Blog/RJ WEEK 10

·        Question #5 in MC, p128

Do you agree with Werner’s opinion about “what drives so many jazz men and women to drugs”? Is his theory accurate? What else do you believe could account for drug use?

I highly disagree with this theory for a number of reasons. It is evident that drug use in the music industry is common among many artists, without discrimination. The strongest argument against Werner’s opinion is truly that. I do agree though that it does tie well into his opinion’s when only focusing on the specific topic of Jazz and African Americans. If one factors in all other variables then anyone can see that drug use among Jazz and the African American seems to be too loosely stated, especially when drug use is common to all ethnic back grounds in the realm of super stars. This theory, again, is accurate only when excluding the broad spectrum of reality. If this happens to be true, and we say that jazz men and women do drugs because they cannot relate to their audience on a level that satisfies them only takes credit away from the artist that do surpass this great yearning. There are many artists that reach the great height of reaching their audience in the ways they intended and it is not fair to them to be categorized in such a negative way. If the artist then began using drugs it could be for an endless amount of reasons. For one, fame could be a key factor in turning to drugs. Secondly, the pressure may be too burdensome and they may use drugs as an escape. Lastly, for other artists perhaps they perceive drugs as a creative tool and like those who are not artist themselves, get addicted to the drugs too. Werner’s opinion is too firm and exclusive, not very accurate. There are too many variables to consider when determining this theory. Drug use tempts and addicts jazz men/woman and any other artist from different genre’s just the same as any other Joe or Jane. To be a super star must be intense and there are those who may feel invincible, another variable to keep in mind when discussing drug use among artist.  So many issues arise when discussing this topic, therefore, be careful when stereotyping Jazz artists into a category of such firm beliefs. Jimmy Hendrix happens to be an extreme example. What I meant by extreme, is that there was not anyone like Jimmy Hendrix nor will there ever be. His music and his views were very unique. It is impossible to base his experience as a standard for many other Jazz artists when relating to drugs. Jimmy Hendrix had masses of white fans, whereas, other jazz artists did not have the same experience. Also mentioned in Warner’s article, James Brown, another unique legend. These musicians that cannot be compared, therefore impossible to be them in a type of category that relates to reasons why “most” jazz African American artists turn to drug use because of the disappointment of relating to their audience in ways that they dream of.

M&C Week 9

Education in entertainment can be thought of as a genre of music. There are many genres’ of music, for example: country, hip hop, jazz, and R& B etc. Artist that choose to create music for the purpose of educating listeners on particular issues, usually consistently stick to that style in most of their work. Hence, they can be itemized into a sub category or as I said before a type of genre of music. Music is a powerful tool that can be used to educate as well as to entertain. Music is extremely useful when conveying messages and that is why music is popular among all people. There is always someone out there that can relate to an artist. In my experience, education and entertainment have not been mutually exclusives. Reason being, in order to be a musician, or a successful artist for that matter, it requires that one possess some type of talent, usually. The talent is what entertains the fans. Therefore, the entertainment aspect is certainly evident. I for one am a huge fan of conscious hip hop. Conscious hip hop is a sub category or another form of the hip hop genre. In my opinion this music requires a higher degree of intellect and talent than an artist who usually creates mainstream style of hip hop, for example: club tracks. A conscious hip hop artist takes pride in his or her own work and the positive influence it has on their listeners. Nine times out of ten, the vocabulary is much more elevated than the other types of hip hop artists. Also, the artist has strong views and opinions over debatable topics. There are many techniques that hip hop artists can master in their flows but it is without a doubt the conscious hip hop artist who can articulate their thoughts more effectively and take a more creative approach when constructing his or her lyrics. Metaphors are mastered among the conscious rappers. The visionaries, an underground hip hop group, literally rap about God and many other positive messages. The visionaries are definitely not a gospel group, they are conscious rappers. Their material is clearly un-comparable to mainstream or music only created for entertainment purposes. These artists have messages and the messages they create are created with integrity all the while, still using their many entertainment abilities to attract fans and magnetize flocks of people to the dance floor. I believe those that strive to educate through their music, ultimately entertain because of the fact that the two are undeniably intermingled.

