The stage is dark. Thousands of screaming fans wait in agonizing anticipation. Smoke crawls out from the stage, and out struts a confident blonde woman. With the spotlight focused entirely on her, the crowd erupts into deafening applause as she begins her incomparable dance routines. She is an icon. She is Madonna. History has never seen a cultural figure with as much controversy or flair for the dramatic as Madonna, nor will history ever see such a figure. Madonna’s name is recognized by everyone, as is evidenced in a survey taken of fifty people of varying ages (shown below). These facts alone are enough to engrave her name in pop culture history, but the making of an icon does not stop there. Madonna is the quintessential example of an American icon because of her revolutionary changes to both the worlds of music and fashion; her entire life, from her early childhood to her 50th birthday and beyond, has challenged the conventions of society and changed the face of the music industry forever.
On August 16, 1958, Madonna “Madge” Louise Veronica Ciccone was born the daughter of Silvio Ciccone and Madonna Fortin in Bay City, Michigan. As the third of six children, Madonna faced an uphill battle from birth for the attention of her engineer father and former dancer mother. She realized that in order to gain the attention of both her parents and those around her, she would have to exert her femininity to gain recognition. This realization went directly against her devout
Born in Lake Jackson, Texas on April 16, 1971, Selena Quintanilla-Perez would come to be known as the “Queen of Tejano music.” With the help of different sources to provide evidence and support to my argument, the aim of this paper is to examine how Tejana singer, Selena was able to impact those around her with her career as a musician and through the medium of music. Selena rose to success by continuously crossing over to different markets. She not only impacted her fans one by one, but also brought about social and cultural changes by fleshing out tensions between Anglo and Latino communities by bringing people together through music.
A celebrity is not a person known for his/her talent or achievement, but an individual recognized for his/her reputation created by the media. The phase of stardom is slippery, and media may choose to represent celebrities varying from exaggerated admiration to mockery. The three texts chosen, movie "Sunset Boulevard", feature article "Over the Hilton" and television show "Celebrity Uncensored Six" are texts presenting different perception of celebrities than their usual images - either corrupted by the encircling media, overloads oneself with self-indulgence, or just mocks celebrity in a broad spectrum. Such media items empower and impresses the audience by perceiving celebrities as people who pay the price of privacy to gain well
Popular music is often one of the best lenses we have through which to view our own cultural orientation. Many of the artistic and experimental shifts in popular music have mirrored changes in our own society. For instance, the emergence of Elvis Presley as a public figure would signal the start of a sexual revolution and the growth in visibility of a rebellious youth culture. Similarly, the folk and psychedelic music of the 1960s was closely entangled with the Civil Rights, anti-war and social protest movements. In this regard, we can view popular music as an artifact through which to better understand the time and place in which it is produced. In light of this, the state of popular music today may suggest troubling things about our society.
In 1995, the Latino and American music industry lost an icon to what has become known as one of the most tragic deaths in the music industry. Selena Perez-Quintanilla, only 23 years old at the time of her murder, was known as the "Queen of Tejano.” Despite her short lifespan, Selena achieved what few people had ever achieved before her – that is a successful crossover. It should be made clear from the start that the term ‘crossover’ does not refer to her entrance into the mainstream American music industry but rather her entrance and success into the Latino music industry. Too often this side of Selena’s success story is ignored and the focus is instead placed on her ‘crossover’ into the American market. Such was the case in the film Selena
Someone who is revolutionary is never forgotten and Selena Quintanilla’s legacy thrives as though as she’s still alive.We all know who Selena was, a young, talented Mexican-American woman who was transformative and let’s not forget about Jennifer Lopez portraying her in the movie “ Selena”. She was a cutting edge singer that broke the standard ways of Tejano. Today pop culture performers resemble her style and some even say she was a huge inspiration for them."I think she is a legend and I admire her. She was so talented. Even though she didn't know who I was… I was still so excited that I got the opportunity!"( Beyonce). Her career began as a child and from there she blossomed into a woman that would change the music scene forever. An amazing human being was taken from this world way too soon, but she was an unforgettable talent that had accepted who she was, and represented
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.
