As someone who is aging. Late thirties. How can I keep my finger on the pulse of current trends, particularly in music?

As an example. I grew up in hip-hop but at a certain point I stopped listening to new people and realised recently that I’d slept on some bangers. Like Kendrick particularly, but even people like Juice WRLD and Xxxtentacion.

The same for the Kendrick and Drake (the nonce) beef which has given some rabbit holes to go down.

So I’m wondering what I can do to keep in the loop with my younger brothers and sisters?

Is it something as simple as watching trending videos on YouTube (somtheing I’ve never done) or are there people to follow etc. I don’t like Twitter though so hopefully it’s not that.

Edit: Man I got so many replies. You guys are awesome. I am going to work my way through them all today, but I’m hella tired and off to work so may take a while. I will reply to you all.

Edit part deux: God damn I think I got all the replies.

WamGams ,

KGRG is world famous among radio fans. Those kids have the pulse.

dependencyinjection OP ,

Thanks. Going to hit this up tonight.

Blaze ,
@Blaze@reddthat.com avatar

Small shout out to !askmenover30

Pulptastic ,

YouTube music made discovery worse compared to Google music, but it is still OK.

When I hear a good song on a show or movie, I ID it with my phone and explore others by the artist or genre. I also thumbs up it to get more recommendations from YTM

Same when friends recommended music. So yeah, talk to friends about music. And then do the above two steps with their suggestions and likes.

Jarix ,

And online radio station that has no songs older than 36 months helps me.

Best thing is its free. No ads. And you dont need to make an account.

(They are changing to modernrock.ca)
https://www.whatwasthatradio.com/

dependencyinjection OP ,

Awesome thanks.

Jarix ,

Your welcome. If it helps was a former DJ of 10 years on 91.3 theZone out of Victoria BC Canada

His new station is a licensed SOCAN broadcaster. He has a lot of great interviews you can look through as well.

Hope you find it useful!

Rai ,

Check out the excellent podcast “Search Engine!” There’s an episode called “How do I find new music more that I’m old and irrelevant?”

dependencyinjection OP ,

Thanks for this. You’ve actually helped in another way that I didn’t even ask as I am running out of descent podcasts that I haven’t binged.

PsychedSy ,

Hang out with high schoolers.

irreticent ,
@irreticent@lemmy.world avatar

Found Matt Gaetz's account.

PsychedSy ,

Hey now, I didn't say to take them across state lines.

dependencyinjection OP ,

Shit I thought Drake got murdered last week.

FeelThePower ,
@FeelThePower@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

Honestly, just follow some Instagram meme pages or browse SoundCloud's rap playlists. As a young person™️, this is how I've always found stuff, including xxxtentacion and lil peep when I was younger and they were both still around. If you're worried about "invading" our spaces like the other comment says, I think that sentiment is changing. I've befriended some older peeps online just for having anime pfps and stuff lmao.

dependencyinjection OP ,

Thanks dude for the soundcloud req.

Also, for making me feel a bit better about invading spaces, as i honestly only want to learn more about current trends and close the divide between generations.

I went down a Xxxtentacion and Juice WRLD rabbit hole when I found them and man I’m so sad they not here as those were some interesting people with unique perspectives.

rufus ,

I feel you. I think I'm experiencing the same.

I'd say it's almost summer now, go out and visit some music festivals. That's a place where I found some inspiration and new (to me) artists.

Also having friends with a similar taste in music helps.

I have a Spotify subscription and that helps me listen to a broad range of music on a whim. But I think the Spotify algorithm isn't helping me in discovering new artists. I rarely find anything interesting and new that way.

dependencyinjection OP ,

Seems Spotify is getting so many mentions and many people preferring it to Apple Music for finding new music.

Festivals are an idea too so thanks.

sturlabragason , (edited )

I get all the inside info from my teenage kids 😅

Here’s some in no particular order;

https://open.spotify.com/track/42VsgItocQwOQC3XWZ8JNA?si=HegVMDH4ROCGcS2WX6KEMA&context=spotify%3Aalbum%3A18NOKLkZETa4sWwLMIm0UZ

https://open.spotify.com/track/7ooMMJ57DvXJ9QrdA2IKzb?si=VFPuFA_hQBqklPztdMXG5Q&context=spotify%3Aplaylist%3A1sQAM3faF7b8Y775Suf8T3

https://open.spotify.com/track/3wGXyJGsCf1myH5MooQIqE?si=muI8FD-DQPKx-Tk8bkUaKQ&context=spotify%3Aalbum%3A1S7KWH0szrqutOvzsqxiBv

https://open.spotify.com/track/48PNPySDWhDzPYKd0VHzRZ?si=TSynKlYARUmzcwHNU5MjnQ&context=spotify%3Asearch%3Awhat%2B

https://open.spotify.com/track/3rKHEHCqPnYOzSMEt5DJKq?si=0WDxPKXCQU-9JJ8Ht1ZODA&context=spotify%3Aalbum%3A17ff3780kXxf0aNwyVSn0n

https://open.spotify.com/track/2mdNOsotHkz5POLtu0qCJm?si=EoJKClvYSkyB8Omq1krSVQ&context=spotify%3Aalbum%3A4R0KYGz7o9PvWcef6xtl8v

https://open.spotify.com/track/6nWjnyGiPqb5bmkhsyYvLZ?si=lp-B5Ur9TtOEXMIXn5ZLfA

https://open.spotify.com/track/6uU1QhxwtrnOdALd4K1nBs?si=SQiYCxaKRkygirNkBTqq1g

https://open.spotify.com/track/3qX1dqmDdmMvvfMVfsx4Bh?si=nWMONtu_T1Sn_8lHdWKmyw

And a bunch of music from the 00s and 10s which is now old school and cool 😅

dependencyinjection OP ,

Dude you cheated, maybe I shoulda had kids but im too selfish 😂

Resol ,
@Resol@lemmy.world avatar

There is the Eurovision Song Contest, buuuuuuuut, this year's season has been such an incredible shitshow that I can't recommend it anymore. Seriously, I wish it never got this way.

