Category Archives: The Big Apple

Views On the 6 Train: JLo’s Claim to Popstardom

May 18, 2016 danielleurquhart Leave a comment

On The 6 was the first professionally produced studio album released by Jennifer Lopez in 1999. As her debut album, which was released in the midst of a new and blossoming acting career, many wondered why the Lopez would want to jeopardize her possible future successes as an actress to record an album. In fact, her role in the film Selena prior to the releasing of the album earned her $1 million dollar check, making her the highest paid actress of the time. Despite this, she maintained that music was something she was truly interested in creating. The inspiration for creating the album at that point in her career came from her recent starring role in the 1997 film Selena which was a biographical picture about the life of the late Latina singer (Sacksteder 2016). Her live and sometimes lip syncing scenes seemed to fuel a desire to record music of her own. Although Lopez has since acted in more movies and released a few albums since On The 6, the album can provide insight into the singer/actresses theme’s drawn from her experiences and the culture of the time the album was recorded and released in. Granted that at the time of its’ release On The 6 was a few months shy of being an album of the new millennium, it is still rich with ‘90s flare.

Even though I was a toddler when this album was released, while I listened to it a few songs were quite familiar to me. Some of them being former top ballads on US record charts such as “If You Had My Love,” and “Waiting For Tonight”, and others such as “Open Off My Love,” and “It’s Not That Serious.” Knowing some of these songs caught me by surprise and I can’t help but wonder if my mother had this album playing in one of our past apartments. I realized however, that it is one thing to recognize a few hits from an album you thought you knew, and another thing to actually listen to it in its’ entirety. I was apprehensive after hearing the few songs that were recorded almost entirely in Spanish. I wondered what themes I would be able to draw from music I had trouble even understanding. I also found it a little difficult transitioning from an upbeat pop song to a slow R&B tune about love and heartbreak, which is what listening to the first few songs on the album is like. The more I listened however, the more I was able to appreciate the mixing of beats, dynamics of Spanish and English lyrics, and emotions emanating from the music. I enjoyed how a song would start off with a distinctively Latin drum and rhythm, and then morph into the background of a fusion of a pop and hip-hop beat. This led me to wonder how important it was for her to incorporate her culture into an album targeted to be a part of the pop hits and culture of the time. The transitioning from upbeat pop to slow R&B love songs were representative of the ups and downs of her life trying to make it as a celebrity in New York City.

Initially, the lyrics seem to be centered around love and the singer’s experiences in dating and being a joyful young woman. This is just the surface value of the music however. As the album contains ballads that play on different emotions and explore themes that contrast, such as happiness and sadness, so does the life of a young Latina woman that desires a future in show business. There are triumphs and failures mixed into the journey Lopez took to make it into the places she wanted to be then and now.

The neighborhood she resided in on any given day would’ve been dotted with the differing sounds of Latin music, pop, and hip-hop, perhaps inspiring her to combine the three along with R&B into the sounds of her album. All three genres turned out to be suitable in helping portray her experiences and culture into the music. Like many other artists in the Bronx she was especially influenced by Latin music, this was also reinforced by her Puerto Rican background. This is evident when one takes into consideration that Lopez chose to have songs sung in Spanish on the album.

Lopez was a product of the Bronx’s legacy of artistic spirit, having grown up in the 70’s and 80’s seeing those around her strive to create positive forms of expression. As she took singing and dancing lessons however, her goal was to transcend the local scene and display her talents to the world. Although her neighborhood in Castle Hill was not immune to the decline seen across the South Bronx due to fires, poverty, and lack of investment in the 1950s and 60s, it was able to bounce back to lower crime rates and the restoration of housing since the 80s and continuing into present day. This structural and social renewal taking place around the time Lopez was an adolescent and teen in Castle Hill might’ve allowed her a more flexible opportunity to pursue the career she wanted.

Unlike many members of underrepresented groups that come from minority families and depraved neighborhoods, Lopez was able to realize the dreams of fame shared by millions of New Yorkers. She has celebrated her journey and that of others through her music in On The 6.

Album Essays, Hip Hop, Queens, The Big Apple

Get Rich Or Die Tryin

May 18, 2016 Thomas Malaickal Leave a comment

In 2016 with all of the technological advancements we have and how easy it is for a person to listen to a specific genre of music, we are in a great position to be able to witness and judge different types of music according to our own likes and dislikes. However, music is a great way for us to understand what an artist is trying to convey through his lyrics and beats. Gangsta rap was a style of music that personified the “thug” or “gangsta” lifestyle. Once a hardcore hip hop genre, it has evolved into a new distinct form due to the help of numerous artists and their change in their work because of the shifts in mainstream music. One such artist that attempted to bring out a last gasp for gangsta rap was 50 Cent. Curtis Jackson, or 50 Cent, with his album Get Rich or Die Tryin depicted his life of drug dealing and hardcore street life through his rhythm and lyrics. His album exemplified and sometimes even glorified the hard life that is involved in living in the streets and performing crimes.

After hearing the songs in the album and without doing any research on 50 Cent himself and about his life, one would assume that he was mixed in with the wrong crowd since his youth. He was born in the South Jamaica neighborhood in Queens. He grew up during the 1980s crack epidemic and started selling drugs at the young age of twelve. Tragedies and Jackson’s life seemed to go hand in hand for throughout his adolescence as his mother was murdered when he was eight years old and this caused him to live with his grandparents and practically be raised by the streets. The exposure of selling drugs in the streets along with other experiences with gang members and the police influenced his music. Along with an experience he had of being shot nine times also had a huge influence on the life he wanted to live. South Jamaica, in Queens, was designated as a poverty zone back in 1966 by President Lyndon B. Johnson. It already was put in a terrible disadvantage and it became worse as the crack epidemic hit in New York City as South Jamaica became a hotspot for the epidemic. Different gangs practically operated the neighborhoods. These disadvantages made living in this neighborhood hard and affected the youth that lived in this area at the time. In high school, 50 Cent decided to pursue a rap career and this was where he put out a small initial album which got him enough recognition to sign a contract with Dr. Dre and Eminem. In 2000, he dropped his first major album, and probably his only major album, Get Rich or Die Tryin featuring both Eminem and Dr. Dre.