Blog Week 6

Yes, record companies should be responsible for putting parental advisories on the music they distribute. Since our country already has an established system in place that rates movies, video games and music then why change that system now. To a certain extent these are all art forms but we have already “labeled” them in a sense. Parental advisories are another tool for parents to monitor what their children should and should not be listening to. Parental advisories are not meant to take the place of parenting though, and that is where the confusion arises. The music industry takes too much heat for the negative impact music has on minors. Freedom of expression is valued in this country and should not be criticized or censored. Parental advisories are not very effective, in all reality. If we focus on what the parental advisories really are then they do serve their purpose. They are simply a “label”, that is all. Children can still access the music in many ways, and that is why I stated that they are not to act as the parents. It is entirely up to the parent to decipher what their child should be listening to. If the label was not there, parents would still be responsible for monitoring their child’s musical preference. Music can be accessed via internet, television, or even at a friend’s house. There is ultimately no way to restrict your child from certain music at all in this society. What is important though is raising your child with integrity, guidance, and discipline. If all of these values are incorporated into your child then you should not have a severe issue resulting from any type of music a child is exposed to (not saying all music should be at their disposal.) Definitely the music industry should continuously keep catering to society and parents by including parental advisors on music, it cannot hurt anyone.

Blog Week 8

Blog week 8
M&C pg 115 #5
I believe that it can be true that “words are instruments of separation and social power” and that “rhythm and dance are fusional media that have no concern with social power” almost all of the time. I cannot be definite for either one but it seems that the two statements make sense. Words can be used as instruments of separation and social power that is a common sense theory. To elaborate, words have an immense amount of power and influence on people. We communicate through language; therefore, agreeing with the first part of this theory is not an outrageous stance to take. Since the words carry the power, it is not a huge surprise to add the premise that words are the instruments used. As people we tend to pass judgment most of the time, even when we try our best to not pass judgment, it seems that it happens automatically. I believe it is a part of being a human being. If we take words or language out of the equation then, not all, but some of the bias is removed. I think that in some situations that I am unaware of that these statements may not take much hold. For example, the ballet. Words do not have to be present here, yet, there still must be a significant amount of skill to be this type of dancer. I can imagine if someone happens to dance among the ballerina’s and how they would be looked down upon. Therefore, if we are interpreting these statements in a much simpler way then they do stand firm in their meaning but if when there is room for different scenarios, the statements do not stand firm. Overall, rhythm and dance typically do not have concern with social power. Dance is a thing of art and expression, freedom, and fun. You can tell when you go to a dance club or a family party that people unite through dance and unity is created.

MC Question #5 pg 99

Tupac Shakur, is the legendary example of the ultimate hip hop artists portrayed negatively in the mainstream media. He was in fact, the definition of drama throughout his career. Evidently Tupac in many ways did impact the hip hop community with a forceful negative approach. It is my personal opinion that Tupac identified with the potential celebrity the press and media could produce with any form of coverage, let alone negative coverage. It is not very difficult to understand that American culture thirsts and obsesses for news, particularly bad news. I believe it was Tupac’s strategy that lead him to success in a short amount of time. Tupac created the East Coast versus West Coast War which plagued the music industry for years to come, even after his murder. It was a very smart move, to some degree, to use the media outlet at his own disposal. His fallout though, was obviously, his brutal and early death. When the media harassed him, he harassed them back. If he was targeted then he used it as an opportunity to be on the nine o’ clock news. He initiated controversy in his lyrics. Tupac called out specific artists, provoking them to respond. One huge example of the extent Tupac Shakur went to, was when he used the Notorious BIG’s wife, Faith as a part of a plot. She was pretty much naïve to the conflict at the time but she met Tupac Shakur one night and I believe there was a photo taken or she sang some lyrics for one of his songs. Tupac orchestrated the entire experience as an affair and plotted it out to the media and in his music in order to humiliate the Notorious Big. His was very successful of this account. Tupac Shakur was a very troubled individual but is a prime example of how the media played a huge role in his negative exposure. He was a great artist and now that he has passed he is legendary. The only downside of Tupac Shakur’s career is that he is not really recognized for the positive influence he had or the genius music he created. He had tracks like “Dear Momma”, and “Brenda”, that were iconic. He also had some very fun and energetic creations that were masterpieces in the hip hop community. I even remember Tupac rapping about politics and the community. He did not always degrade women, he lifted them up and idolized them too. Tupac Shakur was a beautiful artist but in this specific situation it was not only the media but it was the artist himself that created the negative vibe in which to categorize him in. We all seem to forget where this man came from. He was a drama student in high school. He never even was involved in gangs growing up until he surfaced in the music industry. Tupac Shakur was a very sensitive, passionate, and intelligent young man. He ultimately used the media at his discretion but unfortunately he lost control and the overwhelming intensity of the responsibility that came about led to his destruction.

