What does the DP listen to?

At lunchtime, we asked Diploma Programme students: “what’s your top song at the moment?” We found that the answers spanned across different decades, genres, and global contexts, truly reflecting the international identity of our school.

Firstly, a genre that seems to be quite popular is R&B and pop, with students mentioning artists such as Frank Ocean, Sade, Olivia Dean, Rihanna, and Floetry, all of which are known for warm vocals and emotional themes. Modern male singers such as Giveon or Daniel Caesar particularly stood out, with multiple people mentioning songs from their most recent albums, suggesting maybe that artists that release music more often are more memorable in the eyes (or ears) of DP students?

Meanwhile, Hip‑hop is just as central to what the DP seems to be listening to. Modern rappers like Drake, Travis Scott, J. Cole, A$AP Rocky, Dave, Chief Keef, Nines, and Dominic Fike showed up a lot. However, old-school rappers still made the cut, such as Jay-z, Eminem, and 2pac, implying that maybe the frequency at which artists release songs is not the most relevant factor in their popularity amongst this demographic. Together, both modern and older rappers are able to cover everything from introspective storytelling such as J. Cole’s “For Whom the Bell Tolls” to more intense tracks more suited to an upbeat work-out for example, such as “I Don’t Like” by Chief Keef. 

Older music was mentioned not just in rap however, with classics such as Led Zeppelin and Prince proving that tracks released before the 21st century are still very much alive and relevant, such as “Stairway to Heaven” which was named by three people. A takeaway from this is that even in a hyper‑digital music world, band-driven music consisting of guitar riffs and full‑band arrangements i.e. as music by Blur, Pantera or Def Leppard for example, still resonate with younger generations, perhaps having been passed on by parents or simply shared between music-loving students.

Electronic and more contemporary music also has a firm place in the DP’s “playlist”. Tracks like “Inner Bloom” by Rüfüs Du Sol and “The Moment” by Vargo stand out not just because they’re long or atmospheric, but because they lean into complex electronic sounds, extended build-ups, and layered synths. This is the kind of production you’d expect to hear at festivals or curated DJ sets, and such may very well be where these students discovered these sounds. In this day and age, it is evident that music is now shaped as much by production technique and devices, as by lyrics.

Finally, one of the most distinctive things about the list of songs we were able to create, is how international it is. Students aren’t just listening in English: Portuguese artists like T‑Rex, MC Ryan SP, WIU, Tetu and Gilsons come up alongside Russian rappers like Oxxxymiron, or Turkish tracks with French names like “Ma Chérie” (confusing right?).

Living in Portugal, it’s normal for non-portuguese students to be influenced by the local culture, with the example of popular songs such as “TA TUDO BEM” by T-Rex being a recurring pick by students from England or even Cyprus. If we were to make a playlist with the songs our subjects picked, the fact that “Posso até não te dar flores”, “Problemas d’um milionário” or “Várias queixas” can sit in the same playlist as or “Empire State of Mind” or “Headlines”, says a lot about our school’s identity. People often look to music for comfort and familiarity, but the results of this survey show that our DP students are also not afraid to switch between languages and cultures as easily as skipping a song in their Spotify queue. 

If music really does say something about who we are, then this quick lunchtime survey shows that the DP is anything if not diverse. Instead of revolving around one preferred genre or language, students are able to move freely between R&B, rap, rock, electronic and pop from different countries, often in the same queue. This collective open-mindedness that transcends time, georgaphy, and popularity make it impossible to adress the question “What does the DP Listen To?”  in a single answer. Maybe there is no answer. What we hear is too wide for one genre or language and our ears are as global as our classrooms, tuned to different rhythms but moved by the same essential curiosity.