My Favorite Music

     I have always enjoyed music. One of my favorite hobbies during the pandemic quickly became biking to the beach while listening to some new artist. The experience of listening to new artists is one that few other things can match. Choosing my favorite music is a difficult decision for this reason. In terms of genres, I am big into hip-hop, RNB, and alternative rock and roll. Some of my favorite artists and bands include Kendrick Lamar, Kanye West, Gorillaz, and the Strokes. While they don't have much in common, they do share the same qualities that makes all great music so addicting. They all take the human experience- the emotions, struggles, and rituals we all know- and highlight important lessons within that. Kendrick Lamar is famous for his poetic descriptions of racism and class-struggle. Gorillaz explores themes of environmentalism, love, and capitalism with a sound that is both up-beat and serious. Music is an exploration of what it means to be human, and that is why I love it so much. On a more surface level, music is a nice motivator when working out, studying, or doing just about anything. 

    My appreciation for my favorite music has also extended into my passion for guitar. I took a class my freshman year of high school, and I have since been hooked. I have tried learning it all, from Johnny Cash to Elvis. Playing music is an entirely new way to enjoy it. Being able to solo with a pentatonic scale is extremely satisfying once you master it. I can't describe how awesome it feels to be playing instruments with a group a friends, just jamming out for a while. All the stress leaves me. 

    Music is an essential part of understanding ourselves. It can control how we feel, act, and think about the world around us, and that is what I appreciate about it. It can turn a bad mood into a good one. With the right song, anything is possible (as corny as that sounds).

Comments

  1. Griffin JonesSeptember 22, 2022 at 1:48 PM

    That's awesome that you enjoy so many different genres. To me it always feels like a shame when people limit themselves to just one because they each have so much to offer. I also really appreciate music and it's cool to see how you can recognize that music can be really meaningful, but also just a way to connect with people and have fun, or just background to an activity. I think music's versatility and power to force emotion is what makes is resonate so well with people, and I'm not sure what other art form has been able to do the same for me.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousSeptember 22, 2022 at 2:12 PM

    Hey Jalen!

    I love that you listen to a variety of genres and can appreciate the complexities and traits of each! I think it's empowering that artists use music as a means to reflect or comment on the human experiences and life. Also, they create and release music that is great to listen too! Music is so powerful and has such a large impact on society now, influencing people's emotions and thoughts. I would love to listen to one of your playlists!

    ReplyDelete
  3. HeatherLSeptember 22, 2022 at 3:19 PM

    Hey Jalen! I really enjoyed hearing about the different types of music that you enjoy. Most of the people I know listen to music because it is catchy, gives them a mood boost, or just to pass the time. I really admire that you often listen to music in order to hear the messages that the artists intend to communicate. Social justice is particularly important to me, so now I'm motivated to give some of your favorite artists a try and hear what they are trying to say!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Monique Cov.September 22, 2022 at 4:38 PM

    I appreciated how deeply you look into the different meanings of each of the songs you listen to and how each artist sort of generally focuses or is good at writing/singing lyrics a certain way. I agree on your perspective that music can change a bad mood into a good one and really resonate within us in a way we have either never experienced or in a new feeling that we are just trying to understand.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Catalina DegnanSeptember 24, 2022 at 7:44 PM

    Hey Jalen! I loved hearing that you are open to experimenting with your music in terms of listening to a vast genre of music! Not many people can say that about their music taste, so I applaud you for that and especially willing to listen to new artists you've never heard before. I'll admit that I tend to stick with listening to what I know and enjoy so I find it admirable that you are more adventurous. Also, I think it's really cool that you know how to play a guitar. Personally, I play the piano myself and I find it very therapeutic, similar to your feelings about guitar.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Audrey SchroederSeptember 25, 2022 at 10:42 AM

    Jalen, thanks for sharing what music means to you! I think you can learn a lot about someone based on what music they listen to. Personally, I'm trying to expand my musical interest, so I'll definitely take a look at some of the artists you named. Unfortunately, I don't play any instruments so I'm impressed by anyone who can! I hope to be able to hear you play guitar one day and/or to hear your thoughts on your chosen album of the week.

    ReplyDelete
  7. James MaddenSeptember 25, 2022 at 11:30 PM

    Hey Jalen, I respect your openness of all genres of music. I also agree that listening to music is important because it helps us understand what it means to be a human being. I'm also a fan of the Gorillaz. Plastic Beach is by far my favorite album of theirs. Throughout the album, the theme of fakeness recurs. As you said Jalen, Gorillaz takes the human experience and highlights important lessons within that.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Paulos HabtewoldSeptember 27, 2022 at 7:12 PM

    Kendrick Lamar is one of my favorite artists too. I enjoyed listening to the album he recently dropped, and I like his unique way of rapping. Whenever I'm listening to him, I can feel what he is saying. I also like listening to Kayne West, but I am a much more surface listener to his music. I know him a lot more from all the crazy stuff he does.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week 10: Pachinko, Identity, and Family

     Pachinko  is a book so jam-packed with meaning and depth that it would be hard to say everything there is to say about the book in one blog post. The story is a deep examination of identity and belonging- something we've seen in a lot of the more contemporary texts in this class. Pachinko 's wide variety of characters all struggle to feel in place in a society catered towards heterosexual Japanese men. It almost feels cynical in this way, with Solomon and Noa returning to pachinko after working so hard to get an education and move up the social ladder. I think it could be argued that this sort of acceptance, the kind gained from working hard enough to become a model minority, is not the way to find belonging. Family is key here. Society is a hard thing to find belonging in, especially when you exist outside of the accepted and typical behaviors and identities within it. But family is a constant. When society doesn't accept us, our family often does. Noa's happie...
Read more

Week 8: Biblical References

     Pachinko has a lot of biblical references in terms of characters names (which may or not be obvious depending on how familiar you are with the bible). Characters share names with biblical figures whom they share a lot with.     Isak, for example, is very similar to Isaac from the Bible. Abraham, one of the most important patriarchal figures in both Christianity and Judaism, is the father of Isaac. Abraham and his wife have Isaac when they are both very old, as a gift from God, which they are incredibly grateful for. However, God asks Abraham to sacrifice Isaac to him, similar to how people from that time may have sacrificed an animal. Abraham is reluctant, but decides to goes through with it. Right before sacrificing his son, an angel stops Abraham. In this sense, Isak and Isaac have a lot in common. Both are 'sacrifices'- Isaac literally and Isak in terms of his selflessness in general and specifically to Sunja.      Noa is clearly a referen...
Read more

Week 3: Smasher Sullivan

     In "The Secret River" by Kate Grenville, the character of Smasher Sullivan stands out as a powerful representation of the violence and brutality inflicted upon the Indigenous people by white settlers during the colonial period. He definitely shocked me as I read the novel.      From his introduction, where he brags about hanging an Indigenous person, to the end of the novel, Smasher's character is fairly static, showing little to no mercy for the people he encounters. However, one of the most disturbing aspects of Smasher's character is his dehumanization of the Indigenous people. He views them as obstacles and issues to be dealt with, rather than as human beings. This dehumanization serves to justify the violence and exploitation that white settlers inflicted upon the Indigenous people. By removing the personhood from the Indigenous people, it makes the killing, stealing, and other atrocities less morally reprehensible.      It seemed t...
Read more