Today I think I'll write about the weirdest celebrity out there. While that's kind of an objective thing to say I think most people will agree with me on that. Wearing raw meat as clothing is not very normal, and yet people love Gaga and worship her as the best thing to ever happen to popular culture.
Well she did kind of change the whole scene with her very edgy music and absolutely crazy fashion statements. I don't know where she's from, and I don't think it matters in this case like it did with Taylor Swift. My best guess is she's from another planet. Actually she's from New York City and was a pretty talented young musician. She ended up writing songs with edgy lyrics and catchy dance beats, and was picked up by record companies.
She got off to a very fast start and was one of the most popular people in the world at the peak of her popularity (So far). She gained more and more attention for her strange dresses she wore to events, and her strong support for the gay community. I would say that she is one of the reasons gays have become more and more accepted in society.
But why do we love her? She represents what a lot of people wish they could be. Her "weird" side is most of her public personality. She supports the other "weird" people out there (weird of course being society's definition of the word), and therefore gained a lot of fans that would normally not care about a pop singer. Her music is also very edgy in a sexy way which helped the cause.
So in a strange world that we're in right now, we have strange pop stars. Kanye, Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga can all share the spotlight while being so diverse. They each have their perks that people feel they can identify with, and that makes up American Music and how Americans Identify with it.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Taylor Swift
Today I think I'll go the exact opposite of yesterday's post. And obviously the exact opposite of Kanye is Taylor Swift. Taylor is a nice girl, and I personally don't like her music. I get in fights with my friend over how I like Kanye and she likes Tay-Tay.
What I find interesting is that both of these artists are popular. One is the nice southern girl who likes to sing about her boy problems and pulls at the hearts of every teenage girl who thinks that they have the same problems as Taylor. Or at least the love problems she says she's had in her songs. Oh and as a disclaimer, feel free to comment and shoot down anything that I say, I'm definitely not as educated on today's post as I was yesterday.
Taylor Swift started out in country music. Whether her music is still country is debatable, she gets plenty of play on the country radio stations, yet that might be just because she basically started her music career in Nashville and has some country-ish music. The point is, that pop stations and girls everywhere love her music because (once again) they feel that they can connect with it.
What happens with the Taylor Swift-like music is that people think that they can relate to it. Most people have had their share of relationships and problems with them and Taylor likes to write about the girl side of those problems. While we have Kanye's new American Dream, to be rich and famous and the self-proclaimed most awesome person ever, Taylor's style is more of a thing where people can relate to the problems and moods expressed in her songs.
I do think that she's talented with the poetry side of things. I really hope she is seeing as she's so popular. But she demonstrates another side of pop music and another kind of American identity that contrasts greatly to other types of people out there. See you tomorrow for my next post!
What I find interesting is that both of these artists are popular. One is the nice southern girl who likes to sing about her boy problems and pulls at the hearts of every teenage girl who thinks that they have the same problems as Taylor. Or at least the love problems she says she's had in her songs. Oh and as a disclaimer, feel free to comment and shoot down anything that I say, I'm definitely not as educated on today's post as I was yesterday.
Taylor Swift started out in country music. Whether her music is still country is debatable, she gets plenty of play on the country radio stations, yet that might be just because she basically started her music career in Nashville and has some country-ish music. The point is, that pop stations and girls everywhere love her music because (once again) they feel that they can connect with it.
What happens with the Taylor Swift-like music is that people think that they can relate to it. Most people have had their share of relationships and problems with them and Taylor likes to write about the girl side of those problems. While we have Kanye's new American Dream, to be rich and famous and the self-proclaimed most awesome person ever, Taylor's style is more of a thing where people can relate to the problems and moods expressed in her songs.
I do think that she's talented with the poetry side of things. I really hope she is seeing as she's so popular. But she demonstrates another side of pop music and another kind of American identity that contrasts greatly to other types of people out there. See you tomorrow for my next post!
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Watch the Throne
Now that we're all caught up to the present I think it is time to review some music. I feel like there's nothing better out there right now than Jay-Z and Kanye West's project, Watch The Throne.
Almost everyone's heard of these two rappers. While Jay-Z's been around for a long time, Kanye has had his ups and downs and some people think he's at the height of his reign. Personally, I'm a big fan of Kanye's and I'm okay with Jay-Z even though I haven't really gotten into him, I know what he's all about.
