From R&B to jazz, pop and rock, music unites people and creates communities. You could hear a familiar tune on the radio and immediately start singing along to it. Music tastes vary from person to person. Some like genres most people have never heard of, but being open-minded can introduce you to genres and artists you wouldn’t have known you liked otherwise.
“My favorite genre is Brazilian jazz, and my favorite music style is slow and calming,” freshman Sebastian Bailon said.
“My favorite music genre is R&B,” sophomore Fiorella Diaz said.
This month has seen quite a development in the music scene with Taylor Swift’s newest album, “Midnights.” According to “Billboard Hot 100,” Taylor Swift’s songs occupied their top 10 spots for the past two weeks in the U.S. and the U.K., breaking records for the first time in 64 years. She also holds the record as the first artist in history to have five debut albums, selling over 1 million. As of right now, the no. 1 song on “Billboard Hot 100” is “Anti-Hero” by Taylor Swift.
“I really like her new album, and my favorite song from there is ‘Anti-Hero.’ I’m not surprised that she’s one of the top artists right now, and the majority of people enjoy her music, especially her older songs,” junior Dani Cortezzo said.
While Taylor Swift dominates “Billboard Hot 100,” former bands and artists broke records there as well. Notably, in 1964, The Beatles held the top five spots. From 1982-1984, Michael Jackson had seven top 10 hits from “Thriller.” Elvis Presley, also known as the king of rock and roll, had 18 songs that made it to No. 1.
However, Drake was the most recent record-breaker, occupying the top nine spots on Sept. 18, 2021, with songs from his album, “Certified Lover Boy.” Taylor Swift’s album breezed through and broke all these records in a short period of time.
Aside from Taylor Swift, several other artists and songs have made it big in the past couple of years, such as rising Filipino R&B/soul artist Grentperez, who released his debut album “Conversations With the Moon’’ in September 2021. People most often recognize him from his famous single, “Cherry Wine.”
Icelandic singer Laufey released her newest album, “Everything I Know About Love,” on Oct. 14, 2022, bringing a modern twist to jazz.
Her unique approach makes her stand out in today’s music scene. “Shirt” by SZA, which was played at the end of her “Good Days” music video in 2020, aroused excitement when it was released on Oct. 28, 2022. Another uprising artist is “Jvke” (pronounced “Jake”), who released “This is what __ feels like” on Sept. 23, 2022. “Golden Hour,” which is song no. 3 on his album, blew up on TikTok and gave goosebumps to people who heard it for the first time.
There are many uprising and popular artists, but everybody’s music taste is different. Music continues to unite us- from making friendships, to relationships and more.
