New Chapter; Rap Music

Today I've decided that it's time to round out my blog; as promised, I would touch on all basic music genres. So, until January (ish) we will be talking about rap artists, and songs. If ya don't like rap, see you in January!

Rap music was a genre I was hooked on for a good 2-2 1/2 years before I started to really listen to all kinds of music. The artist who got me started was Eminem, Marshal Mathers, and B-Rabbit (bunny rabbit). If you're not a rap addict, then I will fill you in; all those names belong to the same person. Eminem was the first white rapper to break to barrier for white rapping. Not known for his voice or his "sick beats", he made it through music surviving on his amazing ability to rhyme AND make lines that normally would take a lot of thinking for most people. The story behind him is one that is always miscommunicated and misunderstood, but is at the same time one that would seem like a hard life to live. Well you're right, Marshal (before getting him name) started rapping with his black friend who first took him to rap battling in his younger years. After coping with the music, he began his obsession and sold his first record and everything blasted off from there. They do have a movie about his story before he began his career called 8 Mile, rated R and infested with language and adultery, I encourage you to brace yourself if you so choose to watch.

But enough about Eminem. Obviously rap has always been a more, explicit type of music and has more of an adult theme to it. I must warn you that if you get easily offended by music or certain subjects that may be mentioned, to steer clear of the song because this genre is not a light kind of music. I will most likely be posting the explicit versions (unless it is a censored music video). Hope to see you next time on the next song review!

Photo Courtesy of RollingStone New

For 8 Mile movie click here

Lets Talk About Music Communication

Welcome to music class, today we are going to talk about what makes good music and why there are so many genres. You may think you know the answer to these topics; well, lets see if you're right. This post is going to be something new; along the lines of music theory, this is going to be more of an insight to music make up and composition. Hope you can learn something new!

Although some people (who aren't music freaks like me) only listen to a certain song because of the "killer bass" or "amazing beat". There's a lot more to a song than meets the ear, you just have to listen for something other than vocals (if any), drums, and guitars. If you hear a song that you like over and over enough times, you will probably find weird, out of nowhere sounds or beats (counter-melody) that were meant to support the actual or interesting lead sound (melody).

Music tells a story, weather it be chillstep or punk. Lately the main story is about breakups, losses, and failures. But do people really want to hear it on the radio? Do they actually want to hear a song about loosing a best friend or important part in their life? The answer: yes and no. Some people's mind doesn't work like others. What I mean by this, is when people with emotional disorders usually find happy music to be very irritating and annoying when they are going through a period of emotional instability. To hear an upbeat song about sunshine and lollipops, when all they can seem to fill their mind with is depressing ideas, can really irritate them, and vise versa. Think of it like this; when you go to work/school early in the morning, and you hear someone going on about how great mornings are when you absolutely hate mornings, it can get very annoying.

With the limited amount of genres out there in the world, there are endless amounts of people who are guaranteed to listen to your favorite kind of music. So lets vote to see which genre of meaningful music is the favorite! Click here for a calm song with story telling lyrics (Lies - Trifonic). Click here for a more energetic tone of music that expresses more of a serious meaning (Bring Me the Horizon - Drown)

People still loves stories, especially happy ending stories. Happy stories give us hope and motivation I encourage you to listen to the lyrics of any song, learn the meaning, learn the story, learn the lesson, and never forget the memory.

Photo Courtesy of Mariam-Taylor Blog

For discussions of life and other overlooked topics, visit my friends blog at http://ahamilton18.blogspot.com

(Guess what! I dyed my hair purple and blue if any of you were interested in knowing my weekly activity *laughs hysterically* Stay creative music nerds!)

Song Review: Mad at Myself - Issues

This song review will be focused on the song created by Issues called Mad at Myself. The song expresses a feeling of regret of  his actions toward his girlfriend. In the chorus he implies he was only making choices based off of his wants instead of his relationship ethics. Like most songs, it doesn't say exactly what happened prior to making the song, but there are a lot of clues that can give you ideas.
Like billions and billions of other songs, this song is about love. But it has a weird genre twist; most "screamo" songs express only anger, revenge, regret, and occasionally confusion. This song on the other hand, has only regret and crave for an earlier time.
The band Issues isn't a widely known band, but their talent isn't any worse than what makes a good group. The band has 6 members with Tyler Carter as the "group leader"

Photo Courtesy of  Picphotos

I will be starting to post more and more reviews and songs within this genre, sorry if you're not particularly interested but I will be trying to keep my blog well rounded and expressive through my posts.

