Rap aficionado
Usually found with an entourage of friends, clad in a fitted hat with the sticker still on, wearing the latest line of Nike, LRG or BAPE clothing complemented with white-on-white Nikes or Timberlands. Often found in the club leanin’, rockin’ or walkin’ it out. A quick look through his CD collection will find flavor-of-the-month rappers such as Jibbs and Mims, forgotten one-hit wonders such as J-Kwon and Murphy Lee and mainstream hip-hop leaders such as 50 Cent, Chingy and Nelly. Often following the trends, there’s rarely an artist who has a long-term career. The rap aficionado is more interested in what gets the party going than a rapper’s longevity.

Pop princess
Everyone loves a great pop song, whether it be from ’80s bands such as ABBA, popular ’90s group Boyz II Men, or more recent acts such as Justin Timberlake. But then there are those who love pop music. The type that fill their AIM and MySpace profiles with inspirational quotes from Beyoncé and Paris Hilton, worship Jessica Simpson and dream about Usher and Pharrell. She is the type who made Kelis, Fergie and Jojo famous by buying their CDs for one or two songs. These pop princesses continuously support mainly vapid artists who come straight off of the pop artist production line and on to the
radio.

Metal head
Metal heads are like indie kids except with overly long hair and stained Levis. If you ask a metal head what’s metal, you’re almost guaranteed to get a different answer from each person. For some, it’s prog-rockers such as Rush or Dream Theater. For others it’s scream rockers such as Norma Jean or The Bled. Still others prefer newer metal bands such as Dillinger Escape Plan or Mastodon. Some still cling to metal legends such as Motorhead or Pantera for their head-banging needs. One way to get a metal head to put his horns down for a second is to call Linkin Park, System of a Down or recent Metallica metal — you are sure to generate dirty looks. While most metal heads channel their insecurities through the screams and intricate riffs of metal, they have a surprising amount of confidence when defining what constitutes the genre.

Indie kid
If you want a good ego check, tell an indie kid your taste in music — the verbal attack you’ll receive will sting for weeks. Usually appearing as a pop-punk fan with a more refined taste in clothing, indie kids often gather in groups to discuss and rip apart each other’s latest music discoveries. To them, The Shins were good until Garden State came out. Modest Mouse sold out by getting popular with “Float On.” Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service were decent until they started selling albums. An indie kid’s neverending quest to be satisfied with a music artist for longer than a month or so is usually unfulfilled as the artist either fades away or does the unthinkable and gets discovered by a large audience. But it’s all shrugged off, for every Death Cab there’s another Pinback, Voxtrot or Explosions in the Sky waiting to be discovered.

Pop-punk rocker
The trendiest of them all. Usually following which band has the hottest group member — Blink 182 trumps Green Day, My Chemical Romance trumps The Used, Panic! At The Disco trumps Fall Out Boy and All-American Rejects trumps Good Charlotte. Girls resemble either a Hot Topic model or the same type of female who would’ve been found screaming at a Backstreet Boys concert a decade earlier. The guys often wear tight pants, swoop their hair across their eyes and start their own band by rearranging the same five chords Green Day and The Ramones have been using for decades. Punk pioneers such as The Stooges, The Clash and The Buzzcocks are often shunned because their music lacks the pop sheen, and their band members look like New York City street beggars. Eyeliner is optional but is encouraged for extra scene points.

Hip-hop head
The antithesis of a rap aficionado. Can often be found dreaming of the days when sugar was sprinkled on cardboard and the B-boys took center stage. Though his tastes may not be as deeply rooted in legends such as Run-DMC and Grandmaster Flash, he still focuses on lyrics-based rapping with something to say. Think the ghetto-drug stories of The Clipse, the eclectic sounds of Outkast or K-Os or the deep thoughts of Mos Def or Nas. Occasionally he will admit to liking crossover rap stars such as T.I. or Lil’ Wayne, but it’s usually few and far between.