I'm Cool Because I Hate Linkin Park

So I’ve just returned home from the theatres after watching a splendid little musical called, “Rock of Ages”. As the name suggests, it is a tribute to the glittery life of the 80s: A psychedelic concoction of sex, drugs and rock n’ roll. I thoroughly enjoyed myself as we dwindled through the age of blonde hair and black leather tied up with six strings... if you know what I mean.

During the interval, my dad and I had a pretty intense debate on the evolution of music. The typical never ending “Then and Now“argument where he emphasises on the fact that music just isn’t what it used to be, with all the synthetic sounds and electronic voodoo. Me being the fervid patriot that I am towards my generation countered that with the usual “times change, get with it. We don’t like your music either” rhetoric.

It got me thinking though. What has music become? What have we made it? What is it turning into? Human beings are blessed with the ability to process different wavelengths of sound and converge them into a single modulated frequency configured by our brain in order to stimulate the pleasure inducing neurons, thereby raising the hair on the back of our necks and getting us high as fuck!

That’s all that music is - A drug. It comes in many shapes, sizes and sounds... each one flowing through our bloodstream at its own pace and intensity. Like all things, it has changed over time. Different times, different people and different tastes. That’s the way it works, isn’t it? So how does one decide which one is better? Simple answer, really. You don’t.

When we compare footballers, how do we decide if Pele was better than Maradona? When dealing with fashion, how can we say the boot cut is superior to the low waist? It’s the same story with every sphere of our lives. So why make an exception when it comes to music? I’ve given it some thought and......


The problem with society when it comes to music is that it has now become a symbol of status and lifestyle. The music we listen to is supposed to define the kind of people we are in real life. I’m cultured if I listen to Jazz. I’m a rebel if I listen to heavy metal. I’m a thug if I listen to hip hop. I’m a hippie if I listen to psy-trance.

Personally speaking, I listen to all of the genres I listed above. And no, not just in a casual iPod shuffle play list kind of way. I’m vehemently passionate about my music. So what does that make me? Quantum Mechanics personified? (Engineering pun intended. You’re forgiven if you don’t get it.)

Another way by which music has been corrupted is evident in our desire to stand out in a crowd. The music we listen to differentiates us from one another. Hence, the lesser the number of people listening to my music, the more unique I am. I still remember, this friend of mine asking me what metal bands I enjoy listening to. Without giving it much thought, I answered, “Lamb of God and Metallica”. He let out a smug laugh and very patronisingly said, “Dude you have to listen to more metal than that”. Still maintaining my cool, I asked him, “So what bands do you listen to?” His reply: “Oh you know... I’m a huge Meshuggah fan”. I smiled and said, “I saw them play live a couple of months ago”. 

It is precisely this attitude that makes most of us condescend musical acts like Linkin Park, Eminem, Lady Gaga and *insert Grammy award winner here*. These acts have become victims of their own successes. Their fame has now disparaged them in the eyes of the connoisseurs of their genres. This is most evident when it comes to hip hop. You’re not a true hip hop fan if you don’t listen to rappers like Immortal Technique and Rakim. “Oh you listen to Eminem and Nicki Minaj? Bitch please; you ain’t no hip hop fan!”

Listening to music today has transmogrified into a bizarre practice of competing to see who has the best and most polished taste. More than complimenting our favourite bands, we criticise the others. Heavy metal fans can’t stand the sound of verbose lyricism while the hip hoppers think it’s ridiculous to scream into a mic!
So where do we go from all this? Are we all fools to become slaves to commercial advertising? I’m gonna be very honest with you. The last 800 words or so have just been a mere waste of your time as well as mine. Why? Because at the end of the day, this debate/discussion is pathetically trivial with respect to the bigger picture that is... Music still gets us high as fuck!!

Regardless of all the petty quarrels and heated arguments, when we’re in the zone... when we go out there in those jam packed 30’000 capacity grounds, our bodies clinging to one another, blatantly oblivious to the reek of alcohol and sweat that lingers in the air... when we watch our favourite bands come on stage and play/strum/screech those notes.... in the words of Metallica, “Nothing Else Matters”. All our third world problems cease to exist as we sway from side to side to the rhythmic beats of our musical deities.... and nothing else matters.

Fact is, we all love our music. We just have a very juvenile and careless way of expressing it. Nothing can change the simple truth that every form of music will have its own army to fight for it. My dad’s generation was unstoppable. Mine is immovable. So what happens when our worlds collide? Nothing. Life goes on. So does the music.
I’m going to end by quoting my favourite lines from the documentary, “A head bangers’ journey (do watch it if you haven’t already”. The quote was made with respect to heavy metal, but I’m pretty sure it’s valid for every form of music.

“Ever since I was 12 years old, I've had to defend my love of heavy metal against those who say it's a less valid form of music. My answer now is that you either feel it, or you don't. If metal doesn't give you that overwhelming surge of power and make the hair stand up on the back of your neck, you might never get it. And you know what? That's ok; because judging by the 40,000 metal heads around me, we're doing just fine without you.”