Throwback to my sixth grade iTunes Top 25 : The Jonas Brothers. All of it. Now at seventeen, I like to think I am almost an adult, in the sense of age and music taste.

Looking back on my iTunes libraries and CD collections,what I listened to deeply reflected my personality at the time. In sixth grade, I was excited and nervous to be starting middle school. I wanted to fit in (come on, everyone wanted to have that eighth grade best friend), have tons of friends and have the best AIM profile of all of RMS. No disrespect to my beloved Jonas family, but they reflected that at the time (now they are on Broadway, married and rapping with Lil’ Wayne). Fast forward to ninth grade: full-fledged teen angst. However, I was also beginning to grow up and become the person I am today. I threw out most (repeat that a few times) of my Jonas, Hannah Montana and Justin Bieber (until Boyfriend came out and I was obsessed again). I started enjoying more mature artists, such as Brand New, The Black Keys and Florence and the Machine.

Now, this is not supposed to give everyone a background on my music taste, because frankly, I know no one cares. I did this to prove a point. Everyone jokes about the music they listened to in elementary school and middle school, but have they ever thought about it? The music we listened to showcases us as people in the different times of our lives. Now, for those artists you have listened to forever and will continue to listen to, those are the artists that showcase the part of you that has been the same since the beginning and does not change. New York University professor of music and music education, In his novel Praxial Music Education, David Elliot noted his ideas on one’s musical identity as a child.

“A child’s music is his or her identity, his or her natural musical home,” Elliot said.

Making fun of yourself is not a bad thing (see our December 2013 issue, page sixteen); however, we should appreciate the music we listened to in middle school. It taught us a few lessons. Music can teach you to disregard what others think because your opinion is what matters. Hannah Montana can teach you that “nobody’s perfect, [you] gotta work it again and again until you get it right.” As your tastes change, you can learn how to handle relationship and feel beautiful even when you are flipping your hair back and forth. If your music taste never changed, you would probably still be obsessed with clothes that have moose on them and complaining that you have the gym teacher who gives tests.
January/ February 2014 Playlist