The album itself encompasses what it meant to be living in the streets of New York City. 50 Cent himself talks about his experiences being a drug dealer in many of the songs in this album. Overall, the album reminisces his experiences during this dark time in his life and basically gives us an inside look into the mind of people who have to live this life. The hip-hop era that started in the end of the 1980s and the 1990s had a huge impact on the hip-hop scene and this album can be thought of as a product of this era of hip hop. The idea of being a “gangster” was looked as an exciting aspect after listening to this album. The thrill and danger can be seen as an exhilarating lifestyle that most people crave even though they don’t understand the real situation that 50 Cent had to go through. While growing up, kids my age always started speaking more slang and pretended to be a “gangster” because this lifestyle and culture was really appealing and it has become more prevalent as more artists bring that aspect into their music and art. During the turn of the new century, a portion of New York City music was dominated through rap and hip hop and this album was considered a huge success during it’s time due to its excellent beats, and lyrics that people started to enjoy and started becoming more mainstream.

However, the whole genre of gangsta rap deals with a lot more than what 50 Cent had in his album and the popularity of its album. In the beginning, rap was generally only taken seriously by young inner city youth who had similar backgrounds to that of the artist or could relate to the lyrics in any sort of way. In simpler terms, thugs listened to thug music. In my opinion, Hip-Hop always seemed to be a genre of music that emphasized trying to be ‘cool’ in the eyes of different people. 50 Cent did a great job trying to show how his life can be taken in a new and excited way through his lyrics and through his beats. After doing a little initial research on 50 Cent, it became a little clearer why the lyrics went into such great detail on different situations of street life. Even the album title and album cover picture depicts what it really means to put your life on the line to be successful in street life. It comes down to either you are going to make it big or your going to probably die if you are not good enough. The album also goes into people trying to pretend like they are “gangsters”. In the song, Wanksta, 50 Cent raps about different people that pretend they are about the street life but are actually pretending to be something that they are not. In his song Wanksta he says, “You said you a gangsta, but you neva pop nuttin’.”Through his controversial lyrics and his extremely enticing beats, he uses his art as a way to express his past life and struggles in New York City along with educating others about the rigors of the street life of New York City.

Rap is considered a mainstream drama today but it is completely different from the original gangsta drama that was presented decades ago. Today, rappers like Drake and Macklemore have become hugely popular with their affective rap. They do not talk about hardcore street life or try to encourage it. As oppose to earlier rappers like, Ice Cube and Dr.Dre, they were fixed on getting their message across to public. Rap groups like the N.W.A. had collisions with the authority’s numerous amounts of times, but that didn’t stop them from sharing their rhymes and lyrics with their fans. While his thuggish ways distinguished him in the world of gangsta rap – helping to produce millions of record sales and generating media attention that in turn produced more record sales – since the unsolved murders of Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls, hip-hop culture and the music industry that continues to profit from it has changed. It has moved on from the sensibility that unchecked violence in the music has no consequences in reality. That’s not to say that drugs, violent crime or gangsterism has been completely eradicated either in our communities or in the music of hip-hop, but we have certainly moved on from the unchecked celebration of it, and some of the very same folks who were bangin’ in the 90s are helping to save young people in the streets today. Rappers like Ice-T and Ice Cube are currently television and movie celebrities because of this new trend that takes away from gangsta rap. Ice Cube and other like him play pivotal roles in trying to bring awareness to the youth of today of not living a life that they lived in their youth. Recently, Ice Cube came out with a movie called Straight Outta Compton which beautifully depicted the struggles they had to go through in a time where segregation was blatantly obvious and it was extremely difficult for them to express their issues with society. They know have strong voices when it comes to racial or segregation issues and have become huge influences to kids in the inner city and try to help them from that lifestyle.

As a last gasp of relevancy, 50 Cent’s album shows how this genre of rap has evolved into something much different than how it started out. He can be declared the last gasp because many of the albums put out today are nothing like Get Rich or Die Tryin as they do not need to show thug life or harshness anymore. Today 50 Cent has merely become just an afterthought in terms of celebrities and famous rappers. His name only pops up here and there for different controversies that he finds himself in and he hasn’t put in an album of quality since this album which gave him his fame. His album and fame demised because of the aforementioned change in rap style. 50 Cent lacks what artists like Drake and Kendrick Lamar bring into the market and this is why he is considered just a mere afterthought. This is extremely surprising after his album sold 12 million copies and the album made Rolling Stone’s list of the top 50 albums of the decade and became one of the most commercially successful rap albums of all time. Though 50 Cent’s decline was due to himself and all the controversies that he got himself into, it also speaks volumes of the decline of gangsta rappers like him in today’s age. Recently, he was even got taking a video of a disabled airport employee who he had thought was high and putting it on his social media. Along with social controversies, he filed for bankruptcy recently to keep himself safe from lawsuits that have been filed against him. This has much relevance when we talk about his decline because it has much to do with it.

