Musical Stereotypes
What are Musical Stereotypes?
Group 2
Joshua Ahrns
Lee Casey
Lisa Colwill
Cory Gallagher
Portia Golloh
Dominique LeLewis
Ashley Sanders
EDP101B
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In today’s society, stereotypes are not uncommon. With the amount of them running
rampant in nearly everything we do in society, it might be a safe bet to say that stereotypes make
up the norm. In the fifth edition of the text Psychology, Stephen Davis and Joseph Palladino
define a stereotype as “a set of socially shared beliefs that we hold about members of a particular
group” (p. 447). Stereotypes focus more on the group that something belongs to, rather than the
individuals themselves. The list of stereotypes is a long one, with people making various
categories for race, people living in a certain locale, what we where, and even things that we
express an interest in. While thinking about stereotypes, our group came up with a question.
Are there stereotypes in the music realm?
The easy answer to the question was yes. We were able to name a few genres that are
well known for their stereotypical natures off the top of our heads. From there we established
that we could explore the topic more in depth to discover how classifying music could classify
how people feel about others that listen to the particular genre in question. We have each
individually explored the concepts by means of scholarly texts, our own personal experiences,
news articles and other sources in order to come together again with what we feel is the best
feeling we could get right now.
Josh: Music exists in many forms and has become not only the essence of auditory curiosity but
something that has manipulated and influenced people in a visual sense. These musical traits
when combined drive stereotypes to exist, indifferent to society and its ways. Music affects what
people like and how they look and act. As Levitin puts it in This Is Your Brain on Music, “Each
musical genre has its own set of rules and its own form. The more we listen, the more those
rules become instantiated in memory” (233). What Levitin is saying is that as we listen to
certain music, our moods, actions, and appearance will develop certain characteristics or rules
that pertain to a type of music.
Stereotypes are inescapable but necessary for people if they choose to use them as a
learning experience about the world around them. I chose to discuss the stereotypes behind
country music and rap/R&B because these two genres are most common in my daily life. For
starters, many people view country music in certain ways because it has been burdened “with
stereotypes of Hillbilly’s and maudlin ballads” (crystalinks). Personally, I have felt that most
country songs just sound the same and follow a similar tune or melody, and this would be me
Musical Stereotypes
stereotyping this particular genre. There is much more to country music however, in his song
“Songs About Me” musician Adkins Trace states that “…but I've never been crazy 'bout that
twang and trains and hillbilly thing [...] cause it's songs about me and who I am songs about
loving and living and good hearted women and family and God yeah they're all just songs about
me.”
On the opposite side of the spectrum lies the rap/R&b genre. This genre has been the
center of controversy ever since its fluid beats and shocking lyrics hit the musical world. Many
people often bring up that rap/R&B is misogynistic and that “misogyny in gangsta rap is the
promotion, glamorization, support, humorization, justification, or normalization of oppressive
ideas about women” (Adams, 940). This is many times true but I feel that if you can get past
that, there is more to rap/R&B than misogyny. The creative, clever and witty lines that stream
from hip hop/rap songs are what draw me towards it. For some songs once you get past the
insensitivity or corruptness that may be involved (and many songs are not polluted with these),
you can hear a message that may not be so bad. Under the “rough” stuff of rap hides originality
and imagination that make people like me appreciate the brilliance behind the banter.
I will admit I haven’t given country music a chance mainly because my music interests
are elsewhere. However, I think that once a person finds their musical interests that it is
ingrained in their minds that if it’s not a certain genre than it’s not for them. If we take a step
back and give certain songs a chance, then and only then will full musical appreciation be
achieved.
Cory: In this day and age, there are many different types of music; classical, rock, hip
hop, and country. There are many more, however these are just a few of the popular kinds.
Different types of music influence each person differently. It even goes to the extent of the type
of song a person is listening to, such as an up beat song or a sad and slow song. The popularity
of music can also be influenced by the age of a person, for instance, an older person may be
more likely to like to classical and jazz music, where as a teenager or young adult would most
likely listen to rock or hip hop.
