Whether I’m in the car, at the gym or just hanging out at home, I’m almost always listening to music. Because of such frequent usage, the genre of music I choose or the artists I select to listen to tend to hold a special place in my heart. This is why I’ve curated multiple playlists to choose from, all which include music from some of my favourite artists. One of which being my current favourite who is a singer/songwriter/musician named Noah Kahan (folk-pop music).
I’ve been listening to Noah Kahan since roughly 2019 when his song “False Confidence” was released . I stumbled upon his music because two well known dancers had posted a video of them dancing to the song. From there, it was immediately added to my playlist. However, truth be told I wasn’t an instant die-hard fan from the get go. It wasn’t until roughly 2021 that I started really discovering his other music, and I was completely won over when his song “Stick Season” came out. Nowadays, I can’t go a single day without listening to his music, especially because I know almost every lyric to all his songs, so it’s really easy to hit play on his music and mindlessly sing along.
I can still vividly remember the looks of confusion I received whenever I would say his name when asked about my favourite artists, because at the time he wasn’t well known. I always felt bad that people didn’t know him because he produces such great music and deserves all the recognition. Fast forward to this past year where his popularity skyrocketed. For reference of this scale, I paid 80$ for tickets last year, but for his upcoming tour tickets were in the hundreds, and are now going to be at substantially bigger venues including Scotia Bank Arena in Toronto. Obviously, I am extremely happy for his success because as I said, he deserves it. But it is sad to know seeing him live is less feasible now and that he’s starting to be considered more “mainstream”. Of course there’s still many people who while reading this won’t recognize his name, but just give it time.Â
After seeing his popularity grow on all social media platforms, my feed was filled with more and more videos about him. The content was mainly praising his songs, but I would also come across videos of other individuals experiencing this same bittersweet feeling that I was. I was glad to hear that I wasn’t alone in this moral conflict, especially because I felt so strangely affected by it. After all, Noah Kahan has no idea of my existence, so why do I feel so affected by this? It’s hard to describe the feeling if you’ve never experienced it. The best way I can describe it is to imagine you helped your friend study for a midterm and they end up getting a better grade than you. Obviously you’re happy for them, and feel that a part of r their success is due to your support, but that bittersweet feeling still lingers. Moral of the story, I will always continue to support Noah Kahan and his artistry as he continues to grow,but I’ll always remember the early days when he was a small artist just doing what he loves regardless of the recognition.