Reflections

I want to thank those of you that left such kind comments on the blog. I am thrilled to hear that you enjoyed the class-and learned something in the process. I meant it last class when I said it was a wonderful semester-and you were such a lively, spirited, and intelligent group. I had a wonderful time teaching-and you made it all the more enjoyable. I also want to thank you for your comments on the course (i.e. blog) and what I can do to improve it-without your feedback I wouldn't be able to strengthen the course and its structure. Good luck on your paper for this course (and don't forget-I'm only an email/appointment away if you need help) and for your other courses this semester. You'll do great! You're almost there-and then its summer vacation! I should have played Alice Cooper's "School's Out" on the last class-my bad.

I know I asked you what you learned from the semester-I thought maybe I should share the knowledge I gained. 1) Jameson really doesn't like pop music, 2) Love for music runs deep from the students of AMS209, 3) Ronald Reagan used Springsteen's "Born in the USA" for his presidential campaign (thank you Andy!), and lastly....that music is indeed a universal language-though we all don't speak the same dialect, we understand its power and its meaning. I have learned more-but perhaps I've bored you enough with my incessant talking all semester long!

Thank you all for a fantastic semester. Take care!

The Ooks of Hazzard cover "Kids" by MGMT

I know that we don't have to make any more posts, and that most of the class may not see this, but I just wanted to share it. This is a country/folk cover of the very popular electronic/pop song by MGMT. I'm more than a little impressed. I really love it. Also, in my quest to find an illegal copy of it so I could own it, I found that it has gotten a lot of attention on many different music blogs that focus on specific genres. I saw it on a hip-hop blog, an electronic blog, an indie blog, a country blog, a general music blog, and a pop music blog. It was pretty cool to see that not only was it popular with fans of the song under such an unexpected genre, but popular among fans of country and folk who may have never heard it before. Anyway, I'm rambling but it's really cool and if you see this you should check it out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgpsXURZFo4&feature=player_embedded

oops

Hip-Hop: The Media Scapegoat

“They say music can alter moods and talk to you
Well can it load a gun up for you, and cock it too
Well if it can, then the next time you assault a dude
Just tell the judge it was my fault and i'll get sued
See what these kids do is hear about us totin' pistols
And they want to get one cause they think the shit's cool
Not knowin' we really just protectin' ourselves
We entertainers, of course the shit's affectin' our sales,
You ignoramus, but music is reflection of self
We just explain it, and then we get our checks in the mail”
- Eminem

From Fox News to the election, to the classroom, hip-hop cannot escape the accusations that it prompts violence and degrades women and homosexuals. Its not that hip-hop prompts these concepts, it just doesn’t run away from them. Women statically have less of a chance of getting a job than a man. They will not be respected in the workplace as much as a man (unless they act like a man). Hip-Hop does not always portray women in the best image by calling them “hoes” and “bitches.” But at the same time these worlds do not always mean negative things. In the Notorious B.I.G.’s song “Me & My Bitch”, he says his bitch is his best friend and he hopes they grow old together. Although he uses the world bitch throughout the song he is praises this women.

As good and uplifting hip-hop can be it can be just as bad. We live in a world where sex and violence is cinematized, video-atized and Jersey Shore-atized. Hip-Hop has become the media scapegoat in a world filled with sex and violence. Eminem hit it on the head, rapping, “It's all political, if my music is literal, and i'm a criminal, how the fuck can I raise a little girl!”

With that said, support hip-hop, listen to the music, don’t just skim through it and remember the fox media is full S#!%!

(& I just wanted to say I enjoyed this class. One of most enjoyable classes I’ve taken in my four years at UB.)

