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Music has been around for ages, and has seen many different faces and many different styles. In today’s age, people don’t really listen to music or remember music that happened before the 1960s. In this time period, the emergent style of music was called rock and roll, this music was new and inventive, and something no one had really seen before. It featured electric guitars, loud songs, and a whole new era of talented and innovative musicians. Some would argue that the 1960s and 70s were the best years our world has seen musically. Today, music is much different than it was 40 and 50 years ago. Hip-hop, pop, and rap have emerged as leading styles of music, and most instruments have been omitted. These two, extremely different eras of music both have fan bases of their own today. I am going to tell you why one of these styles is a lot better, in both the pleasure of listening, and musical ability.

Popular music of the 60s and 70s is far superior then the popular music of today for many reasons, I will name just a few. First of all, in today’s popular music there is a lot of electronic enhancement, and special effects. Some would say these have helped music, but I would disagree, in the 70s and 60s everyone relied on talent to make it big. People can appreciate music of that era a lot more, because it takes serious talent to be that good. Anyone who plays any instrument should know that. Secondly, classic rock music (60s/70s music) has a lot of variety in both songs and bands. It seems like today, every band is one pop singer with their voice enhanced, singing to a computer projected drum beat, while classic rock included everything from soft jam bands like The Grateful Dead, who are famous for their live performances, where one beautiful acoustic songs runs into the next, to hard-rock pioneers like Led Zeppelin, who started the age of electric guitars and rocking drum-beats. These are reasons why modern day music will never surpass classic rock.

First of all, popular music of the 60s and 70s is far superior then popular music today because of the skill and talent of the musicians. People can enjoy music a lot more if they can appreciate the hard work and talent that goes into it (especially if they are a musician themselves.) In the 60s and 70s the world saw some of the greatest musicians ever to walk this earth. From belting and shrieking singers like Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin) and Mick Jagger (The Rolling Stones) to some of the best ‘axe-men’ of all time, which are guitarists such as David Gilmour (Pink Floyd) and Eric Clapton (Cream). According to numerous sources such as Digitaldreamdoor.com and Guitar Heroes (book), the best guitarists, bassists, drummers, keyboardists, and singers have come from the 60s and 70s. Back then, someone’s talent defined music, and fans of classic rock could appreciate that. On the other hand, today, we seem to have lost sight of that, and it seems as though less and less talent is used in popular bands, as electronic enhancement takes over the music world. Secondly, live musical performances benefit immensely from talented musicians. Live concerts have taken a big hit since the 1960s and 70s, because musicians don’t have the ability to play anything other than what was recorded in the studio, if that! In the 60s and 70s, live concerts were a spectacle to see, they were something that defined some bands, and made others famous. Bands like the Grateful Dead, who made hundreds of bootleg albums, which were just from live concerts. They would have long jams and great variations of songs on stage, making it a whole new experience, or Led Zeppelin who made a name for themselves in America by rocking venue after venue, blowing out the headliners who shamefully had to go on after them. Concerts such as Woodstock have changed the world. They weren’t only filled with great music, but they were also a sign of peaceful protest or rebellion or whatever they wanted it to be. Great concerts like this changed people’s lives and made musicians famous. Now, it seems as though most popular performers aren’t talented enough to make a concert much different then what you can get on the CD. In conclusion, talent and musical ability of musicians has changed music immensely over the decades. Not only, did talent make the music of the 60s and 70s much better, but it also made people appreciate it much more. Also, it changed live concerts greatly.

The next reason that the classic rock era of music was better than today’s era of music would be the great variety in not only the songs, but also the bands. First of all, in songs of the 1960s and 70s, there was a great amount of changes in both the speed and volume of songs. A music professor once told my jazz band that a song should “take you on a journey,” that you should be able to just “sit back and relax, and the music will take you on a journey without having to even move.” This rings true with classic rock songs, a lot of songs from famous bands like Led Zeppelin, Cream, The Doors, The Grateful Dead, and others, were long 20-plus minute jams, where the musicians had to fill time and not bore their audience. This is why fans received slow, melodic beginnings, iconic, middle jam sessions, and hard rocking climaxes, all in one song. Artists like Eric Clapton made a name for themselves simply by filling empty spaces in songs with revolutionary solos. The most famous songs of the 60/70s would end as a completely different song from when they started. Take arguably the most famous song ever, “Stairway to Heaven,” it is over eight minutes long, and starts with a slow and beautiful guitar part, not having drums and bass even play until about four minutes into the song, then it builds into an explosive guitar solo, and a final, speedy, hard-rock verse until finishing quite like it started. Songs like this made classic rock music diverse and exciting. Today, the majority of songs seem to be three minutes of people yelling the same repetitive verse in your face, which may be catchy at first, but soon gets old. This is a main reason why modern day songs can’t remain popular for more than maybe a month. People can only take so much repetition. Secondly, bands of the 60/70s differed about as much as their songs, which is why not only could each band build a large, specific fan base, but it also made it so fans could be immersed in very different styles of songs while still not straying far from the classic rock genre. Bands would set a new style and milestone daily. First it was pop bands like the Beatles and The Beach Boys, then mysterious jam bands with great songwriters, like Bob Dylan, Simon and Garfunkel, and The Grateful Dead. At the same time, hard rock pioneers such as the Rolling Stones, The Who, Cream, and Jimi Hendrix began to emerge. Then psychedelic rock grew with Pink Floyd recording The Wall and The Dark Side of the Moon, and also Led Zeppelin and The Doors gaining fan bases on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. All of these genres both coexisted together and shared their time at the top, leaving fans with a taste of something new every few years. Today bands do share variety between them, but it is difficult to distinguish the most popular groups from each other. In conclusion, the exciting variety between both songs and bands of the 60s and 70s, and the lack thereof with bands today, is yet another reason why the classic rock era far surpasses the hip-hop era.

