I wanna be contigo, and live contigo, and dance contigo, para have contigo, una noche loca”. This is the chorus to Enrique Iglesias’ billboard hit, Bailando. If you listen to the song you can hear the rhythm of reggae, hip hop, Spanish flamenco, reggaeton among a cacophony of other sound. I hear beauty, see color and feel joy when I listen to this song. The success of this song according to Gary Trust, associate director of charts is due to “the fact that a quarter of this country’s youths are Latino. He comments that the market is so diverse that Latino artists don’t have to pick just one language or two.…
With the fear sparked in many of us due to the recent presidential election as well as the many examples of how the government has failed and oppressed the minority of this country, “I Get Out” by Lauryn Hill seems to be a very significant, symbolic, and appropriate anthem. On her live album titled, “MTV Unplugged No. 2.0”, which was released on May 7th, 2002, Ms. Hill speaks on many social issues and personal realizations. On “I Get Out”, she analyzes the government and its relationship with herself, as well as other minorities. The song holds a sense of rebellion and seems to encourage self-liberation as she speaks of setting herself free of the struggles, prejudices, traditions, and oppression, amongst many things, brought into the lives…
Lady Gaga’s performance at the super bowl halftime show opened with her singing Irving Berlin's song, “God Bless America”. There have been some speculations about why she chose to open with this song, and then follow it with part of Woody Guthrie's “This Land Is Your Land”. These two song are actually associated with each other outside of the 2017 super bowl halftime show.…
Senior year is like listening to a broken radio that repeats the same phrase over and over again. As an incoming freshman in college, we are still unable to throw this broken radio out. We've been forced to listen to the phrase "How are you going be successful in college?" I believe that everyone has a different definition of being successful in college. For me, being successful in college is keeping up with my grades and living my life to the fullest.…
In 1979, The Knack performed one of their hit singles “My Sharona” in front of a packed house. This song represented the alternative/pop rock genre, and was considered a major hit in the late 1970s. As a child, I remember hearing the song on the radio and I enjoyed the catchy and memorable tune. Although I did not quite understand the lyrics at the time, my dad listened to it often when he worked in the garage. This essay will first describe a variety of important musical characteristics that are displayed within the performance. Next, it will discuss how this song was a launchpad for a future song that became just as popular a few years later. Lastly, before providing my own personal critique, I will discuss how the song assisted The Knack with getting back together nearly 20…
society. In addition to this, she makes an insightful claim; that the current representation of black…
On March 18, 2013, Beyonce Knowles-Carter leaked a song called “Bow Down,” where she instructed all of her competitors to bow down before her. In her estimation, there was no competition, she was aware of it, and anybody practicing in her arena was aware of it too. More importantly, her legion of adoring fans knew it as well. The song leak served as a stark contrast to what Beyonce had recently become known for releasing. Instead of the ballads of romance, anthems of girl power, unity and triumph, or the militaristic pronunciation of confidence and ego, this track releases scathing criticism and pompous boast over all of her contemporaries. The deviance from what normally typifies Beyonce’s sound and message did not extend to her fan base; this is to say that the reaction was largely the same. Regarding anything that has to do with Beyonce, there was instant conversation started. As an outsider who does not consider myself as a “lover” or a “hater” of Beyonce, I saw artifacts and texts everywhere that I went. On social networks, there were links sharing the song. There were comparisons between the newest song and previous singles from her catalogue. There were images that exulted Beyonce to a place of worship and then there were parodies of these said images. Blogs dedicated special release posts to discuss the piece. In person, I heard the song emanating from…
Demi Lovato is a teen star that starred on Disney channel. She is also an actress and singer that went through a period of hurting herself. She opened up about her bulimia and cutting. "I was compulsively overeating when I was eight years old," she said. "So, I guess, for the past 10 years I've had a really unhealthy relationship with food (Johnston).” At age 11, Lovato began cutting herself -- intentionally self-mutilating her wrists as a way of coping with emotions (Johnston). In “Skyscraper”, personification, simile and imagery are used by Demi Lovato to express her struggles and how she overcomes them.…
The poem “not another sad black girl song”, by Cheri Paris Edwards, talks about sadness. The poem deals with how she used to be sad, and she wants to try these new things instead of following her usual routine. The author says, “ain’tdraggin’ round the same ole’ travel-weary path” (Edwards pg.18). In this snippet, it talks about how the character used to take the same path every time and now they want to try a different route and see where it takes them to better their lives. Although being sad and having neither money nor man in her life, she talks about changing her routine.…
Everybody’s Something by Chance The Rapper The song that I chose for this project was Everybody’s Something by Chance the Rapper. One of the primary reasons that I chose this song was because of his uniqueness and ability to convey a message through his songs, more specifically this song. He displays a sense of passion and concern for his fellow peers in the streets of Chicago. It is shown throughout this song with the techniques of imagery and imagination.…
Many African American women have positively influenced our history, however there is one who has become quite the multitalented threat throughout the years. Dana Elaine Owens also known as “Queen Latifah” was born on March 18, 1970. Although Queen Latifah started off as just a female rap artist, she has evolved into becoming a singer, songwriter, actress, model, comedian, and talk show host as well. Her freshman year of high school, she began to sing and rap on the download in private areas around the school. By her junior year, Latifah had formed a rap group called Ladies Fresh, with two of her friends. “Latifah made her mark in hip-hop by rapping about issues of black women.” (Bloom, 10) Her songs covered topics including domestic violence harassment on the streets, and relationship problems. Almost immediately the group was making appearances wherever they could. Latifah's mother had a lot to do with her daughters’ upcoming success…
One of my favorite songs, recently, has been J. Cole’s Love Yourz. This song relate to feelings that we can all relate to, feelings of envy and jealously. We often look at the life styles of those around us, and we see what they have, and we compare ourselves to them. We feel that if we don’t live a certain life style or drive a fancy car that we are not living a purposeful life. We fall into the trap of focusing on others blessings and ignoring our own. From personal experience I have done this. I have looked at the blessing of others, and wondered why my blessings were not the same.…
In Beyonce music video, “Superpower” it is all about love and being in a relationship. Beyonces lyrics in this song are extremely strong, the first couple of words set up the theme for the rest of the song. As she sings “When the palm of my two hands hold each other, that feels different from when your hands are in mine, that’s just the way it is.” Beyonce is saying how different it feels to be in a relationship than it feels to be single. This could also mean that her two palms that are held together is her praying to get that relationship to where they will be able to hold hands together and be happy. This is all about her and her love life, or the love life that she has dreamed of and is just waiting for it to come true. She may pray ever…
“Talking shit about a pretty sunset,” is a song that portrays an overall apathetic outlook on life. The listener can clearly hear the discontent expressed in the words sung and the execution in the music. Thoughts of suicide, phobia of commitment, lack and gain of motivation, fixation and illusions of a better life are all present. Through the complex breaks and climax of the song, tells an emotional story of revelation, realization and self-actualization.…
If I were making a soundtrack to my life, I would pick the song“Listen to Mama’s Words” by Jay Zhou, “ Father” by Chopstick Brother, “One Likes Summer the Other Likes Autumn” by Weiqi Fan, the music “Eine kleine Nachtmusik” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s and “Nocturne” by Chopin.…