Kanye

I have always been a fan of Kanye's music, but not a fan of Kanye himself. I think Kanye does great things for hip hop nowadays but, to me, that is almost overshadowed but all the ridiculous stunts he pulls. I guess I really should not be surprised by his crazy publicity stunts anymore, but he makes it easy to not like him. Every time he does something that brings about negative publicity to himself I cannot help but to lose a little respect for the guy. I am not really a fan of Taylor Swift, but when he interrupted the poor girl of giving her acceptance speech I felt bad for her and embarrassed for Kanye and thought what the heck is he doing now? I think the reason that Kanye does stuff like that is for publicity, but I think he could go about that in a more positive way and one that does not make him look like a fool all the time. I respect Kanye for his music, but that is all, but every time he does something erratic and at the expense of others it starts to make me want to boycott his music. So, Kanye's publicity stunts are having a negative effect on me in the fact that it is starting to make me not want to listen to his music and I am sure that is not the vibe that Kanye is going for when he does these things, but these are the things that he needs to think about before the next crazy shananigans that he pulls.

soundtrack of my life

I found it really interesting that I would have so many different genres on the soundtrack of my life extra credit assignment. I am a huge fan of rock and alternative and found it interesting at the selection of songs and albums that I would want to be on the soundtrack of my life. But, after taking this class, it makes sense to have so many different musical genres because everything is an off shoot of each other and everything influences each other in some way. This was a really fun extra credit assignment to do, but was slightly hard at the same time because picking ten songs or albums to represent your life is not an easy thing to do. There were so many other songs and albums I would want to be on the soundtrack of my life, but I tried to pick the ones I felt best represented me or I tried to pick my most favorite albums, the ones that I could not live with out. I wonder if I would have some of the same songs and albums on the soundtrack of my life if I were to do this assignment in ten, twenty, thirty, etc. years?

Why Blacks Kids Only Listen To Hip-Hop

When we were assigned the Soundtrack to our life assignment, I started asking my friends on what were the top 10 songs and albums that impacted their lives. I actually made it my facebook status. Within a couple minutes the comments piled up and said everything from Lauryn Hill’s The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill to Linkin Park’s Hybrid Park to Michael Jackson’s Thriller to Yolanda’s “Still I Rise,” etc. I could go on and on. But what this assignment made realize was that most of friends (African America Teengers-20 year olds) predominately listen to only one genre and refuse to venture outside of it. That one genre is Hip-Hop/R&B (Modern R&B and Hip Hop are pretty much twins).

After making this realization I looked at my own iTunes and not to my surprise 95% of my iTunes was Hip-Hop/R&B. The other 5% was a mix of rock (Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Maroon 5, Creed, Bon Jovi, etc), reggae, pop and gospel. So I asked one of my co-workers that same day what genres were on her iPod? Her mind began fondling thoughts as she answered saying everything from Screaming, to rap, to boy bands to country to modern autotune pop music. She then started naming bands and artist I’ve never even heard of. I almost embarrassed to say to her the only artist I recognized from her list was Lil Wayne and 2pac.

The imprint of African Americans on America music is hugh! But throughout musical history black’s creativity and founding in genres has been overshadowed, stolen or erased by whites. Blacks have certain connection to hip-hop unlike the numerous genres they have previously started and as a result they will not let go hip-hop. Also, hip-hop is based around the concepts around struggling. Every black in America struggles everyday and as result they relate to hip-hop music more than any other genre. Even though hip-hop is consumed by whites, its made for blacks. In other words black people listen to hip-hop because its their music and they relate to it. So the iPods of African Americans will continue to be dominated by hip-hop until stops making music for them.

tech

I think the impact of technology is beyond the expectations. In today`s world, everything is easier to be reached, new musical programs such as garage band, or guitar pro, are teaching the basics of musical techniques to many amateurs who could have no chance to find out those things that easy and cheap. I thin that is the main reason why electronic music is becoming more famous day by day and that will go on.

Adam Lambert

i went to youtube and looked up Adam Lambert's AMA performance. i wasn't very disgusted by it but it is indeed very inappropriate. I thought his vocal ability was very good and i enjoyed his singing. About the kissing, tones of rock vocalist did it just for the shock value at shows, but i think Lambert picked the wrong time and place to do it. I felt sad for Lambert for the fact that he lost opportunities later to the performance, i guess he really didn't think about whether his place in the industry permitted him to something like that. I mean look at Lady gaga's latest music video telephone, it is super disgusting and inappropriate but she didn't get her shows cancelled, it has to do with her status in the music business.

