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I like the Backstreet Boys

In today's world, a young male admitting he enjoys music produced by a mega-hit boy band is as common as seeing Christina Aguilera trying to cover-up her cleavage and bare mid-drift on MTV.

It just doesn't happen.

In the pop-music culture that has overtaken today's music scene - from the Backstreet Boys to Britney Spears - there seems to be no room for personal thought. Either you like them or you hate them, depending upon what your friends think. Conformity runs rampant on both sides, replacing personal thought with mindless submission.

It is too obvious to be dismissed as the typical teen-heartthrob infatuations that followed Elvis Presley, The Beetles and Michael Jackson like lap dogs. Lines have been drawn on both sides. The pubescent little girls who would fall at the feet of Justin Timberlake must now defend their wants and desires against a cancerous backlash that dominates audiences who see popular music as - for the lack of a better word - crap.

Now, notable "alternative" acts and their legions of fans have turned their words into spiteful daggers aimed at the hearts of those atop the popular music charts.

In the song "The Real Slim Shady," rapper Eminem takes pot shots at the entire cast of pop-music stars, rapping "I'm sick of you little girl and boy groups all you do is annoy me / So I've been sent here to destroy you." Kid Rock, on his song "American Bad Ass," comes out in the same immature fashion, singing "Boy bands are trash."

And their listeners just eat it up. No need for any independent thought here - when the leader says "jump," fans ask "how high?" It would be interesting to find out how many 98 Degrees detractors have actually given their music a try. Why should they when their heroes are telling them to not only listen to them, but to hate them as well?

Is this what the music scene has turned into?

Led Zeppelin never felt the need to write a song blasting their competition. Instead of conforming with the millions of 'NSYNC fans, millions of Limp Bizkit fans are assimilating into non-conformity. Everything that the rock and alternative music-scene now abhors - oblivious uniformity - is merely recycled and spewed out to a flock of "hard-core" sheep herds rather than teeny-bopper sheep herds.

Still, there are some out there who are not swayed by their peers nor directed by what is considered "cool" and "un-cool."

Essentially, they are the listeners who judge music relative to their situation, understanding, most importantly, how it touches them in their souls. They are not driven away from popular music by its backlash nor driven toward the alternative scene because of it.

If they enjoy listening to Backstreet Boys, then they admit it and have pride in their decision. If they are swayed by Bob Dylan lyrics just as intensely as they are picked up by a Ricky Martin tune, there is no second guessing.

True music fans do not worry about what is "cool" by friends' standards. True music fans - regardless of what style of music they find enjoyable - do not care if their favorite artist has a platinum record. Peer pressure to a true music lover is really no pressure at all because he or she has no need for it.

For all those out there who hate the Backstreet Boys, sit down and listen to one of their albums. You may not like it, but at least you are making that decision by yourself. Get away from your puppet masters and open yourself up to all music.

By exercising the demons of backlash conformity, you may be surprised that what you love to hate may turn into what you just love.