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Imagine by John Lennon

It’s 1971 and the Vietnam War has been raging on for over a decade. The American people are furious with our involvement, as they should be; we had no business there. Tensions are high and yet, everyone can only think about reaching peace and deescalating the whole situation. The Beatles just recently broke up, but the individual artists continued to make music, as usual. However,  one particular track from John Lennon reached into the hearts of everyone who listened. It’s safe to say that Imagine is what everyone thought and wanted, but formulated into a track that actually catches everyone’s attention. 

The song is as simple as it gets; beginning with a soothing piano with John as the only vocals. A few sounds from drums followed by some high strings in the back and you’ve got Imagine. The significance of this song comes the message that John is telling you; its about peace without borders and imagining humanity without the need for materialistic possessions. I listen to it as a reminder for all of us no matter what year we are in, but even more so today as it is fitting for Black Friday with all the craziness. 

The 60s were rife with political turmoil. The Vietnam War was still going and civil rights protests and demonstrations were at its peak occurrence. It was a perfect time to reflect on personal opinions and political affiliations since change was happening every single day. Towards the mid-to-end of the 60s, many riots had occurred: the 1967 Newark Riots, and the Holy Week Uprising riots in New York City, Chicago, Baltimore, and Washington D.C.. We had a pointless war over seas and had an unending war back at home. John Lennon was a huge advocate of ending the Vietnam War and encouraged peaceful, non-violent protesting. Imagine and Give Peace a Chance became the anthems of the anti-war movement that John never intended, but was very grateful for. 

It’s kind of weird when I try writing/listening to this song. I’m trying to think of a complexity to it, but there’s obviously nothing there. It wasn’t meant to stir up some creative thinking; it’s just a message and/or a personal opinion that John Lennon wanted to get out there. Anyone who says that it has a deeper meaning is definitely full of it. It’s a song that has no substance which is only saved by its anti-war agenda and I know, not every song has to be thought provoking, but this is coming from A BEATLE. Their music changed the world and this is just a little disappointing coming from one of them. 

Imagine all the people living for today Imagine there's no countries It isn't hard to do Nothing to kill or die for And no religion, too Imagine all the people living life in peace

Taken out of context it just looks like someone's thinking “hey you know what would be cool? Imagine...” and it comes off really cheesy. Don’t get me wrong I love this song, but if the topic of the lyrics was changed to literally anything else, it would have been forgotten years ago. 

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Social Media Icon: Rich Chigga

When we think of rap and hip-hop, we tend to think about the United States; West Coast rappers vs. East Coast rappers. Rap originated from here and over the past few decades, it has spread all over the world. Almost every single top rap artist has originated from the U.S. and that’s because rap in every other country is somewhat still underdeveloped. The next big group are from the United Kingdom but these rappers don’t do very well, like U.K. rapper Big Shaq with his god awful song Man’s Not Hot (it’s actually a meme now). So, when I think of non-U.S. rappers, I can't help to automatically assume it’s very bad. It comes to a surprise then when a somewhat popular artist in the U.S. is actually from Indonesia; Brian Imanuel or best known as Rich Chigga. 

Brian Imanuel is an 18 year-old rapper/comedian from Jakarta, Indonesia that has a very different background when compared to North American rappers. Before he started his rap career, he spent a lot of time just toying around with social media; photoshopping images and posting them on twitter as well as making dark-comedy sketches before moving onto Vine (R.I.P. Vine, you will be missed). He actually wasn’t a native english speaker either. He taught himself by watching Youtube videos and also by listening to American artists such as Childish Gambino, Macklemore, 2 Chainz, and Tyler, the Creator. It wasn’t until 2012 when an American friend of his introduced him to hip-hop through Macklemore’s song, Thrift Shop, where Brian decided to take a role in the hip-hop genre. 