Finally, some people might say that classic rock was so revolutionary, because it was the first time people had ever heard anything like it, and that at the time they might not have liked it, but now we know it’s one of the greatest styles of music ever. Some people may say that the same would go for modern-day music, that it may seem to wild to some people now, but it will become legendary just like classic rock someday. Well, in a sense, this is correct in a lot of ways, but I also believe, that we need to know what kind of musical change is good, and what kind is not so good, and this new revolution is not good. In 1960 we saw a change for the more exciting, today we are just seeing a change for the less talented and more annoying.

In conclusion, classic rock and roll of the 60s and 70s dominates popular modern day music in comparison, because the musicians were many times more talented which made better music and better concerts, and the music was more diverse, making more exciting and interesting songs.

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“Son of Bitch” vs “Very Fine People”

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Accurate

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*Fixed*✔️

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Captain America, drawn in PS.

[Caption: A realistic digital painting of Colin Kaepernick. Colin is kneeling, gazing upward. He’s wearing red striped football pants and a bright blue football jersey with full padding. The jersey is plain except for white stripes on the sleeves and a five-pointed Captain America star on the chest. His black hair is pulled into braids and he has religious tattoos on his bare arms. A soft purple light shines from above. The background is deep red.]

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#PaulONeal = No Conviction #SamDuBose = No Conviction #AltonSterling = No Conviction #RaphaelBriscoe = No Conviction #JessicaWilliams = No Conviction #MarquintanSandlin = No Conviction #KishaMichael = No Conviction #OmarEdwards = No Conviction #DonnellThompson = No Conviction #DalvinHollins = No Conviction #KajuanRaye = No Conviction #WalterScott = No Conviction #TerenceSterling = No Conviction #WillardScott = No Conviction #AlfredOlango = No Conviction #KeithLamontScott = No Conviction #GregoryFrazier = No Conviction #DavidJoseph = No Conviction #KevinMatthews = No Conviction #LevoniaRiggins = No Conviction #JosephMann = No Conviction #JoshuaBeal = No Conviction #SylvilleSmith = No Conviction #JamarClark = No Conviction #LarryBouie = No Conviction #AaronBailey = No Conviction #DariusRobinson = No Conviction #BrendanHester = No Conviction #TyreKing = No Conviction #CarlWiliams = No Conviction

Please note that, for the vast majority of these victims, the more accurate description would be “No Charges”

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The person in office has shown where he stands on the topic of Race. You can’t call a group that is representing two of the most well known symbols of hate, very fine people. Then call people who are using their freedom of speech to bring awareness to the mistreatment of Black people in the Justice system, son’s of bitches.

Then the tweeter in Chief gets mad at the Golden State Warriors and Stephen Curry and withdraws the invitation to the White House.

He is the worst example of any kind of individual in the world.

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 My topic is about the famous kneel or absence of players and the coaches during the National Anthem. This started with Colin Kaepernick former quarterback of the 49ers. There was many speculations of why he lost his job, a quarterback who once took his team to the SuperBowl only to fall short to the Baltimore Ravens.

         The kneel represents the movement a Black Lives Matter, it was a way to voice his opinion on what was going on. He used his status and voice to let America how he felt about what was going on. A lot of the top people in the country viewed this act as disrespect to the soldiers and the American flag, which it was not targeted to. The protest was targeted to the government for the unarmed killings of the Black men in this country. We have yet to be given justice for these reckless murders. There has been incidents when the government has rewarded family money, but money cannot heal the wounds of a lost brother, sister, son, daughter, etc. In the killing of Freddie Grey the government rewarded the family about 6 million dollars for the lost of their family member. Some say this was a deal, so they would not have to send the officers to prison for the murder of Freddie Grey. There are also incidents where the officer just gets off free without any repercussion. The Trayvon Martin case, the officer did not sentence any jail time, because he was found not guilty of murder even though he killed the suspect.

