Music is something every individual can relate to, mostly because there is such a wide variety of music type.

Everybody has a different taste, and artists are always developing new sounds. Therefore, music has altered a whole lot over the decades.

Some broad examples of music genres are country, pop, psychedelic rock, rap and screamo. These genres, excluding rap, have been being around for generations.

The Prowl staff decided to rate each category of music by these criteria: lyrical, sound and the artists who play the music type. Each category is ranked 1 – 5 in each criteria, then giving an overall score by adding the three numbers together.

On behalf of The Prowl staff, here is what I think:

Country

If we look at the big picture, every country song is essentially the same: workin’ hard, drinkin’ beer and meetin’ girls. Every country song will have a guitar playing in the background and the overall songs all play out the same way. Country singers, however, are often very kind-hearted and dedicated.

Lyrics – 1, sound – 3, artists – 5

Overall score – 9

Pop

Pop tunes are extremely upbeat and purposely get you hyped and happy. Although, in modern pop, almost every single song is based around the same thing; love. If it’s not love, it is some type of inspiration. Also, the songs on the radio all have some type of techno beat that plays after the chorus. If you don’t believe me, turn on KTAG-97.1 and listen for a couple of minutes. Pop stars are usually extremely famous and can have falling outs. However, the media still loves them anyway and so does most of the population. For example, Fergie. She uses so much autotune that when she sang the national anthem at the NBA All-Star game, people’s ears bled.

Lyrics – 2, sound – 4, artists – 3

Overall score – 9

Psychedelic rock

This style of music started to emerge in the mid-1960s. The sound of psychedelic rock tries to imitate the mind-altering state one experiences on hallucinogenic drugs such as LSD or ‘shrooms. The Beatles, Pink Floyd, The Doors, Grateful Dead and Led Zeppelin are a couple of examples of psychedelic rock bands. This genre of rock has a very different sound; no two songs sound the same. The lyrics of these songs range widely. Some songs are about love and others make direct or indirect references to psychedelic drugs. The people who play this type of acid rock are down to earth, but the majority of them obviously used drugs.

Lyrics – 4, sound – 5, artists – 3

Overall score – 12

Rap

Rap is, comparatively, quite a new style of music. You can hear teenagers listening to this genre everywhere all of the time. Most rap songs are about girls, drugs and money, whereas other rap artists rap about their struggles. There is no denying that some rappers are trashy. They blow their money on bling and most times demonstrate little or no talent whatsoever. I listen to some talented rappers who actually turn their poetry into music, although as a whole group, they aren’t all that impressive. The rap scene uses unique sounds in their music. I have never really heard two songs that sound exactly the same (unless the artist purposely uses another rapper’s beat).

Lyrics – 2, sound – 3, artists – 1

Overall score – 6

Screamo

Screamo is another sub–genre of rock music. Most people do not like screamo and this is probably because they can’t understand the lyrics. I believe most people just don’t care enough to actually listen. The lyrics of screamo songs are passionate. The artist/band who sings these songs write the lyrics about something that matters to them. For example, Of Mice & Men have a screamo song called Second & Sebring and it is about the singer’s mother dying. The artists  in these bands are always so kind and light-hearted. They are good people with angry-sounding music. Screamo songs will usually include fast guitar riffs, drum solos and hard bass. The songs make you want to jump around – there is a reason why people join in on mosh pits at rock concerts.

Lyrics – 4, sound – 4, artists – 5

Overall score – 13