Get Rich or Die Tryin was in a sense the last gasp of gangsta rap before it completely diminished from mainstream music. It was an excellent example of what gangsta rap was because of its violent lyrics and hard beats. It exemplified the life of inner city youth and how living in the streets was something hard to deal with but somewhat cool. After a short decline due its extreme violent themes, gangsta rap came back but only to decline once again after new artists like Drake and Kendrick Lamar changed the landscape of rap was and the possibilities it could bring in terms of the lyrics they sang. 50 Cent has become a mere afterthought after his album brought him to the top. A generation of gangsta rappers have now been silent in their rap game as a new era of rap emerges.

Album Essays, Artists, Brooklyn, The Big Apple

feel the city breakin’ and everybody shakin’

May 18, 2016 leslie huynh Leave a comment

Disco is not a very popular musical genre in today’s time; pop music is, namely, what’s poppin’ on the radio. So its interesting to think about the album Saturday Night Fever and how much disco has ACTUALLY impacted what you’re bopping your head to on the radio. Before being exposed to it, one might think that disco is only for hippies and only pertained to the 70s, but more research shows disco’s rich history and how its influences on other genres, such as house music and funk, still live on today.

Disco, in fact, was initially a way of going against all societal norms; it represents a time and place for being not straight, for being black and Latino, and for being a safe haven away from the racist, sexist, and homophobic ways of the majority at the time. The movie Saturday Night Fever and its soundtrack are iconic, making the genre of disco popular in mainstream. However, many have forgotten this movie as a relic of the past–the past of loud outfits, loud hair, and loud music, but the socio-political aspects of the film must not be forgotten. The issues of race, gender, and poverty are rampant in the film. Yes, the music made disco popular again, but the music was meant to enhance the messages of the story, not to be the sole purpose of the film.

The term “Saturday Night Fever” refers to the feeling one gets when partying out on a Saturday night. Saturday is the end of the week, the day one looks forward to for going out on the town, drinking, dancing, and women. The next day is Sunday, the start of a new week and going back to regular life. The main character of the movie, Tony Manero, is a poor, uneducated, misogynistic, and racist neighborhood kid living in Brooklyn, and he escapes his sad life every Saturday, where he becomes the star of the discotheque. He has every woman at his feet, and nothing can stop him. The movie itself shows all the glamorous aspects of disco, from the music, to the dancing, to its cultural elements of clothing and sexuality. In the iconic first scene, with Tony walking down the streets of Brooklyn in his white suit and big hair, strutting along to the Bee Gees’ “Stayin’ Alive,” The style and manner of the 70s is absolutely encapsulated in this scene. The prom suits of the day would cower under the dominance of white polyester.

The soundtrack for Saturday Night Fever is a collaborative work, with contributing artists Yvonne Elliman, Walter Murphy, Tavares, David Shire, Ralph MacDonald, Kool & the Gang, KC and the Sunshine Band, MFSB, and the Trammps providing their vocals, songwriting, or plain music to the album. However, the its primary composers and performers are the Bee Gees, an English pop music group formed in 1958 consisting of brothers Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. One of the world’s best-selling music artists of all time, they experienced much success while they recorded music.

Before Saturday Night Fever was released, disco had been on its last legs. As disco was on its way out, it was morphed into a cheesy, shallow surface of what it truly was meant to be. However, Fever changed that, showing a gritty Brooklyn neighborhood with troublesome people and their struggles, which were let loose at the discotheque. With the movie and the Bee Gees’ contribution to the soundtrack, disco was officially part of popular culture. Music supervisor Oakes said that “Disco had run its course. These days, Fever is credited with kicking off the whole disco thing—it really didn’t. Truth is, it breathed new life into a genre that was actually dying”.

Disco music played a major role in the queer community of New York City. Disco pre-dated the AIDS epidemic and represented the seemingly carefree life of the sexually promiscuous. However, disco was a way for many HIV/AIDS positive people to have some semblance of happiness when the world was shunning them and forcing them into clubs and bars that gave them a safe haven. Disco is trivialized as a fad of the 70s, but not many people are aware of its historical and social significance, especially to the marginalized. As historian Alice Echols says, “[people] were keen on keeping the beat going and on the ever-expanding song length that kept the beat alive.” Initially, discos were a way for queer people to have a place where they could be themselves, and it allowed cross-racial collaboration while also blurring gender and sexuality lines.

Though the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack embodies the positive aspects of disco, from the perseverance of “Stayin’ Alive” to the romance of “More Than A Woman,” the movie itself shows New York City as it really was, and maybe even still is. Tony Manero is a classic macho man—aggressive, misogynistic, and homophobic—who takes part in this inherently gay culture. The juxtaposition of the album’s upbeat and funky songs with the history of disco and its participants’ struggle could be seen as tacky, or as optimism. Nevertheless, seeing Fever as an embodiment of disco, and especially comparing Brooklyn back then to Brooklyn now, is only paying disrespect. Fever represented the “straightening” of disco, with the macho Tony spewing homophobic remarks at his discotheque, with gay dancers and gay music. With the pros of popularity and universality came the cons of ridicule and mockery.

Listening to this album alone, and even seeing the movie too, will only give the audience one perspective of what disco in New York City was really like, and even then, the story that inspired Fever was a fake. It was actually from an article titled “Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night” written by Nik Cohn that turned out to be completely fictitious. It’s wonderfully ironic that the film that brought disco to the mainstream is based on something made up. Cohn later confessed and said:

“My story was a fraud, I’d only recently arrived in New York. Far from being steeped in Brooklyn street life, I hardly knew the place. As for Vincent, my story’s hero, he was largely inspired by a Shepherd’s Bush mod whom I’d known in the Sixties, a one-time king of Goldhawk Road.”

