Comparing Tobymac And Blu Collar Worker

Music has a dynamic ability of influencing emotions, from mood regulation to rumination and self-expression. The presence of political and social messages in popular music is frequently seen across cultures, in particular focusing on social issues and racism (Back, 2000, 127). This paper attempted to explore the political and social messages in popular music, more specifically it investigated the relationship between Soul music and civil rights movements in the United States.

Hozier’s 2015 song “Work Song” suggests that true love comes from hard work, devotion, and sense of faith. The author creates a story that illustrates how someone who is miserable and at his lowest point, can find love and finally have a greater purpose. Hozier’s song encourages his listeners by showing them that true love can make someone strive to be better. As the song progresses, rhythm, the juxtaposition an image, and careful diction convey that above all, love is the root of happiness, but it is not achieved without laborious work.

Hozier’s 2015 song “Work Song” suggests that true love comes from hard work, devotion, and sense of faith. The author creates a story that illustrates how someone who is miserable and at his lowest point can find love and finally have a greater purpose. Hozier’s song encourages his listeners by showing them that true love can make someone strive to be better. As the song progresses, rhythm, the juxtaposition of images, and careful diction convey that above all, love is the root of happiness, but it is not achieved without laborious work.

McBride uses emotional, logical, and ethical appeals to drive his point. His use of emotional appeals are used to get attention and provoke thought from people who may have similar backgrounds to his, or those who may have a strong opinion towards hip hop culture. An example of this would be “hip hop remains an enigma, a clarion call, a cry of ‘I am’ from the youth of the world” (McBride 1). A clarion call is a strongly expressed demand or request for action- a plea, essentially. This pairs with the word “cry” to create a sense of despair in the youth of the world. By grabbing the reader’s heart as well as their attention, this moves the reader to consider the music as more than just defiance.

Today many people feel compelled to buy anything or everything with an expensive price tag. This includes Expensive designer clothes, latest gadgets, expensive vehicles and many other similar things. This form of consumerism has embedded itself in today’s society; where it's encouraged to invest in such materialistic possessions. Kanye West is an African-American rapper, producer, and entrepreneur, who articulates his struggle with consumerism and the struggle for those around him in his song “All Falls Down.” West, utilizes puns, rhyme, and juxtaposition to highlight the issues surrounding materialism that can be interpreted differently by different listeners such as African Americans and White Americans.

In these songs, one can unearth the heart’s deepest desires—desires that are so basic, so undeniably human, that they cannot help but underscore the dehumanizing condition of slavery.

Chris McCandless was a young adventurer who went to extreme lengths to finish what he

Initially, I found Singer’s writing to be absurd and unrealistic. However, these emotions led me to reflect on myself and humanity in general. I was surprisingly led to the conclusion that Singer is correct in the sheer foundation of his argument. Ultimately the main reason why I originally felt offended by Singer’s writing is that he blames and inflicts guilt on us as readers. I do not necessarily agree with Singer’s approach, nor do I think guilt is necessary to his argument. This article must be relevant to me in at least some of its notions if Singer’s words can influence my emotions. If this were not the case, the article could simply be brushed off and forgotten much like an informative essay could. The main reason that Singer’s writing is offensive to readers is because it forces us to consciously realize that people are

Have you gone to college? Does going to college really mean that you are more intelligent than someone who didn’t go to college? Well, in “Blue Collar Brilliance”, the author Mike Rose believes that the amount of schooling a person completes does not necessarily measure their intelligence level. Many people believe that those who have completed and earned a college degree are more intelligent than those who haven’t. I agree with Rose that this isn’t always the case. Education is not only something that we can gain in school, but in our everyday lives.

