Hip hop music has such an effect on pop culture it blows my mind! If you aren't constantly staying up to date with current hits then you will basically have no moves on the dance floor. Hip hop music has taken a turn to where the songs have a dance built in. The "John Wall", "the Dougie", "Crank that soulja boy" etc. I can enjoy a nice beat and some groovin as much as the next person but I have been caught multiple times unaware of the fact that this song I am jammin out to has distinct choreography built in to it.
This is due in large part to the ways that people view music videos. Music videos are not on TV anymore. They are on the web and they are going viral. It almost seems like if these hip hop songs don't have something memorable in their music videos, they won't be as popular. Music videos on youtube have upwards of 100 million views, which is absolutely INSANE! Crank That Soulja Boy has over 162 million views. It is absolutely brilliant to be repetitive in these songs and create dance moves that everyone can do because it creates an experience with your song, which makes it more memorable. When I am 90 years old I will probably still remember how to do the dougie (and I can teach my great grandchildren how fly their grams used to be.) Hip hop songs are easy to remember. They have distinct beats that stick with you and the fact that you can involve your whole body in the listening to it can ensure that you will never forget it, try as you might. These dance moves aren't even that spectacular. In the John Wall you literally just hold your arm up like you are flexing and change the direction of your hand. Super simple, yet every time that dang song comes on, you bet your life I know the moves and the words and boy do I jam out to it. Hip hop music feels like the genre for everyone. Anyone can pick out their favorite hip hop song, easy. Hip hop is mainstream culture. If you go to any dance on campus and one of those songs gets played, everyone will be singing and dancing to it. Hip hop is a culture. It is more than just music and art. It almost doesn't even matter what the content of the song is. Mackelmore can sing about thrift shopping, MC Hammar can't touch this, lil wayne can talk about lollipops, and oh my gosh Becky! Look at her butt, it is so big. Hip hop can still be popular in any race, gender, club, culture, etc.
I am a white, middle class, 23 year old, with a shorter leg and I love hip hop music (and trying to do that leg thing that no one really knows how to do.) I love doing (trying) the dougie, learning how to wop and wobble, and pop lockin droppin it. Fact of the matter is, hip hop IS pop culture. So next time you're at a club, school dance, or even a church dance, just lean back, walk it out, throw some D's on it and call it a night. Peace, I'm out.
Friday, October 3, 2014
Remix music has always been around
Lately we have been talking about rap music in class. The fact that most, if not all, rap/hip hop artists uses remixes of other beats. Rap/hip hop is new in our culture and the remix of beats is so clear, many criticize, sometimes rightfully so, of this fact but Rap/hip hop is not the only genre that remixes beats and full songs even. Blues being a main one as well as rock. In fact many rock bands if not all the legendary rock bands took directly from the blues : Led Zepplin, Eric Clapton, AC/DC, Rolling Stones, Beatles, and many more.
This is Elmore James (King of the slide guitar) song Dust my broom.
This Robert Johnson (King of the Delta Blues) about ten years earlier.
Both amazing artists and known in their own right but same song.
1. Culture always builds on the past.
2. The past always tries to control the
future.
3. Our future is becoming less free.
4. To build free societies you must limit
the control of the past.
This the original version of hound dog. By Big Mama Thornton.
This song became well known from Elvis, years later.
Remixes are not new and new genres are built from the past. In which can control the future if we do not try to become free from it, not all of it.
The problem with some new music is that they just end up redoing the same and not bring an additive to their music to make something new. These artists (arguably not Elvis) became free because they added more to the remix of another.
Eric Clapton's version of a Robert Johnson song.
Both amazing artists and known in their own right but same song.
1. Culture always builds on the past.
2. The past always tries to control the
future.
3. Our future is becoming less free.
4. To build free societies you must limit
the control of the past.
This song became well known from Elvis, years later.
The problem with some new music is that they just end up redoing the same and not bring an additive to their music to make something new. These artists (arguably not Elvis) became free because they added more to the remix of another.
Why do listen to the same music over and over?
This is a response to the following interview that's linked below. The link contains an article and pod cast that talks about an interview with Dr. Margulis, a director from the University of Arkansas, who explains why we can stand listening to the same song over and over again.
