shayanderson-blog

[shayanderson-blog]

I’m such a big fan of Kanye West, especially after he literally called himself out on his bullshit. He has a pretty strong reputation, so for him to do something like that shocked me. The video for Runway itself is amazing all on its own honestly. The choreography deserves so much respect, its so smooth and beautiful. And as much as I respect that, the lyrics “ See, I could have me a good girl And still be addicted to them hood rats” are a good example of the way he knows he is, even if he is being a little too harsh on himself. He knows how he is and he uses that to his advantage and makes some of my favorite music.

Kanye West’s Critically Acclaimed Masterpiece

After Kanye West interrupted Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech at the 2009 Video Music Awards, the artist Kanye West became the biggest joke at the time. Katy Perry, who, at the time was on of Swift’s many celebrity friends, famously tweeted “F*** you Kanye it’s like you stepped on a kitten.” President Obama even took time out of his busy schedule to call Kanye a “jackass”.  After all of this , Kanye moved out of the country and stopped creating music.  These events all lead up to the creation of Kanye’s West’s nine-minute critically acclaimed masterpiece, “Runaway” where Kanye tells his story from the side of the bad guy and how it has affected the his career and future.

This piece starts off with a powerful repeated piano note.  These 15 notes automatically captivate your attention and leave you intrigued for what comes next.  They are compelling, constant, and continue throughout the entire piece.   This beat leads from one verse to the next and is they become the “heartbeat” of runaway.

The hook of this song comes when Kanye says “let’s have a toast for the douchebags”  and continues to name the multiple crude names that Kanye has been called throughout his career.  Kanye is referencing himself in this and is admitting to who he is. This is repeated multiple times throughout the piece and connects each verse.   Runaway is Kanye’s most intimate released song because of this. He comes clean to the point where it is almost dark and brutally honest. Anyone can relate to Kanye  calling himself out.   Whether they have been “one”, or have been surrounded by “one”, this song speaks out to any listener.  This is so impressive because Kanye is finally admitting that he was in the wrong.  Many of artists attack others in their music, but Kanye makes the choice to look upon himself and point out his own issues and that is what makes this song so unique and impressive.

After this, Kanye has Pusha T come in with a verse from the assholes point of view. This part has a lot to do with how the people see Kanye.  It talks about all of the things he has done to earn the reputation he has.  Whether that was his nude pictures trending on social media, his issues with women, or his feud with Taylor Swift.  If anyone has kept up to date on social media or anything in pop culture, they know of Kanye and what this song is about.  He is commonly a “hot” topic on social media and you either love or hate him.  While many would be embarrassed if anyone called them these terrible names, Kanye makes the brave move and says these things about himself.  That is what makes this song so intimate and relatable.

After this verse the song continues the heartbeat of the constant piano notes.  This piece grabs the audience back in.  Kanye adds in a few classical instruments such as the cello over the piano which recreates the beginning with a twist.  On the top of the cello and piano, Kanye’s muffled, compelling voice comes in.  In interviews Kanye says he tried to recreate a guitar with his voice. He does this by with distortion and autotune.  He hums the notes and creates a powerful moving performance.  Although there are not any words in this verse,  this part of the song is the most emotional and abstract piece and really speaks differently to each listener.

While recording this song, Kanye just started on the piano and freestyled as he went.  He sat down with the piano keys and let his mind take over.  This song is impressive, powerful, and compelling as it is.  The fact that he created this piece on the spot make it that much more remarkable.  Even if you are not a fan of Kanye,  any listener can enjoy, relate, and respect this song and that is what makes it one of Kanye’s best songs.

[shayanderson-blog]

The fact that you wrote about a lesser known about band, makes it all the more interesting. Up until I read this, I had never even heard of Brockhampton, but after the way you described then, I really want to go look into them. You gave some perfect samples from their music to draw all the readers in and make them sound so intriguing. You even included some details about their past to help us get to know them. It makes your arguments a lot stronger that you, as a fan, admit that their first mix tape had flaws but still pointed out that if you look through the flaws in the music, you can still tell just hot talented they really are. I like the way you give out your points and how you describe them.