I really enjoyed taking this class this year. I learned a lot about american music and its impact. I thought I knew plenty, but their is always more to learn. I would definitely suggest this class to others who may be interested. It wasnt such a hard class but it was interesting and fun. Katie thanks for teaching such a great class.

performance as art

Performance as an art has a large impact on live shows these days. Many artists may sacrifice some of their musical abilities in order to add more visual aspects to their show. To me, that idea is totally unnecessary. I have seen many shows where the artists played amazing and were still able to put on a performance that was unbelievable. Iron Maiden was one of the coolest shows I ever went to. They shreded and rocked while running around with light shows, fireworks, a huge mechanical eddy, costumes changes, the whole package. I have seen tons of bands that didn't need any gimmicks to put on a great show. It seems to me the artists who need to sacrifice their music for a show aren't really talented at all.

This semester

Since the beginning, in my first blog post, I remember stating what I hoped to learn from this class and that is to learn the exciting music genres of each time period and since music has influenced and provided me company it was my turn to learn the history of it. Guess what? I did! Thanks to Katie, I acquired so much knowledge about the music from 20's, 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's- all the way to present years. Once again, gender, sexuality, race, and culture are all big factors and have contributed much to the present music we have today. This class was such a joy to be in and I had a great time learning something I really cared and loved for.

Pop Music as Torture

Read an interesting Freakonomics article recently. According to Wired magazine, the US government is using David Gray's Babylon to torture inmates at Guantanamo Bay and in fact may owe Mr. Gray royalties for the use. But the devastating power of soft vocals doesn't stop there. In Australia Barry Manilow is used to keep "late night hooligans" from hanging out in parks. However their is a flip side to this music and apparently (also from Wired) Kenny Rogers may help recovering stroke victims. An interesting use of music.

Since this is the last post and it seems like the popular thing to do is to reflect I shall write my second paragraph. I enjoyed this class and the relaxing atmosphere brought by the teacher and fellow classmates. I really enjoyed the earlier slower paced music genres where we were able to really absorb them especially Muddy Waters and the Big Band era. It gets a little hard after the 60's to fit everything in. I also, enjoyed the blog posts as they were unique in the fact that most students, even quieter ones had an equal say by using texts and left some interesting posts. I think for future classes that the blog should be tied in with Friday discussion more. If one had to write down in words their thoughts on a specific discussion question before the actual discussion there could be a deeper more diverse conversation. For me at least I'm terrible at speaking on the fly and feel like I'm blabbering on.

Thanks for a very enjoyable class!

Adam Lambert's Performance

I am a big fan of Adam Lambert and I was upset when he did not win American Idol but at the same time glad that he does not have to follow the Idol contract. His vocal abilities were undeniably exceptional during every performance on the show. Therefore, I was extremely looking forward to his album and the rest of his music career. Someone with this amount of talent must not follow other artists and Adam would definitely create something exotic and special right?

However his performance at the AMA's was a big disappointment. As a big fan, I really could not finish watching his performance without wincing or looking away. Some of his moves were really inappropriate. However, what disappointed me the most was the fact that where did his true talent go? You don't need a ton of costume and moves to prove you're creative and different. Many critics claimed that he put on this big show to cover up his lack of talent but I disagree. He does not need any of this! I was also disappointed that he was not being original. To truly be successful, you need to be original and have your own distinct style so your fans can recognize you and distinguish you from other artists.

Musician's Wanted!

Well...not super-class related, but music related....Any up and coming musicians(DRUMMERS!) looking to jam? Maybe? Probably rock music, maybe roll, but never restricted to anything particular... I play guitar and...sing! or try! ha... anyway...so if your a musician and are vaguely serious about forming a band...Reply! seriously...even if your just a simple bongist. (as in a bongo player, not necessarily a bong-ist, but i dont judge.)