Without him, Fever would not exist, Travolta would not be such a household name, and disco would not have been put into mainstream. Barry Gibb allegedly told Cohn once that “It’s all your bloody fault, isn’t it?”, showing that the film and album’s success were both a blessing and a curse. The image of disco that Fever gives is one of an emasculated man that is threatened by the minorities around him, very unlike what disco was initially sought to be.

Only a few aspects of the movie still exist in Brooklyn today, such as Lenny’s Pizza in Bensonhurst, and maybe that is a good thing. The film and album were seemingly at odds with what was actually happening with disco at the time. No doubt knowing the history of Brooklyn, and New York City in general, in regards to disco will show a deeper appreciation for the genre, but not necessarily for the film itself. Saturday Night Fever did not invent disco music, but “whatever its impact then or now, there is some amazing music on here– and even more beyond”.

John Travolta Approved 👍🏼

The Strokes’ Is This It?

May 18, 2016 Javiera Morales-Reyes Leave a comment

The Strokes have been greatly credited for helping with the revival of rock n’ roll. They were able to break through mainstream music and bring back what people had lost in the 90s. The rise in technology overshadowed the creativity and effort
that went into making underground music, which is what made rock n’ rll so special and unique. With people no
longer buying music and piracy increasing, rock n’ roll inevitably died off and was only resurrected when the Strokes made their official debut in 2001. However, the Strokes were able to surpass this rise in technology and create analbum that defined modern-day rock n’ roll, even in th 1361182016_is_this_it e wake of the September 11 attacks. The Strokes was able to bring this back with their garage-sound and deep connection with a specific group of young people, especially in New York City.

Is This It? was the Strokes’ debut album and was released in the United States on October 9, 2001. The band, created in NYC in 1998 and consisting of Julian Casablancas, Albert Hammond Jr., Nick Valensi, Fabrizio Moretti, and Nikolai Fraiture, created an album that quickly spread across the country, especially with the youth. This album is composed of 9 relatively short songs that talk about their lives in New York City. They frequently mention drugs, sex, violence, and even make fun of NYC cops in one of their songs. However, even though the album did not reach the success that the band had hoped for, it touched the younger population that did listen to their music, especially those who were part of a certain
upper middle class that had the money to do all of these things and not have any responsibility. This album left a deep impression on these privileged teens , and was credited for reviving rock n’ roll (Garrett). The youth was going through a time of not wanting to conform to society and instead relied on their friends, drugs, and a carefree lifestyle. Is This It? perfectly captured what the youth was feeling. Even though the title of the album is very vague, the Strokes described it as being “deep without being prete tstk ntious” (genius.com). The youth didn’t know what was in their future, they didn’t know what was going to happen to them, and they didn’t know what they wanted to do with their lives. However, once they did wind up doing something, the outcomes usually had them wondering, is this it? Is this all that they got for their efforts? Was life just about doing drugs and hanging out with friends? These feelings are superbly expressed in this album. However, this album really resonated with this specific group of young adults. Most kids who did not have money had to work and didn’t have time to live a carefree life and spend money carelessly on drugs and alcohol. However, this album did indeed changed rock n’ roll and brought back what had been lost in the music industry, especially with the rise in hip hop, which overshadowed rock n’ roll.

The reason I chose this album is quite simple: I had never heard any of the albums on the list and a classmate recommended the Strokes, so I chose them. And after completing this assignment, I can gladly say that I am ridiculously happy with my choice. I thought that I would hate this album because the only music I listen to is Korean pop music. I have slowly become more and more detached from American music and culture that I found it very hard to feel in any way excited about this assignment. But what do you know? I ended up downloading this entire album and listening to it over 10 times in one day. The Strokes have a very interesting and catchy sound. Their music sounds like that of a wannabe rock n’ roll band composed of teenagers playing in a tiny garage, except the difference between them and The Strokes is that the latter actually became stars. Their sound is like that of the overdone 2000s movie where a group of high school kids got together after school to go play some tunes, and their lyrics were written about their everyday experiences, complaints and rebellion against society. They turned this garage sound into modern rock n’ roll that encompassed the lives of teenagers and young adults growing up in a world where they were void of responsibilities and filled with the pleasures of drugs and recklessness. “They brought with them a certain post-millennial ennui, a quintessentially New York sense of detachment, an impression that they were way too cool to care about anything very much” (Hawking). The Strokes’ producer, Gordon Raphael even said “I recorded Is This It? with one microphone for the voice and one for the snare drum: everything minimal. It wasn’t sonically perfect, but it had some magic and emotion that was missing in the big studio stuff other bands were doing.” This particular sound, as if Casablancas was sing large ing into a muffled mic and the instruments, or lack thereof, is what gives the Strokes their uniqueness. This minimalist and effortless sound is was resonated so much with the youth and why the Strokes and this album is considered an essential part of New York City and truly demonstrates what living in the city is about.

The title track “Is This It?” shows the feeling of the youth at the time. This song is very vague and gives off a carefree vibe that characterized life in the city. The constant repetition of “is this it?” demonstrates what was mentioned before: this feeling of being lost in the world and not being satisfied with the results of one’s efforts. Life was full of happiness and recklessness which can be seen in the second song of the album, “The Modern Age.” The pre-chorus of this song says “Oh in the sun shine having fun, it’s in my blood / I just can’t help it.” I feel as though this is something very typical for teenagers and young adults. They just want to have fun and live their lives without having to care about anything. The guitar riff makes me want to jam out to the song whenever I listen to it, and even though I am still young, it makes me feel younger somehow and more carefree than I usually am.

