On being true to myself

I’ll never forget that day in freshman year… that day when one of my guy classmates borrowed my iPod Shuffle to check out my playlist. He turned to me with a wicked smile when he stumbled upon an A1 song (yes, the Norwegian boyband from the late 90s!). He teased me about it, perhaps because pogi rock was such a hit that time and boybands weren’t exactly on top of the charts. I won’t deny that I was initially embarrassed, but after that incident, I realized that it wasn’t something to be ashamed about. I guess my initial reaction was a defense mechanism of sorts, because it made me feel like I was out of the pop culture loop (in other words, wala sa uso).

I have yet to be Directioner, though. Haha! I guess the changing trend for media consumption has to do with become a fan of the new breed of artists. When I was a kid, MTV Asia and FM radio were my only means to access new music. The Internet has changed the game for artists to be discovered and become insanely popular. Kids have the luxury of time to check out videos, hashtags and viral marketing tricks while the twentysomethings like me are too busy reading twentysomething thoughts on Thought Catalog.

P.S. I’ve been trying to recall the A1 song in my iPod, but to no avail. It’s a toss between “Caught In The Middle” and “Same Old Brand New You.” CITM’s first scene shows Christian playing the guitar (which reminds me of a michael kelly guitar) while SOBNY features the then-four lads clad in all-black outfits, hanging out in a gasoline station and dancing in the rain on a deserted place. Haha!