Censorship

Censorship is an important tool that the federal government uses to shape and mold people into good citizens of the United States of America. The September 11 attacks triggered the music industry to become sensitive to its output of songs that might be controversial. The FCC Enforcer fines a radio station for playing the bleeped version of Eminem’s “Real Slim Shady” and the FTC tells the music industry to stop targeting young audiences with inappropriate music. These incidents seem to be relevant reasons for the music industry not to poison the minds of goods citizens, but why not if this is the country of so many freedoms.

Does the government think that its citizens are not intelligent enough to make their own music choices? Could this music hold the key to some truths that government doesn’t want anyone to know about? I think music listeners are responsible enough to choose the music they want to hear and to not entertain the crap that does not appeal to their interests. If parents are responsible enough to rear children, then they are responsible enough to tell their kids that apples and not teeth rotting candy (rap music, heavy metal) is allowed in their home.

Songs such as Ice-T’s “Cop Killer” and Ozzy Osbourne’s “Suicide Solution” give the FCC goods reasons for banning music from radio broadcasting. As stated in Ice-T’s lyrics:
I’m a cop killer, better you than me.
Cop killer, fuck police brutality!
Cop killer, I know your familys grieving,
(fuck em!)
Cop killer, but tonight we get even, ha ha

Yes, these lyrics are detrimental to the hearing of its listeners in that they provide an authentic account of the events occurring in society. The lyrics describe the response to the typical stories we see on the news. The alleged criminal was caught on the wrong side of the railroad tracks and was therefore taught a lesson by the police. The news only reported the side of the story that the criminal was a barbaric animal whose punishment was justifiable.

Ozzy Osbourne’s “Suicide Solution” alludes to the idea that the American Dream may be a fixation in our imaginations. The lyrics are the result of discovering this reality.
Wine is fine But whiskey's quicker suicide is slow with liquor Take a bottle drown your sorrows THEN IT FLOODS AWAY TOMMOROW!! Evil thoughts and evil doings Cold, alone you hang in ruins Thought that you'd escape the reaper You can't escape the master keeper 'Cause you feel life's unreal and you're living a lie

I don’t think these lyrics are enough motivation for a person to actually commit the act of suicide, but the lyrics provide a platform for building conversations around the topic. Many people suffer from this plague, so why ban this music it when it’s a relevant topic. Living in a state of denial is what will lead to this kind of human destruction.
We should question the society we live in when artist release music that is morally disturbing or lyrically suggestive. What element did we miss that they are trying to inform us about. Is this horrible music representative of the society we have become? What society created the people who would make music about killing cops and self? Someone has to be held accountable for the construction of the American Dream.

Music and Women

The videos of Leslie Gore and Rapper Lil’ Kim are almost complete opposites in their portrayal of women. It is obvious that the roles of women from the 1960s to the 2000s have evolved in such a way that it should be called the “The Complete Emancipation of Women”. In Leslie Gore’s video, she takes on a somewhat traditional helpless demeanor for her need for a man. She is crying because he left her and broke her heart. Now wait a minute, my girlfriends and I know that is a big “no no”- you can’t be running around with mascara drooling down your face because that joker is losing his mind. Mac products cost way too much to waste on a bad habit that needs to be dropped. In many of the mid shots taken of Gore’s body, you can see how she has conformed to the expectations of women based on the attire she is wearing. This woman has on a two-piece suit that is combined with a full coverage shirt that touches her neck, but not yet a turtleneck shirt. Good women don’t show an excessive amount of skin and they always behave in an orderly manner. While Gore doesn’t miss any of these criteria, her background dancers do entice the male population with the waves of their scarves. The wide shots of the background dancers show that women are to be desired, but should remain in their respectable places based on their background positioning behind Gore in the video. Form fitting shirt and pants maintain the male’s interest while the point of view shots of Gore maintains society’s perspective of women during this time period.

In comparison to Gore’s video, it seems as if it easier to conclude that Lil’Kim’s video is somewhat erotic. The production of this video announces women’s full emancipation from men and stereotypes that women are expected to conform to. Lil’ Kim makes it clear that there is no crying at her partying and that she is in full control of the men and not the men in control of her. The lyrics of the song convey the message that women will entertain and use men for their own conveniences. The male will not be the only one who to enjoys pleasures of their relationship. The clothing worn by Lil’ Kim and the dancers supports the idea that women are no longer passive but now assertive about their demands from men. If the idea is not understood through the use of very little clothing, then it is stated directly with the use of hand and body motions in specific places.

