Robert Fryar
Prof. Santos
1stYearSem
April 26
The process of making my Poster
Making my poster for the STARS symposium was a pleasure. Although I did procrastinated I still had a lot of fun with it. I put in about 4 or so hours in total creating the poster however, I did restart. The original poster was about 20 % done when I decided to retry and put about an hours worth of work in to it. It was a good idea to restart as the final product came out nicely but if I stuck with the original the final product would have come out with many more flaws.
I started by beginning my research. I found a good amount of information on BBC.Com where I was able to do most of the paper from there. I did find some sources via the Library search engine but I did not find anything I could really use for this project. After I obtained this information I then began to write little blurbs about what i read. The facts that I were writing down mostly pertained to the history and the background of music and movies. After I got all the information written out that is when I started designing the poster. I decided to segment the poster in to three parts as I felt that . After all this I just adjusted the colors and fonts so the Poster was essentially done at this point.
In conclusion this poster taught me a lot about music and movies while also allowing me to display to the public. It will give me more experience at presenting my work. The project was relatively easy but a lot of effort was put forth.

country music

This week we learned about country music. Before this class, I only looked at country music as songs about beer, girls, summer, and love. Being a person of color and coming from a predominately white town, I would listen to only the basic fun songs to sing along to. I never really had an interest in it but I listened to some and found them catchy. "Wagon Wheel" by Darius Rucker was the first country song I've ever listened to and I thought it was weird that a person of color was writing country music. After this class, I learned that there is a lot more to country music. There is a story behind a good majority of songs, but country artist tend to get deep and in their feelings about their songs because they are singing about things they love. There is a good mix of love songs and songs that get pretty political.

Country

Personally, country is my favorite genre of music to listen to. After this week’s classes I realized that as much as I listen to country songs, I hadn’t noticed the social issues of today’s society that are discussed in them. After looking into it I noticed that many of the songs created by my favorite artists within the past few years touch upon controversial topics. I found a few examples of songs that discussed homosexuality. In Little Big Town’s song “Girl Crush”, the female artists state “I gotta a girl crush. Hate to admit it”. This conveys the point that people who are gay or lesbian often hide their sexual orientation and feel too ashamed to come out to their family and friends due to the lack of acceptance from some people in today’s world. In “Most People Are Good”, Luke Bryan says “I believe you love who you love, ain't nothing you should ever be ashamed of”. He explains that you can’t control who you love and there is nothing wrong with being attracted to people of the same gender as you. For this reason, you shouldn’t feel embarrassed and instead should embrace who you are. He also alludes to the fact that everyone should be accepting and create a safe environment in which people can feel confident coming out. Kacey Musgraves expresses in her song, “Follow Your Arrow”, “Kiss lots of boys, or kiss lots of girls, if that’s what you’re into”. She showed that it is okay to be attracted to people of the same gender as yourself and that no matter what anyone says, you should love the person of your choosing. 

Country songs also discuss the treatment of women. In the song “Girl in a Country Song”, by Maddie and Tae, the girls state “We used to get a little respect. Now we’re lucky if we even get to climb up in your truck, keep out mouth shut and ride along”. These two female artists call attention to the way women are objectified and how they are portrayed negatively in many country songs. Keith Urban sent a similar message in his song “Female”. In the song he describes women in powerful, positive ways. Urban says “When somebody laughs and implies that she asked for it just ‘cause she was wearing a skirt, oh is that how it works? When somebody talks about how it was Adam first, does that make you second best? Or did he save the best for last?”. These lyrics discuss today’s issue of rape and how no matter what a woman is wearing, her consent is needed. It also talks about how some men may think they’re superior to women which Urban believes is not right, having nothing but respect for females.

Johnny Cash

This week in class we talked about a famous artist by the name of Johnny Cash. This musician was very unique in many ways. For one, he played concerts for people in maximum security prisons. No other artist did this which just further helped his fame. I personally think this is very clever because he is bringing music to people who don't usually get any sort of entertainment which is understandable because they are criminals. Another reason he stood out is because of his unique voice. It was very deep and distinct. To be a great musician you need something like this which helps you excel past the other artists. I personally didn't know much about Cash nor did I listen to his music but from what I've read and what i've listened to he seems like a one of a kind artist.