I feel that people who listen to country are generally from a southern area, a country
background, or older adults. I feel that country is often music of dance and love. It is often that
any line dancing or square dances are accompanied by country music. It has a touch of twang to
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it which often fits specific people’s personality. I personally like listening to some country
because I feel that it is more calm and subtle as apposed to heavy metal or screaming music.
I think that rock and hip hop is commonly influenced and listened to by our younger
generation. It is often upbeat music and consists of primarily male artists. These types of music
can often be found being played in clubs, sporting events, and even department stores for young
adults. This music is a music that sells to youngsters. I also think this music gives people a good
and happy feeling. Most people get pumped up when hearing it and sometimes even bust out in
a shout mimicking the words. I personally like some hip hop but I would say that I am more o f
a person who is influenced by rock.
Another type of music that is popular that seems to target more of an older generation is
classical music. I feel that this music often brings a person back to their childhood memories. I
feel that they are often songs played when these people were younger, as apposed to the rap and
hip hop songs played today. I think that this music is more for easy listening and relaxing rather
than dancing and partying. It often puts you in a happy and pleasant mood. I feel that I can
sometimes listen to a few of these songs; however they are not my song of choice.
All in all, I think music has a major influence on a person’s life. It often influences a
person’s mood and behavior. Whether the music be rap or classical, upbeat or slow, happy or
sad; it all has a meaning.
Dominique: Jazz/Blues: I think that jazz/blues music makes me think about historical because it
has been around for so long. This kind of music is a much laid back kind of music and calm,
soothing and relaxing kind of music. There are either no words, or very little words, but more so
sound. You would probably listen to this kind of music while reading a book/magazine, or doing
homework. This is the kind of music you tap your foot to.
Rock/Metal: I think that this kind of music is the kind of music that you would listen to if
you were trying to get prepared for a sporting event. This kind of music is very loud, and has a
lot of energy. People would probably dance around like rockstars.
Rap/Hip Hop: This kind of music is also the kind of music that you would listen to if you
were getting prepared for a sporting event. This kind of music is very uplifting and has a lot of
energy as well. This is the kind of music people would dance to in the club or a party.
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Lisa: I associate classical music with the high class, intellectual part of society. After all,
many highly regarded and great composers of all time, like Mozart and Beethoven, wrote
classical music. Their status gives classical music a classy and sophisticated standing in the
social order. It’s played at important occasions like weddings, graduations and formal events.
Gentlemen clubs, art galleries, grand ballrooms, ladies in elegant ball gowns, champagne, and
cultured conversation are all affiliated with classical music. “As stereotypes might suggest, those
with the most education were also the main fans of opera, classical music, and jazz” (Holden).
Listeners are likely to be highly educated and refined compared to the common entity. Moreover,
they are likely to go see a play or opera, than catch sight of a tractor pull at a county fair.
Country music however, can be heard at a county fair. It’s usually upbeat and laid back.
Music videos are shot in natural settings: old houses, country fields or various scenes of a
hometown. The artists wear blue jeans, flannel shirts, cowboy hats and boots. They’re normally
unshaven, tan and look dirty. I believe people from the south and rural areas are the most loyal
country fans. The majority of the south listens to only country music. They wouldn’t even dream
to listen to rap or R&B. Their music comes from the heart, and from my own personal
experience, country music fans tend to be more caring and giving then others. Courtesy is key
down south; traditional values and morals are present in their music. High school sweethearts,
football games, love and work are common subject matter. They may talk slow and have a funny
accent, but that doesn’t make them dense like the stereotype suggests.
Rock music has two different scenes. What first comes to mind is the sex, drugs and
alcohol aspect of rock-and-roll. Big concerts with hundreds of fans lined around stage, ready to
scream and shout the night away. The second scene is more relaxed: College students chilling in
their dorm rooms listening to Jack Johnson and OAR.
Metal, another form of rock, has a different vibe. Metal listeners are seen as selfdestructive. They wear baggy pants, black clothes, black nail polish, studded belts, chains, and
spiky hair. I personally dislike metal music; it’s a dark and sinister style. “Teens who show a
preference for heavy metal music tend to abuse substances and receive poor grades, have
difficulties in school or a lack of commitment towards education, and show increased levels of
delinquency” (Fried 4). They have a bad reputation and seem to get in trouble more often then
others. They’re more likely to do drugs and make bad life decisions.
