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There’s a New Girl in Vegas

By 20 years old, most people have already been to at least one concert. I, unfortunately, haven’t. But there’s a few reasons why I haven’t. First: If I’m going to a concert, I want to make sure I’m spending my money to go see someone worthwhile. Second: I want to be up close; I don’t want to be all the way in the back watching everything on a giant LED screen. For that, I’ll watch an HBO concert special at home. And third: I’m broke and don’t have $400+ to spend on good seats at a good concert.

But lately, there’s been a lot of hype surrounding Jennifer Lopez’s new residency in Vegas entitled “All I Have”. Now I know what you’re thinking. Yes, she may not have the best voice out there, but she’s not terrible. And one thing you can’t take away from that woman is that she is one hell of a performer. Shall I remind everyone of her epic AMA performance. 

So since we already established that I’m broke, obviously I have no way of going to Vegas to see J.Lo in all her glory. But thank God for the Internet and YouTube, because I found the entire opening night’s show online. 

So of course I watched the whole thing right then and there, just in case it was to get taken down. While I admit that the video wasn’t of the greatest quality, I was still able to enjoy the show. It was two hours long and while it was very high energy, there were times where it slowed down a bit, but I never lost interest. Even when she left the stage to do her costume changes my eyes were glued to the screen, waiting for the big moment for her to pop out. 

While there are other singers doing residencies in Vegas, such as Britney Spears, Mariah Carey, and Celine Dion, I don’t feel as if their shows would be as exciting as Jennifer’s. Britney’s performances aren’t what they used to be and she lip syncs everything, Mariah Carey just walks around, and while Celine Dion is Celine Dion, she’s not going to make you want to get up and dance. 

And that’s what makes Jennifer’s show better (in my opinion). She gives you different genres from pop to hip hop to latin, etc. She gives you the songs you love from classic throwbacks such as “Jenny from the Block” and “Waiting for Tonight” to her more recent songs like “Booty” and “On The Floor”. In fact, something that I really enjoyed was that she did a few of her songs with different musical arrangements, which was a really nice, unexpected twist.

If you couldn’t tell by reading this, I’m a major J. Lo fan and have been since I was a little girl. All I wanted to do was be her when I grew up. Shit, I still do. While I really enjoyed watching this show, I really wish that I were able to have seen it in person. Being at a concert you get to experience a lot of things that are non-transferrable when you’re watching through a screen such as the energy of the room, the memories you can make, the excitement you feel from being there, etc. 

The title “All I Have” is more than appropriate for this residency. Throughout her performances you can tell that she is giving it all she’s got and it makes for a really great show. 

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American Idol: The Underdogs

American Idol, the show that gave up superstars such as Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, and Jennifer Hudson, has come to an end. After 15 seasons, they finally decided to throw in the towel and call it a day. I don’t necessarily have anything against Idol, but after being on for so long it got old and didn’t hold my interest anymore. One thing though, that I’ve always enjoyed about these types of shows are the train wreck auditions. So in honor of American Idol being over, let’s take a look at a few of the funniest/strangest Idol auditions.

First of all, the shade thrown in the clips leading up to the audition is too real. They made this guy seem like a serial killer with the creepy background music and close ups. I wasn’t really too sure what to expect from this guy, but when he said he thought he was as good as Freddie Mercury, I rolled my eyes as if to say “you wish”. Once he started singing the first thing I thought to myself was “what the fuck?”. I was able to bear it up until 2:25, then my ears practically begged for me to lower the volume before I went deaf. He destroyed Bohemian Rhapsody, and not in a good way. But on the bright side, it was pretty funny considering you didn’t expect what was coming. Oh, and that snaggletooth was really distracting.

Ok so I think it’s safe to assume that everyone can see that this chick has a screw loose somewhere up there. Once the audition began, I honestly felt a little uncomfortable and had to lower the volume really quick since at 2:33 she decided to sound like she was in a bad porno and I didn’t want my floor-mates to walk by and get the wrong idea. Not only is she a horrible singer, but also a horrible clairvoyant since she didn’t see that rejection coming. 

