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Recommended: Music
Music is a very powerful tool. Music moves men to the their feet, to tears, to understanding. I once saw on Twitter, “ Art is how we decorate space and music is how we decorate time” and I couldn’t agree more. Within the minutes of a track playing there is a story being told that you spend your time listening to and imagining. Stories about bang bang guns brouhaha, he/she broke my heart, one crucial experience, as well as many other that come to mind and are out there. Whatever your prerogative, music, is about what speaks to your soul. Hopefully my favorite artist could one day do that for you, assuming he doesn’t already. Kendrick Lamar has currently won seven Grammy Awards made four studio albums: Section.80, good kid, m.A.A.d city, To …show more content…
80 revolve around life and and the problems of the poor (the black) during the 80’s. On the first song of the album “Fuck Your Ethnicity” Kendrick introduces Tammy and Keisha in a skit that introduces the song. This song, however, isn’t about the two, in the skit it is said, “I recognize all of you. Every creed and color. With that being said... fuck your ethnicity. You understand that? We gon' talk about a lot of shit that concerns you. All of you”. Right off the bat Lamar does away with the race of the listener; the song may be about blacks, but it isn’t solely for blacks and anyone can to listen to the story being told and relate to or find truth in it. In the two songs “No Makeup (Her Vice)”and “Keisha’s Song (Her Pain)”, the direct continuation of “No Makeup”. “No Makeup” introduces Keisha with her/a man and she’s caking her face with makeup. The man compliments her lips, nose, eyebrows and wondering why she is covering up in the first verse. Then she explains in the second verse, “I hate my lips, my nose, my eyebrows. It's the beauty in me. But what he don't see, Is that I had a black ey- To be continued... 11” (the 11th track being “Keisha’s Song”). This song begins each verse with “Uh and Lord knows she's beautiful. Lord knows the usuals, leaving her body sore” as Lamar goes about detailing days in Keisha’s occupation: prostitution. Each verse ends with some variation of “See a block away from Lueders Park, I
Reality melted around me as I poured through album reviews and rankings, seeing the amount of praise and reverence his work holds, I was blown away. I watched interviews from artists I’d been a fan of for years, claiming that Kanye was their inspiration. I read analysis pinpointing how each of his albums opened up new sub genres in hip hop, how he completely changed the stigmatism of the art, allowing for new creative freedom, opening the doors for artists like Drake, Tyler the Creator and Chance the Rapper just to name a few. He had been right under the surface all along. He paved the way for my generation of artists to walk on, and I had been blissfully ignorant, skipping along his path.
"Certain songs might tell you a little something about my upbringing. Certain songs might tell you how I relate to others life experiences. On the album I never get specific on all my dirt because I don't feel I need to talk about that. I want to put the spotlight on Mobile, and give the listeners an idea of what's going on here from a young black mans perspective." Listen up!
Lamar has been successfully achieving his dream by rapping about the stress and difficult situations he has encountered but strongly claims that we will all be alright in his song, “Alright.” He released a song called “i” that reflects how violence has increased in the cities and how he wishes everyone should love each other as humans. His last song on “To Pimp A Butterfly” called “Mortal Man” he states “only because you don’t wear the same color as mine, that doesn’t mean I can’t respect you as a human being.” He clearly states how he understands the reputations of other gang members may seem important but should all still respect others as people. Lamar has been a role model to several students from the city of Compton that was able to create a scholarship called “Be Alright” that is based off the same song called “Alright.” Kendrick Lamar has been respectively producing music for his fans without a doubt of impressive beats and
“Blacking Up” is an inspirational and eye opening film that looks at racial identity through hip hop and its culture. The film explores the tensions that surround white identification with the hip hop culture. Typical white people identify hip hop with responses that are uncharacteristic. They are termed as a “wigger” or “wannabe” who think they can become part of a strong culture. The film clearly identifies these people as those trying to connect with others who usually won’t accept them. I have watched this film before for my Hip Hop class in high class and was happy to watch it and learn more about the hip hop community.
“If I was gay / I would think hip-hop hates me / Have you read the YouTube comments lately? / ‘Man that's gay’ / Gets dropped on the daily / We've become so numb to what we're sayin.'” In these few lines, Macklemore brings up the fact that the genre of hip-hop has become one that is “anti-gay.” Hip-hop is a very common genre of music and it reaches a large population of people, mostly young people who will have an effect in the future of America. This is Macklemore’s target audience: the general public who can make a difference. Macklemore has surprised many by coming out with this popular, pro-gay, hip-hop song. It is rational to see that he took a stand against the issue as well as a risk in his career by supporting this idea. The listeners understand that those lines are very truthful; the hip-hop genre and most of society has become anti-gay. Almost all of his audience is familiar with YouTube and can understand where Macklemore is coming from in these lines. Most of his audience has seen comments on YouTube similar to “Man that’s gay.” Macklemore is bringing attention to the fact that his audience has become numb to harsh words like so and the general public has lost a sentimental feeling. Macklemore goes on to give an example of the desensitizing of society by giving the reference to “faggots”, “a word rooted in hate, yet our genre still ignores
As Kendrick entered the stage shackled to his black comrades with a soulful saxophone playing in the background, it is obvious that the imagery of imprisonment was a commentary on incarceration in America and its similarities with slavery. By amplifying this modern twist on slavery, Kendrick provokes American viewers to reflect on the struggles that black Americans still go through today. At the start of his performance he goes on to rap “I’m African-American — I’m African” as if he was correcting himself. This isn’t surprising as black identity is hard to establish in a country that implicitly detests you, but explicitly fetishizes your culture. Stuart Hall discusses this in his text when he states, “’the primitive is a modern problem, a crisis in cultural identity’…the modernist construction of primitivism, the fetishistic recognition and disavowal of the primitive difference” (Hall 125). There is no wonder why Kendrick, like many African-Americans, finds comfort in placing his identity with the mother land rather than his true country of origin. How can the black multitude stand in solidarity with a country who will continuously praise black culture but refuse to recognize the black struggle? Kendrick Lamar then conjures imagery of Africa, where he danced and rapped in front of a raging bonfire, one of the most powerful imagery included in his entire performance. One can interpret
Music has been around since the very beginning of time. The human body flows in a rhythmic syncopation. Music is used to change one’s mood and to inspire those who open their minds. It has the potential to cure diseases such as Parkinson’s disease. Humans, of every culture and society, function with a type of rhythmic music. As humans, we are hard wired to respond to music (Mannes). The human brain responds to music in such a way that the brain becomes more open to new rhythms, ideas, and values. Music has the power to take over the human body. This makes it easier to overcome conflict and change the ideals of somebody while using music (The Power of Music).