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Rap listeners are sometimes classified as threats to society. “The news articles raise fears
that rap fans will commit rape, murder, violence, and other crimes against society” (Fried 5). The
artists are largely black males with troubled pasts. They’ve come from broken families, lived in
dangerous neighborhoods, and have been surrounded by drugs. The lyrics to the songs reflect
these troubled lives, and many fear they will influence listeners. It’s played at nightclubs and is
mainly popular amongst teens and young adults. Parents find it repulsive and don’t like their
young children listening to it.
Portia: Music stereotypes.
What is it and how does it play a role in our lives? Music stereotypes are basically the
genres in music. There are so many categories that we come in contact with each day. In our
daily lives, we listen to all kinds of songs ranging from country, classical, hip-pop, r&b, hard
rock, gospel, and so on. As we hear some of these songs over and over again, we sometimes get
attached to it when we like it or avoid listening to it for other reasons.
What makes one genre of music more pleasing to ears than the others? I strongly believe
that this is generally affected by the way we choose to perceive sound and interpret the music we
hear each day. I also believe that this is also affected by the kinds of songs we listen to, as we
grow old. For instance a child who grows up from a family who listens to only classical music
would grow to like it but that doesn’t mean that he or she will hate hip-pop. Because sometimes
our perspectives due to lack of understanding causes us to misjudge the things that makes us
curious about others who are very different from us. In the same way, a kid from a Christian
home is more likely to listen to gospel music but that doesn’t mean that this child wouldn’t like
classical songs or hip-pop. Furthermore, it all leads back to our own perspective on the things we
come in contact with each day. In addition, I also believe that no one can compel you to like
something you dislike or un familiar with because all efforts to adept to change depends on a
person’s self of understanding and acceptance of who they truly are.
How does music affect people perspectives? Music and perspective I know goes together
because most of the songs we listen to has lyrics written by someone usually based on physical
or emotional struggles. And sometimes the lyrics of a song relates to similar issues we may be
dealing with in our lives so this creates some kind of connection between the music and our lives
in general. Some songs have decent lyrics and this does not automatically make anyone who
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listens to this kind of music a good person. On the other there are some songs have profane and
filthy lyrics. In the same way people who listen to songs with such lyrics are not usually
considered to social outcasts because of the kind of songs they listen to. The effect a music or
song we listen to has on us is the purpose of which it serves. “The appreciation we have for
music is intimately related to our ability to learn the underlying structure of the music we like-the
equivalent to grammar in spoken or signed languages-and to be able to make predictions about
what will come next” (Levitin p. 111). For instance, I only listen to classical music only if I
want to sleep soundly. This is basically because it is sometimes very slow and calming and this
truly helps me unwind after a hard days work. On the other hand I have also observed that at
most parties start with gospel then it goes to hip-pop and I strongly believe that it’s a good way
to start anything in life; that is by calling on the name of the Lord first. And asking him to
intercede and to make the gathering or whatever is about to happen a success. Usually at parties
we want to have fun so the music played are typically for people to dance to it or sing along. It
all depends on the theme of the party and the kinds of songs played at the party.
To conclude, everyone is entitled to his or her own opinions and I totally respect that.
This mainly because we are all different and the kinds of things you may like I may dislike. It’s
the same with music I only listen to one genre not because I don’t like the others is just because
gospel music makes me happy and it keeps me going each day. This does not mean that I hate
the other genre is just that I haven’t considered listening to anything else apart from gospel and
classical. I know that without listening to another genre of music I can’t hate it just for any
reason. Classical music and hard rock may differ from each other; however, this does not make
classical more pleasing than rock.
Ashley: Whenever I think about musical stereotypes, my mind automatically jumps to locations
and correlates places where people grew up to be a big influence on what they prefer listening to,
among other things. My family moved around a lot when I was little, but the place that I ended
up living at longest and ended up going to high school at was a tiny rural town surrounded by
farms. Naturally, a majority of the people at my school enjoyed listening to country very often.
