Ajay

Specialism: Hip-hop/R&B (underground and mainstream), neo-soul, punk, alternative rock.

Favourite Artists: Blink-182, Lupe Fiasco, Common, Maxwell, Eminem, Angels & Airwaves, Lloyd, Gym Class Heroes, Kid Cudi, Kanye West.

Most random artist in iTunes: A Lost People

Most listened to (according to iTunes): Angels & Airwaves, The Adventure

To view all of his posts, click here.

Email: ajaysameer182@gmail.com,

Twitter: @Ajay182

It’s difficult doing a self-bio when there’s so many genre ‘stories’ to choose. From a young age, I was exposed to a diverse music set: Reggae was really picking up over here when I was very young, and that certainly serves as a beginning to my progression to, and immersion in, hip-hop. Throw into the mix the soul/pop that was made up the cornerstone of mainstream music (George Michael, Janet/Michael Jackson and such) and the influences grow.

Flashforward many years and it’s the early-mid teens that music starts to finally mean something personal. From 11 years old, hip-hop really became the sole focus of my listening with the emergence of Eminem’s angsty, rebellious style striking a chord with my impressionable mind, amongst many others. Naivety crept in, and I’d ignored my eclectic ‘roots’ in favour of being a hip-hop head, trying to go back and get into old Wu-Tang albums (at 12 years old, this didn’t quite work) whilst frankly being an MTV mainstream child.

Until the introduction of Linkin Park, this remained the case. Upon hearing Hybrid Theory, a whole new can of worms opened:  I wanted more rock music. I was tiring of hip-hop, it was too difficult to understand the appeal of the older stuff. Cue the entry of Limp Bizkit, Blink-182 and even as far afield as German metal band Rammstein. Hip-hop was still there for me, but only in the form of the major, unmissable albums.

From 16 onwards, I flitted between genres, dedicating my attention to the genre that was the most attractive for those few months. A look at my iTunes from early 06 to mid 07 shows that I almost fully ignored hip-hop/r&b completely, in favour of UK indie and US punk/alternative. However, the appreciation for the complimentary nature grew (for a range of reasons), and a middle ground began to show itself.

Growing maturity delivered that long-overdue middle ground, and allowed me to appreciate both in equal measure. In retrospect, he previous years feel almost like a ‘training period’, to be able to absorb the introspective, hard-hitting rhymes of an underground rapper alongside a stadium-rock, atmospheric energy ride of a rock band. The middle ground, the compromise, and the appreciation of good music.

It’s the cultivation of that particular ideal which forms the basis for this site, and its predecessor (overrating-the-underrated.blogspot.com, where it all began!). It all still operates as a learning process for me too, trying to rediscover the hip-hop I’d foolishly ignored from days gone by, whilst maintaining an ear for the next big sound coming out of the indie/rock genre.