In this paper, I will discuss the identity of Maxwell, derived from his performance at the Verizon Center. Maxwell’s performance represented his identity as a sensual male artist, whose appreciation for women grew from his mother playing the role of both parents. Furthermore, I will discuss how Maxwell’s influencers have played a role in his development as a Neo Soul artist. First, I will give background on the artist and the genre he belongs to. Next, I will provide background on the concert, such as the venue. Then, I will discuss aspects of his performance that mainly embody Maxwell’s identity. Finally, I will conclude with an overview of how Maxwell’s performance depicts his identity as a sensual, Neo Soul artist. Soul music is …show more content…
Maxwell suffered the loss of his father in a plane crash when he was just three years old, and after this tragedy, he saw his mother become the backbone of the household. The experience made him a deeply religious child, and he first began singing in his Baptist church in Brooklyn, where his grandmother would take him every Sunday for church service. At age of 17 Maxwell became serious about music, and the year was 1990 when he began writing his own songs using a cheap Casio keyboard given to him by a friend. Maxwell was greatly influenced by early- '80s R&B artist such as Al Green, Marvin, Gaye and Prince. While being compared to these artists who influenced him, Maxwell maintained his own style of Neo Soul. Soon, his fan base rose rapidly, and by 1991, he was performing in New York clubs holding up to the comparisons while paving his own path as one of the founding fathers of Neo-Soul R&B. Maxwell often says he was a nerd in High School, and his classmates couldn 't imagine the shy, awkward teenager being a Neo-Soul Pioneer (online video, YouTube, accessed November 2, 2016). After making a name for himself in the nightclubs, he began to get noticed by major record labels. He gravitated toward Columbia Records, but he had certain aspects of his
Page 3 identity such as his creative freedom that he did not want to relinquish. In 1998, in an, interview Travis Smiley, a MTV host who
There is, finally, an artist who has managed to mainstream a niche genre by effectively bridging the gap between elegance and bawdiness with huge musical and entertainment skills. It has taken Santos more than a decade to reach his current “king” status. But his staying power is more than
Ray Charles was a revolutionary pianist and a soul singer who helped shape the sound of rhythm and blues. He brought a soulful sound to everything from country music to pop standards to “God Bless America.” His birth name was Ray Charles Robinson, but he shortened it when he entered show business to avoid confusion with the famous boxer Sugar Ray Robinson. I chose Ray Charles as the topic for my paper after seeing the movie Ray. After viewing this film I realized that there was a lot of interesting information about Ray Charles that I had never heard about. Therefore, the focus of my paper is to learn who Ray Charles really was and to discuss his life and achievements.
The music video “Hawaii ’78” made popular by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole serves as the unofficial anthem for the Hawaiian renaissance movement by focusing on vivid historical imagery coupled with the song’s reflective lyrics to awaken in the audience a sense of urgency to address past transgressions of the native people. Music can be an incredibly powerful tool to communicate a story or to send a message to elicit a response by the audience, especially when the artist is so well loved and respected, and this is where my essay begins.
“You can’t touch music—it exists only at the moment it is being apprehended—and yet it can profoundly alter how we view the world and our place in it” (“Preface” 7).1 Music is a form of art enjoyed by millions of people each day. It is an art that has continued through decades and can be seen in many different ways. That is why Ellison chooses to illustrate his novel with jazz. Jazz music in Invisible Man gives feelings that Ellison could never explain in words. In Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, the narrator’s search for his identity can be compared to the structure of a jazz composition.
As a kid Elvis Presley attended the Assembly of God Church with his parents, where gospel music became an important influence in his life. On his eleventh birthday he received his first guitar from his mom in 1946, he had his first taste of musical success a few years later when he won a talent show at Humes High School in Memphis. He graduated from High school in 1953, he worked a number of jobs while pursuing his musical dream. “That’s
The prosperity of In Paris railway station, two strangers sat down on the same piano bench and performed a remixed masterpiece, which attracted a bunch of people and brought a great joy for them. Such various positive role that music plays exists everywhere and everytime in human beings’ life. Meanwhile, music emits its perfume as an incredible intermingling, as such, it does not only give people miscellaneous emotions but also endows us both microcosmic and macroscopic insight to observe the diverse world we live in. It is worth noting that Moises Velasquez Manoff currently states his own perspective, “The Meaning of Despacito in the Age of Trump”, of the New York Times. Mr Manoff published his opinion based on how the song “Despacito” approaches the most streamed song in history when issues of nativism and panic from both residences and non-residences are skyrocketed. More significantly, Mr Manoff notably highlights the virtue of the song, such as the song itself “binds us as a global community”, considered “Despacito” contains different races, classes even national cultures. In a nutshell, music is able to make the world better and better, insteading of barely making America white again through its capability to strengthen cohesion, ease tension, encourage spirit and build foundation of education for living creature.
