Would you rather be waterboarded or attend a Kanye West concert?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Strap me down and get the towel ready!

[Bootes Void]

Waterboarding sounds like a rad activity at a college frat party if you didn't understand what its actual use was.

[Alben Barkley]

Torture vs. a concert by one of the greatest musical artists of his genre and generation?

Gee, tough question.

Now if it was an emo band, on the other hand...

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Torture vs. a concert by one of the greatest musical artists of his genre and generation?

Gee, tough question.

There is no such option on this poll. There is an option though for an "artist" from a "genre" that is absolute f[inks]ing trash and has produced about as much content as artistic merit as Donald Trump's pre-Presidential career.

Now if it was an emo band, on the other hand...

Do you have any idea just how intense as f[inks] and incredible emo bands live can be?

[Fight for Trump]

Kowabunga!

[Starry Eyed Jagaloon]

I get to go to another Kanye concert? What fun!

[If my soul was made of stone]

Torture vs. a concert by one of the greatest musical artists of his genre and generation?

Gee, tough question.

Now if it was an emo band, on the other hand...

There is no such option on this poll. There is an option though for an "artist" from a "genre" that is absolute f[inks]ing trash and has produced about as much content as artistic merit as Donald Trump's pre-Presidential career.

[HisGrace]

Definitely Kanye.

Would prefer getting waterboarded to going to an emo concert, though.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Torture vs. a concert by one of the greatest musical artists of his genre and generation?

Gee, tough question.

Now if it was an emo band, on the other hand...

There is no such option on this poll. There is an option though for an "artist" from a "genre" that is absolute f[inks]ing trash and has produced about as much content as artistic merit as Donald Trump's pre-Presidential career.

I don't say either one of those though. I don't listen to rap or country...or virtually anything except some very specific punk offshoot genres. Like at least 80% of what I listen to is descended in some way from a very specific brief movement in the mid-80s Washington DC hardcore punk scene. Even the music that's played at my church is heavily influenced by this. I also don't listen to any heavy metal (and in fact hating metal music is another one of my "quirks")....or EDM...or anything else that doesn't revolve around guitars and drums....or almost anything that doesn't have either the word "post-" or "-core" in the genre name.

[Fight for Trump]

Don't you like classic punk?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Don't you like classic punk?

Not really. I've made my opinion of The Ramones known here before and when a Sex Pistols song came on one of my Spotify daily mixes yesterday I was like "WHAT THE F[INKS]?" but I listened it and it wasn't bad...just not as good as any punk derived from Ian MacKaye and Guy Picciotto.

The most non-MacKaye/Picciotto-derived music I listen to would be 90s alternative and grunge, but even that was a pretty big influence on the Midwest emo stuff I love (like Mineral are named after a Buffalo Tom song, of course I like Buffalo Tom!)

[John Dule]

I've always wondered what waterboarding feels like, while I've never once had any interest in what Kanye West's music sounds like.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Also I am pretty much 100% confident this band does not listen to rap or country (like lol just listen to them) and they very obviously do not have any racist or classist tendencies.

[Orwell]

Having experienced both of these things, I'll have to say Kanye is much more enjoyable.

[Fight for Trump]

Imo, Kanye had one good album (his first) and became worse and worse over time.

[If my soul was made of stone]

Also I am pretty much 100% confident this band does not listen to rap or country (like lol just listen to them) and they very obviously do not have any racist or classist tendencies.

You'd be surprised by the breadth of taste of most great musicians, including "non-white" music. Think of all of the early punks and post-punk progenitors who were really into reggae.

[The Houstonian]

The Kanye slander in this thread is off the meter.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Also I am pretty much 100% confident this band does not listen to rap or country (like lol just listen to them) and they very obviously do not have any racist or classist tendencies.

You'd be surprised by the breadth of taste of most great musicians, including "non-white" music. Think of all of the early punks and post-punk progenitors who were really into reggae.

But how the f[inks] am I supposed to be able to train my ears to like hip-hop and country? Like I don't think any of the emo bashers here would be able to do that for emo.

[Fight for Trump]

Also I am pretty much 100% confident this band does not listen to rap or country (like lol just listen to them) and they very obviously do not have any racist or classist tendencies.

You'd be surprised by the breadth of taste of most great musicians, including "non-white" music. Think of all of the early punks and post-punk progenitors who were really into reggae.

But how the f[inks] am I supposed to be able to train my ears to like hip-hop and country? Like I don't think any of the emo bashers here would be able to do that for emo.

You can start with artists like Beastie Boys and Johnny Cash and work your way in from there. If you get to stuff you don't like, no problem, you don't have to like every genre of music.

[Dr. MB]

Also I am pretty much 100% confident this band does not listen to rap or country (like lol just listen to them) and they very obviously do not have any racist or classist tendencies.

