Noura Ismaeil: a melting pot of music preferences

By Charlie Peppers

Noura Ismaeil, 22, is a melting pot of music preferences. Growing up in a fashionably liberal household, she was encouraged to flirt with different genres. This has, unsurprisingly, made her a well-rounded music lover. She’s genuinely fond of Michael Jackson’s falsetto. She recognizes the chords of Chuck Berry. She digs the Talking Heads’ hybrid style. However, she grimaces at the vibrato of one scandalous songstress: Britney Spears.

Ismaeil has a strong allergy to the pop princess. Spears’ allegedly “dysfunctional” life has been hyper analyzed, making her musical accomplishments appear dwarfish to some SUNY Plattsburgh students, including Ismaeil. Ismaeil said her ideas of Spears come from what other people say about her.

“As a person who’s completely out of the loop of pop culture,” Ismaeil said, “I’m going to have to say that if I’m on a lunch date with Britney Spears, I would probably be more interested in interviewing her, knowing how it feels to maneuver in a world where every action is conducted on a stage for millions of people around the world, to drool over…”

She said doesn’t believe Spears will leave as deep an impression on the music industry as the Beatles, a British boy band of the 1960s.

“I love listening to the Beatles,” Ismaeil said, cracking a half-smile. “I love music that lots of people can sing along to them. I love the fact that I can to a party or sit around a campfire, and as a way of bonding with people we can all share in what the Beatles did. (The Beatles) are still celebrated today.”

Still, there are SUNY Plattsburgh students who like Spears and the Beatles. Liz Conlon, 21, is one of those students.

Being a veteran of Minor Adjustments, a SUNY Plattsburgh student A Cappella group, Conlon has a bone-deep affinity for contemporary pop music. This makes her highly accepting of bubblegum pop. She confessed listening to Spears’ music, while she was in fourth and fifth grade.

“I think (Britney Spears) is a huge pop culture icon,” Conlon said. “I personally enjoy her music, and I find her comeback to be very strong.”

Although she admires Spears’ ambition, Conlon is awed by the Beatles’ legacy. The Beatles never had to make a comeback. They’ve been thoroughly famous for nearly five decades. Conlon said people of her age are still able to listen to the Beatles’ music because it’s so influential and inspirational.

“People still can’t top what they’ve done musically,” Conlon said. “I think that just shows how important they are to music in general. How they’re able to impact people of our age, in a totally different time period.”

When asked if Spears’ music will be able to impact people of a different time period, Conlon pauses. She concludes this ultimately wouldn’t happen due to sexism, not poor music expressiveness. Unfortunately, Conlon doesn’t believe one female can compete with a group of four males in a band.

“She’s got a history of screw-ups, and people will probably remember that,” Conlon said begrudgingly. “People will always remember more of the negative than the positive. She’s not going to leave as much of an impression, but she’ll still be important.”

Ismaeil, not like Conlon, predicts that Spears’ doomed legacy is due to her plastic lyrics.

“(The Beatles’ music) is a lot more poetic and creative than Britney Spears’ songs are,” Ismaeil said. “I think someone like Britney Spears is going to die out. When a fad like that dies, it dies hard. Hugh Hefner is gonna be remembered way more than Britney Spears. He has a way better chance of being remembered.”