"Not music"

NPR is after the coveted "ornery blogger with nothing better to do on a Friday morning" demographic:

Why Do People Hate Rap And Opera?

Opera's a perfectly fine browser, so I have no idea what they're talking about.

What happened here was a previous article asking readers to name their musical "blind spots," which is a nicely ambiguous question to provoke comments. Most of the 41 comments are about specific artists (the Beatles, the Grateful Dead) than about entire genres, even within classical music.

The two quotes that Tom Huizenga pulls to illustrate a "distinct refrain" from the responses:

"Oh, and by the way, rap is not music. It is mostly a bunch of meaningless drivel by people with no real talent and who certainly should not get paid."

"Very little of opera is worth bothering with and even then only as instrumental music rather than as the sounds of tortured cats.

which are the two most incendiary comments, and the least worth reading.

Now, I'm not a big fan of Juvenile or Common, or even Kanye (these days at least), but that doesn't mean rap music as a whole is a terrible thing. This is pretty darned spiffy:




Likewise, Anton Bruckner bores me to tears, but I love Vivaldi. And not just The Four Seasons (a gateway drug if there ever was one). Behold:



You could just say it's a matter of personal taste, instead of highlighting rants about "people with no real talent and who certainly should not get paid."

So:

Why do people hate Country and Dubstep?

Why do people hate banjos and bagpipes?

Why do people hate Icewedge and Trollypants?

Why do people hate blue M&Ms but not brown ones?

Why am I even writing this?