The songs with lyrics that required extensive analysis and introspection on my part. They held more than just confusing banter, they carried the depths of despair or altitudes of happiness the lyricist was experiencing. Like “I’ll tell you just how much a dollar cost/The price of having a spot in Heaven, embrace your loss” from Kendrick Lamar’s How much a dollar cost. After months of analyzing what Lamar was trying to express in this lyric I wondered if a dollar goes toward drugs or overly flashy material goods, is it really worth anything? I understood that Lamar felt as if his greed over money was causing him to lose touch with what was right. Which ultimately caused me to realize every dollar I lusted for meant nothing if I invested them in the wrong

The blues have deep roots embedded within American history—particularly that of African American history. The history of the blues originated on Southern plantations in the 19th century and was created by slaves, ex-slaves, and descendants of slaves. They were created by individuals who endured great hardship while performing endless hours of arduous labor and blues served as a form of escapism. To these individuals, songs provided them with the strength to persevere through their struggles. Blues songs depicted individuals who persevered in the face of adversity. They were symbols of hope to those squandering in the depths of oppression. In relations to the blues, every song has a story behind it and within every story, there is something to be said. Blues artists, through their struggles, detail how they overcame hardship and laughed at the face of oppression. They defied the rules and in doing so, showed African Americans that they too are beacons of hope for the hopeless. The best blues is instinctive, cathartic, and intensely emotional. From irrepressible bliss to deep sadness, no form of music communicates more genuine emotion than that of the blues. Like many bluesmen of his day, Robert Johnson applied his craft as a lonely traveling musician on street corners and in juke joints. He was a lonely man whose songs romanticized that existence. With Johnson’s unique vocal style, haunting lyrics, and creative guitar techniques, Johnson’s innovation embodied the essence of

Throughout history, music has been seen as a medium in which different people all over the world can relate. Adorno criticizes, however, that songs that have the most “hits” on the top music charts or are most listened to, otherwise known as popular music, are being produced for and consumed by the masses as a commodity. He identifies popular music as being a part of a culture used for capitalism, and that we as listeners, are falling into a trap in which we believe songs have individuality and that we have the freedom to choose what we listen to. He argues that in reality these popular songs are all standardized and made to seem different through various elements that are added. In this paper, I will display how Adorno’s critique of popular music being used for capitalism applies to the song,1-800-273-8255, by hip-hop and rap artist Logic, through its standardized elements in both its content and marketing; however, I will argue that although it contains these elements, the audience is actively listening and responding to the song as it brings awareness to mental health and suicide prevention that is changing and saving lives all around us.

Ulmer 1Derek UlmerInstructor HarrisEnglish 15.23-RARD15 September 2017Is a Dollar Worth It?Kendrick Lamar, a thriving African American rap artist, grew up in Compton, California, a city notorious for gang violence and drugs, exposing him to the realities of gang life from a very young age. Kendrick writes about his many experiences in his songs, and usually attempts to deliver a message through his lyrics. Lamar’s song, “How Much a Dollar Cost,” on his album,“To Pimp a Butterfly,” is one song that is clearly intended to deliver a specific message to theaudience. This song intertwines a deep religious message while describing an interaction Lamar has with a homeless man. Since it’s told from Lamar’s

Do you ever wonder what is the meaning behind what you so proudly sing whenever you hear it? Music is an art form of culture which organizes sound with times It first came around in prehistoric times, however, as times passes, music is drastically changing. As a result, in the last decades music has experienced drastic changes in the themes they are talking about. These changes are due to the generations and what they are living, political and social actions of the time. For example, the decade of the 80s was the rise of hip-hop and rap music from a local phenomenon to a worldwide known genre of music. Previously, a crack cocaine epidemic had stroke major cities in the USA and it coincided with the rise of hip-hop in black communities as these

“The Blacker the Berry” by Kendrick Lamar was released February 9th, 2015. This incredibly racially motivated song has created controversy throughout America because it tackles racism, hypocrisy, and hatred head on. Although Stephen Best argues that the past defines the present without question, and Hartman believes that many important African American stories have been silenced due to lack of evidence, Kendrick Lamar’s song “The Blacker the Berry” complicates and adds to their arguments by introducing a certain level of hypocrisy that forces the listener to understand a much more complicated moral position than is generally allowed, perhaps an inevitable one.