But I just don’t recognize my reality, my America, in all this crap. I know that my life, and the lives of so many people I know, has nothing to do with these cartoonish characterizations. So, to battle this maddening reductionism, I want to state for the record who this real American is.

Whatever the intention behind the term, "World music" is essentially code for "other people's music," in which anyone who is not English-speaking and hewing closely to modern/Western/American musical standards is "other."

Sometime in 2011 I sat down at my kitchen table with my dad and a tape recorder, and started asking questions about his history as a musician and a fan of music. The depth of musical knowledge and experience he has is mind-boggling, even for me, who has been around it my whole life. 

I can remember a time in my life when "country music" was on the list of music I supposed I didn't like. I've heard so many people utter what must by now be hackneyed cliché - "I like all types of music except country and opera." The logical errors and ethnocentric assumptions contained in this short statement are numerous.