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Album review - Beyonce Lemonade

Catherine Msuya 21/05/2017 Music culture Album review

“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” Beyonce sure did this and in the form of an album for all to hear and dwell in the reasons behind her story. A proverbial phrase to encourage optimism, used to tittle her album, and with lyrics, good timing, and visuals a clear theme could not go unnoticed. (Google.co.uk, 2017) “Black lives matter” was a clear message reviled in many ways. She even went as far as to include civil rights leader Malcom X by sampling his speech in her song “Don’t hurt yourself”. She is also overall known for promoting the image and being a strong black woman, and with her song “Formation” she takes her massage to the next level. Not only does this track have references of where she was born, to who she is but also in her grand live performance of this song at the 50th Superbowl event, she used visuals to her advantage. (Genius, 2017) She was wearing all black alongside all her female dancers’ representing the Black Panthers. The timing itself was correct for the release of this anthem as it was a good contribution to black history month. This album made it worldwide due not only to her popularity but her high quality material. Providing more than the usual, the album came with the poetic long video. Watching like a movie this kept people talking and listening closely. From this I can see that there might be a big chance that playlists and albums can die away but if used correctly. The marketing approach effects sales and Beyoncé knew how to work with this to have the best income and impact for her music to thrive. In this age and time people turn to online services for music especially YouTube and this is where the full visual music video to the full album was posted for an unlimited time making it exclusive to those who were lucky enough to watch. As if this wasn’t enough to make people want more Beyoncé also exposes herself to romers of her personal life as she mentions some questionable lyrics. The lyrics mainly revolves around her relationship with Jay Z in bad terms. This left her fans astonished and shocked, even with no real certainty that their assumptions were facts. Either good or bad there is no such thing as bad publicity. “What’s worse looking jealous or crazy” was a lyric form “Hold up.” (Genius, 2017) Another lyric also found on this song also touches on the implication that Jay Z had cheated on her, “something don’t feel right because it ain’t right, especially comin up after midnight. I smell your secrets, and I’m not too perfect to ever feel this worthless.” To talk more on the visual album itself it came as a surprise to the public. As the song wasn’t mentioned or advertised just simply released. With famous faces who worked on this album like Diplo, James Blake, The Weekend, Kendrick Lamar, Jack White and MNEK. Lemonade shows so much emotion and in the most poetic and mysterious way in my opinion. As already mentioned Malcom X was sampled and so where a few more inspirational media factors. “Poet Warsan Shire, Alan Lomax field recordings right by the quoted lyrics form the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Animal Collectives and Souljia Boy, even classic 70’s samples were added.” (Pitchfork.com, 2017) The Yeah Yeah Yeahs Maps song has “they don’t love you like I love you” lyric that makes the well know “Hold up” chorus. This song on top of “Sorry” and “Don’t hurt yourself” it was clear Beyoncé wasn’t happy in her relationship with Jay Z, as in “Don’t hurt yourself she event goes as far as to take her ring off and through it to the camera. “Uh, this is your final warning. You know I give you life. If you try this shit again…You gon lose your wife…” (Play.google.com, 2017) This was sung by Qween B herself right at the end of “Don’t hurt yourself.” This song had the iconic rock song version from Led Zeppelin of “When the Levee Breaks” music sampled. (Pitchfork.com, 2017) Beyoncé brings things back to girls to staying empowered and working for their own money through the song “6 Inch”. This links and follows on well from her Malcom X sample saying “The most disrespected person in America is the black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the