...atching MTV music shows or any music channel on television. As we continue to watch these programs, we will then notice that almost all the rap and hip-hop artists being shown are African-Americans. It is the particular lifestyle, and behaviour that is connected to what particular artists chose to vocalize about. This usually can harm the image of African-Americans due to the fact that many artists aid in the misconceptions of their particular race such as the example provided with 50 Cent’s song entitled P.I.M.P. These lyrics and song titles simply reinforce the negative image some individuals may have of both Caucasian’s and people of colour. Rap and hip-hop is one of the most intimate, personal, legitimate and important art form. Instead of perpetuating injustice, and prejudice artists should be addressing these different issues in a different matter.
Since the earliest days of human civilization music has been a key tool for communication of stories which carried emotions through them. If we think back to our youngest years of life music has surrounded us whether it was from our parents singing us lullabies or from some sort of toy that played music we can say that musical melodies have helped shape or lives one way or another. Once we start growing up and figuring out who we are our musical preferences change; some people like classical and some like punk. We start to befriend people who like the same music as us and eventually we may attend a musical event. Our lives somewhat revolve around the music that we listen to.
Music is one of the most fantastical forms of entertainment. Its history stretches all the way from the primitive polyrhythmic drums in Africa to our modern day pop music we listen to on our phones. It has the ability to amaze us, to capture our attention and leave us in awe. It soothes the hearts of billions, and it is so deeply rooted in my life that it has touched my heart as well. Everyday I walk to the beat of the song stuck in my head and hum along to the melody. For me, to listen to music be lifted into the air by the hands of your imagination and float around for a while. You forget about your worries, your troubles and find peace within the sound. Every chapter in my life is attached with a song. Every time I listen to a certain song, thoughts of my past come flooding back
Throughout my life, music has always been a major influence. It has the power to change my mood when I'm feeling down, but the thing I find most intriguing about music is that it doesn't always end up improving your mood: like all forms of art, it imitates life, which is not always portrayed in a positive light. The musicians that I admire most have the versatility to induce several different emotional responses in the same piece. This quality is present in most of the wide variety of music I listen to, from Russian composer Dmiti Shostakovich, to Chicago jazz band Tortoise, to California pop/rock sextet Mr. Bungle.
In the first verse of his song, he questions what the cost of a dollar really means to us. He then proceeds to imply that the question to him is ridiculous but it gets him thinking about it, “How much a dollar really cost? The question is detrimental, paralyzin' my thoughts/Parasites in my stomach keep me with a gut feeling” (AZ Lyrics 1). In this particular situation it “costs” Lamar his place Heaven, which he would ultimately think has no price. Moreover, this rhetorical question analyzes the “esteem” for riches.
“L.A.S.M.” is one of the cleverer skits on the album, like “Are You Mad,” that seemingly opposes the duo. The women interviewers asked “serious questions” and the team laughed it off. In Coleman’s book, they said its intentions was to set a distinction between them and real gangsters that may genuinely have this stance against women (54). “Black With N.V” is one of the few songs that are both serious and direct with the message. The lyrics speak of the struggle that is attached with the African American community. A lifestyle where the system is against them. “For Doz That Slept” was a clear response to the system and to anyone who doubted the group. This rebellious spirit was seen throughout the album and follows the theme of being a “black sheep.” The choice is truly yours in deciding if you are with or without them. However, the group has made it clear it does not need your consensus to make there
Intended Audience: Many features in the text suggest that the intended audience are; Other African Americans as he uses the term nigger which is generally used when talking to other African Americans. General rap followers and fans that appeal to fab’s music and Other similar Socio economic groups are intended to listen as they may appeal and find similarities in the issues and feelings raised such as predjudice. Fab states in an interview with MTV that “On this album, I’m relating to the listeners by sharing experiences with people who come from the places where I’m from”.
Lamar pushes social issues in his songs through the subtle but deep meanings he embeds in them. Some of the most common themes in Lamar’s songs are that of racism, equality, and police brutality. These ideas can be seen most clearly in his song entitled “XXX”, in which Lamar touches on all of the aforementioned issues. The recurrence of themes like equality and fair treatment shows what Kendrick