Kanye and Jay-Z are both idols in America. Many a rapper have tried to imitate them and not many have been as successful. So this is sort of a super-group of rappers. So obviously there were some high expectations coming from this. Personally, the CD took a little while to grow on me, and while it was a highly talked about CD, it might not have reached the popularity some think it should have. H.A.M. was the first big song that came out of it, followed a little bit later with Niggas in Paris which became very popular.
Why are these guys popular? Old people hate them. They swear a lot and they make kids wanna do drugs and kill people, which is obviously their job as rappers. That's obviously not true, this CD did not inspire me to do anything illegal. But America loves them. I believe that a lot of people "look up" to popular musicians because the life they live is unreal. These celebrities are always good looking, and have millions of fans who will do a lot to see them and they constantly have cameras following them. The life comes with a lot of stress, which I think you can really hear if you listen to Kanye's most recent record.
Remember when Kanye took the microphone from Taylor Swift at the VMAs? That was SUCH a long time ago (time flies with pop music, I'm listening to Hey Ya right now and my roommate just commented on how old this song is). But Kanye went through that event which gained him a whole lot of haters (the entire Tay-Tay fan base), and was followed and preceded by a few other events that made Kanye America's favorite douche-bag. Or just the biggest asshole, pick whatever one you prefer. He made 808s and Heartbreaks at that time, and while a couple songs had success, a lot of people look down upon that album and thought he was finished. But Kanye wasn't done as be proved in the last year with his own album as well as his half of Watch The Throne.
He's just proving that everyone loves the bad guy, sometimes. And Kanye can make better music than most of the other pop stars out there, at least that's what it seems like. But Kanye, the guy who even says "my head is so big you can't sit behind me" is still popular thanks to the fact that Americans, who some would say are very full of themselves, choose people like Kanye to model themselves after. He's talented at making his songs, and rapping, and makes more money than any of us. Same goes for Jay-Z and any of those super-evil rappers that those damn kids are listening to.
Almost everyone's heard of these two rappers. While Jay-Z's been around for a long time, Kanye has had his ups and downs and some people think he's at the height of his reign. Personally, I'm a big fan of Kanye's and I'm okay with Jay-Z even though I haven't really gotten into him, I know what he's all about.
Kanye and Jay-Z are both idols in America. Many a rapper have tried to imitate them and not many have been as successful. So this is sort of a super-group of rappers. So obviously there were some high expectations coming from this. Personally, the CD took a little while to grow on me, and while it was a highly talked about CD, it might not have reached the popularity some think it should have. H.A.M. was the first big song that came out of it, followed a little bit later with Niggas in Paris which became very popular.
Why are these guys popular? Old people hate them. They swear a lot and they make kids wanna do drugs and kill people, which is obviously their job as rappers. That's obviously not true, this CD did not inspire me to do anything illegal. But America loves them. I believe that a lot of people "look up" to popular musicians because the life they live is unreal. These celebrities are always good looking, and have millions of fans who will do a lot to see them and they constantly have cameras following them. The life comes with a lot of stress, which I think you can really hear if you listen to Kanye's most recent record.
Remember when Kanye took the microphone from Taylor Swift at the VMAs? That was SUCH a long time ago (time flies with pop music, I'm listening to Hey Ya right now and my roommate just commented on how old this song is). But Kanye went through that event which gained him a whole lot of haters (the entire Tay-Tay fan base), and was followed and preceded by a few other events that made Kanye America's favorite douche-bag. Or just the biggest asshole, pick whatever one you prefer. He made 808s and Heartbreaks at that time, and while a couple songs had success, a lot of people look down upon that album and thought he was finished. But Kanye wasn't done as be proved in the last year with his own album as well as his half of Watch The Throne.
He's just proving that everyone loves the bad guy, sometimes. And Kanye can make better music than most of the other pop stars out there, at least that's what it seems like. But Kanye, the guy who even says "my head is so big you can't sit behind me" is still popular thanks to the fact that Americans, who some would say are very full of themselves, choose people like Kanye to model themselves after. He's talented at making his songs, and rapping, and makes more money than any of us. Same goes for Jay-Z and any of those super-evil rappers that those damn kids are listening to.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Before I start, I'll share this link that I just happened to come across from the band CAKE's Facebook page.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/daves4/12-extremely-disappointing-facts-about-popular-mus
Well that's depressing. The article is obviously biased seeing as there is no kind of music that is universally "better" than other music.
