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Bougieman- Childish Gambino by Yusef

This song is the third song on the tracklist of “Awaken, My Love.” Out of all the songs on the album, this track has the most funkadelic feel to it. It encompass the repetitive emphasis on the first beat like all funk track do. This song also has the feel of predecessor genre in it like r&b and soul. Lastly, what makes this track most authentic is the lyrics. Like older funkadelic songs this song has positive lyrics that are relative to the time period.

#childish gambino #bougieman

Terrified-Childish Gambino by Yusef

This song is number eight on the tracklist of “Awaken, My Love.” This song possess classic r&b with the synthesizer harmonizing everything together. Also with the acoustic drums giving the proper feel for the funkadelic track.This song is also complemented with the guitar accompanying the vocals of the singer. lastly, this track perfectly mixes multiple genres like rock n roll, r&b, funk and soul.

#childish gambino

John Legend _ Darkness and Light - K’La

December 2, 2016 was the day when John Legend released is newest album “Darkness and Light”. This album has very R&B styles, mixed with pop, and gospel. His album has very good numbers with most people liking the song “Overload” with Miguel. The different features that John Legend has one his new album has taken him “out of his comfort zone”,

When talking about his album he says “ A lot of the album still is [about relationships], but I wanted to show an entire person—not just the person in love but also someone who’s thinking about the world.”

His album entirely is vocalizing things that he feels in his everyday life. Through this soulful and R&B based album, John Legend opens up a little on some personal feelings that he experiences. The song “Right by You” which was written for his daughter Luna, expresses how he feels about parenting and how he wants his daughter to turn out. Other songs on the album talking about his life. He even makes it known that his life is not completely exposed in the songs. He says “While there’s definitely a significant amount of that on the album, you also have to reserve the right to be creative and make things up and make composite characters, just like a screenwriter would.”

John Legend definitely accomplishes a lot with this album.

Candles in the Sun - Miguel by Jenni Collado

The song that I have chosen for the last blog post is Candles in the sun By Miguel. In this song, the instruments that seem to be used are the piano and the drums. The song begins really simple with the same beats over and over again until the beat drops and the beat goes a little higher. Essentially, the same beat is played throughout the whole song until some small beats are added when Miguel puts more emphasizes on the lyrics. For instance, when the hook begins the pitch sounds higher than the intro. I feel the lyrics to the song mean a lot. We are always asking a lot of questions and wondering how and why. This is a song that helps individuals think about all the things that are happening in life. For instance, the intro...

“Is there a god? Is he watching? Is she watching? Are they watching out? If not, what are we doing? Where are we going? What are we doing now? Look at all these people Searching for a reason Searching for a peace of mind Hey, I say we’re all created equal That’s what they teach us But that ain’t how we treat each other Naw, that ain’t how we treat each other Shit, the truth is that we need each other, yea”

The last part of that stanza indicates that if there is a God or not, the truth is that what humans really need is each other. Ergo, if people did the right things there wouldn't be so much shit going on in the world. We have done this to ourselves. Also, I saw this as... what happens if there is a god and if he, she, or they are watching? Are they seeing whats going on and how we turned the world into trash. I like this song because it can have so many different interpretations and the music video helps gives the audience a taste of what Miguel was actually thinking of when making this song... Or if he has ghost writers... then a taste of what they were thinking.

Musiq Soulchild - K’La

Musiq Soulchild released his Life on Earth album early 2016 April 15th to be exact. Though Musiq Soulcihld hadn’t released an album since 2013 with 9ine, Life on Earth was a very good album to me. My favorite song off the album is “I Do”. In this song he is talking about his significant other and things he notices about her. Most of the things about her that he doesn’t technically understand but he realizes he needs her. The first stanza of the song is

Sometimes I don't like you You always got a problem With anything that I do I don't always Understand everything about you But I know I just can't live without you So yeah

He knows that he needs her to continue being happy even if the things she does confuses him. This neo soul artist created this very R&B type album and this song its self is mixed with R&B and soul vibes that make the song more inviting to listen to. It helps us as a people understand that relationships are not always going to be 100% perfect but we need to work toward getting them where we want them to be.

Floetry, the Dynamic Duo - Avery

Marsha Ambrosius and Natalie Stewart make up the neo-soul duo known as Floetry. The flavor of neo-soul they brought to the table was more of funk than soul. They wrote and played a lot of their music in London, where their career started off. Since then, their fanbase has grown. Though they have disappeared from he shelves, Floetry is still very much passing down knowledge and collaborating with rising artists - the very root of neo-soul.

Angie Stone - Avery

Angie Stone has been in collaboration with many neo-soul artists we listen to today, including Lenny Kravitz. She began her career full-fledged in hip hop back in the early 1990. Her talent was well-recognized as she sold over 19.4 million albums in the U.S. and over 30 million records around the globe. Angie Stone's "Wish I Didn't Miss You" was a hit in the black community. The song was soulful, rhythmic, and bluesy as a neo-soul jam should be. The song was smooth. It talked about the cater many people carry in their heart after a break up. Angie instilled her personal story into her lyrics, a common theme in neo-soul.