They wore the flannel and John Doe t-shirts, and talked about the things they were doing for 4-H
projects and how excited they were for the county fair. It was most certainly a case where the
stereotype was an exact fit for the image that my peers were displaying. Crystal Chan thinks this
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is something that happens all the time in her article. “Every musical genre has its own set of
conventions beyond the music. Take country, rap or any other label and you automatically
connote a certain set of principles, a way of life. Music, perhaps more than any other art form
today, is one understood through a system of categorization” (Chan, 2007). It’s true enough, as
whenever people walk into a music store, people more often than not get assaulted by the tons of
different sections of music that are available for them to peruse. It reminds me strongly of a lyric
in Blue October’s Inner Glow: “So here’s a preview shove it under old-new / Or call it rock or
pop or Bach or […] / Where did we go wrong? / Now there’s a category for every song” (2003).
While those people my school followed the stereotypes that living in a small rural town
seemed to dictate, it was an undeniable truth that they listened to more things than just country.
They were actually quite fond of rap and hip hop as well, which normally would be associated
with inner city people, if we were to continue following the trends. There were some people,
including myself, that just didn’t like country at all. Some of these people fit the standard image
of people that listened to a lot of darker sounding metal. They were wearing the chains and
studs, and the metal band t-shirts from Hot Topic. One guy had custom ordered vampire fangs
that he would wear while he listened to his gothic bands deep in the night. Even at the time, I
thought it was incredibly interesting how these seemingly incredibly different sets of people
interacted on a day to day basis, and how some of them just continued displaying traits of their
music group throughout the rest of their actions and mannerisms.
Then there were the people that just continue to deny any mainstream sort of
categorization. I had a close friend who only listened to theatrical movie scores and Frank
Sinatra. What sort of category would she be sorted in to? Could she be sorted in to one? I don’t
think its very easy to answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to that question and provide very good reasoning for
the decision.
Lee: Different genres of music can be rather easily associated with certain groups of people.
These stereotypes may be baseless in a lot of situations but are true in many others. I believe the
environment in which you grow up has a large impact in the genre of music you prefer. Babies
are able to recognize, and prefer music they hear while in the womb when tested at the age of 1
(Levitin, 2006, p.217). With this being true, the music I prefer today may be a direct result of
my parents’ favorite music when I was in the womb. As we look at music stereotypes, they are
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often based in socioeconomic status (SES). SES is “the generic idea…that all known complex
societies are characterized by one or more forms of institutionalized social inequality” (Duncan,
Featherman, & Duncan, (1972)). As I explore the stereotypes associated with each genre we
selected I will relate each stereotype to where I think it is based, whether it be a result of parents
likings, socioeconomic status, or something else altogether.
Classical: The stereotypical classical music listener is well educated, wealthy and older. I
believe this is based on status in society. Once someone has reached a certain level maturity and
financial stability they want a more sophisticated genre of music. Rapping about gangsters and
rock about hate are no longer enticing. Classical music carries an air of elite around it. To truly
appreciate it you must know music and be able to find a message with little or no words.
Blues/Jazz: Blues and Jazz are two very different types of music in their own right. I see blues
listeners as middle class citizens sitting at a middle class bar enjoying a live band. I think of
white haired Bill Clinton when I think jazz. Jazz strikes me as being played in a slightly more
upscale setting than blues. This ties these two stereotypes, in my mind, directly to SES. I
believe these are genres you grow into. My parents listened to some blues as I grew up but it
was the product of their generation not mine. It did not interest me as it did them, just as the
punk rock of my generation interests me but not them.
Country:
“There is a common misconception about country music that gives it such a bad
reputation: every country song is a sob story about a hillbilly whose girl left him, pickup broke
down, dog died, or so the story goes. Another misconception is that if you listen to country
music you automatically become a hick” (Lockhart, 2008). This is the age old stereotype I think
of when I think country music, and I love country music. I grew up in North Carolina and have
been battling these stereotypes my whole life. Country music certainly sings about and appeals
to people of a certain SES. From personal experience I can say the common stereotypes ring true
in many aspects. However, country in the last 5-10 years has become a very mainstream genre
of music. People still love to hate it and call each other hillbillies for listening to it but it has
gained traction well outside of Nashville and the Appalachian mountain area.