Adam Lambert at the AMAs

Like the author of the article we read in class on Monday, I was completely shocked while watching Adam Lambert's AMA performance. I was surprised and disappointed about the performance because it was the first time he had performed since American Idol and I was expecting something different. I don't think that Adam Lambert needs to use such a performance to be successful. He is an extremely talented musician, but I honestly don't even remember how he sounded. Although the performance was a little inappropriate, I thought it was ridiculous that ABC and other networks cancelled their interviews with Lambert the next day. It seemed as if they were saying that it's not OK for performers to express their sexuality, or that expressing anything other than heterosexual ideals are wrong.

This incident is very similar to the infamous Brittany-Madonna kiss. Obviously both of these events were orchestrated for controversy and publicity. However, both Madonna and Brittany were already established musicians with a huge fan base and successful careers. Lambert doesn't have enough success as a musician yet, so his performance was risky. Also, by comparing the reactions from each performance, it seemed as if it is more socially acceptable for two girls (who are heterosexual) to kiss than it is for a male, who is openly gay, to kiss another male. I agree with the author who stated that the performance lacked authenticity and that it was a little inappropriate, but I think that Lambert would still be criticized even if the performance wasn't over-the-top.

Last post

Despite the fact that this class was too early in the morning and i was always sleepy, i had a lot of fun. I learned so much because i did not know 99.9% of the materials katie covered. (0.1%= pop music +boy bands!). LOVE katie's cookies and muffins, so yummy. I wrote plenty about my thoughts on the course evaluation so i shouldn't bore anyone here..... best wishes to katie's wedding, good luck to everyone in this class on future endeavors ...bye~

Ticket Prices

I can't say I've ever paid more than $30 for a concert, mainly because the bands I'm interested in seeing are in smaller venues and the fact that in NYC a band either plays in MSG or the Meadowlands and everything else is small cramped venues which usually have a better atmosphere. A friend of mine however is going with his girlfriends family to the Lady Gaga concert and they have splashed $1000+ on tickets. I'm sure it will be fantastic but... damn.

I took a look at the economist Alan Krueger's article on the pricing of concert tickets and it was very interesting. He found that ticket prices are increasing at a rate much higher than normal inflation about 61% in the past 5 years. He offers 4 explanations but the two I felt relevant to the class is that with the advent of piracy, there has been a shift to making performances more entertaining, raising the game of many popular artists and increasing the demand to go see their concerts (the top 5% of artists generate 62% of all concert revenue).

Also interesting to note is that the main increase in concert prices comes from older rock/pop musicians such as The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney. The reasoning behind this is that these bands not only hold on to a large audience of fans from their heyday but continue to attract younger fans to their music. It appears classic rock isn't as classic and old as one may think.

this semester in review...

i very much enjoyed this class. I learned alot about older music that i wasnt very familiar with. I also learned about other things that i normally wouldnt have related to music, but now see how they are related, such as disability. And though i would have guessed race would be a factor, i did not know just how much. I also didnt realize how much of an influence african americans had on all the different types of music throughout the decades. Lastly, I also thought the manner in which our grade was spread out was quite effective and fair. Probably my favorite course this semester!

Lady Gaga

I think that people are too quick to judge Lady Gaga. A lot of critics and people in the class say that she can't really sing and she isn't a talented musician. I don't think this is completely true. She was accepted early to the prestigious Tisch School of the Arts at NYU, which is more than many other musicians can say. She must have some sort of musical talent to have been accepted to the school. Critics also say that her eccentric behavior and outfits are used to serve as a distraction from her music, which isn't that great. However, she was always eccentric, even in high school. She was seen as different because of her clothing and behavior. Therefore, her crazy outfits aren't for publicity or distraction because she had always dressed differently. Many people think she's crazy or weird because of how she presents herself, but I think it's commendable that Lady Gaga wants everyone to feel like they fit in. It kind of seems like she wants to make a difference and shows that Lady Gaga isn't just another talent-less pop superstar. I think that Lady Gaga deserves more credit and shouldn't be judged so quickly.