Rap Music Essays (Examples)

Rap Music - a Soundtrack of Revolution

Soundtrack of Revolution for the Generations of Rap Artists Since 1980s

Hip hop is a culture that encompasses a vast corporation of artistic forms, which originated from marginalized subcultures within the South ronx in New York City during the 1970s. This culture encloses four distinct elements, representing diverse manifestations of its founding reasons: the rap music (oral), disc jockey (turntablism), graffiti art (visual), and break-dancing (physical). Regardless of their controversial forms of execution, these artists find a general unity within their association's manifestations of poverty, violence, and racism underlying the historical context of their cultural origin. This association served to provide reactionary outlets from the urbanization hardships which it underwent.

The cultural origin of hip hop stems from a chunk of parties of the Ghetto rothers who would plug amps for their musical instruments and speakers into lampposts at Prospect Avenue and 163rd…

Rap Music and Society

Rap Music currently enjoys a status of mouthpiece for society's rebels. In fact, since the music of Elvis, various forms of music have pushed the boundaries of acceptability and decency in culture. According to some critics, rap has done this to an extent that cannot be condoned in terms of social norms. elow a short historical overview of this music genre is examined, followed by a consideration of its significance for society. While it is true that some rap artists have broken rules and norms not only in their music, but also in their lifestyles, and sometimes to an extreme extent, it is also true that other rap musicians attempt to use their art for social upliftment.

Historical Overview of Rap Music

During the 1920s, urban street jive was a form of speech developed in Chicag0, Ill. (Current Events). According to some historians, this is the…

The first is a test that is spelled out in Electric v. Public Service Commission which states that 'commercial speech obtains a lesser degree of protection from the First Amendment than that of "pure' or 'core' speech. The second of the tests was established in the 1969 randenberg v Ohio case involving a Ku Klux Klan leader who was found guilty of advocation of violence and a crime syndicate and on appeal to the Supreme Court the conviction was overruled when the court stated that:

It was held that the constitutional guaranties of free speech and free press did not permit a state to forbid or proscribe advocacy of the use of force or of law violation, except where such advocacy is (a) directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action, and (b) was likely to incite or produce such action."

Another case cited in this article is McCollom Records,…

Rap Music: The Result of Violence

Rap music is a phenomenon that is unparalleled in America, at no other time has a music form risen in such a way and gripped a nation as fully. While, rap music has its roots in the ghettos of the U.S.A. And black culture, it is now a full scale industry that caters to the disenfranchised youth of America and bridges all gaps of culture and social level. Indeed, one of the currently most famous rappers, and relevant to this topic, is white, as are most of the current buyers and listeners to rap music. Violence and rap music are interwoven in such a way that it is impossible to completely untwine them but looking at the cause and results of violence is a different topic that needs going into as it has far reaching implications, including the government control of the music industry.…

Music

Few popular music stars today are as colorful as Lady Gaga. Recently on tour, Lady Gaga is again making the headlines. In South Africa, a group of churches has been organizing protests against Lady Gaga's performances, and even just her presence, in the country. Among other complaints, the South African Council of Churches claims Lady Gaga's visit "could lead to an exponential growth of Satanism," (Engelbrecht, p. 1). For others, Lady Gaga is a welcome presence in the popular culture because she spreads the message of gender equality and positive gender "performativity," (Horn, p. 1). Lady Gaga is like a female "drag queen" and therefore sends a good message about tolerance of gender and sexual identities. Finally, Lady Gaga exemplifies the way social media can be used to promote popular culture and allow for greater fan interactions and control over content. Given that Lady Gaga is associated with Satanism,…

Today many mainstream popular artists have Rhythm and Blues influences. In addition some artists fluctuate between signing R&B and pop music. Although there are often distinctions made between the two genres R&B is definitely a type of popular music that has been greatly influenced by all of the above Genres.

Rap music or hip hop is also a prime example of the influence of African-American Music on popular music. Rap music actually comes from the ancient art form of poetry. The original intent for rap was to tell a story -- provide a narrative. ithin the context of African-American folk tradition storytelling is extremely important -- the griot is important. Griots are the keepers of the oral traditions -- the storytellers. According to Powell (1991) "To the accompaniment of drums or other percussive instruments, griots entertain and educate their audiences by reciting tribal history and current events. Their performances are…

These findings suggest that rap may affect society in several ways. For example, how adolescent whites perceive rap may impact their support for race-based policies such as Affirmative Action as they grow older and become more politically involved. Further, to the extent that rap helps to promote interracial relationships, cross-racial social networks resulting from rap may increase employment opportunities for blacks and other non-whites (97).

