the Whole Beat

Hey I'm Jenice. Currently earning a B.A. in Journalism at Chico State and writing for The Orion. Enjoy this blog where I'll attempt to keep a fresh update of the 2015 festival season and up and coming artists.

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Drugs make better music

Don’t do drugs. Or at least, that’s what society has taught us from a young age. I remember signing my name on a Red Ribbon Week certificate stating “I pledge to be, drug free.” But, with my Twitter feed blowing up with images of prominent artists, 

like Rihanna

 and 2 Chainz, 

celebrating 420, I started to wonder about the effects of drugs on music. Are drugs as harmful as my fourth grade teacher portrayed them? Or are they a source of inspiration for artists across all musical genres?

We all know drugs, such as LSD, “Shrooms,” and Marijuana, are illegal. However, is it ethically immoral for artists to produce music while under its influence?

I say, no.

Most of my favorite albums, like Carlos Santana’s Moonflower, The Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and Sublime from Sublime, were heavily influenced by drugs. Santana even said that “You can’t take LSD and not find your voice.” 

Now, I'm not saying that everyone should hang out with Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. But I’m saying that artists who choose to partake in the psychedelic realm also produce some of the most iconic and soul-enriching music ever. Coincidence? Maybe. Maybe not. 

Either way, I want to know what you think.

Is it ethically wrong or right for artists to take drugs for artistic inspiration?

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[conradtao]

[mtv]

me 

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De La Soul Teams Up with Nas for New Single ‘God It.’

Screenshot from the De La Soul Kickstarter project

De La Soul are asking fans to help them fund their eighth studio album through Kickstarter. “Typically the fans have been the ones who support and appreciate our vision,” said De La on their Kickstarter page. “So using Kickstarter and giving our fans the opportunity to be a part of the process just feels right.”

And The Anonymous Nobody, will be the group's first album in 11 years. This week, De La released “God It,” featuring Nas, as a precursor to fans. Though the single will not be featured on the album, “God It,” was highly trending this past week on Twitter. Needless to say, people are excited. 

Collaborations expected to be on the album include artists such as 2 Chainz, Little dragon and Damon Albarn, from Gorillaz.

Currently, their album has 9,526 backers and raised $508,448. Anyone wishing to back their project can win prizes ranging from a digital copy of the album, with a $15 pledge, or a sound check and a dinner with De La Soul, for a pledge of $5,000.

Along with fans, artists such as, Missy Elliott and Nas have both tweeted their support for De La Soul’s new tune. 

See tweet here

See tweet here

See tweet here

De La Soul’s new album has eight days left on Kickstarter, which you can check out here. 

And now, I leave you with my personal favorite De La Soul jam, “Me, Myself and I.” Listen, pledge and enjoy.

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(via https://soundcloud.com/wearedelasoul/de-la-soul-featuring-nas-god-it?utm_source=soundcloud&utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=tumblr)

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See what lineups are overlapping with a festival venn diagram, courtesy of SPIN Magazine.

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News as a conversation

Hello everybody. Today’s post has nothing to do with music or festivals, but instead, a personal experience. Yesterday I participated in my first Reddit AMA, Ask Me Anything, and it was amazing. As an aspiring journalist, I’ve always wanted to see news as a conversation. Writing news is the conversation starter, but most journalists stop talking after they've posted what they needed to say. People leave comments on articles, asking questions and wanting to know more and usually don't receive an answer.

Fortunately, yesterday’s AMA was conducted by reporters from ProPublica, the New Orleans Advocate and Sports Illustrated, who openly answered questions about their article on NFL star and convicted rapist, Darren Sharper. 

News, more specifically investigative journalism, gets people talking. It was refreshing to ask these journalist questions and actually get answers. All of their responses were thoughtful and actually answered the question. Here are some screenshots from the conversation and click here to see the entire AMA.

They replied to my question, yay!

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Tyler, the Creator announces new album

Cherry Bomb will be Tyler, the Creator’s third album and is coming out this Tuesday April 14. The album is currently available for pre-order on iTunes. 

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New Frank Ocean album this July

Nearly three years after the release of channel ORANGE, Frank Ocean has finally announced that he will be releasing his new album this July. Along with the overly-anticipated album, Frank Ocean is also releasing his own publication entitled Boys Don't Cry. The album title is still unknown. His announcement was made through the image above on his blog, http://frankocean.tumblr.com/.

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Mobile Wavo Features

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Need new music? Wavo can help.

Finding new music can be such a pain, which is why I want to make your life a little easier with Wavo.

Wavo is a music listening website and app that gives much more freedom of music exploration than other music websites, like the free versions of Pandora or Spotify.

With an app that’s just as good as the desktop version, combined with no skip limits, Wavo is easily my new favorite music finder and here’s why I want you to try this.