His comedy sketches really show an awkwardness that is very apparent in his personality, but not in his music. His debut single/music video Dat $tick sounds like a very well made trap song that should be coming from a developed artist, not a brand new one. All of his few tracks have the consistency and flow of a seasoned veteran despite being very new to the game. The awkwardness I mentioned earlier really shows how young he his and it brings back his roots of his comedy background. In his music video of Dat $tick, he is wearing a very bright pink polo, with boring khaki shorts and a huge fanny pack. Mind you, the song has a very trap-like sound to it,which caught the attentions of rappers 21 Savage, Desiigner and Ghostface Killer. Imagine a nerdy-looking teenager in a serious rap song and that is exactly what Rich Chigga is portraying and it is hilarious. 

Brian Imanuel is quickly gaining popularity in the United States. He has already collaborated with notable artists such as 21 Savage, Keith Ape, and XXXTentacion. Despite his rise to fame, he’s still a kid at heart and it really shows in his character both inside and outside the music industry. He’s as humble as ever and for right now, he still very loyal and dedicated to his fan base. It was hard at first to see him transition from comedy sketches to serious music, but it’s something that I was very glad to witness. He’s very much like Childish Gambino–who is one of his biggest inspirations–where they both started with comedy and gradually turning towards the music industry creating very great music. His funny personality is still there and it’s something that I probably won't ever get tired of. My favorite line from Brian is probably from an interview where the interviewer congratulates Brian for reaching one million followers on instagram and asks him how did he celebrate. Brian goes, “umm [I] drank some water”. 

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Bike Routes: Artist Interview

With the lack of musical talent and lack of knowing anyone with musical talent, I turn to my good friend Noah who just happens to know many artistic people. It was through Noah where I found myself scrounging around wondering ‘what do I even ask?’ when I finally got the call from his friend David Osterhout. Thanks to David’s wonderful understanding and overall good nature, I found myself quickly interested albeit still nervous.

David, or rather Bike Routes, is a hometown friend of Noah’s, both coming from the small town of Marlton, New Jersey and with this you can see how much the “small town” factor comes to play into his music. Many of his tracks–from various EPs–have a very homey and relatable feel to them. I asked what consists of his creative process and it’s actually quite simple, but also very humbling. His specializes in alternative rock and most of his music is just him on a guitar with great vocals, however, its the simplicity of it that really defines him with this genre. It can take several weeks for him to write a song while it can take just a few hours to write another. Truck Stop Jesus from Evolution at Its Finest is very nostalgic; I can’t help but think of being back in high school whenever I listen to it and I honestly can't tell how long it probably took David to make it. 

As I listen to David answer all of my disorganized questions, I can't help but notice how enthusiastic he was during this very minute interview. It was around 10:30 PM when I got his call and he just got out of work. I’m sure he was very tired and yet he still managed to bring a positive attitude to the conversation which I highly commend as it is something I can probably never do. 

It’s nice to hear someone so passionate about what they're doing. He grew up in a small town with many local artists and after watching and listening to so many of them, he decided at one point to join their ranks and become an artist himself. He’s been to many shows around Marlton and Philly (Philadelphia) and those local artists are his biggest inspiration. I asked what major artists inspired him and he said Bruce Springsteen, but what was surprising was when he said “I know it may sound cheesy or cliche but My Chemical Romance too”. It was surprising because it was funny and reality knocking. This whole time I’m thinking this person is probably very busy, but with this little funny comment, it made me realize that he’s just another person, like me, that has the drive to make his dream come to life. 

He’s been making music since he was a junior in high school so, for about three years now. He started with the end goal of joining a band and he recently end up creating one–called Heather Grey–as the lead vocalist with other friends from South Jersey. it was a weird transition for him, from making music on his own time with little budget to working in an actual professional studio with all his friends. It was much more serious than he has done before, but after a little time, he got into the groove of thins. It’s also great that they are all friends as well since the creative process can get very conflicting at times, but he assures me that they all recognize this and work their differences so that everyone can have creative leeway. They haven’t released anything yet, but their first EP is set out to release soon and I’m honestly looking very forward to it. If it sounds like anything he made as a solo artist, I’m sure it will be worth a listen. 

https://bikeroutesnj.bandcamp.com/music

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Music Scenes: Gangsta Rap

When rap started becoming its own genre it revolved around simple rhymes and plain storytelling. As years went on, the genre evolved and became a complex form of music that incorporates many different confusing elements. What made an insane impact and made its mark for the genre was the gangsta rap scene of the 1980s-1990s. When people think of gangster rap most of the time they think of the usual aspects; drugs and crime. However, that was just a part of gangsta rap. The gangsta rap scene was always political; there were meanings behind the lyrics and behind the stories. Most of the music was a way of showing everyday lives of people residing in impoverished areas. They weren’t trying to glorify and romanticize the concepts of drugs and crime they were just trying to show you how these things affected the artists in their own way. The heart of gangsta rap could probably traced to Compton, California due to hip hop group N.W.A..