However, state Thompson and Brown, another scenario is just as plausible. Since so many of the studies on racial attitudes and rap music have been cross-sectional, it is possible that over time the relationship between whites' opinions on rap music and racial attitudes may change. It is feasible that as the average young adult white rap supporters get older, have a family, and begin a career, the relationship between their opinions of rap music and their perceptions of blacks and support for liberal values may…

Music on Teens Actions

In the past 40 years all kinds of music has turned out to be more and more overt predominantly towards the negative side like sex, drugs, aggression and violence. Lately two of the genres which have caught great attention is hard rock music and rap music. In most of the cases, the lyrics of the music are made in such a way that they induce negativity in the developing minds of the teenagers. This negativity is reflected in their actions in the form of drug abuse, aggression, violence, sex and rebellious actions towards parents, family, family and society in general. This kind of negative music is a major concern these days because it poses mental and physical threat to the teens of today. Some of the other alarming effects of such music are pregnancy, STDs, accidents, killing and this has resulted to be the normal lifestyle…

Music on Brain and Emotions

The Effect of Music on the Brain and Emotions

The study of human's mental state on subjection to music has been a research subject to many with interest. Over the past decade, interconnection between human's physical and mental strength and music has been subject to research with a number of positive outcomes. These research endeavors suggest that music exhibits the healing power in certain elements, in a human's life. A sample of music with the best or strongest healing power is the Indian music. What music does is that it injects a calming effect into a human's mind. This speeds recovery-time of certain health ailments. Music positively effects the human's hormone system allowing easy brain concentration and information assimilation (Adalarasu, K.K. et al., 2011). This means that music boosts the learning process thereby augmenting cognitive skills. This paper outlines a brief overview of the various…

music of the Twentieth entury. Specifically, it will compare music of the Twentieth entury to the music of a previous period, and include information about the significance of composers in society, the role of music in the societal landscape, and the evolution of musical forms through the centuries.

Twentieth entury music embodies so many different forms and types that it is difficult to lump it together under one heading. In the United States, the Twentieth entury brought music listeners everything from Gershwin to rap and blues to headbanging. Just as America is a rich cultural melting pot, her music is just as rich and varied, and this is nowhere more evident than in the Twentieth entury.

At the turn of the Twentieth entury, most of America listened to opera and classical music - much of it from some of Europe's most famous composers of the previous centuries, such as Bach,…

Music

Misconception is a false belief system; an erroneous cognitive construct that leads to a dysfunctional worldview and potentially destructive behavior. In possession of a misconception, a person develops a warped sense of identity and a distorted vision of reality. The media is especially brilliant at crafting stories that create misconceptions in the minds of the public and its consumer sheep, simply by creating a legend or a myth that influences consumer behavior and social norms.

Music can be a media tool to create the misconceptions that shape American social norms and consumer behavior. Most music has the potential to uplift, inspire, and enliven our community; yet some forms of music are having the exact opposite effect, and that negative impact is felt most by young and impressionable consumers. The negative impact can be referred to as misconception. ith regards to music, the wrong types of music can leave deep…

Music eport

Archaeological finds show that prehistoric man had already played music. Music and dance are the humans' most natural and original forms of expression. Berendt said of modern generations: "Nada brahma - all is sound," in nature. Stones, bones, pieces of wood, hollow vessels and cups make sounds when pushed, beaten or rubbed together. Stretched hides bang, the buzz of the arrow whizzing off the bow can be imitated with fingers and the murmuring, roaring and whistling of the wind can be caught in reeds, bone pipes or hollow branches.

Today, numerous types of different forms of music are played across the world. Because humans are so diverse, it comes as no surprise that people like different types of music. For example, there are many adults, many of them older, who do not particularly appreciate hip hop and rap. Part of this has to do with the slang language,…

Since the valuation of a God had been essentially devaluated, what was to be the source of revaluation in the modern world? No answer could satisfy Ives, for his society saw no return to the societal standards and beliefs of the age of Bach, which gave explicit valuation to all things, especially music -- as seen in Bach's mastering of counterpoint. Schoenberg's inverted counterpoint is the antithesis of that old world Germanic culture -- and it is no surprise that Schoenberg settled in America -- all things being equal, and, in a sense, equally meaningless.

In conclusion, what was once considered light and understood, orthodox, hierarchical, and whole -- in terms of both estern culture and estern classical music in the time of Bach -- had, by the time of Ives and Schoenberg, drifted into a kind of relativistic self-importance/self-worthlessness that had no moorings whatsoever. Notes and attitudes shifted without…

Because of the enormous popularity of Snoop Doggy Dogg's "Gin and Juice" single, the proposed video will be based on a similarly styled rhythm and blues-based hip-hop song entitled "The Power of Youth." Thematically, "The Power of Youth" will not resemble "Gin and Juice," but the overall rhythm and style will. Vocals will include a choral background and familiar song structure that will grab young listeners and include all demographics. Instead of gangsta rap lyrics, the lyrics of "The Power of Youth" will concentrate on life on the streets, poverty, gender inequity, and other issues relevant in the upcoming election.

Visuals used in the music video will parallel the lyrics and theme. Instead of scantily clad ladies, ordinary women will be featured to promote Barack Obama as president. Skillful editing will interject footage of Barack Obama working in Chicago with disenfranchised African-Americans into the music video. Revealing the roots of…

Even the lyrics, which nonetheless maintain the same kind of bubblegum-angst present in nearly any widely successful "alternative" band, manage to surprise simply by the fact that the band seems to have gained a wider vocabulary, both in terms of individual words and the metaphors used. Put another way, burning "like the fire of a thousand suns" is simply a more enjoyable image than "one step closer to the edge / and I'm about to break," even if both convey generally the same theme within either song.