The Internet’s Boy Band

    Lead by Kevin Abstract, Brockhampton are out to change the perception of your typical boy band. A collective of producers, vocalists, rappers, etc, who all came together through a Kanye West Fan page. Who don’t want to be labeled  a rap group. Call them for what they are, a boy band, after all they are a group of boys in a band.

    In 2015 the collective formed, originally connecting through a fan forum, and through the creative lead of Kevin Abstract they released a mixtape, All American Trash, which go little attention. Yet the group showed promise, their ability to create music that was a mix of many genres, and not being confined to just being a rap group such as Odd Future. Now with the experience of releasing a project together, they were ready to create a album.

“Face, Heat, Gold, and Star” Would be the singles of their debut album titled SATURATION which would be the first album in a trilogy of albums they would be releasing later, in the same year. SATURATION, much like their first mixtape, has its own unique sound, and rarely do they follow a formula, or similar sound patterns. The four singles Face, Heat, Gold, and Star, being perfect examples of the albums versatility. Gold, arguably having the albums grooviest instrumental. While Heat, feels like a emo rock song, with angry lyrics. Star being the typical rap song, braggadocious. And Face, the beautiful, soft spoken, love song.

    On their first mixtape you could see what they were capable of making. But all those ideas were never executed properly. Many tracks seemed great in concept, yet carried on for to long, or the delivery of the vocals, or the raps, fell short. Conversely, on SATURATION their music seems more refined, although still recorded in a spare room, the album sounds better musically. They seem to be more invested in this project, going all out on it. More of their personality is shown on the album. Songs dealing with love, have a emotional, sad feel to them. Songs of anger, towards society, the mistakes they’ve made, brings feelings of that angry teen in all of us.

    They spend most of the album talking and dealing with their past. On “Trip” Kevin, the groups leader, talks about wanting to run away from his hometown, “ This little town, I wanna say goodbye, to everybody here.” Dom talks about dealing with weight issues and not fitting in with his family, “Family full of athletes, I was kinda chubby.” Yet on the same track they will not let anything, stop them from reaching their dreams. “Today Imma be whoever I wanna be.” On “Face” three of the members, (Dom, Matt, Ameer) talk about their experiences with young love. Dom seems to be speaking to current love, “But I got a plan for ya, …, I care for ya” While Matt seems reserved, but willing to try, ”What’s your motive with me baby, ‘cause I don’t trust nobody lately.” While Ameer seems cold to the idea of love, “I love when you come, I still feel alone.” Yet they can still create tracks with energy and style, such as “Gold, and Star.” Gold is a track about flaunting gold chains, and the things in life they will have when they make it big, respect, money, and etc. While “Star” is this cleverly-written track were they describe what it means to be a star to them. They proceed to make references to huge movie stars, athletes, and legends in music, “I’m like Prince with the white doves,” “I might go Interstellar, I feel like Matthew McConaughey.”

    SATURATION and the Brockhampton collective will need time to have a huge impact in the mainstream such as Drake, or other artists. Because they have a very unique sound, they can be harsh, yet calm and sweet. But they are in a lane of their own, they have their own unique sound, which can’t be said about many mainstream artists, or bands. SATURATION is a perfect introduction into the minds of this huge group, with many different talents. It may not be for everyone, but for those willing to give, the 17 track long, album a try, they will not regret it.

[shayanderson-blog]

I really like what you had to say about Wonder Woman. I have a very pure love for he and everything she stands for. I’ve never been one of those people that “have” to have girl superheroes because the majority of superheroes are men, but I know a lot of people don’t agree with me. And if nothing else, I like that both girls and boys can relate and look up to her. She sets a very good example for younger kids and what they should aspire to be. 

Wonder Women really is Wonderful.

Wonder Woman. Her name so accurately describes who she is. Her abilities, her ideals. They’re all things that hook not only your attention but your heart as well. What’s not to like about her?  What makes her so amazing? Why is she so likable? She has a set of morals and ideals that majorly influence others to follow her way of life regardless of your super power capabilities. She is a divine product made from clay and gifted to the Amazons on a beautiful island full of beautiful people inside and out.