Now I'll talk about the nineties. Nirvana is the first name that comes to a lot of people's minds when we think about 90's music. Smells Like Teen Spirit won MTV's top 100 songs of the nineties. Rock was once again the focus for a few years, with bands like Nirvana and Metallica being known by everybody. This "alternative" music reflected a completely new brand of "grunge" kids, that seemed to not care about anything and were more rebellious than ever. And then comes my generation!
Now, the popular music (imaginatively called "pop") is dominant everywhere. Even if you don't try and listen to the kid's music, there's a chance you know some of the words to at least a couple songs. And you know who Justin Bieber is whether you want to or not. If we look at common themes in the music of the last 10 years it has a lot to do with partying and having fun, and not much else. It borrows random little bits from other genres, and lately has been borrowing a lot of dance beats. (Dance music=Party music.)
I know I sound like some old loser who hates the kids music, but I'm just calling it like I see it. I know my share of pop songs and if I was so against it I'd probably just shut myself out from it even more than I do now. And as a sort of a disclaimer I'll say that all music is equal, none is better or worse than other types of music. All the artists I mention have made a ton of money as musicians and I haven't, so they win.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/daves4/12-extremely-disappointing-facts-about-popular-mus
Well that's depressing. The article is obviously biased seeing as there is no kind of music that is universally "better" than other music.
Now I'll talk about the nineties. Nirvana is the first name that comes to a lot of people's minds when we think about 90's music. Smells Like Teen Spirit won MTV's top 100 songs of the nineties. Rock was once again the focus for a few years, with bands like Nirvana and Metallica being known by everybody. This "alternative" music reflected a completely new brand of "grunge" kids, that seemed to not care about anything and were more rebellious than ever. And then comes my generation!
Now, the popular music (imaginatively called "pop") is dominant everywhere. Even if you don't try and listen to the kid's music, there's a chance you know some of the words to at least a couple songs. And you know who Justin Bieber is whether you want to or not. If we look at common themes in the music of the last 10 years it has a lot to do with partying and having fun, and not much else. It borrows random little bits from other genres, and lately has been borrowing a lot of dance beats. (Dance music=Party music.)
I know I sound like some old loser who hates the kids music, but I'm just calling it like I see it. I know my share of pop songs and if I was so against it I'd probably just shut myself out from it even more than I do now. And as a sort of a disclaimer I'll say that all music is equal, none is better or worse than other types of music. All the artists I mention have made a ton of money as musicians and I haven't, so they win.
Monday, December 5, 2011
The music from the good decades
The music from the 60s is still popular today. It reflects a lot upon the times, like I mentioned about all music in the introduction. Yes, many people associate it with those hippies who really did nothing with their lives but it was an important time in the history of the United States and all over. Many wars were going on and a lot of new music was coming out, new music that completely broke the rules and rewrote them back when our parents were growing up.
Some people would argue that the 60s was one of the last decades that talent actually existed in popular music. Some of the greatest songwriters of the last fifty years came out of this decade. Ray Charles and Elvis Presley were writing music. And while these old legends faded out towards the end of the decade, new talent emerged with artists such as Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin came out. The beach boys were still going and the Beatles were in full force at the end of the decade.
When we think about the sixties we generally think of the last few years, when everyone was being mesmerized by artists that shaped rock music as it would be for the next 40 years. A lot of music became highly political, with "rock stars" like Jimi Hendrix and The Beatles pushing their views into the ears of their millions of fans. This music, which was in part cool because of how much it was hated by the older generations, helped shape and was shaped by the identities of the "hippies" and the generation that was raised on this music. An acceptable drug culture also rose out of the 60s, Jimi Hendrix is still an icon for his music as well as his drug habits that ended up killing him.
The 70s carried on what the late sixties had started, and the music stayed with the policital, drug-friendly culture. Bob Dylan, Neil Young, and many other artists who are still popular today emerged from this decade. A Beatles breakup happened almost inevitably, it was almost surreal how popular they were. Regardless all of the members went on to successful solo careers.
