I’ll never forget the first time I went on a blind date. I distinctly remember how my roommate set it up:

“Tyler, I have someone for you, who’s just what you’re looking for.”

In my mind, I’m thinking “Just what I’m looking for? Impossible.” But naturally, I was curious and decided, “Hey, I should give this a guy a try,” and I did.

I woke up on D-Day (Date Day) with snow encrusting my window and immediately thought, “Great, well I guess this isn’t happening after all!” But, he called and insisted that we meet up anyway.

As I sloshed through the wet snow towards Barnes and Nobles, with my freshly made-up face and strategically picked outfit, I thought about turning back a couple of times. But, what would I have told him, “I got lost?”

“(Cough, Cough) I got sick?” No. I should stop worrying and keep going.

I arrived first, bought a cup of hot chocolate, and sat at a table in a corner where he could be seen, but I couldn’t. He eventually showed up one minute after six and I immediately spotted him. At first glance, he looked nice, but average. He was tall, with a clean fade, wearing a black Triple Fat Goose coat, black jeans, but his Jordan’s proved his shoe game was point.

We talked about the typical first-date type of stuff:  school, work, career ambitions, friends, etc. Then, the topic shifted to music and I was immediately alert. At one point, our conversation shifted to the B.E.T. Hip-Hop Awards’ cyphers. We laughed and discussed what we thought about each cypher, and agreed the Shady 2.0 one was the best. I went into detail and talked about how I was particularly impressed by Royce da 5’9’s 16-bar verse.

“He gave me chills,” I said.

And that’s when it happened. That’s when the look of interest on his face shifted to confusion. In what seemed like an effort to keep the conversation going, he agreed, but I had already lost interest. It was clear he didn’t share my love for hip-hop and we never met up again.

It’s not a secret that music has a place in society. Music is a part of what defines and describes our culture, and at times, music can act as the voice of the people, especially to the modern generation of today. But, when it comes down to it, is music so embedded in our culture that it can affect us subconsciously in ways we never thought of? Does music have such an influence on our life that it can affect the type of people that we’re attracted to?

Dr. Rosita S. Sands, a professor and the Associate Department Chair of the Music Department at Columbia College Chicago disagrees with my inquiry, and suggests it’s more so who you are that affects the type of music you listen to which translates into the type of people you’re attracted to.

“I think the whole totality of your being, that means who you are, your beliefs, or what kind of attitudes you have, how you were brought up, I think that impacts everything,” said Sands.“It will shape the type of music you are drawn to, and it will shape the type of person you are attracted to as well. I’m not saying music affects that, I’m saying who you are as a person affects all of those things.”

Dr. Sands also went on to suggest the ideology of opposites attract—maybe the type of music isn’t a factor when it comes to attraction towards a potential mate.