Say Yes to This- Jill Scott by Ranelle

“Say Yes to This” is a song sung by Jill Scott featured on the 2016 Hamilton Mixtape by Lin-Manuel Miranda. The Hamilton mixtape was released on December 2, 2016 and it features prominent R&B and soul singers covering songs from the acclaimed Broadway musical. “Say Yes to This” was inspired by the song “Say No To This” from Hamilton. On this song, Jill sings from the perspective of Maria Reynolds but she is a stronger and fiercer version than the character in the play. Maria was the mistress of Alexander Hamilton who paid off her husband to keep the affair a secret. Jill sings as a woman who the love of her life does not want, but she still wants him. All of the men want her but she only wants him and he had better look at what he’s got in front of him. Jill is sensual and aggressive with her delivery, which helps to convey how desperately the woman (Maria) wants this man (Hamilton) she should not have.

Um, hey, baby There's no such thing as perfection But I'm offering my love and a genuine connection You can have my loyalty and all of my affection You're looking everywhere, but every road will lead to my direction

The song itself features the cello and the harp along with some samples from the original song however it has a much more soulful feel to it especially with Jill’s voice.

#hamilton #hamilton mixtape #jill scott

Love on the Brain- Rihanna by Ranelle

One of my favorite songs from Rihanna’s album “Anti” released on January 28, 2016 is “Love on the Brain”. Unlike the other songs on the album, this song has a very soulful vibe reminiscent of the Doo-wop sound of the 1950s. This is probably due to its sample of “For Your Precious Love” by Otis Redding. The lyrics are extremely emotional, as Rihanna sings about a love that is seemingly violent yet she can’t get enough of it. Throughout the chorus she references love with violence, the love she feels for her lover ‘beats her black and blue’ and she ‘fist fights with fire’ to get close to this lover.

And babe I’m fist-fighting with fire just to get close to you

Can we burn something babe And I run for miles just to get a taste

Must be love on the brain

That’s got me feeling this way

It beats me black and blue but it f**ks me so good

And I can’t get enough

This violent romantic relationship is a common theme in many R&B and soul songs. The lovers usually know their relationship is unhealthy but struggle to let one another go and end the partnership. The way Rihanna sings makes it clear that she is struggling with her emotions about her lover and their relationship. The song is very heartfelt and is easily relatable to anyone in love or in a similar situation. Rihanna successfully demonstrates versatility as an artist by singing so vulnerably on this track.

#rihanna #anti

Cranes in the sky - Solange Knowles by Jenni Collado

The song that I have chosen for the second blog post is Cranes in The Sky. This song was featured in Solange Knowles’ album titled, “A Seat At The Table.” This album was released September 30th, 2016. This song first caught my attention with the sound of the drums that played at the beginning followed by what seems to be the piano. The piano starts off on one of the lowest beats and continues to elongate. The lyrics are in a form of a poem that recites the beginning part each line with a different answer. In this song, she talks about how she tried to do a lot of things to ignore her true problem. My definition of the song in my perspective talks about a break-up and self development at the same time. It seems as though being heart broken led her to do a lot of crazy things while also motivating her in different aspects to do things in order to forget about her lover. I believe Solange is a better artist than Beyonce Knowles, her sister. The way this album was constructed, seems like more thought was put into it. It also seems more heart felt, and the ideas put into this song and all of her songs on this album are more relatable.

Melting Pots of Genres with Anthony Hamilton - Avery

I first heard Anthony Hamilton on Pandora Radio about four years ago. It was the song "Do You Feel Me", a feature track for the classic film "American Gangster" with Denzel Washington. The song is about commitment and loyalty of his partner. He wonders if she really loves him like she claims.

"You play it so coo l Won't let nothin' show through Won't show what you're feelin now, no And you like to keep keepin' me Keeping me here in the dark And I can't see through into your heart Let me in, in on this mystery Cuz I just can't stay in this guessing game"

The song retells the classic tale of relationship ambiguity. However, the lyrics are laid on top of a new sound unidentifiable to our musical ancestors. It was an evolutionary tango of genres I heard that day - And I can now identify this new sound as "neo-soul" Anthony Hamilton emerged on a path to neo-soul stardom much like many other noteworthy Black American artists - in front of a church. He is a prodigy turned legend, a songwriter that compliments his craft with a wonderfully textured voice that lingers in the room far after the song has ended. His contribution of neo-soul is founded in his roots. He combines rustic influences of R&B + the tender blues of soulful hip-hop. Together, they contributes to the genre "neo-soul". Since 1992, Anthony has produced award-winning, platinum selling, record smashing singles, which have represented him as one of the highest career achievers in our time for R&B. Because of his contribution to "the melting pot" of genres, his music speaks to a multitude of generations - the old, the young, the broken-hearted, and the light-spirited. As a people, our roots are stained with bluegrass, jazz, blues, soul, and more. Fortunately, with the push of studio production and collaborations, these stiff genres have meshed with one another. We have remixed classical arts and created something much more tasteful: neo-soul. While Anthony isn't the first to do it, he continues to deliver through demonstrating diversity in his duos and collaborations.