black woman.The most neglected person in America is the black woman." (Pitchfork.com, 2017) As this reminds women of the reality that was worse off than what it may be today, her song “6 Inch” reminds them of their new higher postion they can get for themselves as females. “6 Inch” is another Beyoncé hit that uses the image of 6 inch heels as a symbol of wealth and power. (Pitchfork.com, 2017) Using samples on this track from Isaac Hayes “Walk on by” instrumental, Beyoncé took a small part for her own music and changed it to her liking. “Freedom” is a song of hope of overcoming oppression and social damage of racism. Smartly choosing Kendrick Lamar, a black rapper to be in her album, and feature in this song was right as both Beyonce and Kendrick have proven themselves to be titled and well known as political influential black music activists. Most well-known and successful artists of this generation in my opinion. “Freedom” had a sample from “Let me Try” by Kaleidoscope which is a rare sample to find. 1959 field recordings at Memphis, made by Alan Lomax was used in “Freedom.” (Frazier, 2017) In “All night” OutKast ‘s track “Spottie Outtie Dopaliscious” was sampled for its melody and outstanding horn’s. Though this song goes through love and how sweet it can be, especially if its true love it shouldn’t be forbidden or hidden. Her first song on her album defiantly sets a scene or idea that there might be bad vides or problems in her relationship for the rest of the lemonade to then make it clearer. “Pray you catch me” is almost like a chance to hear what her fist thoughts were in a more relaxed sad manner compared to her other songs. “The video for this song alone has images of her kneeling down on the stage as a metaphor for a crumbling relationship on display for the public to see.” (Mic.com, 2017) This shows the kind of culture we now live in where nothing really can be kept private. You are almost expected to showcase your life on social media. Why not use this for good. Beyoncé realizes that this is the kind of world we now live in so why not post content of encouragement and is relatable. Talk about what matters, and what hurts, experience, the truth, political issues and history. All done in a music visual album entertaining and engaging for the world to be captivated by. At the same time the video shows how she doesn’t hide from her problems or the evil in the world. She how’s that her too as perfect as she may seem, she still gets affected. Know your worth and love yourself for who you are, stand up for what’s right and know your history/roots, money is the best revenge, so aim high. This is just a few main messages I feel overall comes from this album. “Daddy lessons” follows on well from my last point. This song goes back to her past and her childhood roots. Singing about her Dad as he is one of the most important men in her live and the main driving force as an artist. Helping her in her career and making her a strong black independent woman as a parent. The song implies that he may have done so in harsh ways or more of a tough love than normal as she mentions “Oh, my daddy said shoot.” It’s said that Beyoncé believes in “Like farther like sun” and uses this analogy almost with the thought of if she can forgive her Dad then she can forgive her husband, as she has made a recurring theme of similarities between fathers and husbands. As fond in “Daddy” “I want my unborn son to be like my daddy, I want my husband to be like my Daddy.” The song itself (Daddy lessons) has lyric of what her farther said to her “when trouble comes in town and men like me come around, oh my daddy said shoot.” (Pitchfork.com, 2017) Beyoncé work with even her childhood friends on this album, Ingrid a Houston rapper who co-wrote “Love brought.” (Pitchfork.com, 2017) Kanye West’s collaborator Mike Dean provied this track with the synth line and great bass section. “Sandcastles” is a song that simplifies things as Beyoncé still can’t help but love Jay. Even to the fact that it was simply Beyoncé and her voice as a raw ballad, made the song a nice break form complicity. (Pitchfork.com, 2017) To finish “Forward” I think is a song that shows that Beyoncé can move on successfully no matter what may stand in her way or get her down she will be known as one of the best.