From reading this article its eye opening to me to realize that today's music is very repetitive. Its almost the same beat, the same topic, the same feeling you get when your dancing to it. Its fascinating to know that as we listen to a song over a few times it starts to kinda grow on us whether we like it or not (much like a guilty pleasure). That's an example of human evolution and adaptation in action.
A personal example of this, is the time I worked at Hollister Co. I worked in floor sales, so I stood around greeting customers and folded clothes that on the tables. If you didn't know, Hollister's head quarters sets up a seasonal sound track of about 8 songs that go along with their season clothing line. This season happened to be spring and there was a particular song that got on the sound track that I got to hear about 4 months before it even hit the radio. It was One Republic's- Counting Stars. I enjoyed it the for the first couple of shifts, but soon after having working 6 hours a day and standing on the floor having to listen to the same tracks over and over.. It got to the point to where I almost couldn't stand the listening to the music. So a few months pass by and I quit my job at Hollister before school ends. Weeks later, next thing you know the jams for summer starts to play on the radio. Guess whats playing on the radio? You guessed, that song that drives me nuts but at the same time is my guilty pleasure.
http://soundcheck.wnyc.org/story/why-we-love-listen-over-and-over/
From reading this article its eye opening to me to realize that today's music is very repetitive. Its almost the same beat, the same topic, the same feeling you get when your dancing to it. Its fascinating to know that as we listen to a song over a few times it starts to kinda grow on us whether we like it or not (much like a guilty pleasure). That's an example of human evolution and adaptation in action.
A personal example of this, is the time I worked at Hollister Co. I worked in floor sales, so I stood around greeting customers and folded clothes that on the tables. If you didn't know, Hollister's head quarters sets up a seasonal sound track of about 8 songs that go along with their season clothing line. This season happened to be spring and there was a particular song that got on the sound track that I got to hear about 4 months before it even hit the radio. It was One Republic's- Counting Stars. I enjoyed it the for the first couple of shifts, but soon after having working 6 hours a day and standing on the floor having to listen to the same tracks over and over.. It got to the point to where I almost couldn't stand the listening to the music. So a few months pass by and I quit my job at Hollister before school ends. Weeks later, next thing you know the jams for summer starts to play on the radio. Guess whats playing on the radio? You guessed, that song that drives me nuts but at the same time is my guilty pleasure.
http://soundcheck.wnyc.org/story/why-we-love-listen-over-and-over/
Rap and Music
This week we were talking about gangsta rap, and how most people tend to like it. Me that isn't for me, I just don't like the lyrics, and the hard bass it uses tends set my hard rhythm off. We all have our own music that we listen too. Alot of people refer to this as what came out in the 80s and early 90s, you Snoop Dog, Run DMZ, they always talked about killing people some even referred to killing cops.
I found that mostly the younger generation prefer this style of music, you hear it coming out of cars on the road, that have the big power amps, and big woofer speakers. To me that just an easy way to ruin your hearing with all that loud music.
This is a video link I did of an old Ice Cube video.
http://youtu.be/HzeZhCt5PVA
I found that mostly the younger generation prefer this style of music, you hear it coming out of cars on the road, that have the big power amps, and big woofer speakers. To me that just an easy way to ruin your hearing with all that loud music.
This is a video link I did of an old Ice Cube video.
http://youtu.be/HzeZhCt5PVA
Rap n stuff...
In class this week we discussed rap music, and weather it was socially acceptable to rap about things rappers rap about (selling drugs, robbing and killing, etc). Personally i think it is socially acceptable, if cowboys can sing about riding horses, then a "gangsta" should be able to rap about selling crack. Music influences people, but people influence music before anything. Gangsters and thugs didnt become gangsters and thugs because they were listening to rap music. "Gangsta" rap music is what it is because gangsters and thugs rap about what they're really going through.
Yes, it does display a negative message, (killing and selling drugs are very wrong) and Iv'e heard people say that rappers can take what they're doing and deliver a positive message instead of the image they're portraying. But to be honest, theres nothing positive about the places these rappers grew up in, its filled with gang violence, drugs, pimps, and prostitutes. Rappers are only doing music about what they've seen and experienced growing up in their areas, and for some thats all they've ever seen.
Below is a song by a rapper named "Bobby Shmurda", in his song he raps about selling crack and killing his enemies, is this a good thing ?...no, does it happen? everyday in some parts.