Song Review: Crown - Diplo

The song I have chosen to review today is called Crown by Diplo. In this song, they feature three other artists; RiFF RAFF, Boaz van de Beatz and Mike Posner. RiFF RAFF is an artist who has recently been introduced to the world of rap or hip-hop. In this song, Riff RAFF is more of the "lesser known" artists in the song. Unlike RiFF RAFF, Mike Posner (artist of "cooler than me") does the vocals in the song, with RiFF RAFF doing the smaller rap verses. And the original beat, tempo, sound, and flow of the song was created by Boaz van de Beatz. Like many others, Boaz in more of an unknown artist.

Photo Courtesy to SpawnFirst

The song has an uplifting beat to it. It has main verse or chorus that says "Imma be the king soon..... I can't wait to be king!" Obviously there aren't many kings left, the song is very figurative. Most songs use metaphors as a way to send a message so that the people who hear it can make their own connections. This effect is used to sell more songs, sometimes when the song is vague, it can sell better because people connect in their own way. Although there are many songs like this, many people have never heard this kind of music, much less heard of the genre.

Sound Quality; It's Worth It

While music is a very important factor for some people, it can be very hard to find a good way of listening to your music; faulty headphones/earbuds, poor speaker quality, the list goes on. The point is, when you listen to music that you absolutely love, you probably want good sound quality. My referral would be two places.Skullcandy®, which is a store local to Park City. Skullcandy® does shipping to most international areas. They have excellent sound quality and not all their products are unreasonably priced. Their newest release is a pair of headphones called the crushers. The Crushers are featured with a bass adjusting switch to control the level of low sounds through your music. They are made to block out sounds with its noise canceling design. But quality like this always has its price; with its "best seller" and "best quality" titles, it sells at $100 (not including shipping if you're not local).My other referral would be Bose Co.®. Although I know not near as much about them as I do Skullcandy®, every product I've tried by their company has been very exceptional in their making of earbuds. This company is not limited to just headphones, earbuds, and small-size speakers. Unlike Skullcandy®, Bose makes home theater products including Bluetooth speakers. But their latest project was their very own HDTV equipped with  their SoundTouch device. If you would like to browse any of these companies I will have the links posted below

Skullcandy®

Bose Company®

Photo Courtesy to AKG Headsets 

FYI/ Reviews

The song of the week is called Sluggin' by Ricky Remedy. It is a mix of dubstep and "rave" music. The idea of these kind of songs is to built energy until what they call a bass drop, which is usually a different mix of sounds or beats. They generally use this kind of music at big parties or events to build every and heighten the mood for the kind of music. There are most likely different names for this kind of music, but the official and most used name, is Tribal Trap Music. I will be posting links to other songs by the same artist and same genre of music. Tell me what you think about it and I'll try to post more like it!
I will be posting videos of the week that will usually be sports, or any other cool activity or creation. If you have any suggestions or links, look below to contact me.

As much as I love reviewing new music for you guys, I want your help. Join in with discussions, I will try to review an out-of-the-box song along with  the artist, as well as the song of the week; feel free to talk about the subject and/or comment about it. But for now I am going to start with the song of the week. I hope to see you here next time when things are a bit more developed.

Photo Credit to Google Plus

Get Things Going

Hey guys! Sorry I haven't posted yet, I will try to post as much as possible.
I've made this blog so that you have a place to share, recommend, talk, and listen to music that you may, or may have not heard yet. I know you probably think I'm directed to one genre of music, but I promise you I listen to ALL type of music from punk to classical (it's a weird range) , I'm bound to like anything you recommend and I'm obligated to listen to anything you throw at me.
I will be posting cool videos and music often; maybe you've heard that song maybe you haven't. Again if you have any music or cool videos you want me to put on this site, I'd be happy to watch/listen and you could get it featured!
I generally don't go searching for my music, I usually put on Pandora and just let the music flow. Once in a while I'll just find whatever song sounds cool. I hope to see you visiting often and I'll be here to listen or chat about your songs!

Photo courtesy of Slodive