Memorabilia is an important area of rock and pop. In addition, memorabilia has evolved widely over the past fifty years. This book does a great job of outlining this, “Today, every item of memorabilia connected with an artist like Madonna – from badges to posters, photos to videos, lines of cosmetics to fashion ranges –has to be officially approved by her or by her management. That certainly wasn’t the case in the past” (144). With all the new privacy laws, this change is not necessarily a reasonable change, for it makes the whole process of commercialization complicated. Full of value, memorabilia’s are expensive items today. The proof has been outlined by this book, “Although the paper itself is only a mimeographed copy, the fact that the signatures were authentic and that the ceremony was such a high profile occasion that sent the price soaring to over
Introduction Music is something that is supposed to inspire people and bring hope. Today the type of music teens listen and feed their mind is not only degrading of women but redefines self-worth and human beings in a negative way. One of many singers and songwriters, Alecia Beth Moore stands out on her own in the pop music industry. Alecia Moore, better known as Pink exemplifies a new age worldview because of the belief in self, belief in reincarnation, and the different shifting commitments. Background and History First of all, Alecia Beth Moore is not only a singer, songwriter, but also an actress that has changed the scope of pop music.
After entering motherhood, Madonna said she had a newfound interest in the spiritual, and specifically, the Kabbalah (a mystical school of thought), Zen Buddhism and Tibet. She cited
Cassie Engstler Miss T. Advanced Comp. 10-10-2016 Creative, Confident, and Overcoming A lot more kids are growing up without parents or adult figures in their lives. Without those figures in their lives they sometimes turn to football players, movie stars, celebrities, or basketball players. But some of those famous people can have bad influences by making bad decisions because of social media more and more people find out about it Beyoncé, Carrie Underwood, and Marilyn Monroe are just three great role models with different quality’s that can impact any kid positively or negatively. Creative and artistic, Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter adds her own twist to the way people look at, listen to, and think of her music.
Jimmie Manning is a current assistant professor who teaches the Master Program in the Department of Communication at Northern Kentucky University. As a specialist in the field of Organizational and Corporate Communication, he has a fair amount of publicans, such as book and academic journals under his name . Manning’s article “Negotiating Mediated Identities through Language Strategies: The Unique Case of Madonna, Pepsi, and the American Family Association” was published by the Kentucky Journal of Communication in 2007. In this article, he takes a quiet distinctive point of view to discuss the influence that Madonna’s album Prayer has towards the temporal and contemporary society as a communication phenomenon. More specifically, the article
In todays hip hop culture, artists often times portray through the lyrical content of their music different fallacies about themselves in order to develop their image or construct a brand for themselves. Although we as listeners under most circumstances are well aware that the songs are just made for the enjoyment of fans, perhaps the artists are becoming remotely too consumed with their lyrics and are beginning to believe that they are the realist in hip hop when they have barely scratched the surface well enough to establish a well enough name for themselves. Andrew Marantz wrote an article on who’s really real in hip hop which definitely will make readers begin to question Australian female artist, Iggy Azalea and her reference to being the realist in hip hop. She is compared and contrasted with several other well-known and legendary artist such as Tupac and Pusha T. Iggy is known for her Barbie-ish appearance and her strategically placed beauty mark that makes listeners and fans question whether or not she’s really real. Marantz uses various rhetorical strategies throughout the article in order to effectively construct his argument and he also references memorable moments in hip hop that recognized Tupac and other artists who are considered as icons in hip hop and who are legendary and in essence, “the realist.”
Madonna Louise Ciccone, best known as Madonna was born August 16, 1958 in Bay City, Michigan. Madonna has many occupations, but basically known for as a singer/songwriter and actress. She also has written children’s books, has directed, and is a philanthropist. (Wikipedia) Madonna should be admired for
When society looks back at a decade, “the 80s” for example, the music of that time is what most clearly defines it. Music is an international language, a way to communicate, to spread a message. Two influential artists or bands I will discuss throughout this paper are The Beatles and Michael Jackson.
The popular culture of music has changed dramatically over the course of sixty five years. Since this time, new genres of music have been introduced, existing genres have changed, and fixed stereotypes have been associated with certain genres of music. Music has become a major part of popular culture, and is portrayed almost everywhere in first world societies, including on television, radio, at shopping centers, sporting events and in every area of popular culture. Music has become a major part of popular culture, and continues to strive and develop into more and diverse areas of culture.