One very important idea that women have to consider is how they want to be perceived. If women are using music and music videos to express themselves, how is this done without demeaning the woman population? How can we demand respect while at the same time not lose respect. I have to disagree with both Leslie Gore and Lil’ Kim. Gore plays it a little bit to safe for me, while the ideas of Lil’ Kim are too extreme for me. As women eventually find a balance between the two ideas, both men and society will have to give women the respect they deserve.

Music Consumption

My musical consumption beginnings were shaped by my parents’ choices for music. I can remember the sounds of Marvin Gaye and Al Green that graced the radios in the home and car. Wait a minute, I do remember my father having an 8-track player in one of his cars and the radio at home was really a record player. This explains the smooth sound of the music. Although I was too young to understand all the emotion wrapped in these artists’ songs, there was always this special presence that could be felt through the lyrics. This music was great but my interests in music would continuously change.

It was at my grandmother’s home where I discovered gospel; it had the same feel as the Mr. Green’s music but included a spiritual element. Artists such as Mahalia Jackson and Shirley Cesar could redeem any soul and it didn’t have to be on a Sunday. For my grandmother, I wore my little white ruffled socks and clapped my hands like a good girl as if this was the only sacred music I would ever consume.

Finally after many years of listening to music chosen by the adults in my life, I broke away and found ownership in my own choices of music. At around the age of 12, I embarked on a musical journey with my beloved oboe. Yeah, it sounds weird but freedom came via the oboe. An oboe is a double reed instrument that sounds just like a duck. It is the same family with the bassoon, except for a mini version that resembles the clarinet and costs you $12-$15 for a reed. It took me 6 months to acquire a descent melody on the oboe, but when it finally came blasting out, it was beautiful. I became one of top oboist in my district and played many solos until my twelfth grade year in high school. The oboe could only participate in concert settings that consisted of Bach and Mozart and could not take on the pop music being played in marching band. Due to this hindrance, I joined the school’s dance team so I could participate in marching band and pop culture.

During high school into my college undergraduate years, I found listening pleasure in Usher, India Arie, Lauryn Hill NSYNC , light rock, and neo soul. I will never forget how I discovered light rock. It happened during a summer job I had at Cato Fashions. This was the store’s assigned radio station and it played light rock until it had you singing it in your sleep. I can recall being out with friends and hearing a “Cato” song and following along with the lyrics. My friends would always tease me and say I worked at Cato for way to long. In college, I fell in love with India Arie and the guitar she used to produce her beautiful songs that contained authentic life lessons. For a period of time, these were the CDs in the disc changer until I embarked on new musical encounters.

Currently, my musical tastes consist of almost anything available on the radio or downloadable to my MP3 player. Last summer, I had a chance to attend a Maroon 5 concert in which I was taken away by the live performance. I consumed the tastes of the islands with reggae music that I discovered on frequent trips to New York during that summer. At this point, I completely adore the Justin Timberlake and his sensational rhythm and blues sound. The last songs I downloaded as ringers for my cell phone were Leona Lewis’ Bleeding Love and Alicia Keys’ Like You Never See Me Again. Music has functioned as a tool of expression in my life and is continuously changing in relation to my perspectives and personal experiences.

School of Rock

The viewing of the School of Rock video was an entertaining and enlightening text that provided an in depth view of pop culture and pop music. Mr. S (Jack Black) used the teaching of Rock and Roll to challenge the student’s ways of thinking about school. He presented himself as a nontraditional teacher and frowned on the use of merits and grades in schools. Although Jack did not relate music to the main academic subject areas, the music provided students with agency to ideas not focused on in the traditional curriculum. Jack told Tamika, the student having the insecurities about her weight that she could be who ever she wanted with rock and roll. Jack also said that the purpose of rock and roll was to “stick it to da (the) man”. Another critical moment in the movie is when the school’s principal has a meltdown in the van after going out for coffee with Mr.S.