“New York City Cops” is also worth mentioning. This song was originally a B side track for “Hard to Explain.” However, it was replaced by “When It Started” for the American release because of the one line that said “New York City cops/ But they ain’t too smart.” The album was supposed to be released on September 25, 2001, but was delayed because of the 9/11 attacks, and this line was changed in order to pay respects to those who lost their lives that day. “New York City Cops” is a really fun song that talks about constantly being on the run from cops and trying to hide drugs. And the one line that was scrapped, “New York City cops/ But they ain’t too smart,” showed how these privileged kids felt about the authority; the cops were easy to fool and easy to run away from.

“Hard to Explain” was the Strokes’ first song ever released and is one of the best songs, if not the best, on the album. The chorus could not resonate more with the youth at the time:

I missed the last bus

I’ll take the next train

I’ll try, but you see

It’s hard to explain

I say the right thing

But act the wrong way

And they are too old.

The chorus shows how the youth was feeling at the time. They try to do the right thing, or they try to do what old people want, but sometimes, or most of the time, things don’t go their way. It’s hard to explain the complexity and laziness of the generation. It’s not that they purposely mess up what they are told to do or what they are supposed to do, but they simply forgot what they were told, or were watching TV, or just missed the last bus.

Even though I have only mentioned the most notable songs on the album, the entire album is perfection, in my opinion. An album reviewer, Splawski, perfectly described this album when he said, “Everything sounds concise, relentlessly conscientious of itself. Such a level of perfection, where everything just falls into place, is quite rare to find in the music world, and even more rare to repeat, as the current state of this band repeatedly reminds us.” This rareness is what makes the Strokes and Is This It? such a unique experience when you first listen to it, and it creates a lasting impression even after hearing it on multiple occasions.

Even though they did not experience the success that they had with their first album, their sound still impacts music today. It is such a strange sound that it is very hard to describe. Their musi the_strokes_2 c isn’t just indie or just rock, it’s a mix of both that had never been seen. Their producer Raphael, put this feeling into words when he said “Julian had so many ideas – and a freakishly controlled concept of rhythm and timing. Even when he’d drunk 13 beers and was asleep on the couch, one eye would open and he’d go: ‘The hi-hat’s not right.’ He was a master of the cryptic instruction. He’d say: ‘This song, can you loosen its tie a little?’ He wanted his voice to sound ‘like your favourite blue jeans – not totally destroyed, but worn-in, comfortable’.” This bizarre way of writing lyrics and creating music is evident in all of the songs in the album. Many of the lines are very vague yet specific at the same time. It’s as if one can understand what Casablancas was singing about, yet at the same time was confused, which is why this album is so unique and really captures New York City. This is also why even though they were a one album wonder, they still greatly influence the face of rock n’ roll even in the present, and will continue to do so.

There is a love for the wildness and grandness of New York City, but there is also a hatred for the hecticness and craziness that is a result of living in an area where cultures and civilizations are constantly clashing and where it’s hard to find an identity and a place. Even though technology had risen beyond anyone’s control, the Strokes were somehow able to make it through all of these obstacles and reconnect people with what was lost. They brought back the underground vibe and garage-sound that allowed people to connect with them like they had with the small bands of the 70s and 80s that truly encompassed rock n’ roll. All of these things are poetically, mysteriously, and effortlessly encapsulated in the Strokes’ Is This It? Which is why it’s the most New York album that could possibly exist.

I love it when you call me Big Poppa

May 17, 2016 AJ Leave a comment

New York City is and will always be one of the greatest cities on earth. It is here that many historical events took place, and it is also here that the futures of the current generations at the time began. New York City has an interesting history, and interesting people who would shape the city’s and country’s future were created from that history. However, not everyone who lives in New York City contribute to society equally. These individuals may not have invented the newest automobile engine or cured cancer, but they added something to what a majority of Americans enjoyed: music. The Notorious B.I.G., born Christopher Wallace, was born on May 21, 1972 in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. His huge build, booming voice, and ability to tell stories with his speech locked him into being considered one of the greatest rappers of all time. Many factors influenced his music, including his childhood, dreams, and Bedford-Stuyvesant itself. Biggie’s first album, Ready to Die, gives an in depth look at his life. The Bed-Stuy that Biggie grew up in has shown significant changes from the Bed-Stuy today.

Christopher Wallace had a rough childhood, but his interests and actions growing up served as inspirations for his music. Biggie was interested in rap since he was very young. A major influence was Donald Harrison, who Biggie met at 12 or 13-years-old. (Weinstein, “15 Things We Learned about Biggie from NPR’s “Stories of The Notorious B.I.G.””) Biggie was interested in learning about music and Harrison was more than willing to teach. Harrison introduced Biggie to many Jazz artists. Harrison also taught Biggie about increasing and decreasing his slow, as well as techniques for speed, agility, and tonguing in his speech. These techniques were mastered by Biggie, and what he learned can be heard in his music. (Murray, “Biggie Smalls Jazz influence”) Biggie’s voice could be identified almost instantly, as his voice was unique. It was a booming and thunderous voice that turned the heads of those who recognized it. Within the album, there are two sides that can be heard from Biggie. On one hand, there is a smooth and soft vibe to his tracks. On the other hand, Biggie isn’t afraid to show strength and uphold his gangster reputation. “Juicy”, “Big Poppa”, and “One More Chance” are the softest and easiest on the ears for listeners not accustomed to rap. “Juicy”’s catchy beat comes from an instrumental mix of Mtume’s funk tune “Juicy Fruit”. (Partridge, “The Notorious B.I.G.’s ‘Ready to Die’ Classis Track-by-Track album review”) The song itself is a colorful story of Biggie’s rise to fame, as he raps about his dreams and childhood. “Big Poppa” can be considered the smoothest track on the album, as the beat here, sampled from the Isley Brothers, can be an opinionated contender for being better than “Juicy”. It is in this track that we hear Biggie as being the famous sweet talking ladies man that he was known for. (Partridge) In “One More Chance”, once again we are treated to just how popular Biggie is with the ladies, as he raps about the sexual acts he participates in and how good he is in bed. (Partridge) The other side of Biggie can be heard in tracks like “Things Done Changed” and “Everyday Struggle”. In “Things Done Changed”, Biggie raps about how his neighborhood, Bed-Stuy, has changed. As he raps in the track, “Lounging at the barbeques, drinking brews/ with the neighborhood crews, hanging on the avenues/ Turn your pages to 1993/ niggas is getting smoked,G: believe me.” The neighborhood he grew up in as well as the life he lived has changed drastically. “Everyday Struggle” can be considered similar to “Things Done Changed”, as he raps about his past and stresses as well. Many of the tracks have something to do with sell drugs to survive and taking care of his daughter T’yanna. (Partridge)

