Favorite Music
In Confessions of a Sociopath, M.E. Thomas said that sociopaths still feel the emotions that empaths feel, just not in the way and the context that empaths feel it. But there are some occasions where we can experience roughly the same thing: when we listen to music. Probably, the melody can activate lower emotions in the subconscious. So we will love the music whose evoked emotions coincide with what we love. Me, the best thing I love is a story, especially an epic about the indomitable human spirit. Maybe that's why the music I like often come from other forms of art that I consume, mostly films and games.
On the mountain stands The Church of Mili...
...and I am a devout believer.
I don't know how to characterize Mili's songs. But I know what it causes me to feel. It's κάθαρσις, the feeling of purification and purgation of thoughts and emotions by way of expressing and overcoming them. Cassie Wei with her lullabylike voice and poetrical lyrics with the beats tailored to her by her husband. Délicieux.
When I talk about Mili, I must also talk about Project Moon. For the last 4 years, this duo has provided us Sinners with stories of the same monomyth structure. ANd they have never failed (so far). I attribute 80% of my enjoyment to Project Moon writing and translation (the original is Korean), but the climax will never complete if a Mili's song is not playing in the final boss fight. All of this is to say, a large part of me associate Mili's songs with Project Moon's game lores that I love very much. But in the universe where I never started playing Limbus Company, I probably will still enjoy Mili.
I recommend Key Ingredients and To Kill a Living Book if you want an album. For something lighter, the recent Grown-up Paradise, mini-album Let's Lament, Hero or TIAN TIAN should suffice.
Eminem
I am not a hip-hop person. I listen to rap now and then, but mostly because it's the OST (like for the latest Spider-Man animation). But I listened to the whole Kamikaze album. The only way I can explain it is I love battles and violence, though I am too afraid to go into one (like most people). So I watch instead. And who's better to watch than the Rap God?
Outside Kamikaze, I also listen to the staples. Real Slim Shady, Stan, Venom, River, Till I Collapse, etc. And his battles in 8 Mile. Side note, I think it's miracle that I did not watch the movie before I became an adult. I could not imagine how harder my school life could get if I was also into (battle) rap, among the other nerdy things I liked.
Everything else
Outside the two, I am a generic listener. Name a genre or an artist, and I probably have listened to some of their songs. But mostly it's OST. Jane Doe and IRIS OUT, Kenshi Yonezu, for Chainsaw Man movie (but not KICK BACK since I have not watched the TV series). One Last Kiss, Hikaru Utada, for Neon Evangelion Genesis (I have not watched the anime though). As Alive As You Need Me To Be, Nine Inch Nails, for Tron: Ares (I hated the movie). All of Arcane's album music. Feeling Good, Nina Simone, used in Perfect Days (my favorite movie now). And probably, as I continue to watch more movies.