Mr. Zink graduated from Hen Hud in 2012 and studied at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, NY. After getting his undergraduate degree, he returned to Hen Hud as the history teacher we all know. 

“I was listening to a lot of rap that elementary schoolers should not be listening to,” he admitted, as well as describing how much of his music taste was dependent on what his brother listened to, and therefore, “His favorite artists became my favorite artist just because of overexposure to it.” 

In high school, however, Mr. Zink actually began to listen to a lot of rock and alternative music and after high school he has gone back to listening to rap. When asked who his favorite artist is, he said, “I would say Kanye was my favorite artist of all time, and he was my favorite artist because I thought he was so creative as a producer. I thought he reinvented himself on every album, but I try to not listen to Kanye anymore because I cannot agree with, especially as a history teacher, the things he said in recent years.” 

Mr. Zink also agreed that Kendrick is one of the best rappers out right now; this is because of how Kendrick creates concept albums like good kid, m.A.A.d city, that tells a story along with the music. Another artist that Mr. Zink enjoys and who also creates concept albums is Vince Staples, specifically his album Summertime ‘06. Again, Mr. Zink liked how Kanye, in addition to being a producer, has sampled old music from the 60’s: “…having taught 60s culture, I became very well versed in soul music and that became one of my favorite genres, so guys like Sam Cook, Otis Redding, Ray Charles, most of whom I originally discovered through Kanye, they eventually became some of my other favorite artists, as I discovered their original work more,” he remarked. 

Aside from rap, Mr. Zink talked about how he enjoys listening to classical music when he needs to focus on work. “Claire de Lune is probably my favorite classical music song.” He says that music without lyrics is the best for focusing. In the end, Zink plugged his Music Culture Club, stating that If students want to expand their music taste, they should “come to music culture club and don’t just listen to my song recommendations, but listen to everyone’s recommendations.”