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750 word write up task 1: Representations of identity

Catherine Msuya

28/03/17

Music Culture

750 word write up task

Formation by Beyoncé

This song represents Beyoncé for who she is it was even said that Beyoncé was almost trying to reminding everyone that she is black. Beyoncé was born Houston Texas, and I feel this song promoted self-love. Knowing where you’re from, who you are and your history. Always remembering your roots no matter where your living. Knowing your inheritance, liking black features as they are to be embraced. This song is seen as a song that represents black power, and she used the stage/platform of the 50th Superbowl to really outline this to the world. Even down to the visuals she was wearing all black and the lyrics are clear on the topic. The timing itself was correct for this anthem as it was a good contribution to black history month. Also around the same time two victims of racial conflict and abuse was Trayvon Martin’s and Sandra Bland’s birthday. Beyoncé was defiantly a part of the black lives matter movement. Making everyone awake that inequality is still a problem and there needs to be an improvement.

I personal am happy that Beyoncé did this as she has taken the face of the black artist representative by doing this. Being well known and successful she is one of the best for the role. I feel like the song is also about people thinking right about black people better. Trayvon for example didn’t do anything wrong but was stereotype and was thought to have stolen something but he was simply passing through a neighbourhood. He did not deserve to die from people assuming form the colour of his skin that he was up to no good. At the same time people tend to like our features and would go as far as to get themselves surgery enhanced for the same features they downgrade us for. The song goes through girl power as well as Beyoncé always has a touch of this from her lyrics (e.g. Run the world (Girls,) to who performers with her. The lyric “You mix that negro with that Creole, make a Texas Bama.) The word “Bama” was originally black slang for working class black people arriving North from the South during the Great Migration. The meaning of the word referred to someone who wasn’t presentable enough for white people. I feel Beyoncé was trying to bring up class and racial separation. How race purely determines to some people your class. Being as successful as she is she is seen as a high class woman going against what would be wrongly automatically thought of her being black. Her success takes her out of that kind of social and racial grouping. Overall I believe this song is a good example of how identity is being performed and enacted in a song.

Bibliography

- My daddy Alabama, mamma Louisiana/ You mix that negro with that Creole make a Texas bana

https://genius.com/8640216

https://genius.com/8640068

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Music Culture- Week 4 Research task- MD4314

https://wordpress.com/post/musicculturesblog.wordpress.com/495

Catherine Msuya

17/03/17

Music Culture- Week 4 Research task

Record collecting

v The current Vinyl revival is significant in the recording industry because in this day and age in my opinion Vinyl is back in fashion as big artist such as Katy Perry, (Teenage dream) Taylor Swift (1989) and Daft Punk (Random Access Memories) have their music now in that form. This encourages more of the younger generation to consume more music of this format as it’s considered cool. Artists and the recording industry are working to supply Vinyl’s more as the demand for them slowly grow. Pop artists even have them made to fit the format through the cover images to appeal, and suit better for Vinyl. A good example of this is Taylors Swift’s 1989 copy. “9 million physical records sold in the first half of 2015 alone compared to 14 million throughout all of 2014.” (12 Essential Modern Pop Albums you need to own on Vinyl, MTV News.) This is a clear simple indication that the supply and demand for vinyl is growing. This works because artists get their music out in more shops and are recognised as artists who are working to keep the value of music and the music experience alive, respected, influencing fans to buy music rather than stream, and download for free. This gets the younger generation to also get into collecting records and buy more record player which is great for the recording industry as not many people own one any more. Maybe as something for the future artists might just release certain song only on Vinyl to push it more forwards, just like it was done before but with the cassette with Punk artists “distributing their music free or at cost price through Underground networks of fanzines and independent stores.” (Anderton C, 2013, Understanding music industries, London, Record collecting, chapter 8, page 156, Book.) Popular music is more influential as its liked by many compared to other genres, so this means it will have more of an impact if the recording industry focuses on working with Pop artists. The fan culture we are in now with this idea will push market sales in my opinion with the way artists are already leading it on.

v I believe that with what I have read from this week’s reading is that with cassettes are associated with the image of a boom box and perhaps more used/seen with Guys more than Girls. The age would range from maybe 16-35, as cassettes would be played for “MC’s break-dancers and graffiti artists” (Anderton C, 2013, Understanding music industries, London, Record collecting, chapter 8, page 156, Book.) This is what then brought around Hip hop and I believe that the guys are the ones who pushed this on at first at least. Hip hop is also known for Black artists who struggled at first with money but makes it big through composing Hip hop music.

v Bibliography

Ø http://www.mtv.com/news/2425623/pop-albums-to-own-on-vinyl/

Ø (Anderton C, 2013, Understanding music industries, London, Record collecting, chapter 8, page 156, Book.)

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Does Ethnicity, age or sexuality affect a person’s likelihood of dancing? Christopher Hunt-Watts - MD4314.