Why you’ll love it

A feature that I’ve always loved about 8tracks is there mood input option. Wavo allows you to do the same thing, without skip limits.

Instead of having to go through a preselected playlist, Wavo allows you to browse through their entire library that suites your mood and pick a song!

For each song, Wavo provides the music video, links to the artists Soundcloud and how many plays its received.

The organization of Wavo is unreal and makes it so easy for the listener to get what they want.

Wavo Features

Music Feed This is where you’ll find all the music from people you follow. The music feed is exactly what it sounds like. Charts Charts is how you can see what music is on the rise in a variety of genres.

Moods As previously mentioned, Wavo provides mood options and my favorite has been the “focus/study,” mood because of the instrumentals. After picking a mood, Wavo will ask you to pick a genre then open up its library for your pickings.

My Wavo This is where you can find tracks that you’ve “hearted” or playlist you’ve created. Unfortunately, the option to add songs to Wavo isn’t available… Yet.

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Mobile Wavo Features

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GoPro or Go Home

Put all phones away and switch-up the visual delivery of your latest event with a GoPro. 

Check out the Tomorrowland preview below, shot entirely from a GoPro.

Snapchat and Instagram are the first places people go to upload their clips from sets during their musical outings. Facebook is where people dump their three minute videos of bad quality sound and picture. 

For those that care to share visual festival experiences, I have one thing to say: GoPro. 

I had seen people wearing GoPro's at festivals, but seeing the DJ's actively use them or strap them to their chest (like Steve Aoki in the video above) really brought them to my attention. When I went to EDC, almost everyone had a GoPro attached to their totems, which I thought was a great idea because after all, the totem view is the best view.

Although GoPro's are mostly marketed as an outdoor and sports tool, within the past two years or so of my own festival experience, this small device has easily become a festival must-have.

Why You Want It

GoPro's provide high quality picture, 1080p, and also capture great sound. Pricing is a bit high from $129 to $400 both on Amazon and the GoPro website, but the utility is worth it for avid festival goers. These things are durable and waterproof, unlike your precious and very shatter-able phone. GoPro's are lightweight and see everything you, or whatever you attach it to, will see. 

Don't get stuck watching your favorite performers through your phone screen as you try and record. Grab a GoPro and let it go. You'll capture so much more with a three-hour battery life span and the 64GB SD card in your GoPro. Stop killing your phone battery and actually experience what you're seeing.

Honestly, GoPro or go home.

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2015 Festival Forecast: a Bit Drizzy

Anyone who has been paying attention to recently released lineups, has come across one headliner that has stood out from the rest. 

Yes ladies and gents, I'm talking about the one and only Canadian-native, Drake, aka Drizzy.

This season, festi-goers can expect to see Drake headlining the oh-so-ever-popular west coast festival Coachella, the annual New York festival The Governors Ball, across seas in London at the Wireless Festival, and back to his homeland in Canada at the Squamish Valley Music Fest. Tickets have already gone on sale for the first three mentioned and Squamish tickets go on sale February 26th at 10 a.m. 

But for Drizzy, Festival lineups aren't the only thing he's been crashing. 

Just last week Drake released his latest project, If You're Reading This It's Too Late. The album came in at number 1 on the Billboard 200 chart and broke Spotify records with more than 17.3 million streams in three days. 

Although the album has done some major damage in the music world, but the jokes happening in Twitter-land are far more interesting.

The first time I ever read the words/hashtag If You're Reading This It's Too Late, it wasn't even a tweet about Drake. It was about... Well actually, let me just show you.

*the following are screenshots from my twitter feed*

There was this...

Then this...

...

And a more recent one/my personal fav

The hashtag If You're Reading This It's Too Late was created by users to exclaim their love for Drake's new album. I wasn't aware Drake released anything until I scrolled down further to see tweets about how "fire" #IfYoureReadingThisItsTooLate was; this naturally prompted me to google and listen.

Throughout the internet this hashtag has become somewhat of a punchline, but does that make it any related to its original intent? 

I say no. 

Hashtags are a great way raise awareness about information, such as music, which was definitely the outcome. In order to get the hashtag, you'll probably need to know it's original intent anyways. People are curious and if the same hashtag keeps showing up in tweets, google will be the next place they go. 

Now, I want to know what you think. Does #IfYou'reReadingThisIt'sTooLate become any less related to the album because of the jokes? 

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C.A.S.A. de Chico

The Chico State Ceramics Art Student Association, CASA, will be selling pottery to fund travel and lodging for conferences. This year, CASA will be raising funds for conferences in Providence, Rhode Island and Davis. These are photos of their last day of fundraising. 

A Place

Chico State Ceramics club spends their last day on campus fundraising.

A Place with Faces

Chaz Martinsen, grad student, explains pricing to a customer.

A Face 

Christian DeAnda, junior, looks to a friend for advice on a potential buy.