Wonder Woman’s ideals were perfectly framed in one epic scene in the most recent movie Wonder Woman played by Gal Gadot. The scene, “No Man’s Land,” where they need to get across the World War II trenches in order to continue their adventure encourages the audience to fight for what you believe is right, now matter how dire the situation may seem. It may sound cheesy but when taught by Wonder Woman cheesy is the last thing that comes to mind. She has a set of morals and ideals that majorly influence others to follow her way of life regardless of your super power capabilities.  This scene manipulates us into feeling that her cause, and any cause is worth fighting for by using a series of key tools in cinema such as the feelings that are portrayed by the actors, music selection, and cinematic strategies like the slow motion clips.

In the beginning of the scene they are making their way through the trenches and give her the tour, she sees all the pain and hopelessness with the soldiers. They make it clear from the get go that it seems like the Germans have the upper hand. But this scene isn’t exactly about what or whos she’s fighting but allowed for a full reveal of Wonder Women. Princess Diana sheds her cloak magically produces her shield and Wonder Woman blows everyone away. All of this is done in a very dramatic way building the scene along with getting the ball rolling with the emotions of the audience. Her comrades explain that it would be impossible to cross and you can see the indignation in her face and actions, the characters respond with open ended statements that not only push her to decide but also get the pieces to push us to choose what to do in a way. Of course we as the audience know that we aren’t physically there but when problems are presented in the way that this scene was they do feel like they are a part of it. All while this is done, the confirmation and intensity is built after watching the reactions of the characters as she carries out her decision to take all the fire. The soldier watching her put on her headband and take her cloak off was definitely feeling all sorts of emotions watching that go down judging by the look on his face. The amazement and support displayed by the other actors makes is something to be jealous of. Everyone wants to be depended on and supported and by seeing the success that Wonder Woman achieved affirms that what she is doing is good. In the scenes when the finally start fighting you’ll notice that very few Americans are shown getting shot and the Germans are falling by the dozen. Because of this the audience begins to feel that there is less chance of risk or being in danger by fighting for what you believe in.

People want to have their feelings manipulated. We as humans truly want to feel good all the time and there are things that we see in this movie that can help us feel inspired.  Wonder Woman’s abilities along with the abilities of her comrades can be interpreted as a reminder that we are one-of-a-kind and encourage us to life our lives to reflect that.

Wonder Woman, like Superman, qualifies as a what is considered a “Boy Scout” Superhero. I guess in her case it would be “Girl Scout” These are the types of Superheros that are consistently good throughout their existence, some may argue that they’re goodness is to the point that a trait like this it is unrealistic. Although that may be true in some case, that characteristic is a key ingredient in making us normal flawed mortals feel hopeful and drawn to Wonder Woman and other Superheroes like her. Everyone wants to be like her.

[shayanderson-blog]

Personally, I don’t particularly love Taylor Swift, but this is such a good description of her attitude and growth as a musical artist. “throwing fire left and right” gives such a visual image of what she is portraying in her music video you talked about. And talking about how she actually got real diamonds shows just how serious she was about throwing shade at all the other artists she had symbols of in “Look what you made me do”. Some of the things you talked about that are seen in the music video, I never even noticed but because of this post, I went and watched it again and realized there was even more symbols then I thought that I had completely missed all the other times I have seen it.

Swift’s New Reputation

Taylor Swift was 16 years old when she released her first song and started her career as a singer-songwriter. Twelve years later and her ‘Reputation’ album is the first to surpass two million sales in a week since 2015. Taylor’s style has definitely taken one of the most drastic changes in the music industry and we are all well aware. Not only has her style in music taken a turn but she is also known for her new “reputation” and subtly throws shade at other celebrities in her new symbolic music videos. We are going to continue that subject by talking about one of her latest music videos “Look what you made me do”.

Taylor acts confident, unapologetic, and fierce in the new hit video as she is throwing fire left and right. This whole video is packed full of symbols regarding celebrities that might have crossed Taylor one way or another. Starting with the second scene, Taylor is sitting in a tub that is full of diamonds and pearls. These aren’t any fake diamonds no, Taylor literally cleaned out the store of celebrity jeweler, Neil Lane just to fulfill this scene. Most people say that this represents the time when Kim Kardashian got robbed of her diamonds and was put in a tub in France. Swift and the Kardashians are known for having “beef” when Kim leaked the video of Taylor giving Kanye her so called “permission” to write about her in his hit song “Famous”. Also in the tub is a single dollar bill to represent her going to trial against DJ David Mueller for sexual assault back in 2013, and asking for a single dollar bill, she got her point bluntly across with that one and won the case. Some say that it even is the original dollar bill.

