Cover Letter

            I revised Project Two, the blog post, because it was by far my favorite of the three projects.  I revised my annotated bibliography, because I felt that my descriptions of the sources were not relevant to my topic the way I put them.  After revision I made my sources more clear on the authors stance on the topic as well as why I chose that specific article for my own blog.  I noticed after reading my blogs that I felt that it was more informational rather than arguing on a topic.  I really focused on making my points completely clear and why it was relevant to my topic on mainstream music.  All the information was there but I found that it was confusing exactly why I was bringing up these points, because it felt like my ideas were just dropping off because I was not clear on why these topics were relevant.  I had to keep asking myself “SO WHAT?” in order to do so.

            The most important thing I learned in English 1200 was how to speak my voice through papers without using “I” and to me that seemed effective when I was arguing issues.  Before this class I realized how my arguments make sense but I felt that I was just spitting out information that someone else has already said, or that I was regurgitating information in a paper format.  Allowing for my voice show through without using “I” has really opened my eyes and has made it easier to get what I have in my head on paper.  This is the most crucial tool in writing in my opinion.  I also learned how to revise better and more effectively.  In the beginning of the semester all I did to revise was just to fix the things that I was told to when I revised.  After this class I learned a more effective way to revise, by taking the comments and really digging in to what the comments said and it really changed my paper and the way I thought about what I wrote.

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Annotated Bibliography

Drew, Kenny. "What the F**K Happened to Black Music." All About Jazz. 6 Apr. 2006. Web. <http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=21243&pg=2>.

Modern rap has basically come to ho’s and nig**rs, and still makes the most money in the music world.  Now modern rap stars have no talent whereas someone who has graduated with a Ph.D. in music is never seen as talented in today’s society.  The author explains how modern rappers make millions of dollars for useless crap and how playing an instrument at a high level is not well respected in society.  He also makes it clear how artists that are famous usually have some kind of problem whether they got shot or suffer from eating disorders.  Drew points out how the average person can not tell the difference between great musicians and famous artists.

Mccall, Delton. "Questioning If Hip Hop Has Lost Its Roots." Helium. Helium, 16 Nov. 2010. Web. 20 Mar. 2012. <http://www.helium.com/items/2014826-questioning-if-hip-hop-has-lost-its-roots>.

States that rap in the modern world has lost its soulful roots.  The music is about how much money you make and how materialistic you are, and it is accepted by society.  McCall explains how older hip hop consists of hardships of young black people, however today's rap is about ho's, money and sex.  She claims that hip hop has not lost its roots, but supplies her readers with many reasons on how it has changed since the beginning of rap.

Newton, Abby H. "Mainstream Music: Where Did All the Good Artists Go." Huff Post Teen. 11 Nov. 2011. Web. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/01/mainstream-music-is-about_n_1069230.htm>.

Where has the good artist gone?  This article explains that it’s not about the music anymore, it’s more on commercials and useless products.  You have to be pretty or good looking, drifting away from what really matters, the music.  Explains how producers had to change and not take chances on a group that is out of the norm.  Newton explains specifically on how mainstream music has to fit a slim mold that is made by society, and how producers have to make music that sells.

White Washed. Perf. August Burns Red. YouTube, 2010. Music Video.

Music Video of August Burns Red’s White Washed, and is a clear indicator of how there is more going on in the music rather than just the singer/screamer.  Shows clear examples of break downs, temp changes, and difficulty of the music being played.  This also show the style of dress fits the music being played.

X Factor. Dir. X Factor. Perf. Drew Ryniewicz. X Factor, 2011. TV Show.

This video is about a T.V show about a young girl who messes around with the arrangements’ of a pop song to make it her own, without changing the meaning or quality of the song.  Ryniewicz also shows how to change around elements of the song in order to let her own flare shine through as well as her creativity.  The judges in the video show and point out what makes her stand out over every other competitor, therefor they know what good music is and can point it out.

Yahoo. "How Much Skill Does Rap Take Compared to Metal, or Rock in General?" Yahoo! Answers. Yahoo!, 2008. Web. 20 Mar. 2012. <http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071018185211AADBWYP>.

This post compares rock/metal to rap, and the author puts down rap saying it takes no talent whereas in rock they at least have to learn an instrument.  This really explains and compares rap to metal/rock and brings up the issues of singing versus screaming versus rapping.  This post argues how it is hard to compare two genres of music because they are so different and take different sets of skill to master.

