One common characterization or myth of young people, in particular young people of color, is that they seek out and desire immediate gratification. This prejudice is applicable to the sphere of youth popular music listening and creation. Music listening in general is understood as an indulgence and an escape[1]. To immediately gratify oneself is to indulge oneself in something without reflection on its consequences for self and others. Escape or escapism is an elementary form of bad faith because it implies that one shirks their responsibilities and rejects the world and its demands on us. If instead we approach music as a way to cope with the world rather than reject or ‘escape’ the world, we may be able to move away from the belief that music is only an unessential leisure activity that must be curbed in favor of more productive tasks like reading, writing or literacy in general.