Popular music

the horrible issue of slavery. Racism also shows its presence in music as well. Before taking this class, I had never thought about the implications that race had in the musical world besides the obvious use of slang and references to race in various genres of today’s popular music. After taking this class, I learned that race has a considerable impact in how music sounds, what music is popular, and how it influence other music. The first thing that I learned and what really struck…

The top spot goes to the American rock guitarist and singer - Jimi Hendrix. Hendrix is best known as one of the most influential electric guitarists in the history of popular music. The top tracks of Hendrix include: “Purple Haze,” “Fire” and “The Wind Cries Mary.” 2. Kirk Hammett - certainly shaped Metallica’s sound on wildly popular songs…

As briefly mentioned in the previous paragraph, potentially offensive content such as swear words, sexual references and drug references are quite often grounds for censoring by radio stations, governments and society in general. Music censorship even occurs as a result of an artist speaking openly about their political views. One such example is when songs by Dixie Chicks were no longer given airplay on American radio stations due to the band’s lead singer, Natalie Maines, insulting President…

beginning of the Great Depression in the 1930s, when radio replaced sheet music as the driving force of American popular music. Others would say that Tin Pan Alley continued into the 1950s when earlier styles of American popular music were brought about such as rock and roll music.…

Popular music is one of the primary influences on how we see gender. Pop seems inescapable and is constantly shaping the way we think whether we consciously realize it or not. Hotline Bling by Drake, How Deep Is Your Love by Calvin Harris and Disciples, Blasé by Ty Dolla Sign, and Good For You by Selena Gomez all send specific messages about gender and how each should act and react. In the song Hotline Bling, Drake sings about a love lost. We hear these songs all the time and it is…

Therefore, it appeals to the general public, being a popular track on several hit radio stations. It won four Grammy Awards in 2011, including Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, and Best Country Song. The speakers talked about feeling lonely at night, and needing their partner. Although the sound of the music is not typical for popular music today, it does have the typical lovesick song, where two people love each other…

If popular music is a reflection of society then Irving Berlin’s music is no exception (Martindale 274). His music was the soundtrack for much of the twentieth century: it went to war with the soldiers during two World Wars; it brought hope and inspiration to the entire country during the Great Depression, and celebrated the American way of life (Martindale 274). Israel Baline was born on May 11, 1888, in Temun, Russian Siberia. When Israel was only four years old, for fear of persecution from…

When natural disasters are referenced in pop culture, they rarely carry a connotation other than chaos and catastrophe. As soon as someone hears the term “natural disaster”, his mind quickly jumps to an impactful event that somehow represents sorrow, loss, and disorder. These connotative words are especially helpful to musicians who are struggling to find a universal, relatable way to communicate the feelings and emotions in their lives. For this reason, despite the fact that there have been…

cultural values between popular music and the individual. Lorde recognises the accumulating trend for artists to promote a lifestyle of excess consumption. Her themes relate the shift of popular culture to valorise wealth, power and hedonistic behaviour. Effective use of imagery highlights the disparity of the personal experience and the lifestyle expressed in Hip-Hop and Rap. This essay will thus explore how Royals reflects the representation of materialism in popular music. ‘Royals’ highlights…

progression of popular music throughout America is affected by countless influences that have been instrumental in the inspiration for musical artists. The primary motivation of the artists in the United States has definitely been drug culture that was the largest at a specific time period. Popular music would have taken a completely different and unthinkable route if deprived of the publicized use of recreational drugs by famous musicians. The involvement of drug culture in the music industry…