Following the release of A Thousand Suns, Linkin Park has, as it did previously, focused on charity work alongside the writing of the next album a promotional tour. Most recently, the band has played benefit concerts for victims of the earthquake, tsunami, and subsequent nuclear fallout which hit Japan earlier this year, with the first being in Los Angeles alongside the band B'z,…

There is more to it than meets the eye (or ear), and repeated listenings make that even more apparent.

Great music also depends on great performances, and that is another reason to listen to it more than once. Each artist interprets music a bit differently, and so, no performance will be exactly alike. This is true of all types of music, even classical. Even though the scores are the same, each musician, director, and arranger sees the work differently, and adds a bit of their own interpretation or personality into the piece. Thus, the same song sung decades ago by the Beach Boys does not sound like the same song today sung by a young rap or hip hop artist.

Do these theories apply to pop music, as well? In many aspects, yes, they do. There are certainly many songs in pop music that are complex and detailed, with different…

In album after album, women are referred to as *****es, hoes, gold diggers, and chickenheads, and this representation of women as sexual objects for men's use is a common trope within this genre (Crossley 2005). The sex act is openly portrayed as being about the body and the availability of the body, and the use of neuter pronouns heightens its alleged objectivity and divorces it from personal significance (Crossley 2005). For example, lyrics in Snoop Dogg's "Bring it on," include, "I'm qualified to knock a hoe, "Got it cracking with my hoe" (Crossley 2005).

Gangsta rap music is essentially the vocalization of sentiments that have lived long within the political environment of the African-American community. To feel empowered, African-American males attempt to keep women subordinate.

orks Cited

Cheney, Charise. (2005 June 22). In search of the "revolutionary generation":

en) gendering the golden age of rap nationalism. The Journal of African-American…

Anthology of Rap by Adam radley and Andrew Duois sets out to illustrate how rap can be analyzed from a literary standpoint, and traces the development of the genre from the late 1970s to contemporary interpretations of the genre. Throughout the book, radley and Duois offer interesting insights into how the music movement developed and evolved, and while they provide some insight into the development of the genre as a movement, they overlook significant factors that influenced rap.

In the introduction, The Anthology of Rap establishes that it will focus primarily on rap as poetry, yet the focus frequently shifts to other influencers. The book's introduction is full of promise and offers a definition of rap that allows the rapper to be considered a poet and helps to create a distinction between rap and the overarching genre of hip hop. KRS-One states, "Rap music is something we do, but hip…

Ethnic Music Humanities

a) Origin and Development of Traditional and Contemporary Ethnic Music

My personal experience in learning this subtopic reveals to me that music is a global cultural practice found in every known culture, both in the past and present, but with a wide variation with regards to time and place of practicing it. Since every ethnic group around the world, including some of the most secluded tribal groups, depicts their own forms of musical practices, I conclude that music might have been present among the ancestral populations prior to the dispersion of human populations around the world. This confirms that music must have been existing and evolving into different forms for over 50,000 years, and the first music might had been invented in Africa, which is regarded as the cradle of humankind. Then the music evolved through diverse parts of the world during human dispersion to become the…

Music

There is an old cliche that contemporary music, especially popular music, is without lasting significance or quality. The truth is just the opposite. Contemporary music is extremely creative, and employs a wide range of styles and draws on many traditions around the world. In fact, contemporary composers and singers encompass all the known traditions and rich styles of the past, in both western and eastern cultures, in mainstream society as well as indigenous groups. Contemporary music is all music -- from string quartets like the Kronos Quartet, whose classically trained string quartet offers jagged, minimalist, modern music that has won many fans, to the seminal and groundbreaking work of popular singer/composers like Paul Simon, who in his Rhythm of the Saints album, employed African and tribal percussion. Contemporary music can be rock and roll, rap, classical, gospel, jazz, country western, or world music (music of other cultures).

So how…

Music Videos Promotional Devices or Products in Themselves

Music Videos: Promotional Device or Separate Product?

Music videos are constructed in many different ways, but many of them involve the artist and others singing and dancing to specific songs. Some also tell stories or provide other background dealings that make the music video much like a television program. An example of this would be Michael Jackson's 'Thriller,' which was a very long video that involved much storytelling and other information as opposed to just the song. Some of these story type videos are still done today but this seems to be more popular in country music that it does in rock-and-roll.

No matter what genre is dealt with, however, the debate as to whether music videos are promotional devices or a separate product in and of themselves has been continuing for many years. In 1981 music television first began broadcasting music…

(Marino)

Related to the above is the view that the origins and history of the development of Rap music are strongly related to the resistance to various forms of colonialism and oppression that Black people have experienced and which has shaped the style and form of Rap music. This also refers to ideological and colonial hegemonies and perceived racial and cultural prejudice that has been a major motivating force in this form of artistic expression.

This can be linked to theories of ideological hegemony that are seen as pivotal aspect in the development of Black consciousness and consequently in the musical expression of that consciousness. According to theorists like Gramsci, ideological hegemony functions by control and domination not only through force but also through cultural forms of persuasion. In other words, the best way to achieve control over a subordinate group is by "...means of cultural domination among all sectors…

Yo! MTV Raps was also a great venue for up and coming rap legends to showcase their work to their world through performances. Audiences around the world were exposed to a new type of raw creativity in rap music, one which took the music industry by storm. Yo! MTV Raps was a huge first for the network; it was the first show dedicated one hundred percent to rap and hip hop, an emerging art form in American popular music that had not yet found acceptance within the larger body of society.

