creates a sophisticated, dreamy soundscape for the rapper

 

Enthusiastic chanting and clapping reverberate

The rapper appears again

Jointly with an emotional guitar and massive breakbeat

But then

A vocal distortion from Hell blares, instantly shocking me

This was a sample from a classic rock song

Amidst the ample sound effects and instruments

Hearing this was the beginning of the turning point

It began changing my perspective of what rap could be

I continued to listen in anticipation and enthusiasm

 

Everything I heard thereafter continued to blow me away

All music to my ears

Eventually hearing the song that would tear away my musical prejudice

And solidify my new perception of rap

A beautiful, lonesome, trickling piano playing what sounded like tears

Accompanied by a flurry of drums and confrontational vocals

And the rapper both rapping and singing at his saddest

Ending with a mesmerizing talkbox coda

 

The album's climax ended

Yet every song thereafter only amplified my appreciation

Finally, the album came to a close

But my mind was wide open

 

This album taught me many things about music

That rap can be much more than just talking

And much more than simple beats

But even if a rap song is "just talking" and "simple beats"

It is just as valid as any other song out there

Rap is music like all other music

 

I never expected my horizons to expand so widely

It ignited in me desire to hear more

Now I listen to rap more than any other genre

And am now more open to all music because of it

All thanks to this album

 

Lush, crazy, maximalist, pompous

Beautiful, dark and twisted

This album defines my tastes

Helped me grow out of my musical shell

And helped me grow up