Another symbol we see in the video is when she is sitting on a throne surrounded by snakes, urban dictionary says it best when they define a “snake” as.. “"We all know somebody who is a doubletalker, a gossip and a generally untrustworthy person. They are cruel to their enemies and even meaner to their friends - only with the friends the mean streak only comes out when their backs are turned. This type of friend is all sweetness and sugar to people’s faces but act ugly and spiteful behind their backs. We call people like this “backstabbers” because they sneak around portraying themselves as something they are not, a friend.” (F.F.). In this scene if you look closely next to her right hand are the words written “Et Tu Brute” this was said by Julius Caesar in Shakespeare’s famous play Julius Caesar, while he was literally being stabbed in the back by his former friends. Nothing Taylor puts in her music videos is unintentional or unapologetic. Everything that she does is thought out well and planned. Even if you aren’t a fan of the old or new Taylor you would have to agree that this music video is a work of art because of the amount of detail that was put into every second of the video.

[shayanderson-blog]

I LOVE this. You put it all so good and you made it very clear how you feel about him in the very beginning so I could tell what the post was going to be about.You even pointed out that he isn’t super famous just yet, but with your arguments, you give reasons that he is probably going to become more famous with his growing fan-base, and yet you didn’t even have to save it outright. You point out some very good examples of why his music is unique, in the best way possible. I don’t know much about Frank Ocean, but after this I’d really like to go listen to him.

Novacane

Although Frank Ocean might not yet be a household name, for those who are fans of Christopher Edwin Breaux (aka Frank Ocean), we  know his songs are more than just a good sing along.  His songs have a rich depth of meaning. One element of his music that I love is he frequently has multiple and layered meanings within his music which make his songs interesting and fresh each time I listen. Frank began as a ghostwriter. He later joined  “Odd Future” in 2010 and released his debut mixtape Nostalgia, Ultra.  One of most popular out of the 14 songs on the mixtape, “Novacane.”  reached number 82 on Billboard Hot 100.

Novacane is a five minute song that is a great example of Frank’s talent of being able to say one thing but have it have multiple hidden meanings. One of the first things someone might realize about this song is the spelling of “novacane.”  In the medical world the word “novacane” is traditionally spelled “novocaine” and refers to a drug  used by dentist for numbing. The different spelling of this word might not strike some as something significant but there are actually several meanings behind  Frank’s spelling of the word. The word Nova means “a star showing a sudden large increase in brightness and then slowly returning to its original state over a few months” (dictionary.com). The word “cane” has multiple meanings but here it’s referring to a cane or a crutch,  something that some people rely on in their everyday lives, such as a drug addict relies on drugs as a crutch or a cane to support them each day.

After listing to these songs,  you can easily tell why it is spelled the way it is. This song is about a woman who, like the nova star, increased the brightness is his life for a couple months until she left, and he was relying on her for support and strength, much like one who is unsteady or weak may rely on a cane.  It is also called “novcane” because after she leaves, he is left completely numb to any other woman and  unable to feel,  just like the drug novocaine leaves your mouth numb.

Novacane isn’t the only drug talked about during these songs. He talks about when he met a woman at Coachella and how she handed him a bong, the drug inside made it so he couldn’t feel his face, this ties back to the title of novacane. Later in the song he says “You put me on feelin’ I never had, never had, never had and ever since I’ve been tryna get it back, pick it up and put it back now I’m somethin’ like the chemist on campus but there’s no drug around, quite like what I found in you”. After this woman leaves, Frank is constantly trying to find something that makes him feel like this woman does, much like a drug addict chases the high and the feeling they get from drugs.

