Psychologists made headlines a few years back with research data that suggests that our musical tastes not only indicate our intellectual aptitude, but also indicate what type of personality we have. It’s not too surprising, though. Your music personality—the choices that you make when buying and listening to music—are as telling as the clothes you wear, the food you eat and the car you drive. The music we choose to purchase and spend our time listening to indicates what our temperament is and gives a clue to what other artists we are most apt to enjoy. For years, record companies have attempted to market artists based on what type of audience they would synch with best. However, as the internet makes it possible now for us to enjoy different types of music, the reality remains that we still tend to gravitate to tunes that mesh best with our music personality.
From the list below, find the personality that best describes you and your musical tastes. Read through all of the descriptions and determine if you are strongly one type of soul music personality or a mix of two or more. The list is a fun guide to use as you shop this season for that special music lover in your life. Be sure to leave your comment below and share with us your Soul Music Personality.
What’s Your Soul Music Personality?
The Quiet Storm- You are a traditionalist who is a romantic at heart, attracted to timeless music that is appropriate for the daytime or nighttime. You are dependable and like your music that will be as popular ten years from now as it is today. Classic soul artists are on regular rotation on your mp3 player though you still like CDs, and you are one of the last to frequent the few standing record stores in your neighborhood. You are more apt to pay what it takes to see your favorite artist in concert and have little tolerance for what you hear on the radio—unless it’s your favorite adult contemporary station. What You Are Listening To: Kem, Sade, Luther Vandross and Maxwell are some of your favorites. Ledisi is one of your new addictions.
The Rockstar- As the name suggests, you like all that is trendy, hip and upbeat. Your probably talk a lot and are a blast to be around. Low-key is not in your vocabulary. If you are a woman, Beyoncé is most likely one of your favorite fashion icons. If you are a man, Beyonce is probably one of your top fantasy dream girls. You like music that you can pump in your car and mingle to all night in the club. Pop soul is your thing—from Kelly Rowland’s “Motivation” to Miguel’s “Sure Thing”, you like tunes you can groove to and that you will be sure to hear on the radio. What’s new and “in” is what’s hot. What You Are Listening To: Rihanna, Bruno Mars and Drake share the playlist on your mp3 with Trey Songz and Estelle.
The Trail Blazer- Tricky chords, out-of-the-box lyrics and punching drum hits are your thing, for you are always broadening your musical palette. You most likely knew about Janelle Monae before she was signed by P. Diddy and you know that Little Dragon is a hot musical act and not the name of the carry-out down the street. Chances are, if you don’t run a blog already, you know all of the blogs online where you can get news about artists who aren’t necessarily the ones you hear on the radio. What You Are Listening To: Acts like J*DaVeY, Wes Felton, and Saul Williams are probably staples in your constantly expanding music collection. Artists like Cee-Lo Green get your ear, as well.
The Poet- It’s all about the lyrics for you and if the song isn’t saying what your soul is feeling, then you won’t be listening to it in that moment. Your music l is your special comfort and reflects the temperature of your emotional state which is usually on the surface and easy for all to see. You are very sensitive to your musical surroundings and have low tolerance for those who don’t appreciate your taste in tunes. Though your mood may shift rapidly, you have some favorites that will always remain. What You Are Listening To: Jill Scott, Quadron, and India.Arie are easy favorites, as are Van Hunt and Bilal. You dig anything from Prince and can’t get enough of Michael Jackson ballads.
The Eclectic- You are a renaissance guy or gal and most likely have more than one job—something having to do with music most likely. You like music artists who are multi-faceted, artists who shake it up and can’t be easily categorized. You stuck with Erykah Badu from her head-wrap and jazz days to her recent transition to tunes that are free-form soul redefining the genre. You claim Raphael Saadiq as a brother-from-another-mother, down for him from his days with Toni, Tony, Tone! and Lucy Pearl to his turn as a solo artist crafting new music with a retro sound. What You Are Listening To: Besides Badu and Raphael Saadiq, you can’t get enough of Incognito, The Brand New Heavies, Amy Winehouse, and Adele.
-Khadijah Z. Ali-Coleman
Khadijah Z. Ali-Coleman is an Eclectic Quiet Storm who teaches Communication Studies at Northern Virginia Community College, is a playwright and is founder of LiberatedMuse.com. Visit her online at KhadijahOnline.com.