So this automatically made me laugh because, come on, how can you not? A grown man in a wanna-be transformers suit made out of a Power Wheels. And then he opens his mouth to let out:

“Get your motor runnin' 

Head out on the highway” .

I give this guy an A for not hurting my ears and giving me a good laugh. His voice wasn’t that bad actually, though he could have taken some time to actually learn the lyrics. 

Can somebody say DRAMAAAAA? Ian is clearly delusional, but I love him for it. He’s a character and his rendition of Gloria with that thick stereotypical New York accent gives me LIFE. With all that sass though, maybe he should consider acting instead of singing (and dancing). 

Oh, William. This one is my personal favorite. He’s so adorable with his awkwardness, but he gave the audition his all. He even danced for us. Based off this audition, you wouldn’t believe it, but William actually went on to get a record deal and released three albums, with the first being his most successful selling 20,000 copies. (No, that wasn’t a typo.) William was so memorable that they even brought him back to perform on the show’s finale. Check it out here. 

Even though none of these contestants were actually capable of singing and I question the sanity of some of them, all of them managed to make me laugh (some more than others). And while Idol gave us some great artists, they also left us with some good entertainment to look back at. 

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Selena: A Legend Gone Too Soon

Every morning when I wake up, the very first thing I do is reach for my phone and check all of my social media and notifications. I usually see the typical Instagram posts of celebrities on vacation and TMZ reports about someone getting thrown out of a club and then arrested for acting like a stupid ass. But recently I’ve noticed a lot of celebrities paying homage to one of my favorite artists of the ‘90s, Selena Quintanilla. Unfortunately 21 years ago, when Selena was only 23 years old, she was shot and killed by a former employee. Although Selena’s life was cut short, her devoted fans continue to keep the late tejano singer’s memory alive. 

During the span of her career, Selena was a well-known fashion icon. 21 years later and this still holds true as many popular artists of today have taken a note or two from the Queen of Tejano music’s style. 

(Left: Selena Quintanilla, Right: Katy Perry) 

(Left: Selena Quintanilla, Right: Nicki Minaj) 

As Selena was more widely known in the the Hispanic community, it’s interesting to see artists such as Katy Perry and Nicki Minaj being influenced by her. But Selena didn’t just have a female following, she had a male following, too (she was also quite the sex symbol). 

Rapper Big Sean is seen above wearing a t-shirt with the late singer’s image on it with the text reading, “The Queen of Tejana”. The rapper has been quoted as saying “Selena’s a legend. She did it big; she was the first. I’m going to rock her on the tee, just like I rock Tupac, just like I rock Biggie.”

Another rapper, Drake, posted this picture on his Instagram account, sans caption. But is a caption really necessary? I mean, they do say a picture’s worth a thousand words. 

But other than her image, Selena was adored by many because of her music. I personally own the cassette (yes, I said cassette) of Selena’s last studio album called “Dreaming of You” which was her English-crossover album, released posthumously. Growing up, I remember playing it over and over and over again. And I have the feeling I wasn’t the only one to do this. 

Here is Bruno Mars covering one of her most well-known English songs entitled “Dreaming of You”, while in Mexico.

Above is the original version sung by Selena. (This one is my favorite English song of hers.)

Solange Knowles (Beyoncé’s younger sister) was also inspired by Selena. Here she is covering her favorite song by Selena, “I Could Fall In Love”.

Here is Selena’s original. 

One of the most surprising covers I saw not too long ago on my Instagram feed was this clip of tattoo artist Kat Von D singing Selena’s song “Bidi Bidi Bom Bom”. (It’s supposed to describe the sound of a hear beat, by the way.) Not many people were aware that Kat Von D is fluent in Spanish (including myself), but this was pretty neat to see. 

Above is the official video for “Bidi Bidi Bom Bom”. 

Something interesting about Selena is the fact that she didn’t know much Spanish, even though all of her songs up until her “Dreaming of You” album were in Spanish. She actually had to learn the language phonetically in order to sing her songs and do interviews with the Spanish press. 

