EVENTS MANAGEMENT
Political Songs
Protest songs, social commentaries, music that rebels against the establishment.
Fuck the police - N.W.A
This song was released in 1988. This was released exactly a week after the 39th and Dalton raid, in which the police raided 2 apartment buildings to try and prove a point to gangs. The police involved destroyed peoples homes and left graffiti saying "LAPD Rules", they beat and humiliated residents but none of them were charged with a crime. They only found less than 6 ounces of marijuana and under an ounce of cocaine. 10 adults and 12 minors were left homeless as their homes were so destroyed, for nothing. This kind of behaviour inspired N.W.A's statement of a song.
The Language used throughout this song is no where near politically correct in a way to parody the kind of language the police use to discriminate against the black community. The song grasps the true lives of people throughout the time and what they were going through and how much the police were abusing their power towards the black community, this is shown in the lyrics "thinkin' every n*gga is sellin' narcotics" and "'Cause they'll slam ya down on the street top".
This is America - Childish Gambino
"This is America" was released in 2018 and is by Childish Gambino, a.k.a Donald Glover. This is a song filled with meaning and is a very politically challenging song and the video is filled meaning.
The intro of the song with the guitarist and choir references black music. In the video, Gambino is seen shooting the man playing the guitar displaying America's history of reducing the contribution African-Americans have musically and culturally to society. The next verse explore dancing and violence. In the video, the focus is Gambino and school children dancing whilst there is chaos in the background yet it is hardly noticeable with Gambino as the focus. This is to show how entertainment an media is blinding people from true, real world problems.
Before both choruses the beat changes to an aggressive vibe and at this point he shoots someone and in that moment he poses like the infamous Jim Crow character, challenging the relationship of black art and black suffering. The shooting could also suggest that Gambino is trying to highlight the gun violence in America with many victims undeserving of their demise. The guns used in the video are treated with uttermost respect with them being carried upon red cloth as if to suggest that guns are more valued than human life.
This is a song that heavily challenges how black people are treated in todays society and in America. It is a very important release of music that is critical to todays society.
Earth song - Michael Jackson
Earth song was released in 1995 and is about how humans are destroying the earth. Although Michael is now a controversial artist, I still thought this song was a good song to talk about.
This song highlights the effects of what people are doing to the planet, and I think it is a song ahead of it's time with the lyrics resonating with what people are finally discussing more to this day. This is the first Jackson song to really talk about the effect of humans upon animals. This song speaks on how the way the world is getting a lot worse and how it's not really spoken about. This is why the song won the 1995 Doris Day award for his sensitivity towards animals. The reason this is a political song is because of the way it challenges how people act and the use of rhetorical questions really make you think. Throughout his career Michael gave heaps of money to charities, and released a song with Lionel Richie that raised $63 million for famine and disease in Africa so he did good with his money.
Technology in the music in the industry
Exploring how there is different technology within the music industry and how different people use it
N Side - Steve Lacy
Steve Lacy began his music career in an R&B band called 'The Internet', in which he is the guitarist. He started in this group when he was still in high school and their third album got nominated for a grammy. Once he had graduated he started working on his solo EP. He recorded and released his first EP using only his iPod touch. He is known as the "iPhone producer". He always asked for a Macbook throughout his teen years but never received one and instead used apps like Garageband on his iPod touch along with his guitar and his bass. He released his first EP and got asked by Kendrick Lamar, Denzel Curry and J.Cole to work on the production of their albums. The lead single (Dark Red) on his debut EP currently has over 27 million streams on Spotify which he created solely on his iPhone. He has since featured on tracks from big names like 'Tyler the Creator' and 'Vampire Weekend'. He recorded his debut solo album in his sister's old room when she left for college and he had a break from touring and in that time created his album. The only thing that has changed within the time of the two separate releases is his equipment, he now has more instruments to play with and a laptop as he made some money off of his work. He has kept his process the same.
Lemonade Zkittlez - Mr Traumatik (feat. Devilman)
This is a drum and bass song on the music platform Soundcloud. Soundcloud is a music streaming website. It is free but there is a pro version that you pay for. You can allow people to download music for free or add connecting websites so people can download it but you can't sell downloads on Soundcloud. Anyone can upload music on Soundcloud. You can create playlists as private or public on Soundcloud, and you are able to share music from Soundcloud on Instagram through their music portal. You can comment on the songs and choose to like them and comment on them and you can see how many people have played it. If you are a DJ many people like to use Soundcloud as their way of downloading music because they download as MP3s. Soundcloud is just a good platform for emerging artists. Soundcloud is different for artists than being with a record label because they are in control, it's a good platform to use when you aren't signed as your songs are easy to find and you can see comments from people and how many plays it's got.
Baby I'm Blue - Trudy and the Romance
This is a song that can be found on Bandcamp which is a free or pro music streaming website. It is not very well known and isn't very shared about on social media but there are articles in vice about genres and labels. On Bandcamp you can set a price on the music when you upload it so that you make a small profit when people download your music. Bandcamp takes 15% + a processing fee which is small, depending on the amount paid. If you sold it for £9, you would receive £7.12 into your account. You can design your page however you want unlike Soundcloud which has a limited amount of changes you can make. You can add merch to this website as well if you sell things like vinyls or t-shirts. Bandcamp is different from the traditional way of releasing music as you don't need to be signed to release music on Bandcamp, anyone with an account can post their music, this is good for new artists.
Emotion in songs
Best Part - Daniel Caesar (feat. H.E.R.)
LOVE <3
'Best Part' is a song that was released in 2017 on Caesar's second album 'Freudian'. This song, to me, is cheesy but I think it is a lovely song that makes me a little happier when I hear it. The theme is very obviously love. Once you listen to the lyrics you can clearly understand what Caesar is telling the person he wrote it for; that he is very in love with them. The lyrics are very cliche "you're the sunshine in the rain when it's pouring". Although some may think the lyrics are cringey or cheesy, they still follow the theme of love. It is very clear what this song is about so that's why I chose this song for the emotion love.
Stuff we did - Michael Giacchino
SADNESS
'Stuff we did' is an instrumental song that was made for the Disney film UP. The two instruments used in this song are piano and violin. The song is used in the scene after his house has been destroyed and Carl places his seat next to his dead wife Ellie's old chair and he looks through the scrapbook of things him and Ellie experienced. It is a scene that always brings a tear to my eye, no matter how many times I have seen it. The music plays a very big part in the sadness that one may feel. It is a song and although it is sad, it has some hope towards the end. However the overbearing feeling is sadness but there's a strange sort of happiness. I love this song and this film even though it upsets me every time. It's a song that makes you think about things you have done in the past hence the name 'stuff you did'.
You and me Song - The Wannadies
LOVE <3
Seeing as every song these days is about falling in or out of love, I have chosen the emotion love for a second time. However this song has less of a soft vibe and a more indie vibe. This song is about the downs of a relationship but how people can work through them and in the end its you and me, no matter what. The lyrics are from the perspective of someone talking to their other half and he is saying how he knows them but he's speaking about things that he knows annoy them. However it is a very sweet song that goes on to say how its them forever, no matter the things that may sometimes happen that don't go well. It's a sing a long song that I will always love and always love the meaning behind it however simple and repetitive it is, it's a song that will always put a smile on my face.