As someone who prides themselves on having a vast music taste, listening to mainstream music is not something I have been proud of for the longest time.

I enjoy music analysis and digging deep into artists’ catalogs, but I always felt “bad” for listening to the same music everyone else was.

I’ve seen some incredible musicians who were originally “underground,” such as The Weeknd and Tyler, The Creator, turn into massive artists over the years and I think it’s important to understand that mainstream music doesn’t always have to be “bad.” 

Yes, there are plenty of songs that come up in the Billboard Hot 100 that are very questionable, such as most Megan Trainor songs. However, that can be said the same for plenty of underground music.

I think Tyler, The Creator said it best in his song “Goblin” when he said, “I don’t listen to the Immortal of Tech-of-the-nique and all this underground bullshit that’s never gon’ peak.”

This line describes how Tyler, even in the underground realm himself at this time, still prefers to listen to popular songs, especially rap ones. 

Tech-of-the-nique is one of the most popular underground rappers of all time. He refused to sign a deal with a major record label which caused him to stay “underground” for his entire career when he could have easily made it into mainstream music.

This Tyler line showcases how even though it may seem cool or different to listen to underground music, there is usually a good reason why it stays underground.

Around 2017, when the SoundCloud era of artists such as Lil Peep and Playboi Carti popped up, many individuals, including myself, listened to this sort of music just because that was cool. 

As someone who has taken the time to listen to many underground artists and songs, you are not missing much listening to underground work. 

Don’t get me wrong, some artists, such as Playboi Carti and Lil Uzi Vert deserved to make it out of the underground space. However, there is still an overwhelming amount of bad music on SoundCloud. 

The difference between artists such as Playboi Carti and other underground artists is that he mixed the underground with mainstream music, allowing him to evolve his sound to where everyone can enjoy it. Many underground artists just stick to that sound and they never make it out of the underground, they don’t allow themselves to evolve musically.

Many artists on the Billboard charts have truly perfected their sound and make incredible music, so it shouldn’t be questiontionable to listen to popular artists.

As I look around my room at all the posters I have, I see artists, such as Miley Cyrus, Frank Ocean, Lorde and many more that have solidified their place in the music industry for making good music. 

These artists have not only created their own sounds, they have also been able to mix many different styles together to make music for most audiences, which makes them true players in the industry.

I think it’s funny when people see these posters in my room and say, “You listen to them?” 

Yes, and so do millions of other people.

Every artist comes from somewhere in the underground music space. It can take years to get to the mainstream space, but if they do, it is usually for a justified reason. 

There is a reason why many artists have longevity in the mainstream music industry. Just because a few bad songs pop up here and there does not mean that we should immediately disqualify the actual hard-working artists we see on the Billboard Hot 100.