I have a confession to make, and I’m finally ready to admit it.

I like Kanye. A lot.

And with Kanye appreciation came a general appreciation for hip-hop, a genre I was previously way too good for.

Come to think of it, I’ve been way too good for a lot of things in my musical lifetime, and the funniest part is that I’m currently way too good for a lot of things that I previously worshipped.

Now, (at least I like to think so) I’m much more open to just about anything, but it took years of hardcore snobbery to get here.

Stage one of my snobbery was when I decided there was absolutely no good music in this generation and would only listen to classic rock. This was probably due to some sort of parental indoctrination. Oh well.

Immediately following that, I refused to listen to anything with actual singing. Nothing but death metal. I also was very particular about distinguishing genres, and would specify between bands that were grindcore or hardcore or post-hardcore or whatevercore.

After that I started listening to pop-punk, and swore up and down that the new albums the metal bands I previously listened to were way inferior to their first albums, then renounced death metal altogether.

After that I opened up to more genres, and it’s all kind of a blur.

The point is, during all these times I felt very strongly (and I still do) about my music taste.

And so does everyone else who is into music.

Everyone is a music snob to some extent. How many times have you groaned internally as you handed over the aux cord to your friend? How many family road trips have you spent headphones-in because your mom was blasting one of her five hair metal CDs the whole time?

Everyone passionate about music identifies with it to some extent, but what I find turns away people from certain genres is being associated with the culture behind it. More than likely if a genre is named, a stereotype of person pops up into your head. Metal heads. Burnouts. Rednecks. Hippies. Directioners. Festies. Hipsters. The list is endless.

No matter what, no one has any reason to tell anyone else that their snobbery is invalid, because more than likely, the feelings are reciprocated.

The one thing we all have in common is undying passion.

So whether you forego the Billboard Hot 100, embrace the billboard Hot 100, or if it’s completely irrelevant to your life, snob on.

Megan Osborne can be contacted at [email protected].