Growing up, because I’d listen to Selena’s music constantly, it played a big role in helping me to learn Spanish more fluently. (Kind of ironic how someone who didn’t know Spanish that well herself could help others learn it, huh?)

The love the Hispanic community had for Selena was so intense, that when she passed away it was like losing a family member. Till this day, that love is as strong as ever. Every year on the anniversary of her passing she is remembered by fans who pay homage to her as well as by Spanish tv who put on specials dedicated to her. 

Selena’s music is classic and it will never grow old and tiresome. Even today in 2016, young girls around the world know of Selena and her music thanks to older family members who introduce her music to them. Although she may no longer be with us, she’ll never be forgotten. 

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Santana’s So Smooth

One of my all time favorite songs has to be “Smooth” by Santana featuring Rob Thomas. This song was a huge success when it was released in 1999, spending 12 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100. Even though I was only about three years old when it came out, I distinctively remember it getting a lot of airplay throughout the early 2000s.  

The first few seconds of the song start off with the sound of drums and congas and before you know it, Carlos Santana steals your attention when he starts playing the electric guitar. Immediately after, you hear a latin beat playing in the background which personally just makes me want to get up and dance. Being a Latina, I’m convinced that I’m just naturally wired to get up and dance whenever I hear the music of my people, it’s hard for me not to, to be honest.

But anyways, back to the music. Right before Rob Thomas begins to sing, you can hear trumpets and trombones playing for a slight bit. In having a lot of experience listening to latin music, it’s easy for me to pick out this next instrument since it’s very common instrument used in the production of latin music. If you aren’t really listening and paying attention to the music, it can easily go by unheard. Though if you listen carefully enough, you’ll hear the sound of a güiro, which is a Latin American percussion instrument that looks like this and sounds like this. 

Just about a minute into the song and you can hear the sound of timbales, which are another very popular instrument used in latin music. Timbales are shallow single-headed drums with metal casings. If you’re wondering what these sound like, here’s a video of the late and great Tito Puente, known as the “King of Timbales”, playing them. And this is what they look like.

Also around this time, you can hear Santana unleash his highly-recognizable guitar riff, which builds up the tension right up until Rob Thomas lays down the chorus of the song. Around this part of the song I really like when Rob sings the lyrics:

“Gimme your heart, make it real 

Or else forget about it”.

I like it because on the words ‘gimme’, ‘heart’, and ‘make it’ the instrumentals simultaneously hit one note, leaving a silence before and after them. This really makes this portion of the lyrics stand out from the rest. 

Another distinctive sound is at the 2:00 minute mark when the trumpets and trombones wail. This may sound weird to you, but I feel the urge to describe this as the point where the song “sizzles” (in my head this makes perfect sense). 

At 2:54 the drums and congas play the same beat that opened up the song and lead into an intense 22 second instrumental that highlights Santana’s skills. Unfortunately, the studio version of the song doesn’t capture this as well as a live version does. So I highly suggest you check it out in the video below:

From 3:36 and on most of the focus is put on Santana and beginning at 3:48 you can hear the raspiness of Rob’s voice as he belts out the lyrics 

“Let’s don’t forget about it” 

until the songs slowly fades away.

The electric guitar solos and the overall mixture of the instruments used to make this song are what make it so rich and makes me so happy. I’m a fan of Santana (if you couldn’t already tell) and I hope you can hear the beauty of this song, as I do.  

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Dishwalla Who?!

When it comes to music, I’m not the type to only listen to specific artists or one particular genre; I like to listen to everything. Since I was a kid, I’ve always liked discovering new artists and/or songs and while I haven’t been actively doing this lately, recently I decided to ask a friend to give me a song to listen to by an artist that I didn’t know of. He suggested Angels or Devils by Dishwalla. 

I got on my laptop, opened up YouTube, and searched for the lyric video of the song. As soon as I heard the strumming of the guitar on it’s own, I had a feeling I was going to like this song, but I desperately hoped that my expectations wouldn’t be crushed. 30 seconds into the song and I was sold. It’s a song you can sit back and just vibe to, which was just the kind of sound I wanted to hear, coincidentally. 