The few examples I’ve written about just scratch the surface of how in depth Frank Ocean’s songs really are. From the title of the songs to almost every line written within them,  Frank always keeps the audience questioning and analyzing what his songs really mean. It takes a true artist to write such a creative masterpiece that almost everyone who listens,  picks up a different meaning from it. From Frank Ocean’s 2011 mixtape Nostalgia Ultra, to his most current album,  Blonde, each song is just as thoughtful  and meticulous as the one before.  

[shayanderson-blog]

Post Malone has been in the spotlight a lot in the past few months with the release of his new album Beerbongs and Bentleys. He is a very controversial topic, and he has even been called the Donald Trump of hip-hop (New York Times- Rob Stevenson). The people who love him, really really love him, and the people who don’t like him, really really hate him. Both sides have such strong opinions and both sides seem very willing to tell everyone exactly why they feel how they feel. Post Malone is a singer that can’t be put into any one genre but he makes music that almost everyone can relate to in one way or another, whether you like him or not. Most people just pick a side without really knowing him anyways so here are five reasons why Post Malone should be more widely accepted today.

Post says what he thinks without the worry of the lashback he will get from stating his opinion. This could really swing both ways and be a good or a bad thing but with him specifically its on the good side because he’s already so under the magnifying glass all the time that it takes a lot of courage to have a vocal opinion on anything. Although people do get mad at him, he still does what makes him happy anyways and does what he wants to do. You could even pull his facial tattoos into this “does what he wants” category because it’s it the minority that would ever get a facial tattoo and barley more than that agree with someone else having one. He actually has six tattoos on his face and his reason for them was “Anything to piss my mom off”. Of course that right there is not the best example of how you should be, but it is a great example of doing your own thing if it makes you happy even if you are one hundred percent sure that people are going to disagree. “You just go with the floe because life is just all about how you feel” -Post Malone. Famous people are always told to stay out of politics and all that because they don’t want their opinion to drop their ratings because of the people who don’t agree with said opinion, but Post has never really worried about that and he shouldn’t have to, if you are a true fan of the music something not music related shouldn’t affect that. Even if you don’t agree with his opinions, you have to respect that he is willing to give his opinion on things because most famous people won’t.

Almost every single person can relate to Post Malone in general, not just his music but really his life too in a way. Just like writing a report, it’s a lot easier to write about something you love and something you are passionate about, and if you do this then your final product will turn out a lot better too. Post had to leave his family and live in at one of his friends houses in another state while he was working on his music. Which turned out to be the best thing that he could have done for himself at the time because he would sing in the background of his roommates youtube videos and eventually that is how his name started popping up. He worked for every ounce of fame he has. Malone went out into something he knew nothing about in an unfamiliar place with only the friends he was living with because he had such a determination to get to where he wanted to be and that is beyond brave for a teenager to do. That along with him writing his own lyrics make him easier to relate to. His lyrics are mostly about his real life and what’s going on in it so it's a lot more genuine then some. This is impressive because a lot of people only sing to get famous and get money but Post has more of the loving the music and what he does aurora about him.

The song that brought him into the main spotlight was not originally written to ever be recorded and the song was completely written only two days before it was recorded. White Iverson was that song. Even just this title alone gives little peak into Posts personality. Post said himself that the name White Iverson came to him right after he got braids in his hair and thought it looked like Allen Iverson's signature cornrows. It takes a crazy amount of talent to get a whole song written and recorded within three days and have it turn out with the popularity it got. This song is what got his first album Stoney out and produced, then that blew up with hits and got him to Beerbongs and Bentleys. When White Iverson first came out everyone thought it was just going to be one of those one hit wonder songs where the original artist was never heard of again, even Post Malone himself hinted he thought it was just a fluke and it was a one time thing, but that definitely was not the case. As time went on and he produced the Stoney album, it became so famous just to prove all the people that doubted him completely wrong, which was the best thing that could have happened to Post.

Post Malone loves what he does and he always does it with so much passion. If you ever just listen to Posts long lyrics or just look them up you can see this so strong, just how far his passion goes into his music. The emotion in the lyrics and then how he puts them into his songs is amazingly well done which a lot of artists don’t focus on as much. Almost all pop artists seem to only care if they have a catchy beat because that’s what will stick in people's heads and get them on the radio, without very much care for what their lyrics actually mean. Post Malone writes about real life things, even when he’s only doing so through metaphors, it is still there. Then when he is singing the reflection of emotion he puts into his voice shows off the idea again that the lyrics mean something to him and that he is really getting into his music. This is another case where even if you don’t agree, or in this case like, his music, you have to appreciate and respect the amount of passion and dedication he has put into his music and career. “You don’t have to be perfect, you just have to keep it real” -Post Malone.

