Its probably some sort of vicious cycle. Especially if the small guy is still dealing with past biases. Now I pretty much announce I’m nuthin’ but a nerd so you won’t get far talking to me about sports. This seems to kill a lot of toxic competition unless they’re in my same department.
Listen to it a shit ton and then when you go to make/mix dont listen to it, and let the memory of the thing in your brain speak to you. Thats how I do it anyway. Since human memory is full of holes I usually get something different but similar.