Blogocentric Formulations

Should I give up, or should I just keep chasin' pavements?

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DAY 9

Song: "Chasing Pavements"
Artist: Adele
Album: 19 (2008)

I'm not exactly what you'd call a trendsetter when it comes to music. The songs and artists I like usually come from finding them on top musical charts or, more often, when I hear a song I like on a movie or television show soundtrack and look into the artist. Every once in a while, however, I can honestly brag that I was listening to someone before he or she became popular. Adele was definitely one of those artists.

Of all places, I originally heard "Chasing Pavements" on one of those music-only television channels at my parents' house during Christmas of 2008. At that point her album 19 had been out for almost a year, but it was still before people started to really pay attention to her after she won Best New Artist at the Grammy Awards in February of 2009 and her follow-up album 21 which racked up seven Grammy Awards, became the best-selling album of 2011 and 2012, and five singles including "Rolling in the Deep," "Someone Like You," and "Rumor Has It." But "Chasing Pavements" will always be my favorite song of hers because I'd listen to it endlessly on my iPod, in my car, at home, and people would inevitably ask, "Wow, who is that you're listening to?" Then I'd get to tell them it's this new artist called Adele and that she had a great voice and was probably going to make a big splash someday.

I guess it helps that it actually paid off, rather than being a one-hit wonder artist that no one remembers anymore.