Face in the Place

Chico State juniors Christian DeAnda, Noah Chavez and Angeline Jacoby discuss the different clay pieces.

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The App-le of my Eye

Alright festi-lovers, I'd like to share a few free apps that have proved to be helpful during festivals. Yes we want to have a stupid amount of fun at these events, but sometimes we need alittle real-world organization to make things go smoothly. 

1. [Insert festival here] App Whatever festival you're going to, there's bound to be an app for it. Insomniac apps are my favorite and Outside Lands has a pretty good one too.

Why you want it: If festivals could have a loudspeaker or an intercom, this would be it. If there are set-time changes or if artists are having secret shows, those announcements will be through their app. These apps usually have all the stages with set-times and a map; only a finite amount of things will fit into my fanny pack and a crumpled up map they hand you day 1 of a festival is not one of them. Besides, go green and stop using so much paper.

2. FIND. MY. FRIENDS. As stalker-like as this app may seem, I suggest getting it if you're attendingevents with a large group. Once connected with your friends, the app gives specific locations for whoever you're looking for. Click on the person's bubble, and an address is provided or at least the general area the phone is located in.

Why you want it: There's nothing worse than getting lost (while possibly being under the influence) at a huge festival and ending up alone by the porter-potties. If the festival you're at has service, get Find My Friends and avoid being that girl or boy the whole group is trying to find. 

3. The Weather Channel I know you've probably got all five outfits planned and you're super stoked to show them off. I get it. I really do. But, I'm not so sure how comfortable you're gonna be in high waisted shorts and a crop top since it's 47 degrees outside with a 89 percent chance of rain.

Why you want it: The weather isn't always on festival goers side and as much as Tony! Toni! Tone! would like us to think It Never Rains in Southern California, it does. At 2 am. During an outdoor rave. #PersonalExperience. The Weather Channel app provides current temperature, humidity and wind predictions hour by hour. Just get it. Srsly.

4. Lyft (To the tune of Dora the Explorer's Map Song) If there's a place you gotta get, Lyft can get you there I bet, it's the best. Lyft is a ride service that connects you to local people giving rides. 

Why you want it: sometimes you don’t have your card or cash on you. Luckily, once you've created an account, Lyft holds that information for you and money is handled through the app from your virtual wallet to your driver. Also, if it’s your first time using lyft, they’ll credit you 15 dollars which will get you where you need to go.

Now, I'm sure festival attendees can go without these apps, but they definitely help if the #Struggle is real. Also, as I mentioned before and I'll say it again, they're free. So download, connect, and enjoy!

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A Work in Progress

Let's start the first measure of our musical endeavours with an introduction; Hello, my name is Jenice Tupolo. I am currently a third-year at Chico State, located in Northern California, and investing most of my time writing news for The Orion and receiving a B.A. in Journalism and minor in Marketing.

Although most of my printed words goes to reporting news, the dream is to work in Music. Okay, I know music is a pretty broad area of work so let's talk specifics. If I could, I would spend my days attending and writing everything and anything about music festivals. 

My intention for the Whole Beat is to spread festival love all over by providing the who, when, and where's of upcoming events in the West Coast. Music on its own is beautiful, but festivals are an experience. 

Rolling Stone, Billboard and SPIN are all publications I would love to work for. Sadly, the only festival coverage I've experienced is all Coachella, Outside Lands, or nothing. Not that I dislike those festivals, because I don't. I just think there are events offering more than celebrity endorsement. For example, transcendence festivals such as Lightning in a Bottle or Still Dream and rave festivals like Snowglobe and EDC (which is usually portrayed in a negative light).  

"...But you're writing news so, why music?" 

What a great question! Allow me to give some background:

I grew up with a dad known as "Big Luther" and "Skinny Luther," due to his singing abilities and weight fluctuation, similar to that of the late great Luther Vandross; a hip-hop dance team mom whose musical peak was Lauryn Hill and Lisa Lisa and the Cult Jam; and a big brother who sits with a Billboard Plaque in his studio for producing a number one record. 

Then there's me whose stats are as follows:

One year of music theory

Three years of dance (which was more like me rhythmically moving my body to sounds in the absence of technically-trained prima ballerinas.)

Four years of musical theatre  and

Six years of choir

My heart forever belongs to my piano, Atticus; ukulele, Marvin; and guitar, Royce. Needless to say, music is rooted in my foundation. 

I'm excited to see where this blog goes and eager to learn more about social media management tools like hootsuite and tweetdeck through my Journalism 498 class. 

This blog is most definitely a work in progress, but as it develops I invite you, the audience, to hold for the Whole Beat.  Sidenote: I tried really hard to get a whole note where the "O" goes in "Whole." If anyone knows how to do that, please help. The pun would look way better. Also, be prepared for a fair amount of puns. Thanks.