The Misunderstood

The other day I was channel surfing and came across an interesting program, it was on one of the music channels, I can’t remember which one. One of the group members from Cypress Hill was giving an interview that was taking place in the neighborhood where he was raised. For those of you who aren’t familiar; Cypress Hill’s genre is somewhat the gangster/hood mentality. I caught the show towards the end. He was riding around the streets, while a camera was filming him talk. He passed the block where he had been shot years ago. He was telling his story and how it happened. He then tied in how he eventually had to choose between making music or gang banging. He said he couldn’t be going to the studio, shows, etc. hitting up everyone he saw (something gang members do). He decided to do music. After his explanation of how he made the difficult choice he went on to speak in a positive, role model type of way. It seems like the intent of the program was to show good examples for the youth. Cypress Hill has some very vulgar music, very disrespectful, and violent music. I believe one of their tracks is “I could just kill a man”, and another “Insane in the Membrane”. They also have multiple songs about doing and selling drugs. These guys are legends in the hip hop world, but the youth tend to be very naïve when idolizing artist such as these. Youth lack life experience which gives them a disadvantage when their judgment comes into play. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with music and expressing oneself in any way they desire. The problem arises when the youth take much of the music literally. Here we have the artist years and years later after his music is released, promoting the opposite lifestyle of what he was almost instigating in his music.  When a teen can relate to music that’s just a wonderful thing, no matter how dim the situation may be. It’s a way for kid not to feel alone.  The kid can feel connected and understand that there are others who have gone through the same type of life (for example: the gang life). It’s a good thing to be able to relate but when a child doesn’t understand that music is created as a form of expression and creativity they sometimes get lost in the lyrics. If cypress Hill is rapping about “I could just kill a man”, a naïve kid could think that this type of thing is acceptable. All the while, the goal of this artist was to use the environment that he was in as a means to change his life in a positive way, to make music. The kid doesn’t realize that Gangs get you know where in life and the actual band member came to that realization as soon as he started doing music and dropped the gang he was associated with.  

Who knew?

How do I converse with my parents, my friends? At first glance, this question seemed all too foreign to me. I couldn’t think of an example, let’s see, I eat with my family, I gossip with the friends, and well, I really couldn’t pinpoint a significant example in order to relate to the question. Then, it occurred to me, of course, the way I converse with my 7 month old daughter. She is all too new to my world and she brings to light endless changes in my life since her birth. The relationship I have with my daughter is a perfect example. I lived alone when Jewel was first born. During that time I had become accustomed to being comfortable not talking for a few days. I had the thoughts in my head and occasionally sang along to a song on the radio but that was really it. If there were no incoming phone calls then I really didn’t speak much because I wasn’t working at the time and stayed home a lot with my infant. I then found myself with this adorable bundle of joy. A little precious infant, new to my world. I found myself busy, very busy in my mind. So much “noise” going on in my mind. I was always planning, thinking, and thinking some more. The voice in my head was on overdrive. The funny thing is when I would snap out of it, I noticed if I’m spending all this time thinking, who’s talking to the baby. My mind was loud with thoughts but my home was silent. I would stop myself and take a look at my baby and notice its freakin silent in this house! I started talking to my baby more and more when I noticed this, I felt very terrible, you can imagine. It was a little weird to adjust but I managed. During the transition period, I made sure to love my baby so much. I showered her with enormous amounts of affection to make up for the lack of verbal communication. I always made sure to give her eye contact, so that she knew she was important and I noticed her. I would hug and kiss her all the time. I would sleep close to her and hardly ever leave her sight. That was our conversation for a brief time. A mother and daughter getting acquainted with each other in various ways. What a wonderful time in my life. She understood me. She knew that I love her and even though I didn’t speak to her much in the beginning, she was well aware that I communicated to her in other ways. Of course I quickly got used to speaking to her verbally but it was a special time adjusting to my new company. The hugs, the kisses, the eye contact…it was all very beautiful. Once I shut my mind off and started speaking to her more the two habits naturally combined into a great relationship.