Country Music

This week in class we learned about country music. We discussed the stereotypes and tendencies of it's listeners. When thinking of country music, words come into my head like patriotism and "redneck." But these aren't things to be ashamed of. People act the way they want to act and express themselves through music. We listened to a few country songs with outdated views on our country. These are thing that are tough to look back on, but just because one person does something, it doesn't mean it is the opinions or actions of a whole group. The songs discussed show how far we've come as country.

Country Music

This week in class we briefly talked about country music. Country music may all sound the same to people who don’t particularly like it, but if you take the time to listen to it, you would realize that is not the case. Although they mainly all sing about the same thing, they all say it from their point of view and in different ways. For example, we listened to “Girl in a Country Song” by Maddie and Tae. The song talks about all the ways guys have viewed or stereotyped girls, which is something different than most country artist. Every artist is different and sings about their own personal experiences. In a way it is a lot like pop music. They both have a wide variety of artist that sing about mainly the same things but in their own ways. Country artist however express themselves without the explicit context and is not sexualized as pop music. That is also why some country artist are also considered pop artist, because they are similar and depending what the song is about and how upbeat it is makes it pop or not. Some country-pop artists are Carrie Underwood, Sam Hunt, Dolly Parton, (who we also discussed in class this week) Florida Georgia Line, Johnny Cash (also someone we talked about) and many more. In class we discussed how country artist try to stay out of politics and sing about “country” things instead. However, from listening to country a lot when I was younger and still now today, I can say that a few artist and songs are definitely not just country and discuss things going on in the world. For example after 9/11, a majority of songs that came out about the attacks were by country artists. Although they may not sing about politics, there messages tend to say more than what some pop songs or other political artists have. I feel like country is the genre of music where you can listen to some songs and find a way to relate them either to your life or something you know about. My mother always loved Kenny Chesney and Carrie Underwood, both of which are very amazing and talented artists. There are a few songs that come to mind when I think of what they have written that are relatable for many people. I think country artists tend to stick to the country image, but there is some who strain away from that and do their own type of country. It sounds the same but has more of a message. Maybe even all artists do it just with a song or two. Country music is the kind of music you can turn on in the background and sing along to and enjoy. Even if you don’t particularly like country music, if you listen to it enough, (by choice or not) you will end up humming or singing along without even realizing it. It’s like pop music in that way, even if you hate the song playing you may find yourself humming along because of how catchy it is.

Country Music

This week's blog post is about Country music. When I was younger, I never really was into Country music. I always depicted Country as slow and depressing. As I grew older, I grew more attached to genre. Although some songs seem sad and depressing, I learned that not all Country music is played that way.

Country music seems to have different themes depending on the artist. Country music mainly talks about the American south and west. Country music displays patriotism in many forms, themes about relationships, partying, staying loose, and anything the artist wants to write and sing about. All music can be interpreted the way that the artists writes it and can also be interpreted the way the listener listens to it.

Country Music

This week in class we discussed Country music, to me when I think of country music I think of a predominately white audience and male artists. Songs about America, love, drinking, summer, and trucks come to mind. When I think of country music I think of happy good vibes most of the time and sometimes sad and sappy country songs come to mind. I am not a huge fan of country music but I do like some songs and artists. I have noticed that many country songs have deep meanings and a story behind them. Country music is a very emotional genre in my opinion. I think that country artists have passions for music and use their life experience as a way of showing that. We spoke about how some country music songs have a very strong sense of politics toward them. We listened to one about building a wall and how the artist of the song portrayed his views towards politics in America to exemplify his message. We also listened to the song "a girl in a country song" I have heard this song before however I never realized the meaning behind it. The two artists in the song are calling out gender roles and are displaying to the audience that they don't want to be just another girl in a country song getting whistled at and wearing short jean shorts. I think that many country songs have deep meanings behind them whether it be about politics, gender roles or about love. Some are easier to assume the meaning with others neededing you to think deeply about the lyrics which I find really interesting about the genre of country music.