So... spend some time listening to the entries from 2013 to 2022. Those are the ones that I liked the most, especially from 2021 (spoiler: Måneskin is in there somewhere, and so is Duncan Lawrence, and Rosa Linn, and the Sunstroke Project... the ones with the Epic Sax Guy, you might have heard of all of these guys before, oh, and Flo Rida too)

2012 and earlier (down to 1997 I guess) do have some cool stuff, but most of it is kinda kitschy and unserious. There are some strong entries, but it's being overshadowed by what is basically garbage and political voting. But at least we got a taste of Loreen out of that. You've heard of that Nightcore remix of a song called Rockefeller Street? Yep, that's from Eurovision.

As for 2023 specifically... well, there's a certain green Finnish guy that you might love, and has almost won if it wasn't for- oh God, Loreen again? And there's some other cool stuff I guess.

The 90s, 80s, and 70s all have some fantastic entries, some of then are even from super famous people such as ABBA, Celine Dion, Olivia Newton John, Johnny Logan, Julio Iglesias, Samira Bensaid, in addition to lots of incredibly interesting folks. There's a live orchestra in there too, so you know things are authentic.

And then there's the 60s and 50s. I can't remember anything about them.

So, enjoy my recommendation of the songs, and please for God's sake, avoid watching the contest live at all costs, and especially stay away from its political influence. There's a particular country in there that everybody wants out, and I'm pretty sure you know who it is. They've basically ruined 2024.

dependencyinjection OP ,

I’d never considered the Eurovision Song Contest.

Il check out the recommended ones.

I will avoid the live show at all costs. I always thought it was less about the singers and they vote for their friends.

Resol ,
@Resol@lemmy.world avatar

Well, yeah sort of, but they don't REALLY do it anymore.

some_guy ,

I try to pick up artists from younger coworkers. That's how I learned about 100 Gecs. Saw them live. We were the olds. Skipped PinkPantheress cause it felt like we'd be too olds.

dependencyinjection OP ,

As a software developer in a small company. These people wouldn’t know hip-hop if pac came and slapped em.

Thanks though.

Sabata11792 ,

You got to ride the youtube algo musical rabbit hole down to the bottom, otherwise it just feeds you the same 10 playlist. Find a song/band outside your norm that is tolerable, then you can choose a direction based off recommended. You can upvote what you like/the right direction to tune the algo. You should get mostly top songs from that artist or similar bubbles, although if your adventurous check smaller artist and explore. There's hidden diamonds.

Eventually you find some random anon artist with a weird cult following and what seems to be a sub-sub-sub-sub genera with artist with the same vibe. There will be bubbles of artist remixing each-other, working together, starting fights and drama, and making good shit. Follow what catches your attention and youtube will eventually lead you to the good shit of a niche. I assume most services would do the same.

dependencyinjection OP ,

That’s a good point as I usually just search for things rather than follow the next set of videos recommended.

Thanks.

Sabata11792 ,

No problem. It's hard to find new stuff when you don't know what new stuff your looking for and the algorithm keeps you stagnant unless you push it.

dependencyinjection OP ,

It’s like Dunning-Kruger you don’t know what you don’t know so it’s hard to even begin.

Man this post blew up and it was a lot of work to reply to all the posts, I feel I missed a few still.

PrivateNoob ,
@PrivateNoob@sopuli.xyz avatar

Not music specific but you could join probably a bigger Discord community around a topic which interests a bunch of young lads. For example, I'm in a VRC community, where I usually chat sometimes (I'm 23, not that old) and DC communities usually offer music channels where you could maybe check what they share.

dependencyinjection OP ,

I’ve tried Discord before but I never knew where to find channels I might like.

I will give it another go as it seems like a good idea. Thanks dude.

PrivateNoob ,
@PrivateNoob@sopuli.xyz avatar

You could perhaps check out this: https://disboard.org/

dependencyinjection OP ,

Awesome.

kurcatovium ,
@kurcatovium@lemm.ee avatar

Apart from usuals like spotify or bandcamp, I'd also like to introduce gnod here: https://www.gnod.com/

I do not use it very often, but it's quite nice to browse the recommendations based on what you were recently listening once in a while.

dependencyinjection OP ,

Thanks. I’m getting a nice selection of links now.

arin ,

Just listen to what you like, don't be a creep

unreasonabro ,

Hey, yo, the music's not yours m8. you didn't make it, so who's being the creep

dependencyinjection OP ,

This is a weird take. It’s creepy to want to keep up to date with current trends.

Kendrick Lamar is a certified beast and my life is better having found his music than not.

Anyway, what does it say about a person if they don’t want to continually learn, grow, and move out of their comfort zone.

I hope you’re not projecting.

arin ,

🚩 asking Internet for help to keep up with the young crowd and you say others are projecting. Old creep your comment is projecting 😂

dependencyinjection OP ,

Motherfucker read the room.

The only person here with a weird take is you fam.

unreasonabro ,

sounds like you don't know what the words you're using mean, owing to the incredible stupidity you have

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