Students breathe and live music, a person’s music taste is oftentimes a reflection of their personality. Since music can be such a personal matter people grow defensive and sometimes insecure about the music they listen to. Teenagers in particular are afraid of being judged for listening to certain genres of music that are not deemed popular.

 Undoubtedly, the most hated music amongst teenagers is country music. Ironically Taylor Swift, such a loved artist, implements country-musicality into her songs such as in her songs “You Belong with Me” and “Love Story” placing second and fourth place in the Billboard Hot 100 Chart according to Billboard.com. Not to mention, Lil Nas X’s hit song, “Old Town Road” was a major breakthrough and won him many followers in the younger generation.

Apart from select songs, listeners of country music  remain a constantly bullied group. For one, country music is not relatable to teenagers, most country songs simply talk about everyday life, and working class Americans. Not much excitement in that. I find that country music is most openly listened to by older generations who enjoy and relate to the honest and rural-inspired lyrics. Country music is stereotyped to be all about cowboys, trucks, Oklahoma, and Texas. The rural landscape that country music depicts is an entirely different world than the urban and metropolitan areas in the Inland Empire.

Additionally, country music is associated with a patriotic American culture, a pride that is muted in Generation Z. Patriotism in addition to the assumed age group of listeners usually amounts to one thought: Boomer.

When asked about her opinion on the country music genre, Ms. Abear, a Student Assistance Program Counselor here at North recognizes, “I like some country music and I do feel like they tell a story. So sometimes the stories resonate with me like, some of them will be love stories or about maybe someone that passed away that you missed. But I won’t say I’m a huge fan. I’m like a baby fan.” This is the case for most, perhaps country music isn’t their cup of tea, but there will be a few select songs that are enjoyed.

Ms. Abear also noticed that a big part of what she values, as a hip-hop and R&B listener, are the music beats. She noted that she doesn’t feel like she could dance and groove to country music the way she does with new age R&B.

Apart from stereotypes and lack of relatability to country music, the dislike may simply be that the sound of country music is entirely unappealing to a generation that is accustomed to more trendy pop songs.