And now days, people dont even have to understand what you're saying to like your music. You can get on a track and yell a whole bunch of gibberish and still make it at the top of the hot 100 billboard. Apparently all you need is a good beat and wacky clothes, and you're on your way to stardom. its ok for rappers to say absolutely nothing, but a "gangsta" rapper cant rap about being a "gangsta".
Yes, it does display a negative message, (killing and selling drugs are very wrong) and Iv'e heard people say that rappers can take what they're doing and deliver a positive message instead of the image they're portraying. But to be honest, theres nothing positive about the places these rappers grew up in, its filled with gang violence, drugs, pimps, and prostitutes. Rappers are only doing music about what they've seen and experienced growing up in their areas, and for some thats all they've ever seen.
Below is a song by a rapper named "Bobby Shmurda", in his song he raps about selling crack and killing his enemies, is this a good thing ?...no, does it happen? everyday in some parts.
And now days, people dont even have to understand what you're saying to like your music. You can get on a track and yell a whole bunch of gibberish and still make it at the top of the hot 100 billboard. Apparently all you need is a good beat and wacky clothes, and you're on your way to stardom. its ok for rappers to say absolutely nothing, but a "gangsta" rapper cant rap about being a "gangsta".
Original Music or Emulated Music
Artists in the music industry are continuously being recognized for their strives in new music and new styles of music. well according to Adorno music can be easily identified by using the same four cords for every song. In class we watched the band Axis Of Awesome who played a variety of different songs by different artists who have similarly sounding music. Its a little crazy to think all music has/have the same starting foundation but it does makes sense. Everything we do needs a starting point and for music the base of four cords are those starting points. While watching the Axis Of Awesome group I thought the four cords might be the same but the way each song was sang made it fit those specific cords. Compared to how some of those actual songs sounded I thought they sang it in a certain way to match the specific cords and flow of each of the songs. But after watching the second video on the power point it was pretty clear to see the similarities between songs. The video showed 10 of the most similar songs that have been written.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQyl1hcB1mA
It was astonishing to see the similarities between songs that were centuries apart from each other like the songs Beef stew by Green Day and 25 or 6 to 4 by Chicago, two completely different groups that didn't have the exact same types of music but contained similar notes and keys to their respected songs.
As I continued to listen to the 10 different songs it seems like bands are not trying to copy the same types of music but are trying to emulate the sound with their own specific twists that fits their music genres. The band Green day is one of many bands who has taken past songs and manipulated them into their own version creating the same sound but different lyrics behind them.
In my opinion its hard for current artists to stay original and create their own sound. It seems like most artist will now take away specific cords and such from past songs and artists and add their own type of flavor to give it the appearance of "original" sound.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQyl1hcB1mA
It was astonishing to see the similarities between songs that were centuries apart from each other like the songs Beef stew by Green Day and 25 or 6 to 4 by Chicago, two completely different groups that didn't have the exact same types of music but contained similar notes and keys to their respected songs.
As I continued to listen to the 10 different songs it seems like bands are not trying to copy the same types of music but are trying to emulate the sound with their own specific twists that fits their music genres. The band Green day is one of many bands who has taken past songs and manipulated them into their own version creating the same sound but different lyrics behind them.
In my opinion its hard for current artists to stay original and create their own sound. It seems like most artist will now take away specific cords and such from past songs and artists and add their own type of flavor to give it the appearance of "original" sound.
Our class discussion about Disney princesses was a real eye
opener for me. I hadn’t seen many Disney movies growing up, and the one I had
seen were so long ago I didn’t remember much about them. That day in class I
didn’t understand the extent of the dressing and ditsy personality until I
started watching them again. It got me curious to look at all of the Disney
Princesses and see how they act and dress. I couldn’t believe that some of
those movies were rated G. If they hadn’t been animated Disney movies they
probably would have gotten a worse rating. The only movies that are PG are
Maleficent, Brave, and Tangled, which are because of mild violence.
As I was going through looking at each princess I found some
pictures of what they would look like in real life. Even in those pictures they
are posed pretty sexually especially for their ages. Jasmine is only 15, yet
she has a very revealing top on with her shoulders back.
Pocahontas was 14
Arial was 16
The thing I found interesting was that Cinderella, Aurora, Belle, and Rapunzel just to name a few didn't have pictures or outfits that were very sexual. They were all prim and properly dressed in ball gowns.
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