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Rock/Metal: I associate these two types of music with people who want to rebel against society.
Rock music has stereotypes that fans of heavy metal focus on traits and behaviors that are selfdestructive (Fried, 2003, p. 2). I can see the fans of this genre being born into it or developing
the liking later in life as a result of some need to rebel. It always seems to be angry music for
angry people. I listen to it when I go to the gym and want to increase my aggression. I think a
child in the womb could become used to it, be born into a rock/metal household and have it stick.
This begins to address some of the psychological effects music can have on a person.
Rap and R&B: To me, almost all rap music is about growing up in a struggle. For that reason
the stereotypical listener seems to be someone going through a similar situation. Like country, it
has become a lot more mainstream but the message is often the same: Rap about the tough times
and how much money you have now. I tie this stereotype directly to socioeconomic status. I
believe you listen to what you can relate to in most cases. It can be motivating that Jay-Z grew
up on the same block as you and now drives a Maybach. Most rap artists are aware of their fan
base and use their music to send messages. Davis and Palladino define motivation as
“physiological and psychological factors that account for the arousal, direction, and persistence
of behavior.” Motivating through music brings about a new, interesting question: When
socioeconomic status is increased, does preferred genre of music change? That would be an
interesting topic for another paper.
Through out our investigations, it became clear that each of us have found similar ideas
about the various musical genres that we had been working with. The overlapping opinions back
each other up, and it becomes hard to deny the existence of musical stereotypes within our
society. They’re there, and they are fairy obvious about themselves. But why do people put
things in to categories to begin with? Davis and Palladino say that it’s because “if you put
people in to categories, you have fewer items of information to deal with—you can think about a
small number of categories rather than a large number of individuals” (p. 647). So it stands that
we could be getting judged on our taste in music, no matter the reasons that might go in to us
listening to what we do.
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Works Cited
Adams, Terri M. and Douglas B. Fuller. The Words Have Changed but the Ideology
Remains the Same: Misogynistic Lyrics in Rap Music. Journal of Black Studies. 2006.
Retrieved April 22, 2008, from http://jbs.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/36/6/938.
Blue October (2003). Inner Glow.
On History for Sale [CD]. New York: Universal Records.
Chan, Crystal. (2007). Pop Rhetoric: Springtime for musical stereotypes. The McGill
Tribune Online. Retrieved April 23, 2008, from
http://media.www.mcgilltribune.com/media/storage/paper234/news/2007/03/12/AE/PopRhetoric.Springtime.For.Musical.Stereotypes-2772639.shtml
Crystalinks. Country and Western Music. Retrieved April 22, 2008, from
http://www.crystalinks.com/countrymusic.html
Davis, S.F. & Palladino, J.J. (2007). Psychology (5th Edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Prentice-Hall.
Duncan, Featherman, & Duncan, (1972). Socioeconomic Background and Achievement.
New York: Seminar Press.
Fried, Carrie D, Ph.D. (2003). Stereotypes of Music Fans: Are Rap and Heavy Metal
Fans a Danger to Themselves or Others? Journal of Media Psychology, Volume 8,
Number 3. Retrieved from http://www.calstatela.edu/faculty/sfischo/Fried%20rev.pdf
Holden, Constance. (2006). Classical's Class and Rap's Bad Rap. Science AAAS. 2. Science
NOW Daily News. Retrieved April 23, 2008 , from
http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2006/921/3?rss=1
Levitin, D.J. (2006). This is your brain on music: The science of a human obsession. New
York, NY: Dutton.
Lockhart, Amelia (2008). Yea, I Like Country. The Cord Weekly.
http://www.cordweekly.com/cordweekly/myweb.php?hls=10034&news_id=1498
Trace, Adkins. “Songs About Me.” Lyrics. Songs About Me. Capitol Records Nashville,
2005.