The more I listened to the song, the more I realized that it has a similar sound to some other early 2000s alternative rock songs, like Coldplay’s “Yellow” for example. 

Both songs start off slow with just a guitar in the background, but as they progress, Angels or Devils maintains its slow and mellow beat, while Yellow’s beat gets a little bit rougher. Regardless of this though, I really like this type of sound. Even though I do typically enjoy listening to music that I can get up and dance to, I like to have tracks like these handy for when I want to bring it down, or when I have a headache and just want to listen to something soothing.

Since I ended up really liking this song, I wanted to hear more of their music. But first I wanted to know where the hell they got their name from. What does Dishwalla even mean? 

And while that answered my questions of where they got their name and its meaning, I still didn’t understand what it signified for the band and I wanted to know. So thanks to a little help from Google, I managed to find an answer to the question that was irking me so much. 

Apparently the bass player, Scot Alexander, thought that the name was appropriate because Dishwalla is “the name for satellite-pirates who make cable available to the masses in India [and] he hoped the band would bring its own gift to the world.” Well now, that makes sense. 

Anyways, back to the music. To be honest, this next song, Every Little Thing, took pretty much zero effort to find because it was the next song to automatically play after Angels or Devils. But don’t let my laziness fool you, it’s a pretty good ass song (even if it’s a little bit on the depressing side). 

Other than the beat, I like this song because of how relatable it is. At some point, everyone hopes to be every little thing they believe their significant other wants them to be. It’s a little bit unrealistic, but shit happens. 

I’d definitely suggest that you try this with your friends, even if you think you both listen to the same music (like I did). They’re bound to know about something that you don’t and if you never ask, you just might miss out on some really good music (or maybe you’re saving yourself from listening to some absolute garbage). Let’s just hope they have good taste in music. 

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Est. ‘07

Everyone has that one person they’re significantly close to, whether it’s a relative, friend, or significant other. This is the person they can call at 2 in the morning when they’re going through a difficult time and need to vent, the person they can blatantly insult knowing they won’t take offense, the person they have some other-worldly telepathic connection to. For me, that person is my best friend, Nicole. The start of our friendship was unconventional--we started off hating each other, but eventually found ourselves bonding over a common interest, music. Over the years, music has played a significant role in our friendship and I’ve created the following playlist as a way not only to express our friendship, but to also revisit some memorable moments we’ve shared.

1. Boston - Augustana

I’ve always liked this song and I think it’s the melody of the piano that really gets me. But honestly, this song had no relevance to me until my senior year in high school. That’s when I found out that Nicole was abandoning me for Boston to go to MCPHS (the school has a long ass name and I’m doing you a favor by abbreviating it, you’re welcome). Anyways, this became her anthem for the rest of the year. She was so excited to go away to a new city and experience life on her own, to have the freedom to do whatever the hell she wanted. I was excited for her too, but I hated the fact that I wasn’t going to have my best friend there to experience college with me.

2. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air - DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince

You’re probably thinking why the hell is included on this playlist. Funny story. During our sophomore year in high school, Nicole had a geometry teacher who thought it’d be a good idea to change the lyrics of songs and relate them to geometry (as if that was really going to help us remember that crap). Of course she enlisted me to help her and this is the song we chose to use. Let’s just say I really hope the CD with me rapping about geometry over this beat never sees the light of day again. 

3. Just the Way You Are - Billy Joel

December 18, 2014. The day before my birthday. That was the day Nicole went to go see Billy Joel in concert at MSG. Her dad surprised her with the tickets and if I had known earlier, I would’ve gotten myself a ticket, that way we could’ve both annoyed the shit out of her dad as we sang along to every song, perfectly out of tune. But since I couldn’t make the concert, she called me while this song was playing so I could kind of experience the concert. <3 

4. Stressed Out - Twenty One Pilots

This song pretty much sums up how every college student feels. When we were still in high school I remember us planning how our lives would be once we got to college and being excited about all the freedom we’d have. We just wanted to grow up already. Then reality hit us. Sure, college is fun and all, but let’s be real. This shit’s stressful and right now all we want is to be kids again. Back when we didn’t have student loans to worry about.