For those who don't think Metal or Screamo doesn't take talent

August Burns Red is known as a "screamo" band and to most people would not call this music, and label it as talentless crap.  What does this song not have to make consider it music?  It has a melody, difficult rhythms’ and chords, different styles of singing, a bridge, a chorus (that does not suck), and a full rounded sound.  Individuals that call this talentless have a closed minded view when it comes to music, and probably is uneducated in the music world.  Even if you do not like this style of music you have to respect the musicians, and what they do.  For example, I do not like country music; however I have respect the genre because it is just a different style of music, and because I have an obsession for Taylor Swift (got to love the guilty pleasures).  There is always exceptions to music and every genre has a band that makes the genre look bad.  For example, some metal band have songs about killing someone.  Metal is not the only one with this problem.

Being a musician myself, my favorite part of this specific genre of music is the talent behind the vocals that is being played, because when most people listen to music all they pay attention to the singer (or lead vocalist).  For example, how many people can name five of their favorite bands’ drummer?, that is highly doubtful.  Now ask them to name the lead singers, I bet they can name tons more.  For example, name the drummer for KISS.  Oh look you cannot do that, but now names the singer for Kiss that's easy, Gene Simmons.  Next time you listen to one of your favorite songs, listen to the music behind it.  Before you tend to bash a song or certain genre, look at these musical elements behind the singer or screamer.  The point of this post is not to say that metal is the best genre of music out there.  Honestly there is no best genre; if you love music, you love all music not just some.  Even if you don't like a genre then you can at least respect it, and recognize it as music.

People often look over the difficulty of the music playing behind vocalists.  In this specific song the band has "break downs".  A break down occurs when the music all of a sudden slows down and grooves, in other words it breaks away from its normally fast tempo.  For all the non-musicians that do not know much about the talent it takes to cut the tempo in half time (cutting the beat from 140 beats per minute (bpm) to 70bmp), it is difficult.  Another common style in these times of songs is a double bass pedal that the drummer uses.  So as opposed to only having 3 limbs playing in most genres of music, now all 4 limbs are doing something different simultaneously.  Ask a drummer if this is harder, because being one myself I know how hard this is.  Look at these kinds of things before you bash a band or genre.  This concept goes for all kinds of music that tend to be overlooked.

 People in these kinds of bands tend to have gauges, abnormal piercings, and tattoos everywhere.  It is just a part of the style of the music.  Every kind of genre has a style of dress or different things they do.  For example, country music are rednecks, pop singers like Katy Perry and Lady Gaga have outrageous hair and outfits, and oldies rock was into the face painting with metal shoulder pads (KISS).  All of these trends are abnormal but cannot be made fun of because in reality they all look stupid, but music as well as dress is a way of expressing of your own personality.  Make sure that you do your research before saying a type of music is bad or unskillful, because you better have a great argument against metal.  Talk to musicians that you know and ask them what is hard to play, because I would say that metal is one of the most difficult kind of music to play.

What it takes to be a talented musican

Music has many different components, but what makes music good? The video posted is a small clip from the X Factor which is a show that takes musicians through an audition process to discover a new pop star. Based on the previous few blogs have pop music has been brought down due to receding talent. In this video, Drew is a competitor on this show but she shows musicianship by taking a pop song and completely changing the arrangement to make it fit her style, and make her strong aspects shine.

 The song, originally performed by Nelly "It was just a dream", was originally made to appeal to a pop music scene, mainly for the radio listeners. So what?  Drew completely changed the arrangement around, such as the tempo, drum track, and the music behind it.  Nelly's original meaning was supposed to appeal to the radio crowd mainly because it was a more of an upbeat/up-tempo song and Drew took that element out of the song by slowing down the tempo, to show her own flare on a classic song. By doing this she took something out of her element and made it her own. Slowing the song down allowed her sustain the notes that she's capable of doing, that showed her true talent. The way she thought about this song and her interpretations allowed her personality to shine through.  When I think of her I see a younger Adele or Christina Aguilera , where she likes the slow aspects of songs, and really belts her voice trough.  This is a true artist and this is what every mainstream artist should be like.  The mainstream music scene should show more elements like in this video, and allow the stars to show their personality through their songs rather than all of them sounding the same.  As shown in the video it is possible to take these already made songs and changing them completely to illustrate talented musicians.