The most famous rap group that popularized gangsta rap was Compton based hip hop group N.W.A.- Niggaz Wit Attitudes. The rap group consisted of talented yet unknown artists: Arabian Prince, MC Ren, Ice Cube, Eazy-E, DJ Yella, and Dr Dre. Their debut album Straight Outta Compton (which is also the name of a film that revolves around N.W.A which I highly recommend watching) brought a lot of controversy due to the nature of its lyrics. Compton was an average town until the 1965 Watt Riots. This led to many middle-class families fleeing which in turn, caused the crime rate to increase rapidly. The city was and still is a dangerous city–albeit now its nowhere near as bad as it used to be–but no one really paid any attention to the townsfolk. It wasn’t until the release of this album when people finally took notice because it took the national spotlight. 

Compton life was rife with crime. In 1972, the city had the highest per capita murder rate in the country. Growing up in a neighborhood like this alone leaves a mark in your life. Your reality consists of wondering if you will be another statistic. Wake up every day wondering if you will get to see your family or friends the next day and all of this happened without the country acknowledging your very existence. It was this uneasiness that really birthed gangsta rap. No one was paying attention to this city and people had enough. They wanted recognition and they wanted change. The only way that would give them recognition was through this sub-genre and it really worked. The country finally paid attention to Compton and tried to make it a better place. 

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Music Blog: How it sounds

Runaway- Kanye West (feat Pusha T) 

Runaway came from West’s album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy which released in 2010 and it still holds as a well constructed album. Kanye West has always taken a huge role in his production work and in this particular track he shows how much he still has to offer. The track shows a lot of innovation, but it takes a while to actually show itself since it is 9 minutes long. The song starts off with a melody that is highly rememberable; singular piano notes. Some percussions and echoing vocals soon follow through, but the piano persists as the centerpiece of the track. The rest of the song stays the same for the most part until it hits the outro. Kanye West has always used the human voice as a moldable aspect of music production and it’s at this part of the song where that really shows. 

The outro starts around the 6 minute mark with the same piano melody, but then comes an countermelody that I always assumed was a guitar. It actually is Kanye’s voice that was processed to make it sound heavily distorted into an electric guitar. This entire outro is almost 3 minutes long and it lacks any real vocals; there was no singing or any rapping of any kind in this entire section. Mind you, most rap songs aren’t even this long. While this song threw me for a surprise, a little research indicated that this type of vocalization isn’t new to Kanye. 

He’s done something very similar in the track Good Life from the album Graduation and it shows in the very beginning instead of the very end like here. He chooses synthesizers that sound very similar to a human voice. It sounds like a very high pitched person saying something along the lines “good life”. This is something that Kanye used a lot to get the distinctive “chipmunk rap” sound that heavily populated a few of his albums and still used to this day. His innovative vocal practices continue and increases in heaviness with each new album. 

Runaway serves as the point where Kanye truly understands where he wants to perfect his craft. The entire song is an apology for his bashful and aggressive personality, but it also hands a sidenote saying that he won't change because it’s his personality that allows him to delve into new territories. He’s admitted that he knows he can’t sing and despite this he sings entire songs in 808s & Heartbreak albeit in auto-tune. He uses vocals as a centerpiece, a beat, a sidetone, and in The Life of Pablo he uses it to create an entire setting. It’s very strange to hear the human voice in ways that I could never imagine. Some of it is very lucrative while some is very subtle. I have always assumed that vocals–singing or rapping–should always be the centerpiece of every track (that has vocals) because it’s what I usually focus on, but here, it has as much importance as every other beat and instrument in the song. There’s an infinite amount of things that audio engineering can still do that we have yet to hear and it’s something I’m looking very forward to listen to.

