Character Analysis: Beyonce Giselle Knowles-Carter

I picked Aaliyah for this essay, due to the fact that she contributed some things to her genres of music that no one else can or could. Such as bringing back the teen girl's voice back to R&B. She also had a absence between her albums that only deepened her appearance to the world. Lastly her voice is unlike anyone else’s and R&B Golden era will forever have a icon.

Music is a creative art form that allows the artist to construct something that expresses a purpose. It evolves over time and changes as the world changes, taking on many different motivations behind the melody and lyrics. In today’s society, anger, oppression, racism, and negative opinions rule the media and popular culture. I believe that African Americans need to show their self worth and not let white people hold them back. With the music in white culture often mocking African American culture and portraying negative stereotypes, African Americans have to find ways to gain respect. In acknowledgement of the negative portrayal of their culture, African Americans respond by creating songs and videos that express their pride in their culture and heritage, react to white oppression, and communicate their independence.

Beyoncé Knowles, a well-known singer, songwriter uses two of her songs: “Freedom” and “Formation” to tell the story of herself. “Freedom” is the beginning of her story where she is searching for freedom and equality showing that there is still much inequality and injustice for African Americans in America today. The song slowly transitions to a more positive tone when she seems to have made something beneficial out of her difficult situation. “Formation,” however, has a completely different tone. While she does address negative situations from the past at the beginning of the song, she quickly transitions to a more positive tone full of pride in where she came from, who she has become, and what she has overcome. Together, the two songs

Whitney Houston is considered as one of the greatest singers of our generation. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, she holds the record of being the most rewarded female artist of all time. I chose her as my topic, because she represents resiliency and tenacity, despite her troubled experiences with drugs and her personal life. Whitney Houston comes from a family with an amazing, musical pedigree; her mother, Cissy Houston, was a successful back-up singer for Aretha Franklin and Elvis Presley. Dionne Warwick is her first cousin and Aretha Franklin is her godmother. In 1983, Houston was signed to Arista Records and music executive, Clive Davis, became her mentor and helped launch her successful career. Whitney Houston was

Many black musicians used their music as a platform to express the struggles that their community experienced daily during the 1980’s and 90’s. It allowed them to represent their anger or sorrow without acting out violently while also spreading awareness to the listeners about their stories, ideas, struggles, deep emotions, and the messages behind their songs. Lyrics to songs can bring a lot of meaning to a person or society. Music is an art and showcases an individual’s spirit. Hip hop music has brought many messages forward, for example the song Expression by Salt n Pepa had lyrics that showed the public how to be yourself and how to let lose. On page 7 of “Understanding Black American Aspects in Hip Hop Cinema” it talks about how during slavery the slaves would make up songs that would lift the spirits of the people working. Some of these songs had messages about freedom and dreams that the slaves had. Considering most songs have an impact on people, the slaves would create a culture of music that was brought forward. Craig Werner talks about genres and their impacts on the black culture.

Thesis statement: Taylor Swift is one of the most successful female artists in the world who portrays her personal experiences through her music.

Any artist uses their surroundings as inspiration. An African American female artist deal with being the underdog. The situations they were placed in, ended up being inspirational moments. These moments became inspirational because they were personal stories, life learned lessons, and life changing moments. This essay only mentions three strong, powerful, monumental women. However, there are many more females who have helped the African American woman artist culture. They are still hidden. It is essays like this that help spread their stories, and their art

Thesis: By entering the world of music, you can be able to express yourself universally and as well

Over the past few years, racial tensions in America have heightened. During this period, Black America undergo the daily struggle of witnessing the killing of unarmed black men and women. Victims of these endless killings and police brutality, turned into one of many hashtags, which led to the formations of the Black Lives Matter movement. Solange Knowles, younger sister of Beyoncé, soul singer and songwriter was viewed as the angry black woman. Solange used her platform to speak up. She became the most outspoken black artist for black activism in recent years. She embodies the image of a carefree black girl who is willing to let the world know that she is proud of her blackness.

The only thing more powerful in mobilizing symbols, sentiments, and sensibilities than popular culture, is personal and shared experiences. What is so potent about pop culture however, is the ability of its participants to share their personal experiences to audiences than can both empathize and relate to the realities these artists present. This extended period of the civil rights and black power era can arguably be defined as the mobilization of the larger public by popular black figures whose individual charismas and drive inspired collective action. Some of these figures were exclusively political, many of which prominent intellects of race academia and/or known for their discourses that captivated thousands. And then there were figures that used their influence as musicians or writers who, with access beyond those with a conscious interest in politics, could incite people to think and reevaluate their lived realities through song and performance. Nina Simone is perhaps the most politically significant figure of the latter group, as she not only actively participated as a proponent of civil rights efforts, but became a pioneer in black power and feminist ideology.

Music is a very good thing for people because it can sometimes calm a person down and make them feel happy. Music is a good way to express one’s feelings in a positive way. Sometimes people use it for good reasons and sometimes bad reasons. I chose to write about the song “Hotline Bling” by Drake for my project. I think this song shows the emotion of sadness and depression.

Thesis Statement: Music is an essential part of our lives and is important to the development and health of your body.

Speeches and music are great ways to bring awareness to inequalities around the globe. Music created by artists can help support many causes, through their lyrics people subconsciously learn about social inequities. “Known throughout the world, Youssou N’Dour is a musical peacemaker in his native Senegal and lends his words and music to critical campaigns, such as malaria prevention programmes.” (Da Silva) Another example is Oliver Mtukudzi, a musician from Zimbabwe, who helps raise awareness of diseases by shaping his lyrics to inspire people to help his causes. Yet another example is Angelique Kidjo, an ambassador of goodwill, who helps causes like hunger by singing about them. In synopsis, music has a major effect on social inequities and can greatly help change to our society. Lastly, speeches have had the biggest impact on our society out of any genre of literature. Susan B. Anthony greatly paved a path for women's’ rights by tenaciously campaigning to get women's rights to be equal to men’s. For example, she helped women get the right to vote. Correspondingly, in The Gettysburg Address, Lincoln focused on fixing the inequality of slavery and helping colored people gain equal rights. When Martin Luther King gave the I Have A Dream speech, he completely changed social inequities by greatly decreasing racism. “Africans found a particularly poignant

In this essay I will attempt to underscore and celebrate Simone’s activist efforts through song and demonstrate the messages in the music about race, gender, and class.

Although artists do not create certain music to cure diseases or to make scientific or technological discoveries, music is one thing society can never live without. To both artists and their listeners, music provides an indispensible beauty that helps fulfill lives, and connect to nature. Music expresses the human condition in the purest way and affects everyone at a personal level. Plato, a well-known classical Greek philosopher once said, “If you want to measure the spiritual depth of society, make sure to mark its music.” Generally performer collaborate songs to represent the popular pop culture, and social issues, and wish for their society as well as their current era. For instance, controversial issues such as sex, violence, racism