5. La Vie Boheme - RENT

Nicole actually introduced me to this gem. Before then, I didn’t know much about RENT, let alone any of the songs. At first I didn’t really understand it, but that was because I didn’t have an understanding of RENT itself. Once I learned a little about it, the song grew on me really fast and now we pretty much belt it out to each other whenever we want to be random as fuck. :)

6. No Scrubs - TLC 

Ok so there comes a point where you’ve been studying for hours and you swear that if you keep going, you’re sure to go insane. So then, what’s the most logical thing to do? Go on Snapchat of course, and send your friends videos of you lip-synching to 90s throwbacks. This just happens to be the song we always end up using. (And it’s good motivation to keep studying, because come on, we don’t want no scrubs. But the doctors in the scrubs, that’s a different story...)

7. Can’t Take My Eyes Off You - Frankie Valli

Being the true Jersey girls we are, of course we love the Jersey Boys. We know all the songs by heart and when we watched the movie we sang along like the dorks we are.  Even though most people our age think these songs are for old folks, we beg to differ. This song in particular is one of our favorites because Frankie Valli wrote it for his daughter. 

8. Count on Me - Bruno Mars

When Doo-Wops & Hooligans came out, we were all over it and this song instantly became the theme song of our friendship. Yeah it’s a cheesy ass song, but it’s cute. It’s what every friendship should be like. Regardless of what’s going on in our lives, we’re always there for each other. Even if we’re 255 miles apart. 

While these are only a handful of songs that represent our relationship, I feel that it captures bits and pieces of some of my favorite moments with her. Writing this brought back a lot of old memories and considering we don’t get to see each other much now, it was nice to relive those moments and laugh at how stupid we were and still are today.  

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Rihanna Rih-invented

I think it’s safe to say that Rihanna pretty much surprised everyone with her new album Anti. At least with me that’s the case. It’s been three years since the Barbadian songstress last released an album, leaving fans with great anticipation of what was to come. And let me tell you, she did not disappoint. 

Anti is probably not what most people were expecting to come from Rihanna; we’re used to her releasing the type of songs you’d hear played at the top of the hour, every hour on a radio station like Z100 or at a club with a bunch of girls drunkenly singing along to songs like “Pour It Up” or “Bitch Better Have My Money”. But you won’t find any songs like that on Anti. This album is distinctively different from her older work, which is why she entitled it Anti. It’s a true album and not just a bunch of catchy hit songs all compiled together, like some of her previous work. 

It starts off with “Consideration”, perfectly setting the tone for the rest of the album. Right away in the first line of the chorus she lays down the law singing: “I got to do things my own way darling”, letting everyone know that she’s going to do things on her own terms, make the type of music she wants to make, not what the record label or the public wants her to make. Sure, she’s had fun making all of those radio hits, but it’s time for her to grow as an artist and try something new, reinvent herself. 

In fact, the only seemingly Rihanna-esque song is probably “Work” featuring Drake. The first time I heard it, I was alone in my room with my earbuds plugged into my laptop on YouTube. I decided to check it out and honestly at first I hated it. The constant repetition of the word “work” and the nonchalant way in which she utters it, irritated me. But where and how you listen to music really plays a big impact on how you react to it. The second time I heard it, I was at work and it was blasting all throughout the building. Before I knew it, I found myself dancing in my seat and singing along. That was it. I was hooked.

So when Rihanna announced that she was giving away a million free copies of the album, (thanks Samsung) I made sure I got my copy. I just had to hear the rest of this album. It took me by surprise, but I liked it, scratch that, I loved it. While I’m a fan of Rihanna’s older music, it was refreshing to see her do something different and finally stop sounding like everything else on the radio.

