The word genre gets thrown around a lot: rock, jazz, hip-hop, classical… but have you ever stopped to ask what a genre actually is?
At its simplest, a genre is a way to group music that sounds similar or shares a common origin. It helps organize the overwhelming sea of sound into categories our brains can more easily navigate. It can guide us to discover new songs we’ll probably like. It can give artists a framework or tradition to build on.
But while genre can be useful, it’s also… kinda messy.
Genres are fluid. They evolve. They blend and borrow, mutate and remix. Take reggaeton, for example: born from the fusion of dancehall, hip-hop, Latin rhythms, and Afro-Caribbean culture. Or jazz, which has roots in blues, spirituals, and ragtime but now includes subgenres like bebop, acid jazz, and free jazz that barely resemble each other.
And then there’s the problem of labels. Who decides what box a song belongs in? Sometimes it’s artists. Sometimes it’s streaming platforms. Sometimes it’s the industry itself, pushing certain categories to serve certain markets. But those labels can be limiting… They can make us ignore music we might love just because it sits outside our usual “genre comfort zone”.
Worse, genre labels have historically carried cultural baggage – with certain genres stereotyped, undervalued, or boxed in based on race, class, or geography.
So, does genre still matter?
Yes… and no. It helps with discovery, but it shouldn’t dictate your taste. It can give context, but it shouldn’t become a cage. The most exciting music today often happens at the edges, where genres blur and borders dissolve.
So next time you’re scrolling through music, try ignoring the category. Click on something unexpected. Let the sound speak for itself.
You just might discover your new favorite “genre” is… genreless.