He is very independent and is very unique. When he was younger he self taught himself the beginnings of how to play a guitar from playing Guitar Hero, he writes his own lyrics, and he moved far away from his family to chase his dreams. Those are all things that most people probably wouldn’t do alone, or just wouldn’t do at all but Post did. His song Rockstar broke the record for most streams in a week on Apple music. According to Pigeons and Planes, “Post Malone is currently listed as the second most popular artist in the world based on streaming numbers and digital sales.” His first mixtape he made was when he was in high school so he started pretty young, and he was singing and producing throughout all of his high school years. Another thing that shows you a little about his personality is how he got his stage name. His real last name is Post so that’s how he came up with that, and he got the name Malone from a rap name generator, which is probably something no one ever expected a real famous person to do. Post Malone gets a lot of hate for being a white rapper and is constantly being told that he is trying to act another race or trying to pretend that he is from a different culture then he really is but he has said himself where he came from and what type of life he had growing up, and it wasn't bad but he’s never hinted he had a hard upbringing.

There’s people who have gotten very vocal about their opinion on Post Malone's choice to not stick to one genre, and say that he can’t jump from one to the other and he needs to know more about whatever genre he picks to stay in (Amino-krpnyy27). It’s really the artists choice though. I don’t see the people saying that up there on the stage so they shouldn’t be able to tell him what to do. Even if there opinions were relevant, which in all reality they just aren’t, most people must not mind him not picking a genre because he's clearly famous and his songs all sell like crazy and it definitely isn’t because of his looks. It really does not matter what the “normal” thing to do is as long as whatever you are doing works for you. And over a millions Stoney albums sold in the month it was released seems to be pretty good by anyone's standards, so you can’t say it was a “bad” album.

Beerbongs and Bentleys is a peek into the like of a musician. It makes you feel like you are a part of Posts every day. Some artists only sing about the good parts of being famous and some only sing about the bad/sad parts of their lives but in Posts music he gives a clear image of both sides of the fence and gives a better picture of everything he goes through. Post wanted this to be his best album out and just twenty minutes before it released he tweeted to “TURN THE **** UP” about Beerbongs and Bentleys. Most of the songs are pretty upbeat but there is one acoustic song that makes the album a lot more diverse. Post Malone loves his music and wants his fans and everyone else to love it too, he’s not going to change his style just to please people but his music is something that makes because you can tell he has so much effort into it, it just gives you a rush of emotions with every new song that comes on. Even if you don’t love the man or his music, you have to have respect for his fame and how he got to where he is now.

[shayanderson-blog]