Major name artists saw their career explode alongside the publicity they were getting from the show and the movement it was inspiring within pop culture. Huge names in the rap industry were seen before they really made it big and when they had a definite hold over the lure of pop culture in the United States. The series was…

Morgan, why is misogyny expressed in rap music? In what ways do you support her point-of-view, in what ways do you disagree? Be specific. Give examples from research, experience AND the readings to support your points.

The controversial 'hip-hop' feminist Joan Morgan states that: "we are all winners when space exists for brothers to honestly state and explore the roots of their pain, and subsequently their misogyny, sans judgment" (Morgan 9). However, she also writes that it is vital and essential to view both black men and women as 'winners' when oppression is lifted from female shoulders. The solution is not banning rap music, rather it is to understand that rap is an expression of the pain felt by African-Americans and the mask that men wear to hide their frustrations (Morgan 74). She states that black women must love black men "for who they are," not who they want them…

Marketing Music on Social Media Sites

Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and others have grown exponentially over the past few years. One of the entertainment genres that has benefited mightily from social media is music, rap, rock, hip-hop, country, and even classical music. This paper explores and analyzes how musicians and groups have exploited social media in their marketing strategies.

Key Reasons Music Marketing Thrives on Social Media

Social Media has carved out an enormous presence in the contemporary entertainment and information scene in the United States. In fact according to a 2010 book -- Facebook Marketing: An Hour a Day -- a Harris Interactive study shows that "…48% of all American adults had either a Facebook or a MySpace account" (Treadaway, et al., 2010, p. 15). Also, as an indication of how extraordinarily fast Facebook has grown, in just eight months the giant social media company went…

Today sometimes also referred to as 'urban' music, R&B was originally a euphemistic way of referring to the boogie woogie blues-based music of African-Americans in the 40s and 50s. In some circles, these would be referred to as 'race records.' When white musicians like Elvis Presley began recording these songs, the term Rock and Roll was coined. This transition would not render the R&B genre moot, but would instead apply it to most music made by African-Americans. Over the years, this would come to serve as a Billboard Chart classification for forms such as Soul, Funk, Disco and many modes of Hip Hop.

Quite in fact, today, R&B may be said to be the dominant form in popular music once again, with its permeation of the variant of popular forms impacting the sound of music today in the same way that rock would for decades. Particularly in the type of…

female rappers talking sexually explicitly raps degrading act empowerment? feminists. sources: *pornification, sex sexuality media culture- susanna paasonnen *hen chicken heads roost *spin sisters: women media sell unhappiness liberlisation woman america.

Female rappers and how they affect society

The rap industry has generated much controversy in the recent decades, most debates emerging because critics consider some lyrics to be offensive and discriminatory to particular groups. It would be absurd to claim that society remains unaffected as a result of being subjected to lyrics that contain explicit inequitable expressions. Individuals who come up with these lyrics apparently share no interest in the consequences their music leaves on the world.

Although it is difficult to identify the exact people who are harmed by offensive language heard in rap music, surveys and personal opinions are more than explanatory in regard to the overall state of affairs. Although most individuals involved in the industry…

music is not always a vehicle for political or social commentary, it has become increasingly more so in the past several generations. Music serves often as a vehicle for community and cultural self-expression, or as a means to communicate social and political ideals as with the spirituals and blues songs of African-Americans bemoaning slavery and racism. Since the 1960s, however, music and its lyrical component has become a means by which to understand the zeitgeist of the historical epoch. Music in the 1960s was often directly and overtly political, particularly the songs of American folk musicians like Bob Dylan. It is almost easier to single out songs from the late 1960s that did not have political overtones versus those that did, because there were so many artists who used music to convey political messages. One of the most notable such songs is John Lennon's "Give Peace a Chance." This song…

Music and Why People Listen to It

The study on what music people listen to and why is interesting to me because music tells us a lot about ourselves and it also is a powerful tool for development too. Therefore, a study about what particular music people gravitate towards can not only reveal an underlying aspect to that individual's personality but also an underlying aspect of the culture in which that individual is situated. Because music is an art form and art is said to act as a mirror (in that it reflects the world around it), the music with which people identify and the sounds that they prefer can tell researchers a lot about the culture, environment, and personalities of our day and age. This study could be the basis of a comprehensive assessment of a time and place that extends beyond the sample size of the study and…

Popular Music

The New Face Book of ock and oll

An entirely new book (okay score) on the future of music and the place of rock and roll is being written, and yet we really can't even tell what the experience will be like, though it will most likely be a continued mix of country/folksy democracy. What we can tell is that it will come in the packaging of a self-published, self-directed, interactive collection (just like an ebook!), and that its messages of defiance will be such that the entire digital universe of followers will each think of themselves as their own Guitar Hero!

While many people believe that Guitar Hero brought rock and roll into the digital era, the case can be made that it did as much damage as good. It turned many people on to a sense of simulating the music of the leaders of rock and…

Latin Music

Many are unaware that in the United States today, people are blessed with a variety of Spanish-language and other Latin American cultures that are in the midst -- which were brought to the country by individuals from numerous different parts of the hemisphere. In attempting to understand and appreciate these cultures, we can learn much from their music Mexican-American music is something that has high regards in their culture. Over the years it has been expanded crossing over into many cultures ith that said, this essay is intended to analyze the many methods and styles of music and musical cultures that have been able to make their way into the United States from Latin American nations.

