The music taste of THS students

The+equipment+and+software+is+displayed+for+the+Sound+Engineering+and+Production+class

Jevon Edwards

The equipment and software is displayed for the Sound Engineering and Production class

Through a crowded hallway, a quiet class, or the ride home, music can carry us through the day in many different ways.

For students at THS, music plays a role in their lives the same way it does everyone else’s. The question is, what artists are they listening to? Lots of students might listen to the same types of music because of what’s popular, but high school students can also have very diverse tastes. I took the time of listening to and researching a few of the students’ favorite artists and songs to highlight their music tastes.

Freshman Riyen Doss says she listens to J. Cole the most. “He’s a lyricist and a poetic writer,” Doss said. Her favorite song from him is “Folgers Crystals,” a typical J. Cole song with deep lyricism and a captivating self-produced beat. Doss clearly has a taste for music with a good sound that still has meaning, and isn’t completely mindless.

Keylen Peggen, another freshman, says he listens to Finesse2Tymes and Summer Walker the most. Simply describing them as “hard,” Peggen says his favorite songs are “Karma” and “Humble” from Summer Walker and Finesse2Tymes respectively. “Karma” has an R&B sound all over it, from its slow and easy beat to its lyrics about love and learning lessons. In almost complete contrast to Walker’s track, “Humble”’ takes on a more aggressive and fast-paced style with its beat and lyrics. This shows Peggen’s diverse music taste, and his willingness to listen to multiple artists and genres of music.

Our freshmen start off strong with slightly different answers than what you’d normally expect, especially for the youngest people in the school. 

Moving on to the sophomores, Daiton Howell says YN Jay and Rio Da Yung OG’s music “gets [him] very energized.” His favorite songs from them are “Molly” and “Surprise” by Rio Da Yung OG and YN Jay respectively. Both songs are similar to each other, as they are made by artists that are from the same area and know each other. They have a more unique style of continuously rapping without generally giving the beat a break, which understandably energizes listeners such as Howell. Howell is a football player, so an active music taste suits him well.

Sahhya Ragin says she listens to NBA Youngboy the most by far, which is a more common answer for people in this area compared to the other answers so far. She described him as “the best” and couldn’t pick just one song to name as her favorite. The rapper has a large following of dedicated fans that listen to almost all of his music when he releases albums, which he does consistently.

Cynder Williams, a junior, listed the rock band Pink Floyd as the artist she listens to the most. She describes their music as “psychedelic,” with that being her reason for listening to them so much. Her favorite songs from them are “Comfortably numb” and “Hey you.” These songs match her description perfectly, as their lyrics, instruments, and overall sound give the psychedelic feeling that they intended. 

Sadie Richburg says the artist she listens to the most is Harry Styles, but that doesn’t mean it was her favorite. “[I went] through a phase, and I guess that phase was pretty big.” Richburg said. After listening to his newest album, she chose the song “Love Of My Life” as her favorite, calling it “cute.” The song applies to her description of “cute,” as the lyrics and his style of singing sound like he’s attempting to swoon girls.

The taste of the juniors is a bit more various than others, as they branch out to different genres and styles of music.

Senior Kaitlyn Fortson found herself listening to Ella Mai the most. “I relate to her the most” Fortson said. She says she enjoys listening to all of her songs the most, which shows that she really can enjoy her music and relate to her style of R&B and love-related lyrics.

Miracle Woods listens to Lewis Capaldi the most, saying that “he inspires [her.]” Her favorite song by him is “Before You Go,” a song showcasing Capaldi’s beautiful vocals and deep lyrics about relationships and love. 

The students at Tupelo High School’s taste in music is very diverse, and has artists of all sorts of different sounds that people listen to on a daily basis. This diversity only stems from a small sample of over 1,000 more students, showing that different sounds of music work for different types of people, and for different reasons.