As to why the album was popular, Biggie was both open and honest throughout the entire album. The stereotypical street gangster doesn’t show feelings. They’re supposed to be hardened people who will do anything to make money and survive. Gangsters aren’t supposed to show emotion, as it is a sign of weakness. However, although Biggie can be considered a gangster by some, he was very open about his past and inhibitions in Ready to Die. As Sean Combs said, “In street life you’re not allowed to show if you care about something. The flip side of that is his album. He’s giving up all his vulnerability. He’s letting you know how he has felt about his mother. He’s letting you know how he cried. How he as thought about killing himself.” (Toure, “Biggie Smalls, Rap’s Man of the Moment.”) His track “Ready to Die” can be considered the most balanced in terms of the portrayal of a drug dealer’s life. We also see this rough but truthful openness about his life in “Everyday Struggle”, “Things Done Changed”, “Respect”, and “Suicidal Thoughts”. The common themes within these songs is how bad he had it growing up doing things not many people would do in order to survive. Biggie wanted his music to be able to be felt not just by new listeners, but by those who can actually relate to his music. The drugs and criminal life can have its excitement, but it can also be severely dangerous. (Toure)

The Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur, a Californian rapper known for his good looks and revolutionary heritage, were friends before the famous beef started. They served as inspirations for each other, as they shared what they learned from one another and represented their home turfs. Biggie released Ready to Die in September of 1994. This ideal relationship changed the night Tupac was shot and robbed in the same building that Biggie and Puff were in on November of 1994. Accusations and suspicions were thrown left and right, as Tupac had a good feeling that this was Puff and Biggie’s doing. Tupac recovered, but went to jail for sexual assault charges. No one from Bad Boy Entertainment ever visited Tupac in jail. Tupac then signed with Death Row, which was owned by Suge Knight. What ensued afterward were disses and a sense of uneasiness for both rappers. Tupac hit Biggie with “Hit Em up”, a diss track that called Biggie out, as well as made it clear that Tupac (supposedly) slept with Biggie’s wife at the time. (Lynskey, “Tupac and Biggie die as a result of east/west coast beef”.) This beef caused people who had no business with the beef at all to choose one of the two sides. Because Biggie had an actual album under his name, people listened to it to compare to the west. As Dr. Dre put it nicely, “Pretty soon, niggaz from the East Coast ain’t gonna be able to come out here and be safe. And vice versa.” (Vibe, “Biggie &Puffy Break Their Silence-’95 VIBE Cover Story”) Followers from both parties were loyal, and they would do anything for their demigod idols. Surprisingly, Biggie kept to himself throughout the entire time of the beef with Tupac. He never made a diss track to retaliate against “Hit Em Up”, but “Who Shot Ya” is considered to be a diss track. Out of the two rappers, Tupac escaped the conflict first, as he was killed in 1996. Biggie spent time in California, which was considered dangerous as Californians were still feeling the loss and heat of Tupac’s death. Biggie died in Los Angeles in 1997. He was killed in a drive-by shooting as he was leaving his album release party for his album Life After Death. Although both killers for both rappers were never apprehended, there isn’t direct evidence that the beef was the main cause. However, to this day, there are still suspicions, theories, and assumptions about the deaths of Tupac and Biggie. (Huey)

One way to have some perspective of what Bed-Stuy was like as Biggie was growing up is looking at some of his tracks in Ready to Die. There was a crack and heroin epidemic that hit New York in the 1970s and 1980s, and Bed-Stuy wasn’t immune. (Echanove, “Bed-Stuy on the Move: Demographic Trends and Economic Development in the Heart of Brooklyn.”) In a majority of Ready to Die’s tracks, Biggie references the drug trade and his hardships he was involved in. In “Things Done Changed”, Biggie raps:

If I wasn’t in the rap game

I’d probably have a key knee-deep in the crack game.

Because the streets is a short stop,

Either you’re slinging crack rock or you got a wicked jump shot

In these lines, he gives a perfect summary of what his life was like living in Bed-Stuy. If his rap career did not succeed, then he probably would have been drawn back to selling drugs. In the last two lines, Biggie states that selling drugs or becoming a basket ball player is the only way to make it in or make it out of the hood. Other lyrics from Biggie that describe his life in Bed-Stuy can be heard in “Used to sell crack, so I could stack my riches” of “Machine Gun Funk” and “Pockets broke as hell, another rock to sell/ People Look at you like you’s the user/ Selling drugs to all the losers, mad Buddha abuser” of “Everyday Struggle”. Biggie started selling crack at the young age of 12, and was even arrested on multiple occasions. Biggie continued to sell drugs until he was forced by Sean Combs to stop. (McGovern, “Notorious B.I.G.’s Criminal Past Glock-Blocks Street Naming Honor”) However, Biggie was not just involved in drugs. Biggie also had a history of violence and theft, although they are technically connected with his drug trade involvement. In “Juicy” he raps: “I never thought it could happen, this rappin stuff / I was so used to packing gats and stuff” and “I’m doin rhymes now, f**k the crimes now/ Come on the ave, I’m the real hard to find now/ Cause I’m knee–deep in the beats from” of “Machine Gun Funk”.

