Music Is Life

Tag: new-music

  • Choose Your City/Soul Analysis:

    The city I chose is one of the best in the world. New York City is a vibrant multicultural city and it is also the birthplace of hip-hip. The rhythms in the songs I chose are filled with the heavy bass which is reminiscent of the hearts of all residents of the barrio’s who’ve been pushed out of their neighborhoods due to gentrification under the guise of redevelopment.  Families that are affected by political betrayal from their local representatives end up in a generational cycle deep despair and it gives birth to poets who publish their work through rap songs with funky beats. The lyrical content of the artist I chose to showcase are filled with conversations about integrity and respectability. When we consider Lauryn Hill’s song titled Doo Wop, she cautions young girls to watch out for men who only want to use them for instant gratification. She also implores black women to embrace their natural beauty rather than assimilating to the beauty standards of Europeans.  Her lyrics are heavy laden with themes of protest that stand up to social oppression against women. Queen Latifah song U.N.I.T.Y is an ode to black women to remain unified in demanding respect from a world that sees them as less than, her song is very empowering. Many clubs and block parties played a major catapulting these genres because they served as agents that provided a platform to showcase artists that weren’t usually invited to bigger clubs with established artist. The Apollo was one of those Talent shows that helped to propel many artist to  notoriety. 

    Connect Music To City History&Culture/Resistance, Empowerment&Social Change:

    The industrialization and racial inequality played a major part in the mood of the music that came out of New York City. Within the Ghettos and the Barrio’s displacement was rampant. Events like the Puerto Rican Day and the West Indian Day Parade were marketed to future investors so they could spend dollars to boost industries like tourism within the city. Neoliberalism manifested into urban renewal and the branding of ethnic neighborhoods like Spanish Harlem. The economic hardships that came from this sort of predatory behavior gave rise to artist like Gangstarr who often took pride in his lyrical swordplay in opposition to selling his soul for Mass Appeal which meant monetary gain. Overpolicing and systems of surveilence caused a lot of harm to communities like Queensbridge Projects where many Ghetto superstars like Nasir Jones, Mobb Deep and Ron Artest were born. Pete Rock and CL Smooth gave us a beautiful ode titled “They Reminisce Over You”. This song addresses single parenthood and the way in which family units mend brokenness. Pete Rock reminisces about his uncles who stepped up and filled the void of fatherlessness within the home as he celebrates his mother for having the strength and fortitude of a Queen. The group Digital Planets gave us the right dose of Funk, Jazz and Hip Hop blended into one and the song titled “Rebirth Of The Slick” is a testament of the fact that Jazz and Funk travel with us perpetually throughout the generations. The subjects within a lot of the songs that I chose are a raw commentary of urban struggle because they are reminiscent of old slavery systems like surveillance and economic hardship due to segregation caused by displacement. Many of the families that are affected by these issues are forced into the black market to make money due to economic shifts because the benefits that they should reap from their neighborhoods are often stolen when investors take over the neighborhood. After that point they are left powerless while the politicians that represent them sell them out for their own personal enrichment. Beautiful music is born from these types of social conditions and this is what makes New York City such unique place with many poets who spill their pain over beats of rhythm and blues and funk.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6QKqFPRZSA

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cM4kqL13jGM&list=RDEM-7dEKSqVvHeM9IhpCTdyfQ&index=8

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6mdRv0ZdR8&list=RDEM-7dEKSqVvHeM9IhpCTdyfQ&index=8

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3_dOWYHS7I

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9lNbNGbo24

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8cHxydDb7o

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0d2wH-7wyY&list=RDQ0d2wH-7wyY&start_radio=1

  • God is Standing By

    I really enjoyed this song because it is filled with hope, strength and faith. The level of racism that is being exerted from the ruling class is really a lot to stomach. lately I’ve been feeling like I’m just in place of limbo but this song soothingly reminded me that God is standing by my side at all times. In the beginning of the song the melody is calm and then later on it feels like the song becomes more militant. I felt like I was in the crowd jubilating. The message is clear and direct. No matter what is going on God is right there by my side regardless of the trouble and the strife that surrounds us. The class warfare that’s being waged against people who are deemed to be second class citizens is unbearable at times but as I listen to this song I’m reminded that these are old social problems that have always existed. We always get through it and this song is has a wonderful message of hope. Black Existentialism is the Blues Theory term that was evoked during this listening.

    Jack of Diamonds

    This song was really cool and as I listened to it I realized that I’ve been playing the Jack of Daimonds for the majority of my life, I wouldn’t have put any other way. I’m an Aries so naturally I’m a risk taker. Since I was about 7 years old I felt like I was dealt a bad hand but I’ve had to make the most the cards that were dealt to me. I really like how the artists melody was chaotic throughout the whole song. He went on to say that in every situation he came up against the Jack of Diamonds was in his hands. The Jack of Diamonds represents courage and initiative, a hero, and willingness to take risks. I’ve lived through 2 hurricanes that took the roof of our home in the Caribbean both times and we really didn’t have the 15 cents to turn into a dollar. Fema failed us and we had to collect firewood to cook a meal after catching some fish and those times prepared me for all the tough times that life decides to throw at me. Bring it on! The lyrics in the song repetitively reminded me that no matter what situation was presented to me I faced it with courage no matter the end result and I am still here. Cultural memory and Identity is the Blues Theory term that was evoked during this listening.

    Sinner’s Prayer 

    This song is so universal in my opinion, it speaks to the tough economic times that I’ve been facing due to the Macro economy. The lyrics and melody embodied a tone of lamentation. Tough times can fall on anyone suddenly and you naturally ask yourself what did you do wrong to anyone, so the sinners prayer to God makes this song so powerful because at one point or the other we’ve all faced economic hardship and the remaining question is why of God why? Ray Charles said that he used to have plenty money, the finest clothes in town and then bad luck and trouble overtook him and he proceeded to cry out to the lord to please have mercy on him. This verse was so real to me because things can get so tough that you can’t even remember when you bought yourself a nice t-shirt just to be able to look good and feel good on a nice spring day. The question of why bad luck has befallen me definitely makes me question who did I wrong. Is it karma because that entity sure comes at the wrong time. But the cause of my suffering is something that will remain a mystery until I surrender to the process and see what lesson God is trying to teach me this time. This song is a hit in my book and I’m a true music lover. The Blues Theory that was evoked during this listening was the Blues Aesthetic. 

    I’d like to share this song with you all because it also embodies how I’ve been feeling lately. It’s  titled Sitting in Limbo by Jimmy Cliff. Its really Bluesy, enjoy!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjU8L6go1VA