Pop Music

   Pop Music as we learned in class this week is the popular music that stands out to people, makes top charts, and is just overall popular. We focused on a couple specific artists like Madonna which was popular in the '80s and also Lady Gaga which is a more current pop artist. Madonna sang songs that expressed situations that usually weren't expressed through music. This brought her many viewers and allowed her to get popular. In her songs she expressed a girl getting pregnant and having a parent accept it. In the video, it showed the difficulties that go along with this type of situation. In another song, Madonna expressed a specific dancing style that was popular amongst gay people. She used these dancers and dancing styles in her music video which attracted viewers. lady gaga used lyrical content and physical features to become popular. wearing different style clothing and using lyrics that showed people that it is ok to be who you truly are. In her song Born this way, she shows all different types of people in the world and she expresses that everyone is beautiful in their own way. In another song we went over, lady gaga expressed a very traumatic topic of sexual harassment. this got on a documentary and got many viewers to follow gaga and her music. Both of these artists used their power of speech to express topics that usually arent and allowed people to have a voice through them.

Pop Music

Before Tuesday’s class this week, I didn’t think pop music contained important messages or discussed serious issues in our world today. I had thought of pop as appropriate music that could be played on the radio with catchy lyrics and beats, most of which was about love or having a good time. When we began looking at pop artists and their music I realized that some songs dive much deeper and draw attention to essential concepts many people, especially young girls, need to hear. Many songs have themes of individualism and building high self-esteem and self-confidence. Many girls have lower self-confidence as teenagers, constantly comparing themselves to stars and others around them which is a big issue. Many pop artists urge listeners to be themselves and be happy with the way that they are.

Lady Gaga’s song “Born This Way” is very empowering. She expresses through the lyrics that everyone was made perfect in their own way and you should embrace who you are and love yourself. No matter your skin color, if you have disabilities, or your sexual orientation, you should accept yourself. Lady Gaga expresses her support of the LGBT community, stating in the song “Don’t hide yourself in regret” alluding to the fact that people should feel comfortable approving of how they were made and coming out to those around them about their sexual orientation. 

In Selena Gomez’s song “Who Says” she also expresses that you are perfect the way you are. Throughout the song, she conveys that no one has the power or authority to determine your worth or how beautiful you are and no one has the ability to determine your potential. She states, “I’m no beauty queen, I’m just beautiful me” meaning that you don’t have to be royalty or a model to considered beautiful, each person is beautiful in their own way.

In “Beautiful”, Christina Aguilera begins by expressing the struggles of being insecure and ashamed of herself. She then goes on to state “I am beautiful” and “Words can’t bring me down”. She conveys that even with your flaws and imperfections, you are beautiful, despite the hate people might give you. The cruel things people say about you shouldn’t change the way you view yourself and you shouldn’t let them affect you.

These three artists and many more used their song to reach out to people and help those who may be struggling with self-esteem problems. Not only is their music important is sending these messages but the appearances of artists play a part as well. Artists like Lady Gaga or Pink don’t dress in traditional “girly” outfits. They dress how they want without fear of judgement or ridicule from others. This sends a message that what other people think does not matter and you should do what you love and is best for you. Many inspiring pop artists hope that young girls listening to their songs or analyzing their appearances will start to view themselves differently, beginning to be more proud of who they are and having less of a desire to change themselves to be more like others.

Hip Hop

In class this week we had watched some music videos on pop music. One of the songs that really stood out to me was “Papa Don't Preach” by Madonna. In this song a young girl meets a guy and she feels as though he is her true love. She went and told her father how she got pregnant and at first he was disappointed and was very upset. I feel as though he eventually felt bad and because of this he finally confronts her and ensures her that he is happy for her. Another powerful song that stood out to me was “ Til It Happens to You” by Lady Gaga. This song is in support of sexual abuse and in particular the college setting. The music video is semi graphic and shows a few scenarios of sexual assault and you can see the emotions it bring out in the victims. At the end of the video it shows friends and family comforting them and ensuring that it will be okay. The video ends with all the victims walking down a hallway together. This song i'm sure touched many victims and I like the powerful message it sends. It shows people that they are never alone in these situations.

Pop music

Hello class blog, this week we started one of my favorite music genres, pop music. Pop music is all I listen to really and I love it. It’s just something you can get up and dance to or have fun and just sing in the car with your friends. Pop music just brings me all these memories of summer and fun and having fun with friends.

            However pop music is everywhere on the radio and it is also overplayed. They play the same 4 songs on the radio in a loop for you hear the same song at least twice an hour. Depending on the song it can get really annoying and repeated until it is stuck in your head for an hour. 

            We were talking in class how pop music doesn’t fit that well into the class description, but I don’t find that to be the case at all, some pop music can be controversial depending on how it is put into context. 

