Music
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What to Watch for This Black History Month
The first Black History Month of the decade is upon us. Everyone–black, white, and every shade in between–may have an opinion on these annual 28 days (29 this year – wooh!) dedicated to blackness, but regardless of opinions, Black History Month is hard to ignore if you live in the United States, Canada or the UK. This decade also marks 100 years of African-Americans recognizing Black history; even though Black History Month only became recognized in the United States in the 1970’s, historian Carter G. Woodson first brought up the idea of a Black History Week in 1926. Here is a short list of some new media to consume this…
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Is Jimi Hendrix Black?
Of course he is, but we forget that fact. Here’s the issue: If I ask the average music fan to list legendary rock legends, Jimi Hendrix would likely be one of the first names out of anyone’s lips. However, I’m sure if I poll the streets asking people to name iconic black music legends, Hendrix would be a mere afterthought. For example, here is a list titled “12 Black Musicians Who Changed Music Forever,” and Jimi Hendrix is not on it. We all know the narrative of African Americans being the originators of two major music genres that are, ironically, probably the least popular among black listeners today: rock and…
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I’m black first, a woman second.
Which part of my identity is the most overpowering? Should I be more loyal to my race or my womanhood? I would frequently ask myself this question as a child. I used to imagine a scenario where a line was drawn on the ground—one side representing blackness, the other womanhood—and I would have to choose a side to stay on forever. I can’t explain why I put so much stress on myself over such hypotheticals at age 8. I later dismissed this scenario on the grounds of absurdity and because I realized that it is idiotic to think that you must be more loyal to one part of your identity…
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Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino Review
The Arctic Monkeys released their sixth studio album earlier this month, after a five-year hiatus. In truth, no two Arctic Monkeys albums are alike–the band’s discography has a unique, but not an entirely consistent sound. That being said, Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino is definitely the band’s boldest effort so far, deviating from the harder, more psychedelic rock sound of the critically acclaimed AM. However, this comparison does not mean that Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino does not deserve its own acclaim. The end result of Alex Turner overcoming his writer’s block, this album is unique in that Turner used a piano to compose it, rather than his usual guitar, which explains the softer sound…
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Top 10 Albums of 2017
2016 was a great year for music and it brought on excitement for what 2017 would have in store, and this year did not disappoint. However, what was interesting about 2017 is that a large number of well-established popular artists released albums this year, such as Ed Sheeran, Drake, and Taylor Swift, but newcomers and underdogs seemed to have favoured the opinions of critics and captured the attention of listeners. This was a great year to have your music career kick off, as many of the best albums of the year are debut albums. There is one particular music genre that took over this year: trap music. This mass takeover…
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Artist of the Year
This isn’t about whether you like her or not. This isn’t about whether you think that she is musically talented or not; after all, she is a trap artist, not the next Sade. I encourage anyone who thinks that there is another artist who has had a better year than Cardi B to challenge me. Many people have been following the Bronx-born rapper since her early days on social media, most notably, since her legendary “a hoe never gets cold” post. My first time seeing Cardi B on screen was her debut on season 6 of Love & Hip Hop: New York. I remember hearing her talk for the first time and…
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Why Did Prince’s Real Revolution Never Take Off?
A few years ago I favourited a tweet by B.J. Novak that I never forgot. I never forgot this tweet because I knew that it was a prophecy. For some reason, we act like entertainers are immortal, usually because they create media that we have the ability to preserve, well… forever. Our perceived humanity of such people is taken away until they die. Oh. This seems to be especially true for underrated artists–the ones that are perceived to be too different and unwilling to undermine their artistic integrity for sales. Despite how well-respected he was in his industry, I will forever claim that Prince is one of the most underrated artists…
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Drake as a Culture
When I was in Leeds in July 2016, we went to the university pub and had a “British Trivia” night. One of the questions was “who currently has the #1 track in Britain?” Four out of five people on my team, including myself, knew that the answer had to be Drake… no question. However, our last member was certain that it couldn’t be. I’m not gonna lie, this hesitance was warranted, since Drake’s latest single was “One Dance,” and the single was released over three months prior. But of course, the answer was “One Dance.” What did I learn from this? The answer is always Drake. “Who’s your favourite artist right now?”…
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Top 10 Albums of 2016
Despite how terrible many of the events of 2016 have been, not everyone had a bad year. Honestly, there are quite a few music artists who had an amazing year. 2016 has been an incredible year for music and a year that has seen the emergence of so many new trends that are sure to carry on into the new year. Firstly, this year saw many artists experimenting with genre-mixing in their albums. It is beginning to be difficult to determine what constitutes R&B, rock, soul, indie, or even rap anymore. Artists who we associate with one genre have began branching out or incorporating multiple genres into their music. Many genre mixes were…
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Freedom! ’16
Pop singer, George Michael, has passed away at the age of 53. With the amount of times he emancipated himself throughout his life, whether in his music career or personal life, it is fitting that he passed away on December 25th, a day dedicated to new birth. There has seldom been a more emancipating music video by a recording artist than “Freedom! ’90.” Although he was forced to make a video to promote this single, what Michael offered is nothing shy from a brilliant  fuck you to the industry that was making him do it. Not only did he not appear in the music video at all, but George Michael’s most noteworthy video has him…
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