"Not conjecture NOR opinion" (negatives....bwwwahaaahahahahaaaa!!!!!)

Notice I did not put Kid Rock in my first listing of my musical tastes? I only threw that one video up there by Kid because it illustrates my point of the previous ones. Melding rap and metal / rock. Run-DMC and Aerosmith were amongst the first to do it but what is Kid doing there? Rap? Rock? Metal? Just shows what I and Freeze are saying. How can you NOT be influenced by your surroundings especially during your formative years? Ever think you can get Samba music out of a Brazillian? The Mexican corrida or mariachi? The Portuguese fado?

I also know nothing about the NZ music scene. Nonetheless, I would argue that Detroit holds Metal to greater esteem as do many of the northern US states and Canada. I'd bet my life on it.

Freeze...NO country music? Not even Charlie Daniels? LOL!!!!!!

		Deep Freeze wrote:
		OK, better late than never. I will "jump in" even though this party ended long ago. For me, not "all" of anything" is one thing or another. As convoluted a statement as this is , the point I make is that not "all" Rap is so hideous as to deserve the utter disdain of the entire Metal Nation. Nor is "all" blues, jazz, pop, classical, hip hop, etc. (*with the possible exception of all country...HAAAAAAAAA!)  I  get the joke, jj. No need to get into it. I laughed, too. From whence one hails notwithstanding, personal taste is a matter of variety amonst us and I, for one, embrace that.  I have no idea what life is like in NZ but I have been to Detroit. You can literally draw a line with a paint brush between "good" neighborhoods and heartbreaking blight. Literally. Guido and I have driven around the greater Detroit area and went from beautiful to deplorable in the blink of an eye. He can actually show you the "dividing lines" as you drive. THAT is real, not conjecture or opinion. Additionally, there is a wide variety of musical influence there and one can easily see how spending one's 'formative' years there would have a tremendous affect on one's musical taste. How could it not? One must attend schools, shop and generally live among a HUGE diversity. It would be insanity to think one could simply close themsleves off from what is around them everyday! I do NOT like Kid Rock. Don't care from whence he hails. NOT because of his musical choices but because I feel he "steals" (samples, as it were) from great artists rather than composing his own music and that most of his "original" work tends to have the same cadence over and over. I do not think he is a "fresh" as he would like us to believe. Certainly talented. Just my opinion. I like LL Cool J. I like the Beastie Boys. Loved the Tenors. I really love Bocelli. My point is, its "OK" to like other genres. As a vocalist, I tend to listen to certain things within the music that may not interest others. Delivery, sustain, range, emoting. On and on. All of this leads me to the same conclusion, not "all" of anything is one thing or another.