i tried to answer this today. i feel like it meant so much when you were picking a radio station, or if you want to go back even further, when you were going to see music live (before recorded music)

nowadays though most of the most popular music sources like playlists are reliant on things like mood and vibe and not strict genre. even within genre, in hip-hop, you can play two "rap" songs that are entirely different and the other would scare the proverbial hoes in the wrong environment

but do we still need these guidelines, in order to break them to make cool new things?

as far as your second point about two different rap songs being completely different, thats why we have so many different subgenres like one rapper could get called rage, pluggnb, cloud rap in one day

babe wake up, new hadji video!

everyone listens to everything. subgenres are an excellent way to categorize. i hate when people use the words "alternative" or "indie" cuz it doesnt mean anything, they could be referring to rock, pop, r&b, etc

definitely. i just think its funny how two people can be like yeah im a big hip hop fan and then have like zero songs overlap in what they listen to

subgenres are great too. but whats interesting to me is that things like mood, and vibe, whatever that f***in means march madness voice can encompass pretty different subgenres in a way that makes sense

ex: spotify's "chill vibes" playlist, it has r&b songs, indie songs, pop songs, jazz songs

Genre is more of a descriptor than a category now

Never been a fan of cultural taxonomy

interesting way to think about it for sure

i feel like meek mill when someone asked him if he was neurodivergent, what do u mean by cultural taxonomy? sounds cool i just legit dont know what that means

Taxonomy is the science dedicated to classification and categorisation

I think culture should be a free flowing and interconnected phenomenon rather than something people make extensive efforts to divide and isolate, which then becomes institutionalise

oh yea i agree with that. i think the best stuff comes from not paying attention to the guidelines society sets. i think its interesting that the main forms of curation are using a new classification, while most people still think in terms of an older one though

Alternative is more like a genre modifier:
Alt-rap, alt rock, alt R&B

yeah but so many people run with "i listen to alternative"

even crazier when you start thinking about what the "underground" is. that might be its own video topic tbh lol

i think if theyre not on streaming its underground

Genres always worked better as a descriptor than a category or box imo.

real. good way to put it

people will be like "x rapper" is underground and its like. underground?! they are signed to sony brother lol