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Adriana Pinto 179009491 Music Identity Paper

Throughout chapter four of Turino’s Music as Social Life, the concept of identity is

discussed in relation to music. According to Turino, the meaning of identity is commonly

interpreted simply as the self, however a more complex meaning would be “the partial selection

of habits and attributes used to represent oneself to oneself and others” (Turino, 95). I can

personally say that music has had an overwhelming impact on these partial selections of habits

and attributes that make up myself. While growing up to today, the music I have listened to has

shaped many different aspects of me which I believe make up the identity known to myself and

others. Music has a significant ability to aid in the formation of our identity because it is in our

daily lives from birth to death. Music always has a presence in human life despite differing

cultures of people around the world.

As I have grown up, the music in my life as effected the identity I have shaped for myself

through part of socialization. Socialization refers to the “attainment of habits that is realized

through active learning from, as well as the imitation of, those around us at different levels of

focal awareness” (Turino, 95). Developing into who I am today while surrounded with the music

presented to me has taught me aspects of myself. I have learned what type music is a part of my

family’s culture as well as music which I would learn I love. Personally growing up listening to

genres of music that were in my social environment such as rap and R&B have become a large

part of my identity as I listen and resonate with them today. According to the idea of

socialization, my years of hearing these genres of music would have affected my music habits

today through learning of it; and finally contributing to the partial habits that make up identity.

Furthermore, the part of my identity which includes by love and appreciation of rap and R&B

music has been so important to me because I have been able to form connections with many of
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the people who are close to me today. I have been able to form many friendships with people as a

result of sharing common musical attributes, even if it sounds as simple as liking a certain genre

more than others. I have experienced many immediate connections with others upon learning that

they also have an interest in the type of music I listen to. For example, most times when I first

interact with an individual, I try to first discover which type of music they listen to before

anything else. This specific aspect of my identity relating to my interest in rap and R&B music is

important for my social advancement in life, however “more of these habits [of identity] may

become important later” if an actual friendship is formed with someone beyond that one habit

concerning music (Turino, 104).

Music has also helped with the formation of my own sense of identity as it has enabled

me to understand myself and parts of the world which I may have been confusion about before.

Within my life, I have experienced different and difficult things that have left me lost at times.

For example, when I was young my parents had split up and this for me was not understandable

since I had not witnessed any of my friends go through the same event. Ultimately, while I

listened more to music that I was interested in I began to listen more to the lyrics which I had

unknowingly passed over before. Once I began to hear others speak through the rap songs I

heard, I began to hear familiar things and finally could view others’ lives and reflect on my own.

I began to see into the identity of the artists who created the music and this helped me form my

own. Music had allowed me to relate with others regarding things I had never discussed or

related to with anyone else before. The music in my life had therefore caused me to fulfill the

“basic drive to identify with others” as discussed in the textbook by anthropologists such as

Richard Adams (Turino, 106). I finally was able to form my own identity from the knowledge I

was acquiring through the relationship I had with music in my life since birth. Moreover, the
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relationship I have with music has allowed me to form aspects of myself today that I reflect as

myself in my eyes and through others.