These mentioned points above represent an overall definition of rock and roll and pop music in general. Music allows individuals to form any identity that they desire. The composer of the music is able to express the whole self and not just the physical part while the listener identifies with relatable aspects of the music. I enjoyed how rock and roll was described as “sticking it the man”. The man can be thought of as anyone who suppresses the expression of pop music, pop culture, and any other expression. Many musicians have used music to speak out against social and political injustices. For example, the Dixie Chicks used their song Travelin’ Solider to reveal the truths about war and later to publically denounce President Bush. Natalie Maines, the group’s lead singer said she was embarrassed that the President was from Texas and hence, the cause of soldiers not returning home from war. Another pop music artist that uses his music and lyrics to speak out against social and political injustices is social conscious rapper Common also known as Common Sense. Common discusses topics that range from discrimination in the song “U black Maybe” all the way to the topic abortion discussed in his newest song “Retrospect”. Both the Dixie Chicks and Common have used their music via freedom of speech to “stick it to da man” by talking about topics that others are reluctant to discuss. The School of Rock video also made me think about how the school’s principal had become entrenched into the life of academia and how she adopted a new identity as described in the University of Chicago Clouding Issues article. The principal assumed that if she did not facilitate an uptight school (depiction of herself) that students would not learn. Students were allowed to listen and play classical musical or the safe arts, but were not allowed to entertain rock and roll music that would not align with the values of their bourgeois parents.

Pop music and culture provides freedom for its participants, while mainstreamed doesn’t mean that it is highly favored by all. Like rock and roll in the School of Rock, music is more than a tool of entertainment, but a tool for expressing a variety of opinions. If schools understood this form of expression, they could be more responsive to the students who are influenced by this pop culture. Schools in their traditional forms of teaching mandate students to learn and think in a linear manner without offering the option to reject or question what is being learned. Children of today do not live in these ways, but live in the world of pop culture that allows them to form their own identity and ways of thinking.

http://www.bayoubuzz.com/News/Entertainment/Grammy_Awards_Play_Politics_With_Dixie_Chicks__2796.asp


http://rap.about.com/od/genresstyles/p/ConsciousRap.htm

What is pop music?

After reading the articles on pop culture, I was able to develop a more condensed definition of pop culture even though it is composed of several genres of music. I was really shocked at the beginnings of pop culture which started in minstrel shows. I was surprised to discover that these parlor songs were so popular and accepted by white audiences. The minstrel songs were used to depict Blacks as a part of the underprivileged class while simultaneously saying that they were happy people living in this condition. This pop music was used to express social and political incorrectness while revealing the desires of Whites to consume the identities of Blacks. This seems logical, because to some degree the text (song) is somehow connected to the individual whether it is directly or indirectly.

The article that discusses how pop music originated in Britain illustrates how tragic life would be without music. Pop music brought pizzazz and enthusiasm to the lives of British youth. Before their own British pop culture developed, British youth mimicked the fashion and styles of American youth. Pop culture allows for the transformation and globalization of identity/music to occur even when components are rejected and then popularized to be accepted. The awesome aspect about British pop culture is that is served as the rehabilitation mechanism for America during its tragic loss of President Kennedy.

My view of pop music was extended even further after reading the article on Arab pop culture. It seems as if music videos are produced more abundantly in the Arab world than they are in American music industry. Not only is Arab pop music selling, but it is also selling sex. Arabic women have escaped the traditional values of the Arabic world and are demanding respect and attention through exploitation of their bodies. I am sure this is no more sexually explicit than American videos, but this has to be so much more of a “big deal”. I think it is wonderful that women have found voice and identity via the use of pop music and culture. I also agree with the Arab critics who find these sexually exploited women to be demeaning as it is demeaning also for American women. Access to the freedom of individuality is a privilege, but at what expense will this identity be acquired?

The article written by the University of Chicago put into perspective the disconnection between academia and pop culture. I really agreed with the notion that students are not taught to criticize the arts. If you are receiving information that is condoned and approved by mainstream society, then there is no reason for this information to be rejected. Many music artists do use their music to question several social and political aspects, but this is not a skill that is encouraged in schools. Why are schools encouraging the popularization of simple-minded thinking students and later bashing them for not delving further into inquiry? What schools have failed to realized is that students are aware of the important topics that matter in their world and in society, and are using pop music and pop culture to express themselves. Youth’s responses are being expressed, while all may not be with academic jargon, they are expressing their agreements and disagreements via the agency of the pop world.