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One thing I didn't see coming was the affinity I have gained for country music. Growing up so heavily immersed in hip hop, country music was not on my radar. In fact, I once considered it to be the antithesis or even the natural enemy of rap.
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Over time I discovered my gateway into appreciating this "cowboy music" by way of Johnny Cash & Hank Williams Sr. Their outsider/outlaw image was intriguing to me. I saw them and a handful of similar artists as different from what I heard on the radio. It had a certain authenticity I liked & the older recordings had a similar feel to the oldies that I already loved.
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Over time, I found more & more artists that I liked. From early honky tonk to some contemporary artists, my playlist got heavier with the twang. It's still kind of funny to me how much of it I listen to these days.
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My life has changed a lot in the last few years & I suppose it's only natural that the soundtrack morphed as well. These days you're just as likely to catch me in the car tapping my thumb on the wheel and singing along to Sam Barber or Charley Crockett as to find me bumping Westside Gunn or Incendiary.
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I have tried to convert some of my friends to this new religion. I enjoy swapping song recommendations with my fellow man of culture, Zac Ivie & a few other friends. Other homies aren't having it & want to know what the hell happened to me. Maybe I'm really the redneck that I once tried not to be. Maybe I am part cowboy and and the other half is still the hip hop gangster I aspired to be as a teenager.
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I see a connection on the micro and macro level with the evolution of my taste in music. Expanding what I listened to was a smaller symptom of larger changes in me as a man. As I get older and become more experienced, well rounded and more mature, I see great value in giving myself permission to be a new person. There is a bedrock of who I am that is good maintain, but there are many other facets that I'm looking to grow & evole.
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Outgrowing old versions of yourself isn't selling out or becoming a square. Everywhere in nature, change is constant and stagnation leads to decay. I have too much to do & greater versions of myself to be, to let the rust start to grow.
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I'm making a big point here, but I don't think I'm overstating. To move mountains, you have to first move small stones.
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Give the playlist a shot, even if it's not usually your thing. It didn't use to be my thing either. Remember that any part of your identity is subject to change when it's time to grow. There are no rules, so we can make our own. No permission needed to become bigger and better.