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A Blank Mind: Annotated Playlist

I’ve always been a fan of movies. More specifically, I’ve always been a fan of superhero movies. I tend to drift in and out of reality at random points and ninety-nine percent of the time I’m always thinking about a battle between two powerful entities. An extravagant fight between good and evil, right and wrong and it never ends; there’s always another fight. With the explosion of superhero films in the last decade came even wilder ideas of imagination; what if I was the hero? So, with that thought in mind, I prepared myself for my journey. I start off with a blank mind and wait until night so my room is engulfed in darkness. I put my headphones on and close my eyes. This is my playlist. 

Every superhero needs an origin. No one just starts off as the hero. There is always a beginning.The playlist starts with the track Pruitt Igoe. It starts off with very deep and heavy bass with some strings working its way up and then back down. This is the manifestation of my existence. The calm, out of nowhere, changes with sharp brass and lurking winds. This is my birth; a superhero is born. The erratic comes back to a calm. I am here. No superhero knows how to be great from the start. There is aways a build-up. 

In every superhero movie, there is always a montage of the hero/heroine getting stronger and learning to fully utilize their powers. No Time For Caution is my build-up. The song is eerie and slow. It’s unfamiliar but I am slowly getting accustomed. I’m getting stronger by the minute. The organ in the back is telling me I need to hurry since the danger is approaching, but it doesn’t matter because I’ve reached my full potential. I’ve realized my power and now I’m ready. The reckoning has arrived. 

No superhero is complete without their archenemy. With the enemy comes the decisive battle of good vs. evil. Gotham’s Reckoning serves as the battleground for the ultimate fight. The track is tense, but it’s broken as the first hit lands. The fight begins and it’s an even match. We trade blow after blow. My arch-rival is seething with rage and blood-lust. The intensity of the track signals the release of his true power. For once, I am afraid, but I persevere and fight with everything I have. I have defeated my foe, but I look around and see the ruins of our fight. A world left in fire and destruction. Was the battle for the people, or was it for me? There isn’t any time to explain as my journey is coming to an end.

Time is my reflection of everything leading to this moment. The consequences of all my actions. The consequences of everything I’ve done. The lives that were lost come back to haunt me and their families are thankful for the protection, but deep down I know they’re angry. Time is a song of realization and reflection. It is a song that lets me know that no matter how strong I am or become, I am still a human that needs to face the consequences. I can’t save everyone and I never will, but that’s okay. That’s why I’m the hero in this story. I know that I can do it again, and again, even if innocent people will get hurt because the good outweighs the bad.

With my reflection of my mistakes in mind, I look forward to the future. With On the Nature of Daylight I see the future. I see the people I’ve saved with the families that couldn’t exist without me. I see the children I fought so desperately for grow old with smiles on their faces. I am at peace. This is what I fight for. This is why I want to be the hero. 

In our reality, there aren’t many chances where we can be great as a superhero. I highly doubt I’ll be ever to experience such a feeling, but in the blank canvas of my imagination, I can get a taste of it. i want everyone who reads this post to take that from my playlist. To give you a world where you can be the greatest you can be. 

Pruitt Igoe - Philipp Glass & Glass Ensemble (heard this song from the movie Watchmen) /No Time For Caution - Hans Zimmer from Interstellar score/Gotham’s Reckoning- Hans Zimmer from The Dark Knight Rises score/Time - Hans Zimmer Inception Score/On the Nature of Daylight-Max Richter (heard from the movie Arrival)

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Live Review: Kanye West, not the kind of dropout we were expecting.

This is actually about Kanye West’s performance during the 2016 Meadows music festival and not necessarily a concert review, but I digress. Mr. West has made a huge impact in the recent rap community. While many rappers/hip hop artists tend to put a lot of effort into the lyrics, Kanye puts a lot of emphasis on music production. With “Yeezus” there was a whole ethereal and otherworldly feel to it and with “Graduation” there was lot of buzzing and pleasant electronic backdrops. Despite his talent and daringness, the man’s ego is prevalent and his performance (or lack thereof) during the Meadows Music Festival left a really bad taste in my mouth. 