White Ferrari - Frank Ocean by Jenni Collado

The song that I have chosen is, “White Ferrari” by Frank Ocean. White Ferrari was featured on his latest album titled Blonde. It starts off with simple beats and it adds on as the song continues which keeps the song interesting. The pitch increases as the song starts to reach its peak. Also, throughout the song there some tongue twisters that are hard to understand when you first hear it because it includes some alliteration. This song is generally about taking his lover out on a joy ride and explaining how much the lover means to him. He uses White Ferrari as a cliché. This isn’t the first time he uses cars in his songs as a cliché. Some may say it is him trying to bring out the “straight” side of him. Spoiler… if you didn’t know. Frank Ocean is a gay male. Never the less, this does not stop him from making the chart. White Ferrari hits different speeds which allows a pathway for many individuals to enjoy it. The lyrics hit the soul, at least for me it did when I first heard it. Especially, when he sings and then towards the end it has a rock beat that no one really notices which keeps the song going. From there he goes into a soft whisper while singing that speaks volumes. Throughout the song he repeats some words which gives it a feel like it was set on a turn table and it was going into a remix but it didn’t and instead it just continues. The guitar that is used in this song is played very gentle and is one of the main instruments used. Although it is a slow paced song, I really enjoyed it and it is one of my favorite songs from Frank Ocean.

“The Night Me and Your Mama Met”- Yusef

The song I chose for this blog post would be the song created by Childish Gambino called “The Night Me and Your Mama Met” off the album “Awaken!! My Love.” I picked this song because it completely encapsulates the progression of Black music from early R&B to Funkadelics, Gospel, and Neo-Soul. The different elements are carried by the different instruments used in the song. For instance, the gentle choir in this song create the reminiscent feel of southern gospel quality music. The next part of the song carries the rock and roll, funkadelic, aspect of it by the sound manipulation of the guitar and other string/acoustic instruments. Lastly, the harmonizing of all the elements allows a soothing R&B feel of the song with the acoustic guitar and gentle bells. With the cover art symbolizing southern black culture. It is easy to understand the direction Childish Gambino was heading when making this track.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HT4MgAtBbJA

#childish gambino

“Blended Family (What You Do for Love)” -Alicia Keys by Ranelle

On November 4, 2016 singer-songwriter Alicia Keys released her sixth studio album titled “Here”. This album she says, “cohesively speaks so clearly to where I am, and where we are in the world”. “Here’ has a more toned down and relaxed feel in comparison to her previous albums. She focuses more on her personal life and her feelings. One of the featured songs is called “Blended Family (What You Do for Love) ft A$AP Rocky. Keys dedicated this song to her stepchildren as she sings: “Hey I might not really be your mother, but that don’t mean I don’t really love ya, and even though I married your father that’s not the only reason I’m here for ya...” Her lyrics provide the clear message that her love for her stepchildren is truly authentic and unconditional. Keys’ syncopation throughout the song creates a very positive feel, and conveys that a blended family can be a great thing, especially that hers is pretty great. Even A$AP Rocky’s verse on the track adds to the feel-good vibe of the song. The accompanying video is very simple; it was shot in black and white and features Keys’ family including her husband’s ex-wife and other blended families. The video successfully displays the happiness Keys’ family now and the images of the other families show that blended families are beautiful and amazing in their own unique ways. Overall, it is definitely a feel-good song with a positive, family-friendly video by Alicia Keys.

Alicia Keys - Blended Family (What You Do For Love) ft. A ... - YouTube

#alicia keys #blended families #love

Let’s Have a Seat at The Table with Solange -K’La

On September 30th of 2016, Solange Knowles or just Solange, shook the internet with her ground breaking new album “A Seat at the Table.” Solange’s authentic, and raw style meshing with her pop-soul and R&B style created the sound on her new album. This album tackles issues that Solange faced herself saying “one of the important reasons that I wanted to write the lyrics specifically there [in Louisiana], is because I wanted to reclaim that space.... No one's pushing me out of town. No one is going to stop me from telling my story, our story.” Also tackling issues of being Black in America and different issues going on in America Solange uses her platform to speak out about injustices. Solange says she draws inspiration from groups such as the Supreme’s and Martha and the Vandellas but her biggest inspiration comes from her mother Tina Knowles. With her natural hair, soulful voice, and aesthetically pleasing styles, I believe Solange has big things coming her way in the upcoming years.

#solange

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