Often times I get asked what type of music I listen to, and the answer seems to surprise people, I will listen to everyone and everything as long as it appeals to my ear.

I feel that people get so caught up in their favorite genres that they close themselves off to other forms of music, and I get it because I was the same way during my childhood. I use to only listen to rock, and literally nothing else. Disturbed was my favorite band back then, and I was certain that there was no sound in existence that could top theirs.

A big factor that played into me being closed off to other forms of music is that during my upbringing I was told by my classmates and educators that the only thing rap encourages is the abuse of drugs and women, country music was for stupid drunk rednecks, pop was for stupid teenage girls, and that techno was just a bunch of random sounds. As much as I hate to admit it, these stereotypes stayed with me for a long time.

It wasn’t until high school where I decided to cross into the unknown territory of rap music with artists like Eminem, Lil Wayne, and Rick Ross. And as I listened to them, I thought to myself “holy shit this is actually pretty good let me see what else is out there.”

Here is a compilation of songs I like from multiple genres, hopefully, it encourages some of you to get your feet wet and see the world beyond your favorite artists.