Kanye West was the closing act for the festival, preceded by Chance The Rapper and Bryson Tiller, but it felt like Chance did his job for him. We waited and waited for what seemed like forever (it was actually about 45 minutes) until without warning, “Father Stretch My Hands, Pt 1″ starts playing. The stage moves, a fog sets, and we see Kanye West standing in the middle. The lights leave a orangey haze matching his outfit and–I didn’t realize this until after the concert was over–his album cover. I look around and the audience gets ecstatic, rapping along the first few bars without him. During this time, he hasn’t said a word or moved a finger. Now I understand why people think he’s egotistical. However, that doesn’t excuse his tardiness and the lack of any visual performance that I would expect from a high-profile artist like him.

He performed major hits such as “Famous”, “Facts”, “Freestyle 4″ from his “The Life of Pablo” album, as well as other songs from previous albums, but despite his intensity end energy of his performance, there really wasn’t anything going on on the stage. It was just him, someone that was probably controlling the lights and music, and one guy on a drum set that you couldn’t even notice. It was very obvious that this performance was all about Kanye. There were no visuals, no band, no hype-man, nothing. Kanye’s so called “performance” consisted of him getting louder with each new song and moving from one spot of the stage to the next. 

It was around 9:40 PM and all of a sudden, West stops, exclaims “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, family emergency, I have to stop the show”  and leaves. At the time, everyone, including me, went from confused to furious in a matter of seconds. First he was late and then he just randomly leaves? That left a lot of fans hurt, however, we all later learned on Twitter and the news that his wife, Kim Kardashian, was just robbed at gunpoint in Paris so, that was perfectly understandable. 

Kanye West is an outstanding artist, but this performance was very lackluster. There wasn’t anything about his performance that made me really think about getting a ticket to see an actual concert instead of music festival. Seeing friends and mutual friends on snapchat at his actual concerts were practically the same ; him on a stage, orangey haze with lights, etc. With this festival I got to see other great artists (as mentioned above) ,that brought visually appealing performances to boot, with a little bit of Kanye. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed Kanye West’s performance, but being late (and not even a mention or an apology) was a huge slap to the fans that waited all day to see him. I expect more from a performance; not just the artist with the track in the background and him singing along to it. If it weren’t for the energy emanating from the fans I don’t think I would’ve enjoyed it as much as I did. 

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Coloring Book: Album Review

Coloring book isn’t actually an album but rather the 3rd mixtape of the Chicagoan artist; Chance the Rapper (Chancellor Bennett). Chance’s verse in Kanye West’s song “Ultralight Beams” serves as a prelude to his mixtape; setting the mood with gospel overtures and choir vocals. The album has top contenders as features: Kanye West on “All We Got”, Lil Wayne and 2Chainz on “No Problems”, Jermih and a lot more. What really struck me about this album, however, was how different the sound was compared to many other rap albums I have listened to. 

“All We Got” sets off the album with an incredible amount of grace and feel-good energy featuring Kanye West and the Chicago Children’s Choir The spotlight is on Chance and he’s making sure he’s heard. His overwhelming happiness about his success is contagious and it gives off a sense of security; like everything is going to be okay no matter what problems you’re facing.( “Man I swear my life is perfect, I could merch it If I die I'll prolly cry at my own service.”). The track is more of a sequel to “Ultralight Beams” itself due to its heavy and incredible use of gospel and choir that can bring the spirit of God into anyone. 

The whole album brings back feelings of happiness and calmness, so it’s no wonder “Summer Friends” serves as a nostalgic ride down memory lane. However, the peace and tranquility of the beat almost masks the true meaning of the track; “summer don’t get shine no more/ our summer die, our summer time don’t got no time no more”. Memories of friends growing up are just memories because the once bright and hopeful days of summer are overshadowed by the violence of gang crime that plagues Chicago. 

