I don't like country music and I don't like rap.

However, I get why this type of music is loved by some people.

My issue with the Aldean song is, indeed, the racism; my issue with many rap songs is the misogyny and elevation of criminality.

However, I understand that there is often deep emotion behind country and rap music. They often express the real, raw emotions of real people who may feel they have no other voice.

I'm not sure if I am expressing myself well or clearly, but often great art comes to us through the medium of pain - Pink Floyd, for example, Freddie Mercury, Pearl Jam, Jimi Hendrix, and many of the early black artists such as Bessie Smith, Billie Holliday, Lead Belly (who spent time in Angola prison) had pain and tragedy in their lives.

What made them great was how they transmuted their pain into beauty.

While I don't enjoy country or rap as much as I do other genres of music, I get why people love it because of their authenticity and poetry.