It’s clear RihRih was experimenting with this album. One of the more interesting sounding songs, “Love On The Brain,” has a 50′s doo-wop vibe to it and even though I associate Bruno Mars with using this type of sound, Rihanna manages to pull it off. It’s one of my favorites as it showcases her vocal range, which we don’t get to hear much of in her more upbeat music, but we do get plenty of on Anti. 

Another favorite, “Same Ol’ Mistakes” is actually a cover of Tame Impala’s “New Person, Same Old Mistakes”. While many may question why she would cover this song, I feel like this songs fits perfectly on the album. When you look at the lyrics and think back to what she said earlier on “Consideration” you see that it’s a commentary about her growing as an artist and how she expects people will react to the new direction she’s taken with her music. 

With close friend Kanye West being well known for taking risks and experimenting with his music, I can’t help but feel like this influenced Rihanna to take the initiative to break out of the box we created around her. She’s growing as an artist and I can’t wait to see where else she takes her music.

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From Romantic to Sleazy: The Evolution of Boy Bands

When most people think about boy bands, they think about the stereotypical, lovey-dovey pop songs that revolve around the guys either 1. trying to get the girl of their dreams or 2. losing the girl of their dreams. While for the most part this holds true, the content and context of the song’s lyrics have evolved over time to reflect how today’s society views relationships.

The Beatles first hit the scene in the 1960s and took the world by storm, causing the oh-so-popular frenzy known as Beatlemania. Girls from around the world were in love with John, Paul, George, and Ringo. But what was it that made these girls become so infatuated? Was it their looks? Their style? (Yeah, I didn’t think so either.) Or was it the sweet, romantic love songs that made young, impressionable girls swoon over these four guys from the UK?

With songs like “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “When I’m Sixty-Four”, the Beatles sang of relationships based around love and romance. Take for instance, the following verse from “I Want to Hold Your Hand,”:

“Oh please, say to me

You’ll let me be your man

And please, say to me

You’ll let me hold your hand

Now let me hold your hand

I wanna hold your hand”

Yeah, the lyrics aren’t necessarily Shakespearian, but you easily recognize their innocence. He’s so into this girl and yet all he wants to do is just hold her hand. Something so simple and innocent. So modest. Gentlemanly, some might say.

Continuing on with the cuteness, the song “When I’m Sixty-Four” tells the story of a man asking the woman in his life if she’ll still love him once they’re both old and gray. The fact that he can see himself growing old with her is so sweet and endearing and let’s be honest, it’s bound to make any girl blush.

But let’s remember, these songs came out in the 1960s; a time where people were a bit more conservative and dare I say, old-fashioned. Flash forward more than 50 years later, and while you can still hear a few songs like these from boy bands, you’re more likely to hear them talk about one-night stands, as the hookup culture that has become so prominent in our society today is clearly reflected in the music.

Enter One Direction. Like the Beatles, One Direction is another boy band from the UK that quickly rose to fame after appearing on the British TV singing competition The X Factor. While One Direction didn’t always insinuate to hookups in their music, they’ve been doing so in recent years. One of their songs, “Kiss You” contains the following lyrics: 

“If you don’t wanna take it slow

And you just wanna take me home

Baby, say yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah 

And let me kiss you”

It’s obvious what’ll happen once they go back to her place and I’m pretty sure the night’s activities aren’t going to include sitting around and holding hands. Clearly he’s looking for a good time and that’s pretty much it. No romance, nothing cute. 

Likewise, a more recent song of theirs titled “No Control” discusses the aftermath of the previous night’s hookup. The lyrics are a pretty clever sexual innuendo that’ll manage to go over the head’s of their younger fans, while still getting the message across to older fans.

In comparing the music the Beatles made to what One Direction is making now, you can see the leap boy bands have taken from their once innocent image to their more wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am ideology. But can you really blame them? I mean, all they’re doing is talking about the experiences they and their peers share. The music they make is just relevant to the times they live in. But no worries, they still have some mushy, lovey-dovey songs like “Little Things”. The romance isn’t dead.