 The judges see what good music is, hence why they were chosen to be judges for this show, and point out what makes music good. Tone of someone’s voice really shows character, along with how you view yourself. For example, one judge said that from her voice Drew sounds like a mature and older women but when she smiles revealing the kid inside her.  Also one of the judges says "you have the spirit of a superstar", which shows again how the style and sound of your voice makes good music, because it shows your true "sprit". If there is an artist out there that can sing with any other artist and fit both their own and the artist they are with, that makes a real musician.

mainstream music stars focus

Many pop music stars seem to lack focus in their music, and are spending more of their efforts involved with the media/the public eye.  For example, there are not many girls in the music scene who are not attractive therefor they put a lot of focus on image rather than music.  Many cases of female artists’ worry so much about their figure that they have been diagnosed with eating disorders, which goes to show that the artists’ seemed to be more worried about looks than the music (which they are more paid to do).    These producers also make their money on various useless products that have these stars on them.  I understand that celebrities especially female ones’ are always being judged on looks by society, however the artists’ main source of income should be focused on their music.  Music is strictly auditory, it does not matter how pretty you are, but in the minds of many people image in an artist is extremely important.  This view screws up what makes music, music and shifts the focus in an undesirable direction.

Many artists that are right on the verge of making it big fall into the producers trap, which is changing their style of music.  A prime example, Fall Out Boy is a group that has completely changed their style of music due to their producers trap resulting them losing many fans that loved them prior to them making it big because of this drastic change in style of music.  This results in music being more about money than its original meaning, pleasure.  To prove this, hypothetically, a producer was to fire a famous artist the artist would stop making music resulting in Music being no longer pleasurable and strictly about money.  I do understand that this is a wide concept across the board of people being paid for what they do.  This concept is applied to many things such as pro football, basketball, hockey, or any other pro athlete.  If this genre of music is known as talented then why the hell to these musicians worry about how they look or how the media views them?  Their job is to make and perform music, and all of their efforts should go toward their music.

The general listening age of this style of music is from teens to young adults.  People often have asked how come teens do not listen to other genres of music, and listen to rap and pop religiously.  When you are a teen these artists are everywhere from TV to radio to billboards to computer, and if people have not heard of the groups you listen to then peer pressure is likely to kick in.  This age group is likely to gossip about these stars, whether it is her being pregnant, or he's in jail, or he was busted with thirty pounds of weed.  So why do producers like to make these artists’ stars?  The only reason is because it sells.  There is a simple way to help with this problem if you agree with what has been said about this issue.  Open your horizons; go out of your ordinary music taste, because you may never know what you may find.  The best artists are ones that no one has heard of, or that are hard to find.  They tend to be good because they are making music for the sole purpose of pleasure or they love it, and are not in it for money.  This encourages the musicians to better their skills to appeal to their listeners, and grow.  Ponder this…Do you think some of the most famous artists’ still go out and practice their skills aside from their songs? They are already at the top.  Do you think they want to achieve any higher if this is the case?

Mainstream Music Sucks

Why does mainstream music suck?  The primary reason for the production of mainstream music is solely for profit.  Producers’ goal is to benefit by making as much money as possible.  Producers’ will produce what sells, and sadly computer generated music sells.  This style of music sells because it is catchy, producers do not want to take a risk by trying something new due to CD sales being wiped out, and it makes you want to dance.  I feel like too much credit is given to this genre of music, because everyone seems to like this music. 

Have you ever had that song that for some reason you remember vividly?  Or those songs that just stick in your head, and most of the time you do not even know who sings it, you just know the chorus?  All modern rap music is catchy, and for that to happen people have to be able to sing to it or play the beat.  If you are not able to make these connections or do these then you are less likely to like it.  As a musician myself these beats and rhythms are easy and boring, but in the general public's’ eye it is enjoyable and the public usually likes it.  To be catchy it has to be simple and that is where the lack of talent arises.  The main aspect of mainstream music is the chorus and how it is played over and over again.  All the popular pop stars have to form to this criterion in order to make money to make it big.  This is why bands and artists change their style, where all the pop bands begin to sound the same.

By the lack of talent in mainstream music is partly caused by CD sales being down due to the sharing or illegally downloaded music.  Producers have had to change the way they do their business because they do not want to risk with a group that is out of the ordinary, because they do not know if these artists will sell, resulting in all mainstream music sounding virtually similar.  Now that there is software that is eliminating the CD business, producers have lost substantial amounts of money which drives them to not take chances with groups that do not fit this mold placed by society or the market of music.  It is sad that people like this non talented music, but if you were to talk to anyone that has a music/musician background, does not matter what kind of music, they would agree with me that this new era of mainstream music has gone downhill and is gradually getting worse by the day.

There is a simple way to slow this pop problem down.  Expand your music horizons and go out of the ordinary with your music preferences.  If everyone keeps buying this mainstream music producers will keep producing this genre, however if their sales decline then they will be forced to try something new and singing new bands.  Next time you hear a great, local, no name band and you like it, buy their CD, it says that you appreciate their music and you support great musicians.  If everyone were to do this then it would make producers sign more of the local no name bands, they would keep their same style, and the producers will not make them change their style.   Go through your parents old school CD's because you never know what you may find.