         Back to the NFL, last season a couple people took kneels during the National Anthem. This even translated over to other sports such as basketball. Superstars from the WNBA and the NBA took seats during the National Anthem along with Colin Kaepernick. This season many teams and the coaches played a part in the kneel or boycott of the National Anthem. For me I know it felt good to see things like this. For some reason the quote “The revolution will not be televised.” popped up in my head. This is a full turn around. This time the revolution is televised due to the stance of the NFL in America everyone is seeing it. From the little kids who watch with their parents, to the people in the bars with their friends, even to the old guy watching the games by himself. Rather you like it or not everyone is seeing it and it is having a huge impact on life today. The President of The United States recently said “Wouldn't it be great if the owner pulled them sons of bitches off the field and say you are fired.” Many were shocked by his choice of words, but not on his stance against kneeling during the National Anthem.

         As you can see this has become a big topic. This spilled from just the NFL world to politics. We have rights to say things and it seems as though others won’t stand for it and will go to any lengths to try and shut us up. Take a second and be real with yourself, who wants to support a flag whom enslaved people for hundreds of years and is just turning a blind eye to all the murders of young Black men in America. I know I don’t. I may not play sports anymore, but I also take a stand by kneeling or sitting when I’m at places where they play the NAtional Anthem.

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Rae’Quan Fields

English 101

Mr.Abott

21 September 2017

         In the mid-1980s, the streets of Compton, California, were some of the most dangerous in the country. When five young men translated their experiences growing up into brutally honest music that rebelled against abusive authority, they gave an explosive voice to a silenced generation. They are sometimes known as the group who created gangsta rap due to a line where one of the most known members said something about a gang of men called Niggas With Attitude(NWA).

         This was an important movie to the Hip-Hop world because it cleared up so much controversy and in a way added fuel to some of the fire. For example, there was controversy about the death of the head rapper Eazy E. The famous rapper died at a young age due to HIV one of the deadliest STis known to man. After he died they did test on his wife and daughter and neither of them had the disease. A short while after the movie was released a owner of a rap label called Death Row Records and went on a tv show and said the best way to kill someone is to inject them with a disease, because know one will ever see it coming. The movie got into every aspect of the rise and fall of the legendary rap group NWA.

         The beginning of the movie was solely based on the growth of NWA and how it all started even where the idea of there most known songs come from. It starts with Dr.Dre who they give the credit to for building NWA. He was the glue that kept them all together. Eazy E was the rapper, Cube was the writer and Dr.Dre was the producer the perfect mix for a legendary group and legendary they were. Throughout the movie it tends to focus more on Dr.Dre and what he is doing you kind of get that sense from the beginning of the movie as well. It even starts off with Dr.Dre. This is a problem because the group was way more then just Dre. the focused on a lot of his moves about the beginning when he started off as the dj at the parties to producing music for NWA to producing music for a lot of rappers that we look to as legends today.

         One thing that was actually great about this movie was the timing and the message it sent. The movement was about exposing the police for who they actually are. During the time the movie was released was around the time all the drama was going on in Ferguson with the killing of Mike Brown by the police. In several scenes of the movie you can see them all getting harassed by the police before they were famous for their music. They were targeted for their skin color and being in a certain neighborhood. The great thing about that scene was that all the cops that harassed them were not all white there were some black cops as well. This image is to show that it is not just the white police officers who are harassing the black people in the community it is also some of the black cops. They also added the video recording of Rodney King getting beat up by the LAPD. This news went world wide. Seeing the mistake they made then and not to have any changes now is just terrible.

         In conclusion, overall it is a great movie with a good message behind it. There is just a little things that are off and may did not happen that are in the movie, but we have to remember that it is still a movie and it is meant for entertainment. I recently watched a interview that compares to this topic. It was from a member of Junior Mafia a group the famous Biggie Smalls created. One of the guys named Little Ceasar said that there were things that was not true that the put in Notorious (a biopic about the life of Biggie Smalls). He said i am not mad that is how the game goes you have to throw little stuff in the movie to make it interesting because that what movies are here for to entertain. Sometimes we forget that and are quick to criticize because we think that we want 100% facts when we actually don’t. Most critics gave this movie a great review with a few exceptions due to some of the things that were added to the movie for the viewers. 

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Jhene Aiko and Big Sean at the launch of the 2017 Teva x Jhene Aiko Collection at NeueHouse Los Angeles on May 1, 2017 in Hollywood, California

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[HQ] Big Sean for Notion Magazine

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I think I can see my life in your eyes…..

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Big Sean