One example that I can think of on the top of my head is the song God is a woman by Ariana Grande. This song is so empowering to the woman and help the state of the #metoo movement. It is saying how a woman has a voice and how powerful we can be. On the flip sideshow, this song to religious people and they might have a problem with it. It is changing the image of God from this male figure to a female and people probably won’t be too happy about changing what he looks like. Also, the music video for that video is kind of sexy and wouldn’t be appropriate at a church even though it is beautiful, it just not Churchie. 

That was just one present-day example of how something can be changed in the context of another thing. I am excited about this unit because I love music and I can't wait to learn more about it.  

Pop Icons

On Tuesday we discussed pop-music. We analyzed what makes it so popular and the people that played such a big role in doing so. Three female artists we looked at were Madonna, Pink, and Lady Gaga. Madonna was, in my opinion, the most important artist. She opened the door for pop-music and created the early sound that future artists would follow. We watched her music videos "Papa Don't Preach" and "Vogue." Vogue, in particular used dance and sound that music had never seen before. Madonna's success was primitive to her staying true to herself. Another artist that is similar in that way is Pink. We heard how her sound was at first R&B because her record label pushed it. But she eventually decided to go her own way. This is the main reason she is the artist she is today. Because she can comfortably be herself with confidence. Lady Gaga became a huge artist that built off the Madonna sound. She added her own tweaks and touches to her style but her ability to take risks set her apart. Throughout the class we learned of artists who went against the grain. Who put fourth a unique sound never heard before. Their ability to perform and create music knowing criticism and judgment would be cast upon them is the reason they became successful.

This week in class we discussed pop music. We talked about what pop music is certain artist in pop music and also about their influence as artists. I enjoyed talking about pop music because I feel as if many people think pop music is just "radio music" or "dance music" when really pop has a great impact on society and the music world. On Tuesday we talked about Madonna and listened to her song "vogue" I have listened to this song before however never knew the meaning. We watched a clip from a film that discussed what voguing is and how it began. Someone in the film described it as "a safe form of throwing shade". Voguing was a dance and a very popular type only when Madonna began showing it off in her video, before that it was underground. Madonna called voguing out because of her interest in the art and the gay community and made it recognized. We also talked about Lady Gaga who deals with personal issues which she calls our and shares them in her songs. Her song "Born this way" celebrates individuality and can relate to her audience on everyone being themselves. She also wrote the song "Til It happens to you" in a documentary about sexual assault on college campus. The song was in solidarity to Kesha, another artist. These two women are not only well known pop stars but are known for calling out social issues and spreading the word on what they are passionate about. I find it very empowering how both Lady Gaga and Madonna use their fame and power to create music to spread political and social awareness on ongoing issues.
Emma DaCosta

Tuesdays Class

This week in class we watched some music videos Tuesday and did another article summary on Thursday. In class Tuesday we watched the music video to “Papa Don’t Preach” by Madonna. The song was about a young girl who fell in love with a guy that she was sure she wanted to be with the rest of her life, even though her friends advised against it. Although she was young, she said she knew what she wanted and ended up getting pregnant. The song is about her telling her dad and his reaction to it which is silent at first but then helpful to her knowing sometimes people make mistakes. The young women seemed to have a good relationship with her father which is important because if they had not been close, his reaction may have been different. The song title and lyrics are “papa don’t preach” which makes me think that even though her dad raised her to do the right thing and be careful she still got pregnant and she doesn’t want her dad to preach to her about how he tried to keep her from something like this happening. Another thing we watched on Tuesday was the part of a movie called “Paris is Burning.” It was about a type of dance called voguing. Voguing is a form of dance that originated when people would use dance to show their feelings and throw shade at someone instead of physically fighting with them. Dancers used it as a safe way to throw shade at someone and whoever danced the best threw the most shade. It sounds like rap battles in dance form, people have come up with new ways to fight with someone other than physically. Another thing we watched that we sort of stumbled upon and watched was Pink’s speech to her daughter after winning a VMA Award. She started by telling the story of how her daughter said she was ugly and looked like a boy and her daughter was only 6-7 when this happened. Pink was taken aback that at her age she would be told that or thinking that, she is too young to be worried about something like that. Pink went on to tell her daughter that she gets told all the time that she looks like a guy, or her clothes don’t look right but she made the point to tell her daughter that no matter what anyone has said, she hasn’t changed a thing about her. She still wears whatever she wants and cuts her hair short, she stays true to herself and told her daughter to do the same thing. People are too worried about what everyone else thinks about them that they try and change themselves to please others even if it doesn’t please them. We need to move on from this and just be who we are because that is what matters, not being or doing what others tell us to do.