Origins

Surprisingly, Latin American music is a subject where there has not been a lot written about it. There is very little research on Latin music perhaps because many are not interested.…

Popular Music and Identity

Sound Clash-Popular Music and American Culture

Identifying through music is fantastic and creates social movements. People find music to be liberating, relaxing, and calming. Identifying oneself through music a person is able to have direct experiences in their body. This allows a person to place them self in an imaginary cultural narrative. Popular music has been analyzed as though it is a classical composition, which makes the analysts neglect the improvisational and performative aspects of popular music. Analyzing how audiences respond to popular music and how they identify with this kind of music is vital. This would allow people to better understand how different people identify with certain popular songs. Theodor Adorno viewed popular music as a culture industry, which is designed to appeal to society by creating a false need for entertainment. Simon Frith views popular music as a complex world where that values and…

The video's director explains that the intention was not to create racy content for its own sake, but rather that "the process was to express Lady Gaga's desire to reveal her heart and bear her soul" (Kreps). The provocative imagery thus serves to challenge the viewer over whether the video expresses bad taste or high art.

Equally important to lyrics are Gaga's overall image and the discussion she generates over her interests, including avant-garde fashion and gay rights. She is known for being scantily-clad; one magazine called her appearance "bizarre," stating that her style of dress is "archly futuristic…reveals a lot of skin but is never sexy" (Callahan and Stewart). The conflict inherent in her blatant sexuality also arises when one considers the discussion that her gender once generated, as "Is Lady Gaga a man?' 'was AskJeeves.com's thirdmost-asked question of 2009" (Juzwiak). Ever the provocateur, Lady Gaga addressed the question…

This, along with the older Psalter by trenhold and Hopkins, was the main influence of the Bay Psalm Book printed during 1640 in Massachusetts. This can be compared with the first musical influences on and compositions by Li Jinhui. The traditional forms were explored thoroughly before new ideas in music were explored.

Culturally, the new Americans at the time were deeply religious, following the Puritan tradition on which they based their way of life. Their music therefore reflected this tradition, and the earliest genres were mainly religious in nature. As such, the musical format was unaccompanied by musical instruments, as these were viewed as secular and therefore sinful. The same type of division can be seen in the later genres of Asian music, where Cantopop began to lose its popularity in the face of new and more trendy developments. In contrast, however, the Chinese does not have as clear a…

social poblem of using and selling dugs is potayed in music. I'm inteested in studying this because music has at once been accused of gloifying dug cultue and also as being one of the few means of allowing uses to vent on the ealities of dug cultue. Clealy, the elationship between dugs and music is a complex one. This pape will seek to shed light on the motivations fo atists to incopoate dug cultue in thei songs and what they pesumably gain fom it, and what society pesumably gains fom it as well.

The fist song that this pape will examine when it comes to the teatment of dugs as subject matte fo songs is in the wok of 2 Pac in his famous song, "Changes." This song is so emakable in that it addesses a temendous amount of social injustice in that is still alive and well in the…

Jamaican Music

It is never just about the music.

No matter how great the musician, music is always the expression of an entire culture, of a moment in history, of a particular place in time. The genius of a particular musician, the synergy of a particular group - these are both essential to the success or failure of a particular group. But that success or failure is never intrinsic to a single song, to a single album. Music that succeeds - both in its own time and later - does so because it has the ability to express something important about that moment in time. eggae has been able to provide just such an expression of the beliefs of a particular people at a moment in history for the last two years - and it has been able to do so because of its ability to change with larger political…

Music is constantly changing. Most people only know the cliches of music from other lands -- a bit of tango, maybe flamenco. But just as American artists are inspired by the sounds of the lands of their heritage, world artists today honor their nation of origin and take some of the best sounds of the West, to make something new. I love mestizo (fusion) of Putumayo, how new African artists are blending jazz and traditional songs of their homeland, and also how rock and traditional folk songs can become fused and give old words new power.

World or ethnic music is grounded in a tradition that transcends commercialism, yet it is becoming wildly popular because the Internet has enabled more and more people to become exposed to international artists. When I first developed my interest in world music, I was an anomaly because I sought out music beyond the confines…

ups and downs of Russian music throughout the Soviet Union's tumultuous history and will also describe the impact that music has on the Russians today. This paper will describe the music during the pre-revolutionary years, post-revolutionary years, the Stalin years, the post-Stalin years and Gorbachev's perestroika years.

The years before the Russian Revolution of 1905 and the Russian revolution of 1917 are considered the pre-revolutionary years. The Russian Revolution of 1905 was an unsuccessful attempt to topple the ruling czar and it all started with the Bloody Sunday Massacre. The Russian revolution of 1917 succeeded in overthrowing the imperial government and replacing them with the Bolsheviks.

