Do You Like American Music?

There are two questions I get asked a lot. The first: “Um, why did you come to Finland of all places?” Almost every Finnish person I’ve met has asked me this but I will over-analyze why in another blog post. For the second most-popular question, let me recap a convo with a co-worker:

Her: So what’s going on in America right now???
Me: Um, there was just an oil spill that totally sucks. They’re letting gay people get married in California now. And some idiot in my state is talking about burning Korans.
Her: Noooo, like, what’s popular with music?
Me: (blankly) Music?

How could I know what was popular with music in America? I spent the last month researching new songs for the Worst Music Party, finding forgotten gems like this and this. Stevie Wonder and Earth, Wind and Fire rule my world, not Lady Gaga or Katy Perry. I try to keep at least 100 yards away from anything with an auto-tune, including the ‘On a Boat’ spoof. The last two magazines I bought had Barry White and The Beatles on their covers respectively. The cd I’m listening to on repeat right now is D-Train’s Music (totally dope, btw). I might not be the best person to ask about the subject.

But instead of admitting any of that, I just mentioned Lady Gaga. That seemed to work. Besides, I'm starting to realize the Finns know more about American music than most actual Americans. At least, that's what I tell myself so I feel better about my small-minded music snobbery.