MUSIC AND ME

Hey everyone! I am Kaillou (Kai-u) Touch and I am a student athlete at Converse University. I am on the Mens Soccer Team and I plan to major in Business/Sports management. I was born and raised here, in Spartanburg County, but my nationality is Cambodian/Thai/Chinese. I am the oldest of 5 with an age gap of 17 years between my youngest sibling and I. I have been involved in sports since I was 3 years old. Throughout my childhood I played soccer, basketball, and football. As I got older I narrowed it down to football and soccer, then eventually choose soccer as my main sport to pursue my dream of playing collegiate soccer. I am very competitive and enjoy any friendly competition from who can eat the most chicken wings in one sitting to who can speed walk to the bathroom and back. I am a very talkative person and I also enjoy a good laugh. I believe that laughter is good for the soul and is very much needed to keep your day afloat. 

As of Music, you can always catch me doing mini jam sessions in the car no matter where I am going. My taste in music is all over the place. Some genres I listen to most are Hip-Hop, Pop, Rap, Country, and r&b/soul (year/time is important but I did not include it because there is too much to list). 

1. Some examples of my current go-to music:

This is a hard choice for me as I cycle through my playlist but if I had to choose one it would probably be country. I listen to more modern/current country than I do throwback. A couple of my favorite artist are: Morgan Wallen and Luke Combs. I started to get into country during high school. Many of my fellow classmates/teammates were big country fans so every now and then I would listen to country in the locker rooms or just hear about it whenever a new song or album comes out. I decided to take a look for myself to see what it was all about and it became one of my go-to genres. Here are 2 songs I currently listen to. 

music video #1: You Proof by Morgan Wallen

music video #2: Beer Never Broke My Heart by Luke Combs 

2. Some examples of music that is personally meaningful to me: 

My parents influenced my choice for this and that is throwback R&B/Soul to the late 90s early 2000s. For them, they grew up in Philadelphia listening to this type of music and so did all of their friends and family. When I came along the main type of music I was listening to was culture (Cambodian music) or throwback and eventually i fell in love with it. Listening to the lyrics and watching the music videos gives me an idea of how things were before. Although it is not much long ago, technology back then is clearly not as big as it is now, which means there were much more interactions between people. With my parents coming from such a big city, events occur all the time that are not always good but it makes for a good story to tell as awareness. I also gain brownie points from the older generation for knowing the songs they grew up with because they believe that the music produced back then is much better than the music produced today, and to some extent I agree. some artist I mostly listen to for throwback are: Alicia Keys, T-Pain, Ne-Yo, R. Kelly, Usher, TLC, and Outcast. Here are 2 songs that are personally meaningful to me. 

Music Video #1: Dear Mama by 2Pac (one of my dads favorite songs) 

Music Video #2: Dance with My Father by Luther Vandross (one of my moms favorite songs) 

3. An example of music I do not connect with: 

Me personally I am not drawn to heavy metal/metal because it is too loud and jarring. It makes it very difficult for me to listen to these genres for long periods of time as it is not as pleasing to my ear. From what I have seen the lyrics are very aggressive and seems to be filled with anger that also includes the album/song cover... looks a bit scary to me. I do not know many that enjoy listening to these genre of music but I have heard a few songs that are not as aggressive but overall it is just not my cup of tea. Here are some examples I found of heavy metal/metal. 

Music Video #1: The Wrong Time by Obituary 

Music Video #2: First Kill by Amon Amarth 

4. Music I would like to share: 

As apart of my Cambodian culture, we listen to a lot of khmer (khm-i) music at home. Most songs are up beat that gets you in a good mood and some are used on the dance floor. For us, they are very catchy and as you listen to it more and more it becomes a bit easier to sing just like any other song (khmer is a bit harder to pronounce). We mainly listen to one artist named Jay Chan who does covers of other music that might be outdated. Finding and listening to the original artist is a bit difficult but with a modern artist with modern technology it makes it much easier to listen to while of course still giving credit to the original artist that created the music. It is pretty cool to see that most Cambodians know the same handful of songs that can sing together and just enjoy our culture as a whole. I grew up listening to these songs and I still enjoy them currently. 

Music Video #1: Celica Os Sang cover by Jay Chan 

Music Video #2: Ngor Ngok Somlock Somlung cover by Jay Chan