With that of culture comes our identity through music. The “death of the blues” serves as an example in how culture is put up to the challenge of change. Melody, Chinatown, and Big Mat represent “the loss of folk culture which accompanied the Great Migration of Black people from the rural South to the industrial North” (Waldron 58). As we begin to read, we are able to interpret their lives and identity in the South through Melody’s music. This
There are many songs that can have can absolute value to an individual and at the same time be another persons “habitus” with relative value. The song I have chosen to analyze is “Promise”, by Romeo Santos featuring Usher. This song portrays such a situation. This specific song is one in which I self-consciously fell in love with no particular reason other then the fact that I love the music and the lyrics. In this essay I will be discussing how “Promise” can resemble absolute value to me but can be somebody else’s “habitus”, I will also brush upon DeNora’s concept of “aesthetic reflexivity” and how “promise” plays a huge role in it.
When the narrator of Johnson’s novel falls in love, it is to music he turns to express that emotion to his intended one (149). She in turn answered in kind, letting the notes and tempo combine with her words in expression of her love returned to him. The relevance of music in Johnson’s novel should not be undercut by the other issues within the confines of his text. Exploring the meaning of this inclusion will be to explore the theme of music itself. It will encompass the examination of the style of music, the generation in which the story takes place along with the issues of race. Johnson’s use of music to develop a story line and illuminate the various issues and themes of his novel is a demonstration of his love of the art form along
Have you ever wanted to go deeper into learning about musical entertainers from the past? All of the types of music we have today came from people deeper in history. Ray Charles is one of many musical entertainers that created a different type of music. One reason he was so popular was because he combined many types of music to create an enjoyable sound for everyone.I chose Ray Charles because I wanted to learn more about why he was so popular in the 1940s-1970s and how he influenced music. In this essay I am going to talk about Ray Charles’s childhood, family, and entertaining career.
The folk singer Josh Tillman exemplifies the power of culture on the cultivation of an artist. Exploring the persona and myth of his alter ego, Father John Misty, I recognize Raymond Williams’ established parallels to his three definitions of culture. This essay outlines how Williams’ theory of the ideal, the documentary, and the social, correlate with Tillman’s expression of music through his ideas, values, and experience, which define his albums and achieve what he perceives as perfectionism. In addition, I examine the historical and societal influences behind his material, and how his image and aesthetic impact his audience.
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.
His “voice” in his music and the moments where he speaks in the spotlight is what has become a positive inspiration and symbol of power to the Millennial Generation encouraging us to be dauntless and original, in order to fight for what is right (Caramanica 1).
Harburg strengthens his credibility and thus appeals to ethos by directly characterizing the singer as someone the reader already knows, like “the kid with the drum” (20), and the reader’s “pal” (23) who they called “Al” (21). He also does this by making the singer relatable to his
This afternoon, I went to the music concert hall where is located in the music building for the listening hour, a small noon-time concert which is performed by the staff and students from the music majors. Since it is a free noon-time concert, most of the audiences just wear the t-shirts and jeans to the concert. Dresses are not required for the concert. The performance today is given by the Ananda Jazz Ensemble. They have played “Running Away”, composed by Bob Marley; “Madalena”, composed by Ivan Linz; “Conejitos y Ananda”, composed by Abi Romero; “La Bikina”, composed by Ruben Fuentes; and “Chukaro”, also composed by Abi Romero. Because this is a Latin Americdan Journey, all of the music performed is jazz music. All pieces played in the concert are an ensemble of piano, bass, and drums. During the concert, I was trying to be a perceptive listener; I enjoyed the music with concentration and paid attention to the music’s unity and variety, such as the dynamics and tempos. I also tried to associate the music with a picture when I listened to it and understand the emotion in the music.