What is so attractive about Bedford-Stuyvesant today that is causing another wave of gentrification? There are many historic brownstone buildings in Bed-Stuy, and many were taken care of throughout the years since they were built. These brownstones were built as early as the 1870s. The neighborhood has seen different gentrifications since its founding. African Americans came to Bed-Stuy from Harlem in the 1930s, and they would make up the majority of the demographic by the 1960s. The neighborhood would also be gentrified by Latin Americans and West Indians. Today, those gentrifying are mostly white. Between 2000 and 2010, the amount of white residents has increased from 2.4 to 15 percent. Median price for Bed-Stuy homes have also been on the rise. The median price went from $575k in 2013 to $890k in 2015 and the median asking rent went from $2,150 in 2014 to $2,395 a month in 2016. Although these prices may seem expensive, Bed-Stuy is the cheapest brownstone neighborhood in Brooklyn. It is these homes in Bed-Stuy that give the new owners the ability to create their dream home. (Nonko, “‘Do or Die’ Bed-Stuy Is Definitely Gentrifying.”).

The saying goes that if you can make it in the Big Apple, then you can make anywhere. This may or may not apply to everyone, but for The Notorious B.I.G. he did certainly more than make it. Growing up in poor crime ridden neighborhood and living in abject poverty is the life Biggie knew before he became famous. With hustle, talent and even some luck, Biggie was able to obtain a record deal that would change his life forever. His first and only album to be released as he was alive, Ready to Die Solidified Biggie as one of greatest rappers of all time. Within this album, Biggie colorfully tells the story of his life. In this album, he makes himself vulnerable as he raps about his life struggles, feelings, and dreams. An important aspect to understanding the depth of this album is studying where Biggie grew up and lived. Christopher Wallace grew up in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. As a high school dropout, Biggie looked to selling drugs as a way of making money and surviving. The neighborhood went through changes since its birth. Starting out as mostly white in the 1930s, Bed-Stuy would have a majority black demographic. With the scar of the Great Depression however, the neighborhood soon became poor. Crime would rise throughout the decades, and a crack epidemic that Biggie participated in made the neighborhood spiral into more chaos. Crime did decrease of Guiliani, but at the cost of racial profiling and harassment. Now, there is a new gentrification, different ethnicities are migrating in, but there has been a surprisingly large increase in whites are as well. Nonetheless, both Biggie and Bed-Stuy experienced drastic changes.

Album Essays, Manhattan

The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan

May 16, 2016 Zoe Fanzo Leave a comment

I remember my first real taste of Bob Dylan. My final year of high school saw me extremely anxious and desperate to see an end to its cyclic, repetitive nature. On a rainy day in October, out of sheer impulse, I decided it far more reasonable to visit the Met and wander about the East Side than to sit in a classroom for seven hours. The seemingly out of place emptiness of the rainy city eerily reflected my inner feelings, and as I sat emotionally drained at a Two Boots’ Pizza off of Lexington, I heard the electric bluesy “Ballad of a Thin Man” and was instantly mystified by its wit and obscurity. Dylan, to me, will always represent a sense of nostalgia and despondency, but his music arguably embodies so much more than that. As a folksy songwriter who came into his own in an era of social unrest, Dylan’s legacy lies in his political commentary and sense of surrealist humor. Dylan’s artistry not only shaped the folk scene of the West Side, his music proved to be instrumental in contributing to the narrative of the political, left-wing activism that resisted war, greed, and civil inequalities during the 60s.

Bob Dylan is an artist memorialized by his distinct and various musical sounds, by his sharp wit and mysteriously crafted persona, and by his constant breaking of boundaries, for well over the course of half a century. At the start of his revolutionary career lies a humbler Dylan with a keen, young voice that sings of rejection towards a retrogressive government. The West Village’s Bob Dylan was born the far less glamorous Robert Allen Zimmerman in Minnesota. Nearly twenty years later, Dylan skipped town and moved in with his girlfriend, Suze Rotolo, and her radical left-wing parents in New York City. Dylan’s intention in moving to the city, other than to launch a career, was to meet his musical hero, folk artist Woody Guthrie, whose music he applauded as having “the infinite sweep of humanity in them.” Guthrie, to Dylan, “was the true voice of the American spirit” and he longed to become “Guthrie’s greatest disciple.” As Dylan began to establish a name for himself by playing small gigs in the West Village, particularly at local club Cafe Wha?, he visited Guthrie in the hospital, fulfilling his goal to meet and establish a relationship with the folk icon. New York proved to facilitate Dylan’s goals even further when he was signed to Columbia Records and produced his first album, a self-titled collection of mostly covers and two original songs. Bob Dylan was far from a hit, selling only 5,000 copies in its first year, but his unique sound and quirk drew the attention of many. His 1963 sophomore album, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, proved to be a far more successful, selling 10,000 copies per month.

Cafe Wha? pictured in 2016, located on Macdougal St in the West Village.

Album art featuring Bob Dylan and Suze Rotolo on Jones St and West 4th St.

Recreated album art featuring Julia Brennan and Zoe Fanzo (on the same street, five decades later).