The pre-revolutionary years, in Russia, were filled with Byzantium liturgical chants, nationalistic folk songs, operas, and symphonies. In 988, Prince Vladimir of Kiev decided that Russian's national religion would be Byzantine Orthodoxy and that's how the Byzantium liturgical chants ended up in Russia. However,…

CL's "Hello itches" and the Post-Feminist Representation of the ody

In the music video by CL entitled "Hello itches," CL has managed to escape the constriction of the typical K-pop girl group (sexy, innocent, seductive, chic) by asserting a more aggressive, masculine-mimicking (gagsta-rap-mimicking to be exact), hyper-sexual attitude of domineering vibes; yet, in doing so, she has fallen into another and separate trope -- not the trope of the cute/sexy K-pop artist but rather the trope of the strong, feminist, sexually assertive/aggressive pop artist (a trend represented in various modes by others such as Nicki Minaj, Iggy Azalea, eyonce, Lady Gaga). CL's performance in the video channels the swagger of chauvinistic hip-hop artists, who wave and strut and bounce in front of the camera while surrounded by their posse and/or cadre of scantily clad women. For CL, her posse is the cadre of women -- but here they are donned…

Through a school-based project, students within the proposed COMA program would watch popular videos under supervision and then talk about the images afterwards, to assess different rapper's portraits of women, violence, crime, and sexuality. Students would also analyze rap lyrics in their English classes. This would encourage teens to not simply mindlessly listen to the music, without critically analyzing rappers' overt messages and rap lyrics' subtexts.

Bringing rap into the school would help to erase the 'us vs. them' divide that is part of much of rap's violent, negative, outsider appeal. It could also offer a springboard in which to discuss larger social issues about racism and sexism. Students would be asked to create their own rap music videos and rap songs to talk about issues that were important to them on a personal level. Incorporating rap as an expressive medium has been proven to be effective in many contexts.…

Concerts Across Time

The performer that I watched in a pop music concert is named PJ Morton. He is a keyboardist and vocalist, who performed with what looked like the helping of a full band. There were two baroque concerts that I watched. The first was entitled "Little Baroque Suite," whereas the second one was entitled "Une Fete Baroque." On the whole I did not enjoy these concerts very much. I certainly did not enjoy the first two I have listed in this document. I found Morton's music and songwriting to be extremely bland, if not boring. This sentiment applied doubly so to "Little Baroque Suite." The music was extremely staid and just seemed to plod (if not march) along. The concert I liked best was "Une Fete Baroque," mostly because the various musicians and vocalists (and the conductor, especially) in this concert actually performed, complete with dancing and a…

A Tribe Called Quest has performed live at a number of large music festivals including Bumbershoot and Lollapalooza. These big name, big draw venues allowed A Tribe Called Quest to project their sounds to the masses, enlightening large numbers of listeners to the transformative potential of hip-hop. As gangsta and other predictable forms of rap increasingly dominated the industry, A Tribe Called Quest was keeping things real. Their commercial success also depended on their high visibility in terms of live performances and music videos. The videos of A Tribe Called Quest parallel the content of their lyrics, and depict African-American street culture especially on the east coast.

A Tribe Called Quest drew upon the groundwork set by De La Soul in fusing jazz musical elements, instrumentation, and samples into hip-hop. In fact, A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, and the Jungle Brothers were schoolmates and formed a successful musical…

In fact, the album Paul's Boutique, which is now hailed as "one of the first albums to predict the genre-bending, self-referential pop kaleidoscope of '90s pop" was scorned or ignored when it was released in 1989.

The Beastie Boys split from Rick Rubin and Def Jam and developed an independent, eclectic, and sonically adventurous sound. The album Check Your Head, which included rock instrumentation, solidified the Beastie Boys' reputation as one of America's top musical talents. Since then the band has enjoyed relatively steady critical acclaim, peer recognition, and popular success. Their most recent award earned was a Grammy for the 2007 release The Mix-Up, a creative instrumental journey. The Beastie Boys have released their own concert film called Awesome: I Fuckin' Shot That!, the title of which proves their punk roots.

Numerous musical styles and artists have influenced the Beastie Boys, enabling the band to create their unique and…

Running is just like music, capable of infinite varieties of rhythm and mood. And, like music, running is an art that requires endurance, skill and determination. Often, music and running are not viewed in the same light. Some look upon music as an intellectual activity that has little in common with the physical sport of running. However, this couldn't be further from the truth.

Every runner has their own rhythm similar to the vast array of musical categories. Some prefer the hard driving beat of rock and roll or rap music. This is particularly true of short distance and sprint runners that require a fast pace to meet their goals of completing the run in as little time as possible. Other runners adapt the slower rhythm of classical music and jazz. For example, marathon and long-distance runners adopt a steady, slower rhythm that facilitates endurance over longer periods of time.…

Many modern listeners deny rap music or techno into the category of music, illustrating how unnecessarily restrictive definitions of music can be. Music does not necessarily need to follow a preconceived structure, and if it did the potential for creative expression would be severely curtailed. In fact, it may be what it lacks (structure, melody, repetitive rhythm) that help listeners appreciate the gamut of music. It is almost as if the listener can create his or her own musical structures on top of Varese's when listening between the lines.

