but the turning point was dimash kudaibergen. a nature/nurture freak, with a 6-octave range (pretty much both "male" and "female" voices), incredible interpretation, emotion, technique, versatility, both classical & pop background, he's the whole package. someone with a crazy talent who had the support and love to keep honing it since he was 5.
he touched my heart in ways i didn't know was possible through music, and i unwillingly became one of his "dears" (how he fondly calls his dedicated fans, which from what i gathered on the internet, is primarily made of women in their 50s+ [and me! ๐๐ - i love this demographic. i feel that we share some common sensibilities in many ways... ๐ i'll definitely be the grandpa serving tea, giving books and creating spaces for children to play]).
in that moment of incessant questioning - why is life worth living? - music showed me a few answers. dimash showed me a mix of modern and "classical", polished beauty. dakhabrakha showed me unexpected, ancestral, raw beauty. brazilian nerdcore showed me joy, brotherhood and authenticity.
*many of dimash's songs are not available on spotify, so despite my attempt to retroactively track my listens with the web scrobbler extension, back when i was listening constantly to him, most of the times were on my phone, so not traceable. if i were to guess how much i listened to him, it'd be around 1000 times, so he'd be in the 8th position. that's why even though he's #18 on the data itself, i consider him my #8 most listened artist.