For this opinion piece, I want to look at the first question on the list, ‘Is dancing now ‘gender-neutral’, i.e. are straight white men just as likely to take to the dance floor as anyone else?’ to do this I am going to give a brief background on one of the kay moments in history that dancing became the norm. A law in New York preventing two people of the same sex dancing together was enforced by police arriving at guy parties and clubs, breaking them up and making arrests. As stated in the ‘Once upon a time in New York’ one Deva had had enough of this and in a routine raid on a gay bap in Christopher Street, threw a bottle at police. This is said to have been the sparked that ignited the Stone-wall riots. This riot went on for an entire weekend and, after dozens of reports in papers across New York, cause the Mayor to change the law, creating a whole new market for people to open clubs, pubs and bars specifically aimed at gay people. One such dance party was club was hosted by a man named David Mancuso, who said that his parties, held in a loft space, were very specialist and exclusive. David Depino backs this up by saying “you felt very special, being able to get into the loft. People begged you outside, please take me in. But it was very privet.” (Depino, D (2011) for the BBC’s ‘Once Upon a Time in New York: [Online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UwXKuHrIxE acsessed@ 15/16 February, 2017). Mancuso and Depino say that the club scene was very diverse. Depino said “I was a white boy from Brooklyn, and Italian boy. And I partied amongst Asians, amongst Latins, amongst blacks and I met people from all over the world. And it was a cultural experience.” (Depino, D (2011) for the BBC’s ‘Once Upon a Time in New York: [Online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UwXKuHrIxE acsessed@ 15/16 February, 2017).. When talking about Mancuso Vince Aletti, an author, said “I think he was one of the first to start making the musical connections that created what we think of as disco.” (Aletti V(2011) for the BBC’s ‘Once Upon a Time in New York: [Online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UwXKuHrIxE acsessed@ 15/16 February, 2017). ‘One upon a time in New York’ goes on to outline more happenings in New York that brought about the disco scene, one of which being the use to two turntables, meaning that the records never stop spinning and the music never stops.

That is a basics of the birth of gay clubs and party places in New York and how that lead to the more well-known disco scene. To get into the question, I would like to say yes. Straight white men are just as likely to hit the floor in a club as any other ethnicity or sexuality. Evidence for this can be found in any club in any city in the country after around 9:00pm. It is, of course, possible to argue that, as clubs are not favored by 100% of white men, you will only find the percentages of the population that are willing to dance, thus creating a survey that is not accurate but biased in favor of those willing to dance. This being the case, I decided to conduct my own miniature survey. I asked two questions to two strait, white males, two strait, black males, two gay, white males and two strait, white females. My questions were;

1. Do you frequent clubs, bars, pubs? 2. Would you be comfortable dancing in a situation where it was the social norm? eg. Clubs, bars, pubs.

Interestingly, both strait, white males said yes to both questions, as did the strait, black males. Only one gay, white man said yes to question one but both answered yes to the second question. This reflected in the strait, white females.

All survey entries were between the ages of 18 and 22 but, being such a very small survey, we cannot take it as a 100% accurate but it can give us an idea of how groups with different ethnicity and sexuality fit into our culture. With 100% of the survey entries saying they would dance, only 50% of gay, white men and strait, white females said that they frequent clubs, pubs, and bars. As 100% of both black and white strait men said that they do frequent the venues and that they would dance, we are seeing an interesting flip in the demographic of dancers as, with these figures, it seems strait, white men are just as likely to hit the dance floor than black strait men and more likely than any other sexuality in the survey. Lastly, while my survey excluded those outside its age range, I would suggest that, in social such as weddings etc. People of any age, ethnicity or sexuality are equally likely to dance.

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Same Love - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Feat. Mary Lambert