The "Poeme Electronique" possesses none of the typical features of melodic music. It may sound to some like simply blips and bleeps. A deeper and more pointed listen introduces listeners to nuanced, textured sounds: the elements of more familiar melodic compositions. Perhaps because of Varese's ability to transcend typical definitions, the "Poeme" pays homage to the phenomenon of…

Happiness

The arm Fluidity

For the most part, internal (as opposed to external) influences bring me the greatest degree of inspiration and happiness. hat this statement means is that I am not necessarily inspired by appearances, and I am much more of a verbal person (whether accessed in spoken language or via the written word) than I am a visual person. As such, I derive significantly greater insight from music and films than I do from paintings and architecture -- which is not to imply that I see no aesthetic quality in paintings and architecture. It is just that I do a lot less so, and generally to a lesser degree, than I do in music and films.

Music, the world of sounds and emotions, precious words, harmony and intangible associations such as fire and ice, has long been my world and that with which I am most comfortable. I…

eligious violence is hard to understand in some ways, and easy to understand in others. If a reader is reading objectively, and happens to peruse some of the earliest pages of the Bible and the Koran, respectively, he or she may be shocked at what resides there. Again, simply by reading objectively, the reader can discern the degree of favoritism patently shown in these books, which make many attempts to lionize one particular religion and vilify virtually all of the others. For instance, there are certain passages in Genesis in which God is speaking to Abraham and is promising him that he will deliver him land (Genesis 15). Why does God need land, the prudent reader might wonder? Why do his 'chosen people' need land, and if so, why are there other 'non-chosen' people living on it, then? The answer, unfortunately, appears to be to justify religious violence. There are…

Fortune Affect Grand Master Flash's Political Message?

Music is one of the most powerful forms of communication. It utilizes different types of information networks to cut across linguistic and social boundaries. In several occasions music has the potential to relate to politics and power. From the songs of sorrow sung by slaves in the south, to the revolutionary nature of jazz, blues, and rhythym and blues (R&) during the activist days of the Civil Rights Movements, music has been an important part of many social and political changes. In the recent past the power of music has definitely been amplified by increasingly globalized communications such as social media. Nowadays more rapidly than ever, music links and influences people from all over the world (Malone and Martinez).

Hip-hop is considered by some to be one of the most important genres of music. It originated in the ronx, New York in the…

SPIN Magazine [1: The one source you requested I use was taken from Spin Magazine, and I modeled everything after this article: http://www.spin.com/articles/big-four-play-their-first-us-show (citation below) Weingarten, C. "The Big Four Play Their First U.S. Show." Spin Magazine. 2011. ]

Here Are the News: Analysis of What We Listen To

Violent and Misogynistic Lyrics in Gangsta Rap

By ____ April 30, 2011

The saying goes, "you are what you eat." Though this may seem like a cliche at first glance, just think about this small quote that you have probably heard before. When thinking logically, this statement is really true: you are what you eat and you really do look a certain way because of nutrition.

Similarly to looking like what you are eating, you are shaped by the music to which you listen. Those who listen to rock are different people from those who listen to predominantly punk or rap…

Instead, he has been doing the production and promotion for other artists. He also collaborates with other musicians, such as Elizondo to product Eminem's single "The Real Slim Shady. He hopes to get out another album in 2008, which would have several different contributors. Even he admits that his message has mellowed out since his first hits in the '90s, Regarding earlier years he says: "That was my past. What I thought was the thing to do then. I mean, I think 'Straight Outta Compton' was a classic hip-hop album. ut I do look back on a lot of the things we were saying and doing then and go, "Damn!." ut the ***** was dope at the time." Would he ever do that same material now? "No. No way. I'm more into totally positive moves."

Admittedly, not everyone was or continues to be keen on Dr. Dre and similar musicians.…

A high production value and an industrial feel throughout much of the song impart an engagingly chaotic and progressive feel to the song.

6. MC Lyte is one of the few successful female rappers. In "Paper Thin" MC Lyte raps over minimalist music that includes just the beats and the occasional sound of a synthesized but unidentifiable instrument playing an eerie melody. Lyte tells the story of a jilted lover, with an overall theme of empowerment. Occasional encouragement from background vocals and a chorus of "ooooh" refer to African music. MC Lyte also draws gender issues into the repertoire of rap lyrics.

7. The Beastie Boys "Paul Revere" stands out because of the reverse-played scratch sound. Synthesized maracas add sonic texture, but the focal point is the amusing story. "Paul Revere" is one of many New York area rap songs denoting a shift of content away from love of music…

In the "hard-core" sub-genre of hip-hop, one sees a much clearer emphasis on street and urban authenticity -- rather than on sampling. For N.W.A., hip-hop is an expression of lived life -- a kind of militant message passed down to urban blacks from men like Malcolm X

But not all hip-hop comes from such types. The Beastie Boys are an example of hip-hop artists who thrive on a different message. Much of their music is centered on adolescent/teenage angst -- white suburban kids enraged by suburban living, but moved by urban beats. They inter-mingle their own white perspective with samplings from an assortment of other artists -- thus making their mark on the hip-hop scene. Their aggression appears to be real, like 50 Cent's -- even if it is different in its source. The Beastie Boys are, of course, legends in hip-hop -- but Mickey Hess denies that their authenticity…

Lastly, the paper concludes by summarizing the findings of the paper.