The placement of “All We Got” and “Blessings (Reprise) prove that Chance put a tremendous amount of time into building the gospel thematic nature of this album. With the spotlight coming to the end, Chance takes these last moments to send one last message to his congregation. Father Chance ends the sermon telling reassuring his fans that despite the new direction of this album, he’s still the modest man they came to love and he will become the role model that he wants to be. (”They never seen a rapper practice modesty/I never practice, I only perform...Call me mister Mufasa, I had to master stampedes”) 

At the start of this review, I said that album sounds completely different compared to other rap albums. What I meant by that is the album doesn’t contain any aspect of the typical “rap lifestyle”. There’s no part of the album where he attempts to show the extravagant and expensive lifestyle of a modern day rapper. There’s no message saying he deserves the crown. There’s not even a message saying he’s better than anyone else out there. Coloring Book, in its simplicity, just wants to tell you that there are hardships in life, but you will get past that. There are changes that need to be made that only through faith, togetherness, and perseverance will it be achieved. Coloring Book features many talented artists and despite this, Chance doesn’t get left in the sidelines; he shines through without making it all about him. 

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West Coast Rapper, Worldwide Following

K-Dot, Kung-Fu Kenny, King of the West Coast; these are some of the monikers that describe none other than Kendrick Lamar Duckworth. Born and raised in Compton, California, Lamar quickly entered the rap game when he released his first mixtape Youngest Head Nigga In Charge (Hub City Threat: Minor of the Year) at the age of 16 and later went on to create studio albums Section.80, good kid, m.A.A.d city, To Pimp A Butterfly, and DAMN which solidified his spot at the top of the rap game. 

For those of you that don’t know, rap is a musical art form which incorporates rhythmic speech and street vernacular. It lies in a grey area between speech and singing but with a lot more complexity. It originated as a sub-genre of hip-hop in the early 1980s where it was easily identified by its relatively simple raps, but quickly evolved into its own art form which needs multiple listens in order to fully understand a whole verse. It’s become an increasingly popular genre of music, even surpassing rock music sales just recently. Like Kanye West (another popular rapper) once said “Rap the new rock n roll” . 

Today, I’d like to talk about the highly praised album released in 2015, To Pimp A Butterfly. Lamar would always take influences from his past to tell a broader story in his music, such as the crack epidemic of the 80s for Section.80 and personal experience living in Compton for good kid m.A.A.d city, but he takes it a step further with To Pimp a Butterfly (which i’ll be referring to as TPAP from now on). He fuzes jazz, spoken word, funk, and soul into an album that delves into a very personal and political agenda as an African-American man living in the United States. To give some context, TPAP came out within a few years of police brutality victims: Mike Brown, Sandra Bland, Tamir Rice, and Trayvon Martin; tensions were, and still are, very high between the police and black community. 

Throughout TPAP, Kendrick brings up points of racial injustice, perseverance and reiterates the difficulties dealing with negative stereotypes of African Americans in the tracks: “Wesley’s Theory” , “King Kunta”, and “Alright’, but one track that really stands out is, “The Blacker the Berry”. The song starts off with a guitar opening, but the mood quickly shifts with a grunt into tribal percussions. The beat gets heavier with trumpets playing in the back that slowly dies off allowing Kendrick to create a raw and dark mood for the verses that come. He talks about generational hatred, his pride in his African-American heritage and racism in general. He uses the connotation of negative African-American stereotypes and flips it on its head and turns it into something he takes pride in. There’s also an underlying message that is cleverly hidden in the lyrics. Lamar starts off each verse with “I’m the biggest hypocrite of 2015″, but doesn’t elaborate on what he means. It’s not until near the end where it’s revealed that he’s talking about the black community itself “So why did I weep when Trayvon Martin was in the street when gang banging make me kill a nigga blacker than me? Hypocrite!”. The underlying message being the hypocritical nature of the black community (due to black on black crime) even though there was a huge outrage because of Trayvon Martin’s death. Despite bringing an unfavorable perspective into light, Lamar doesn’t mean that the black community is in the wrong, but rather, that there is a moral grey area. 

The entirety of “The Blacker the Berry” changes negative perspectives into positive ones which is incredibly difficult to achieve without seeming overly narcissistic. I highly recommend listening to the track, as well as Alright, King Kunta, Hood Politics and pretty much the entirety of the album. It’s an album that people will be talking for years to come.