You'd be surprised by the breadth of taste of most great musicians, including "non-white" music. Think of all of the early punks and post-punk progenitors who were really into reggae.

But how the f[inks] am I supposed to be able to train my ears to like hip-hop and country? Like I don't think any of the emo bashers here would be able to do that for emo.

I mean I used to think I hated metal. But I listened to some instrumentals and to my surprise I actually liked them. And now I can listen to basically any type of metal even if it’s got harsh vocals and still enjoy it. You don’t have to start by diving headfirst into the pit. Just find some artists that are a little more palatable and see if you’re into it or not. If not then that’s fine. But if you are then maybe check out some of the deeper stuff.

[Starry Eyed Jagaloon]

Also I am pretty much 100% confident this band does not listen to rap or country (like lol just listen to them) and they very obviously do not have any racist or classist tendencies.

You'd be surprised by the breadth of taste of most great musicians, including "non-white" music. Think of all of the early punks and post-punk progenitors who were really into reggae.

But how the f[inks] am I supposed to be able to train my ears to like hip-hop and country? Like I don't think any of the emo bashers here would be able to do that for emo.

Well akshully, Kanye is great introductory hip hop. But I digress.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Also I am pretty much 100% confident this band does not listen to rap or country (like lol just listen to them) and they very obviously do not have any racist or classist tendencies.

You'd be surprised by the breadth of taste of most great musicians, including "non-white" music. Think of all of the early punks and post-punk progenitors who were really into reggae.

But how the f[inks] am I supposed to be able to train my ears to like hip-hop and country? Like I don't think any of the emo bashers here would be able to do that for emo.

I mean I used to think I hated metal. But I listened to some instrumentals and to my surprise I actually liked them. And now I can listen to basically any type of metal even if it’s got harsh vocals and still enjoy it. You don’t have to start by diving headfirst into the pit. Just find some artists that are a little more palatable and see if you’re into it or not. If not then that’s fine. But if you are then maybe check out some of the deeper stuff.

I actually think the reason I hate metal is because it's a sort of "uncanny valley" to my hardcore trained ears, the framework in it is so different from what I expect from music with harsh vocals or "heavy" guitar work and when I hear it it just comes across as "wrong" and thus just comes across as akin to just harsh noise the exact same way it would to like my grandparents or a teenage girl pop fan. The inverse is probably also why so many metalheads hate hardcore.

[HisGrace]

when a Sex Pistols song came on one of my Spotify daily mixes yesterday I was like "WHAT THE F[INKS]?" but I listened it and it wasn't bad...just not as good as any punk derived from Ian MacKaye and Guy Picciotto.

Dude I just feel sorry for you.

Anyway, that meme was also dumb. No one's under any obligation to like any genre of music.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Also I am pretty much 100% confident this band does not listen to rap or country (like lol just listen to them) and they very obviously do not have any racist or classist tendencies.

You'd be surprised by the breadth of taste of most great musicians, including "non-white" music. Think of all of the early punks and post-punk progenitors who were really into reggae.

Leonard Cohen, as early as the mid-90s, remarked that he preferred to listen to rap and country because they were, in his opinion, the genres in which the best lyrical work was being done.

[HisGrace]

Also I am pretty much 100% confident this band does not listen to rap or country (like lol just listen to them) and they very obviously do not have any racist or classist tendencies.

You'd be surprised by the breadth of taste of most great musicians, including "non-white" music. Think of all of the early punks and post-punk progenitors who were really into reggae.

But how the f[inks] am I supposed to be able to train my ears to like hip-hop and country? Like I don't think any of the emo bashers here would be able to do that for emo.

I mean I used to think I hated metal. But I listened to some instrumentals and to my surprise I actually liked them. And now I can listen to basically any type of metal even if it’s got harsh vocals and still enjoy it. You don’t have to start by diving headfirst into the pit. Just find some artists that are a little more palatable and see if you’re into it or not. If not then that’s fine. But if you are then maybe check out some of the deeper stuff.

I actually think the reason I hate metal is because it's a sort of "uncanny valley" to my hardcore trained ears, the framework in it is so different from what I expect from music with harsh vocals or "heavy" guitar work and when I hear it it just comes across as "wrong" and thus just comes across as akin to just harsh noise the exact same way it would to like my grandparents or a teenage girl pop fan. The inverse is probably also why so many metalheads hate hardcore.

I admittedly haven't listened to a lot of metal, I've just heard some of the big mainstream thrash bands and tried to get into doom metal one time because the description on the internet sounded like something I might like (it turns out I did not). But the reasons I don't like what I've heard are that it doesn't have the sense of dynamics that I usually like to get from rock music. I know metal fans hate when people say this but it just ends up sounding like "noise". And it's just so over the top I can't take it seriously even though it seems to desperately want me to. I've cracked up laughing during songs before.