When a music artist is making a song or a music video, they do it for the money. What may have started as a love for music, turns into a love of cash. They use their “image” to make us love them so we will give our money to them. The song “Go Flex” was on Post Malone’s first album Stoney. The album came out right after the song White Iverson went viral which gave it just that extra boost of fame. Within Posts just two years of fame he became worth eight million dollars and now has two albums out. With the release of only those two albums it is surprising the amount of fan base Malone has already accumulated. “Go Flex” is a song completely about how rich and famous he has became, and it has the video to match. Music video producers sole purpose is to “sell” the song. Tie the song to the artist and make people understand what the music is telling the viewer/fans in a way. There are a million ways that are used but in this song they use the main idea of showing how amazing it is to be famous and rich. They grab your attention with flashing lights to showcase all the expensive goods you can get by being rich. Also tossing a little bit of feelings in there by putting a basic fake blonde girl in there so every fan girl gets that sliver of hope in there life that if they happen to meet Post Malone one day they have a chance to have him fall in love with him. They are handing this idea out that if you have money you’ll be happier and have a better life also. “Money makes you happy”, because that’s worked so well for every other drug addicted millionaires. All this and we are just getting to the fact they make it seem like it’s perfectly fine to parade around telling everyone how much money you have and all the extravagant, overpriced things he has that you could never afford, and girls will love you if you have expensive things. A lot of the time as soon as you get money people start to use you for what you have and what you can give him instead of just hanging around you because they like you. So believing that if you get enough money you will automatically become happy, you are being naive. Go look at all the millionaires who go drink and do drugs every weekend, and even sometimes end up killing themselves because money is not a source of happiness! The producer of “Go Flex” really wants us to think that Post Malone’s problems went away as soon as he got his riches. But in the lyrics you hear about the drugs he’s using and how he doesn’t even have time for a girl in his life, telling us he’s choosing money over everything. For a big part of the “Go Flex” music video, Post Malone sings in front of a vintage car that they made sure it was clear that it was super expensive. This is another way that’s they use to show just how much money Post really has. At some points they even have the pretty blonde sitting on the hood or leaning against the car trying to reinforce the idea that by having money, you’ll get the girl by having money. But as true as that is, that girls will fawn over you, the ones that you will got for the most part are going to be gold diggers (a person who dates/ hangs around other only to get their money from them), and finding someone who actually cares is going to be hard and to tell which are which is even harder because for the right amount of money almost everyone turns into a perfect actor/ actress. In this video Post Malone is wearing gold chains like it is casual attire because he has enough money to actually wear it… as casual attire. When you have the money he has, they want you to believe that he can buy gold chains like we buy fake silver jewelry. Putting the gold around his neck and zooming in on it every time in the video, that it’s mentioned in the lyrics. Because who can’t afford to wear something that costs that much? That’s what they want you to think anyways. The lights that flash across the screen throughout the music video catch your attention drawing you back in every few minutes. The director/producer knows that this followed by close ups on Malone, will give you the sense of intimacy. This whole video give images that are very unrealistic, but in all reality, these things work, why else would they keep doing them. Go ahead and see for yourself, watch some music videos and just watch for a few of these thing and you’ll be amazed at just how much you’ve missed it without even noticing. Even using all these tactics doesn’t make the music any less enjoyable nonetheless.

[shayanderson-blog]

Rapper Post Malone's second album ‘Beerbongs and Bentleys’ has brought up a lot of talk since it was released just this last April. As a white rapper he has already been through a lot of controversy and told he was a ‘one hit wonder’, but Malone never has even wanted to be called that, he has made the statement more then once that he just wants to make music without being put into a genre. Some of the songs in b&B could almost be put into the Country genre as some say. In a way it is ambivalence but in a way that seemed to work perfectly for Post.

Beerbongs and Bentleys was a 10/10 for the production, songs, and how it all went together. The songs are something even the common person can relate to on any day. It give you the “tour” of what being famous is like, tells how fun it all is and about the parties in songs like Zach & Codeine, but also tells about how he still feels alone and has to watch his back all the time in songs like Paranoid and Rich and Sad, which gives outsiders a good idea of how life on the other side is like. In this album Malone shows realness and his personal emotions about his fame and fortune.

Post talks about how everyone is just looking for the money and all the gold diggers can make anyone turn cold. Repeatedly he talks about how money doesn't create happiness which is another way of him saying fame isn't all everyones makes it out to be. Over now and Stay both talk about how you can’t count on anyone to stay in your life.

Beerbongs and Bentleys has the perfect mixture of highs and lows. It's got the happy songs but it also has Stay which is a way slower more of the blues type song. He really shows his real style in this album. Psycho is described as the ultimate pop-rap hybrid. Which may be exactly what Post was going for to break out of the ‘rapper’ box that everyone keeps putting him in. This is one of the more diverse albums that has come out from one artist.

Post Malone himself said that the album took so long to come out because he wanted it to be completely perfect for his fanbase. The first signs of b&B was clear back in 2016. There was a few singles that came out since then to get everyone ready for the album and they all went to the top of the charts. After Beerbongs and Bentleys was released, only four days later, the album went platinum. Before the album was released the singles had already added up to more than 500,000 units sold.

The numbers clearly show that Beerbongs and Bentleys was a huge success, Post Malone was showing his fans through his music, the good and bad that comes from being a superstar and having the high life everyone aspires to have as they are growing up.

[shayanderson-blog]