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.

They Are Deaf

I can’t believe that I decided on these questions versus the first one available. To be honest with you all, I believe Bloom to be a bit harsh but at the same time I felt a huge amount of truth to what he was saying.  I don’t know where to begin. Music is a wonderful thing. I happen to love music. I’m fascinated with the art of expression music can take you to or allow you to experience. I love the escape within music. With all this in mind, I have to say the generations of our time seem somewhat bland. I don’t know exactly how to explain this so I will do my very best. I think everyone may be far too shallow and very used to that being the norm. I have noticed that the youth use music as a very easy way to experience art. Ask a kid, who is your favorite band or singer/rapper, then ask who is your favorite poet or author, which do you think will get the quickest response? It’s kind of like we are raised in a generation that doesn’t necessarily value intellect. It all starts from home, we sit and watch hours of television, play video games, listen to music. Where is the thought process? Where is the parent stressing the value of intellect, vocabulary, or creative thinking? It’s easier to sit your kid in front of a TV. or radio instead of taking them out to the book store or discussing a topic that sparks some type of educational thought process. I for one, think that there are many factors that contribute to the erosion of the imagination of our young people but we have to definitely pinpoint the obvious. Maybe parents have too many pressures on their selves, with work, bills, taxes, etc. Music is a beautiful thing but the way our society idolizes it does make it so that it interferes with a young person’s development of a passionate relationship to the art and thought, which are the substance in liberal education. I agree strongly with Bloom in this are but also recognize that there are many variables that contribute to this culture of “zombies”, music is just an obvious one to point finger to. The real enemy is not music as a whole though; the real enemy is the “big picture” of the problem. For example, you can blame parents all day long for having obese children but “we” as a people, a society, a culture, have let that happen. In a sense we have made it okay to be overweight, or have a poor diet. The same with music, like TV, video games, and minimal education, we have “Okayed” it as a society to be dull. We need to support each other in driving one another to more “well rounded” a people. We need to teach and promote all things. Like they say, “too much of any one thing is bad”.  Our young people need to have a passion for reading and writing. For creating and not just idolizing the artist; becoming the artist! Not to just sit in front of the television, numb, but to value a conversation with another human being. I can understand why Bloom says “they are deaf”; the youth are missing out on so much, much that is no longer valued in our society.

Music In Me

We woke up and began to chat about anything we could possibly think of. I asked him what time were his parents leaving. He told me he wasn’t sure but sometime soon. We were lying in his bed and I desperately wanted to avoid running into any parents on my way out (this was years ago). Anxious to kill some time we continued talking. He mentioned to me how his younger brother would sometimes play some rock on the stereo first thing in the morning. Or at times he would play some reggae like Bob Marley. He went further on to explain, depending on what type of music was playing, everyone’s attitude was affected by it each morning. Or vice versa, depending on what attitude he was in that particular morning determined the style of music he decided to play. I never thought about music that way before.

               My favorite type of music would have to be conscious rapper’s or hip hop. Lyrics can be so powerful and unique when the music is under the radar like underground hip hop. There’s always a time and place for some R & B, usually when I’m in love. I also enjoy rock, oldies, and everything else in between. When it comes to favorite music, or movies I hate to answer that question. There’s so much out there that I haven’t been exposed to yet, it truly frustrates me. I want to hear it all. It’s like there’s not enough hours in the day. My ultimate favorite undeniably is hip hop. I love great hip hop, not the mainstream stuff on M.T.V or B.E.T., more like the underground struggling artist. Their vocabulary and lyrics are on an entirely different level. I love the stories and struggles that come to light in hip hop. I love the conscious rapper that expresses meaning or a moral in his messages. I love the style.

               I listen to what reaches my soul, or what affects me at that time in my life. If I’m in love I’m definitely reaching for something like Lauryn Hill’s water. If I’m a bit feisty, I’m popping in Lauryn Hill’s fire. Usually I have to have a righteous meaning behind an artist’s lyrics, that’s the core of my preference. Although, I may dabble in some hard core stuff when I’m pissed I remain a huge sucker for music that speaks to the soul. Or some “man hating music” when I’m broken hearted. I used to always listen to Tupac as an angry teenager when I was into “bad boys” but grew out of that stage. I still love my Pac as an artist, but honestly I have not played any of his music in years.

               Most recently, I’ve been taking some interest in Jill Scott and India Irie. I think as I grow in my life so does my taste for music. I’m drawn to a more mature artist to activate my inspirational influence. Music is without a doubt a soundtrack to all of our lives, we simply put our own sound track together. One of my favorite artists, Lauryn hill, once said in an interview, something along these lines: listen to my album and you will know what’s going on in my life at that time. It’s the same with me, I cling to what is relatable. Listen to my IPod and you have a huge clue of who I am and what I’m going thru at that time in my life.

Experience with Music

Since I was a kid music always had a huge impact on my life. There are two memorable moments that I had with music from my childhood. The first one was with my Mom. It took place at home. One of those Saturdays where mom was up early, cleaning up the house, and of course blasting Dad’s radio while he was at work. Me and my sisters were playing in our room, when she called us to the front room. Her C.D., Mary Wells was Playing and the track: I have two lovers was called on for us to pay special attention to. As little girls in elementary school we listened trying desperately to figure out what the song was about. Without much life experience it wasn’t really relatable to our lives. As a woman now, I definitely get it. Dad wasn’t the perfect husband to our Mom. It's a little humorous now to even think of how our Mom was warning us about guys like my Dad at such a young age. The next experience that’s always clear in my mind was created while spending time with my Dad. My younger sister and I, again in elementary school, joined my Dad for the day for a drive to his work. He left us in the car for a very long time when we arrived to his work place. He had War playing in the C.D. player. Out of all the songs that played throughout the drive there was one in particular that clung on to our very souls. As soon as Dad was out of sight we put “Can’t take away our music”, on repeat and raised the volume. We could have listened and sang along to that song, for maybe more than a half an hour or so. It was such a brilliant and soulful piece of art! I think I speak for almost everyone when I say that music is like a sound track to my life. All my favorite songs have so much meaning behind them. Music can be the most inspirational thing out there that is easily accessible. It’s a universal escape to all people. Everyone has their preference and taste but it all works the same magic to us as individuals. There is healing power in music. There is an escape in music. Memories can be trapped in music. Dreams can be grown in music. Strength can be drawn from music. It has influenced me by showing me that all of us are really the same after all. We can relate to so many of the same things through music. We all think we’re so unique, and yes we are in some ways but when it comes down to it I realized that we all are very similar after all. Music has affected communities as a whole by expressing meaningful topics in music. For example, conscious rappers artistically call attention to moral issues instead of just entertaining for the sake of just dancing at a party. Music has crossed time zones simply because it can relate and reach so many people. Music has also crossed generations; we love our classics & forever loved artistic stars. Every time a song comes out that personally touches me I develop a new respect and appreciation for music. Music is always being created and evolving which a reason to appreciate it in itself.