The 80s were a little different, with the advent of weird, new sounds that came from new combinations of electricity and instruments. Newer styles came out, and new kinds of music became popular. Rock'n'roll was no longer the king. The rock became more simple, and more "hard" with bands like Metallica being born. Pop music, with artists like Price and Michael Jackson coming out, and the development of Hip-hop with artists such as Run-DMC.
The point of this rant about old music is that each decade's music reflects the people that were living in it. The 70s were trying to keep up what the 60s started politically and socially, and did so successfully. The 80s was a completely new generation that wanted to do things different, and all kinds of different Americans emerged from that decade with "terrible" fashion and some pretty different music style.
Tomorrow, the 90's until today!
Some people would argue that the 60s was one of the last decades that talent actually existed in popular music. Some of the greatest songwriters of the last fifty years came out of this decade. Ray Charles and Elvis Presley were writing music. And while these old legends faded out towards the end of the decade, new talent emerged with artists such as Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin came out. The beach boys were still going and the Beatles were in full force at the end of the decade.
When we think about the sixties we generally think of the last few years, when everyone was being mesmerized by artists that shaped rock music as it would be for the next 40 years. A lot of music became highly political, with "rock stars" like Jimi Hendrix and The Beatles pushing their views into the ears of their millions of fans. This music, which was in part cool because of how much it was hated by the older generations, helped shape and was shaped by the identities of the "hippies" and the generation that was raised on this music. An acceptable drug culture also rose out of the 60s, Jimi Hendrix is still an icon for his music as well as his drug habits that ended up killing him.
The 70s carried on what the late sixties had started, and the music stayed with the policital, drug-friendly culture. Bob Dylan, Neil Young, and many other artists who are still popular today emerged from this decade. A Beatles breakup happened almost inevitably, it was almost surreal how popular they were. Regardless all of the members went on to successful solo careers.
The 80s were a little different, with the advent of weird, new sounds that came from new combinations of electricity and instruments. Newer styles came out, and new kinds of music became popular. Rock'n'roll was no longer the king. The rock became more simple, and more "hard" with bands like Metallica being born. Pop music, with artists like Price and Michael Jackson coming out, and the development of Hip-hop with artists such as Run-DMC.
The point of this rant about old music is that each decade's music reflects the people that were living in it. The 70s were trying to keep up what the 60s started politically and socially, and did so successfully. The 80s was a completely new generation that wanted to do things different, and all kinds of different Americans emerged from that decade with "terrible" fashion and some pretty different music style.
Tomorrow, the 90's until today!
A brief introduction
Music in America
Music is global. Everyone has an opinion on it. Songs usually reflect the times that they are written in and if anything is a good record of what was going on a certain point in time, music is. This has applied since the middle ages when music started becoming an organized thing.
While I’m here to talk about how popular music represents the times, I’m going to go way back and talk about some CLASSICS. Like really old, classic music classics. Like I said, music is a great representation of the true feelings of a certain time. Classical music is no exception. While we can’t understand the language and most people these days don’t get anything out of the music just by listening to it, the composers would always try to represent the true feelings of the times in their music.
You might say that a lot of music from the Baroque era and earlier isn’t as much a reflection on the times as a whole as it was a reflection on the church in many cases. However back in the day, the church was everything. They were as big as the government in many cases, and it was the place for the musicians to showcase their talent, whether it be the monks and their Gregorian chant or Bach’s Baroque compositions intended for the church.
Eventually composers would become more expiramental and musicians would be more willing to break the rules. The 1900s would be a very hectic era for music, as all sorts of branches started to break out and the U.S. because a home to many composers. The music got more hectic as time went on, and then split in every different direction. Thanks to this we have all of the different “genres” of music we listen to today.
If one breaks down the last hundred years in terms of decades of music, and looks at how much the times reflect the music, the parallels are all there. The music of the 1920’s reflected the happy times that were going on, and likewise the music of the 1930’s reflected more upon the heavy times a lot of America was facing. The Jazz and Blues music deeply reflected the struggles, as well as the happy times for African Americans back in the day.
So what does this have to do? Music has exponentially increased in the amount there is and the number of different genres there are. What I intend to do for the next few days is to write about how the music today reflects the American public today and why it is popular. I’ll do a few songs from the last few decades, and then primarily focus on what everyone is listening to right now.
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