Limitations of the Study

It is imperative to analytically assess the outcome and the entire thesis. This is because this thesis has some limitations that should be observed when taking into consideration the importance of the thesis and its assistance. This thesis has concentrated on a subject that has been an extremely large and leading one, that is, the development and influence of hip hop dance: the cultural, sociological, and dance style evolution of street dance. Undoubtedly, this characterizes an extremely difficult assignment for research in spite of the more precise interests that the thesis might have. This wide-ranging and difficult subject has been analyzed from a somewhat limited experimental perception. The choice of the single thesis design obviously draws out numerous limitations in so far as the simplification of the outcome of the thesis is involved. Consequently, the…

Free

How the Criminal Justice System is Dysfunctional according to Paul Butler's Let's Get Free

The American criminal justice system has had a long history of prejudice. From the Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) decision that institutionalized the false concept of "separate but equal" to the Jim Crow laws that followed to the methods of "control" enacted by police in urban communities, criminal justice in the U.S. has seen lots of crime but little justice. Part of the reason for the inherent dysfunction in the way minorities have always been treated in America is that the country was founded on prejudiced WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) principles: the principle of "manifest destiny" was based on the supposedly "divine right" that WASPs had to "control" the New World and eradicate the "lesser" races (such as the Native Americans and the African-Americans). These prejudiced principles were absorbed into the criminal justice system through lawmakers…

"Lady Gaga in part because she keeps us guessing about who she, as a woman, really is. She has been praised for using her music and videos to raise this question and to confound the usual exploitative answers provided by 'the media'… Gaga's gonzo wigs, her outrageous costumes, and her fondness for dousing herself in what looks like blood, are supposed to complicate what are otherwise conventionally sexualized performances" but this complication does not necessarily lead to a feminist liberation (Bauer 2010).

Still, Gaga has been embraced by a generation of women, some who shun and some who embrace the feminist label. "Lady Gaga idealizes this way of being in the world. But real young women, who, as has been well documented, are pressured to make themselves into boy toys at younger and younger ages, feel torn. They tell themselves a Gaga-esque story about what they're doing. hen they're on…

Hip-hop and rap have often been criticized for depicting stereotypical depictions of women, particularly Black women, even while striving to offer a cultural counter-narrative of powerful black masculinity that is positive. Kanye West’s song “Gold Digger” famously criticizes women for being only interested in a man’s money, and the video crassly shows women in skimpy clothing gyrating in front of West, even being used as credit card dispensers. Although rap’s narrative may question a white world where the police are trustworthy and criminality is viewed as evil, versus a natural response to the environment, it often embraces a very negative view of women at its worst and at its best has depicted women more as sexualized objects than as fully dimensional human beings. On the other hand, as noted by Patricia Hill Collins in her essay “Get Your Freak On: Sex, Babies, and Images of Black Femininity,” many female artists…

Mind, Baby

Contrary to popular belief, sex and sexuality has been present in popular music for at least the past 60 years. Since the age of "oldies" -- which in this discourse is defined as the "doo wop" period of the 1950's and the 1960's and which hearken to tunes such as "Blue Moon" and "Angel Baby" -- the lyrics of songs have included elements of sex. However, in much the same way that other forms of art -- particularly those with a pervasive appeal as disseminated through media such as film and television -- have modified their presentation to go from subtle implications to overt displays of a graphic nature, the tendency to portray sex in popular music has gone from what began as implicit references that required the upper reaches of the imagination to fully understand, to blatant references of a carnal nature that oftentimes are noticeably deficient…

Pinker maintains that evolution follows a branching, rather than linear pattern. Many species develop concurrently, each with their own survival instincts. Humans, and their survival instinct of language, are just one branch of the evolutionary process rather than a pinnacle rung.

Holding the belief that we can, or might someday communicate with animals creates empathy, which leads to humane treatment of animals. A belief that animals cannot communicate with us due to inferiority leads to a sense of dominion over them.

This is also a pattern of belief and behavior that is seen with regard to humans who are perceived to have inferior languages or grammars. They are somehow less human, and therefore less deserving of humane treatment.

Pinker states that it is ridiculous to attempt to teach human language to animals. They are not biologically configured for human speech or sign. They have no need for human language as…

causes of teen violence, "Missing the Mark" by Jackson Katz and Sur Jhally, and "Stop Blaming Kids and TV" by Mike Males. Katz and Jhally argue that teen violence is a male-centric occurrence caused by socialization that promotes violent masculinity. Males provide a gender-neutral view of teen violence that he believes is caused by parents who engage in domestic violence.

Because of the obvious differences in these theories, it's tempting to try to advocate one premises over the other, but further thought shows that these two theories are complimentary because the family plays such a large part in the male socialization process.

Both articles deal with the subject of teenage violence and avoid placing blame on teens for their troubled behavior. Instead, these articles present the idea of imitation as a cause of teen violence, but they differ on who the kids are imitating. Males states that teens are copying…

Hip Hop and American Youth Culture

Everyone enters a stage of growth when a strong urge to break out of parental dependence, when he recognizes his own person and desires to assert himself. This sense of individuality is an inherent in the American character, especially the youth. Aligned with this restlessness is the restlessness endured for centuries by the Blacks. Their elders may have learned to live with the malignity, although without yielding to it, or have less energy to fight. But African-American youth found a way to vent their revulsion towards the discrimination and abuses to which they are subjected as a race. That discovery happened in the 70s when the hip-hop spirit evolved into a concept and then into music, dance, poetry and many other creative forms of letting the sea of anguish flow out of their soul.

The voice of the young American who seeks individual freedom…