Music Cultures - Task 1

When thinking about a contemporary song that speaks about various identities, I thought about Same Love by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. This focuses clearly on sexuality and gender through the vocals and lyrics, especially, and speaks out to all ages of society today, beginning with the lyrics “When I was in third grade, I thought that I was gay.” These lyrics show that it is not just teenagers or adults who are gay, but children too, even if they are not sure or are just simply confused. The lyrics speak out to the listeners encouraging them to accept everyone no matter who they are and who they love: “I can’t change, even if I tried, even if I wanted to…” showing people that being a homosexual is just as normal as being a heterosexual and that it is just the way people are sometimes and there is nothing they or anyone can do about it. “She keeps me warm…” also could reflect the fact that Mary Lambert is gay herself. Lambert said: “There was a time in my life when I was starting out that I realized the people at my shows knew far more about me than my close coworkers did,” shared Lambert during a recent telephone interview. “I realized that was unique.” During the rap in the second verse, performed by Macklemore, he raps “ "Man, that's gay" gets dropped on the daily”, demonstrating the kinds of comments people say in an everyday situation and not thinking about the words they speak and how they can affect anyone around them.  It is in a homosexual’s point of view and the problems they go through on a day to day basis, suggesting that they cannot be who they want to be: “That holy water that you soak in has been poisoned, when everyone else is more comfortable remaining voiceless, rather than fighting for humans that have had their rights stolen.” Lyrically, this song is showing the thoughts and feelings of a gay person and the opinions and thoughts of what part of society has on this subject.

The vocals in Same Love include a male rapping the verse (Macklemore) and a female singing the chorus (Mary Lambert). This could perhaps show the point of view from both genders and not just concentrating on one; showing the audience, maybe for a younger audience to understand, that anyone can be gay.

Overall, the song is reaching out to everyone in today’s society, saying that it does not matter if anyone is gay, we should all just love each other.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/pollo-del-mar/mary-lambert-i-thought-si_b_6908370.html

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/macklemore/samelove.html

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Identity research Task - Sweet Home Alabama - Christopher Hunt-Watts.

Sweet Home Alabama.

Working to the brief of analysing a song that shows identity, I feel that Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd is a good choice. Written in 1974, this song is identity from start to finish. Taking a look at the lyrics, the very first verse contains the words “Singing songs about the south-land. I miss 'ole' 'bamy once again” right away the singer is telling us that he is missing his home, expressing a wish to return there and, with the words “Big wheels keep on turning. Carry me home to see my kin.”, saying that his family are there, meaning Alabama is where his loved ones are and has a place in his heart. All that in just the first verse!

Digging deeper into the lyrical content, I couldn’t talk about Sweet Home Alabama without dragging Neil Young into the fray. In a few songs, most notoriously, Southern Man and Alabama, Neil attacks the southern states and particularly Alabama. “Southern man, better keep your head. Don't forget what your good book said. Southern change's gonna come at last. Now your crosses are burning fast”. These are lyrics taken from the first verse of Sothern Man by Neil Yund and is clearly an attack on the southern states and their ways of life. In Sweet Home Alabama, Lynyrd Skynyrd fires shots right back at Young in defence of his homeland with the words “Well I heard Mister Young sing about her. Well I heard ole Neil put her down. Well, I hope Neil Young will remember. A southern man don't need him around any how”. This is demonstrating Skynyrd’s national pride. Furthermore, the lyrics “Now Muscle Shoals has got the Swampers and they've been known to pick a song or two. Lord they get me off so much. They pick me up when I'm feeling blue” refers to the musicians of a city in Alabama (Muscle Shoals) and how their playing makes the singer feel good when down. More evidence of Skynyerd's national identity.

There are other lyrics that give weight to Skynyrd’s nationality but I’d like to talk a little about the musicality and arrangement of the song. I have noticed that, in the chorus, the lead vocalist (Skynyrd) is joined by a female backing vocalist. Weather intentionally or not, this lends weight to Skynyrd’s feeling of patriotism and nationally being shared by others. Using a female vocalist brings diversity to the song in a way male backing vocalists would not.

As far as structure goes, the verses are used to deliver a lot of information about why the singer loves Alabama but it is in the chorus/hook that the unforgettable lyrics, melody and message of the song are found. For me "Sweet home Alabama, Where the sky's are so blue. Sweet home Alabama. Lord, I'm coming home to you" are some of the most memorable lyrics of all time.

In conclusion, I feel that this song shows a great sense of a person's identity, particularly in regard to their nationality and patriotism. I feel that the lyrics are the most powerful indication of this as every verse and chorus has been worded to either praise Alabama or defend it form the bad words and thoughts of others.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ye5BuYf8q4o

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