Ahren Kalavar

Ever since I was a child, music has played a massive role in my life. Whether I was listening to a random Bollywood song in the car with my parents when I was younger or going to an underground rap concert with a group of friends now, I knew that music would always be incredibly important to me. While growing up, I was veering away from what my parents enjoyed, and I began to find things that interested me. In this case, it was music. Early on, I had a lot of friends who introduced me to rap music, which is now my favorite genre, but again, as I grew older, I appreciated other genres as well and even went back to the music that my parents enjoyed. I also even learned how to make music. Specifically, I learned how to produce instrumentals; this isn’t something I continued with, but it piqued my interest even more in music. Even playing instruments was interesting to me, and it still is. Throughout middle school, I played the trombone and euphonium. Another big hobby of mine was (and still is) reading and learning; through that, I learned much about what I was listening to. For example, I learned how tied my culture was to hip-hop and vice versa. Sampling and collaborations between hip-hop and Bollywood were highly captivating, making me further appreciate my culture. Also, through reading, I was able to stumble across magazines such as Complex and XXL, which furthered me down the rabbit hole of lesser-known (or “underground”) artists. It was entirely new, and I felt compelled to share these new artists I had found with my friends. Music gave me a way to connect with people and gain insight into how other people think and act, and without it, I would not be the person I am today.