Music Videos

This weeks blog post is about the music videos we watched in class. The music videos shown show how images can change the meaning of a song. In some cases the images can be disturbing, casual, bothersome, powerful, and conjointing. Music videos push the meaning of the poetry written to whole other meanings.

Two Lady Gaga songs were specifically shown in class. The songs were ‘Born this way’ and ‘Til it happens to you.’ Both music videos amplified the meaning of their lyrics. The music video for born this way was bizarre in many ways, as it contained odd sequences of many themes. The music video pushed the meaning of being yourself, and not being judged by anyone else.

The music video for ‘Til it happens to you’ is a good example of a video pushing a powerful and serious message, as it showed strong depictions of rape. On a personal note the music video bothered me emotionally. It angers me to think why any man thinks he has the right to do such a thing as rape a women. Rape is despicable and evil under any set of circumstances, and unfortunately it continues to happen everyday. The music video was used to empower victims of rape to show them to not be afraid and to take action. As well as empower everyone stand and fight back against injustice.     

StARS Work

This week in class, not too much went on. I arrived to class at 9:30 on Tuesday, only to find out that class had been cancelled. Thursday consisted of reviewing and researching for the StARS project. The due date is much sooner than I had anticipated, being the 22nd of April, as opposed to early May like I had expected. I registered for StARS late, but luckily my application still went through, so fingers crossed! For the StARS project, we have to relate a topic back to the class, and create a poster to talk about with anyone who may be interested in learning about the topic. My topic is Musicians and Politics. Though thinking back, that’s almost the entire purpose of this course…

However, my presentation will focus on how musicians have impacted / attempted to impact politics, mainly political campaigns, both big and small. I think I’m going to only talk about American politics, to keep the presentation simple, and so I’m not jumping from nation to nation with each new musician I mention. Which eliminates bands like Pussy Riot, who were a very political, revolution-based band out of Russia. The good think about this topic is that there’s so many different musicians / groups who have gone political, and many of them were very popular. Some of the musicians I can choose to discuss include Bob Marley, Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, Willie Nelson, Neil Young, etc.

I’m excited to see what my peers choose to talk about, and I hope to see some of them during the same time slot as me in the StARS presentation.

Kevin Kulig

Kathleen Hannah

This week in class we watched the documentary about Kathleen Hannah and the many bands she created. She is the true definition of a social justice warrior. Although feminism today is much different then it was back then, the idea of equality remains the same. Kathleen lived the life she dreamed of. Whatever she wanted to do, she did and very few people can say they did that. She was constantly in negative spotlight and never even made it mainstream. But her passion for equality and to inspire others played as major motivation to keep going. Her career can be describe with many different terms all with contrasting meanings. Controversial because her message and behaviors were not accepted by all. Inspirational because of how she became a role model for those who never had a figure to meet those standards. And lastly persevering. She never stopped even when she was told she couldn't or when the odds were stacked against her. Kathleen didn't meet my style of music but her story and life were incredible in my eyes.

This week in class we watched a video about how these woman were very different and a lot of people hated them but they kept on doing what they loved, and although a lot of people didn't like them there were still some people that appreciated them. I thought this girl was very weird but at the same time I thought it was inspiring that she didn't let people bring her down. This reminded me of Miley Cyrus because she started being herself and not caring about what anyone else thought and some people didn't like her for that.

Kathleen Hannah

Hello again class blog, it's me again. This week is a very difficult week to write about since we didn’t do much so sorry if it is short.

            This week we watched a movie on the lead singer of Bikini Kill. That was a weird bad, but I like the message that they put out with their music. I like that in their concerts were always ladies in front and men in the back. I still find that that can be dangerous for the line of man and woman in the center of the concert but that’s beside the point.

            The way that they went about all the way they dealt with it. They gave people a voice to these girls who didn’t have any voice to give to the world. They helped them get through hard times and the members get through stuff too. 

            At the end of the movie and we showed what she was going through herself with all the things she had to do. All the things she is going through with the Illness that she showed was very powerful as well. 

            Overall I thought this was a good documentary that we watched in class.