The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, as most folk music of the time, was a response to civil unrest and injustices, heavy in the mind of Dylan. His youthful perspective on the relevant issues of the day resonated with Americans to an unexpected and unprecedented extent. Folk, far from mainstream and fairly underground at the time, was recalled by NPR as being “completely unlike anything else on the radio, which at the time was dominated by highly produced pop songs.” Folk became a means of political commentary for Dylan, and quickly ascended him to a platform he did not anticipate; “Spokesman of a Generation.” To Dylan, the rapidly accumulating collegiate cult following was not particularly unwelcome, but the rising media presence in his life was entirely detested. Whereas he was passionate about the words he was singing and the music he was playing, his work was exploited by the media and his image distorted. Recalled in his autobiography, “The press never let up. Once in awhile I would have to rise up and offer myself for an interview so they wouldn’t beat the door down. Later an article would hit the streets with the headline ‘Spokesman Denies That He’s A Spokesman.’ I felt like a piece of meat that someone had thrown to the dog.” Despite the nuisance of a media presence, Dylan continued to gain a cult following, segwaying him into a career of cultural complexity.

“Blowin’ in the Wind,” the album’s opening track, is regarded by Rolling Stone as being the 14th greatest song of all time– “Like A Rolling Stone,” a later Dylan piece, being dubbed the absolute greatest and, incidentally, one namesake of the popular music magazine– and the “most famous protest song ever written.” The social impact that “Blowin’ in the Wind” is almost too tremendous to fully grasp so many decades later, but during the Civil Rights Era, it was an anthem. “Blowin’ in the Wind” was covered by an extensive array of artists of all genres, being performed by Peter, Paul, & Mary at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, by Peter Yarrow at the March from Selma to Montgomery, and by Dylan himself at a voter registration rally in Mississippi. To many, the appeal of the song is its ambivalence, its lack of answers. What “Blowin’ in the Wind” offered, oppositely to most topical protest songs of the time, were no absolutes. It did not speak of specifics, it only played upon the emotions and conscious of its audience in order to impose purpose.

Altogether, Freewheelin’ transformed the folk scene, bringing the genre further into the mainstream, as it appealed to young, disillusioned Americans. Dylan essentially brought folk and politically involved youth together, bridging the gap between them. Just as his folk narrative began to take flight, Dylan shifted his sound in the mid-1960s. Dylan, simply put, felt constrained by the folk sound. The widespread association of Dylan with “protest songs” molded him into a one-dimensional artist, something that his creativity would not allow for. Bringing It All Back Home, his 1965 album, incorporated the use of electric instruments, and though it was not entirely electronic, considering “Mr. Tambourine Man” was one of the album’s most popular acoustic tracks, it was rejected by the folk purists who made up a great deal of his fanbase. “Mr. Tambourine Man” was acoustic and reminiscent of the folk genre, but the song itself encapsulated Dylan’s shift in vision; it was not topical, nor was it a protest song. In 1965, at the Newport Folk Festival, which he played two times before to a wholly positive reception, he was booed off stage for deviating from traditional folk. Mojo Magazine recalls, “Dylan had stood music on its head by playing folk-style, writing about politics and making hits. For which many came to depend on him. Then he changed. He got loud and wrote about emotions, relationships, wild things beyond rationality, ideals and good intentions. And so, ‘Judas!'”

[An example of Dylan’s electric sound]

Change was not received lightly by the folk purists, but Dylan’s multi-dimensionality could not be curbed. Nat Hentoff has said of Freewheelin’, “This album, in sum, is the protean Bob Dylan as of the time of the recording. By the next recording, there will be more new songs and insights and experiences.” The heavily political album was a direct reaction to the time it was created, but as he began to feel the pressure of being labeled the “Spokesman of a Generation,” and as the tides of political unrest grew stronger, a change in style became an inevitability for Dylan. Though Dylan continued to produce what he recognized as protest songs, they became less topical and more vague, angering folk purist fans that he had accumulated with Freewheelin’. As an artist, it was his desire to branch out and avoid being confined, but anti-Vietnam protestors yearned for a more familiar Dylan.

The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan is important to more than just the civil rights narrative of the 1960s. As Dylan’s first hit album, it launched his name into household recognition and brought a political awareness to a generation of disconnected youth. It single-handedly launched Dylan’s career, and it served as a climactic moment of personal evolution. It was the response to Freewheelin’ and the unwelcome worship and desire to brand him as a generational voice that crucially influenced his musical transformation, and reinvented Dylan as a multi-faceted musician, essentially into the Dylan that we presently acknowledge as being one of the greatest American artists. It can be safely said that The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan captures the moment in which Dylan transformed from a low key Village gig player into a global phenomenon and artist of an era, making it one of his most important compositions, and one of New York City’s many genuine masterpieces.

A few suggested readings…

Chronicles: Volume One by Bob Dylan

“The Politics of Bob Dylan” by Mike Marqusee

“‘Blowin’ In The Wind’ Still Asks The Hard Questions” by Brian Naylor

“Bob Dylan In The ’60s” by Phil Sutcliffe

Written by Zoe Fanzo (who is looking forward to seeing Dylan in concert at Forest Hills Stadium this July)

Album Essays, Hip Hop, Queens

Time Is Illmatic: Nas and the Broken Queensbridge Projects

May 15, 2016 maxkulchinsky Leave a comment

Not a single word, or even sentence, can truly embody the significance of Nas’ Illmatic purely because it means so much, to so many people, on so many levels. It is an album—of both great historical and cultural importance—that screams New York City and more specifically Queens and the Queensbridge projects, a public housing project concentrated with poverty and crime. Illmatic put Queensbridge on the map and brought to light the issues looming the area for years. One of the most impressive and even immaculate aspects of Illmatic is that it is Nas’ first record; it is his first offering as an artist, and serves as his first portrayal and declaration of self and artistry. This album’s role in Nas’ career and life makes its intentions and purposes all the more interesting. Finally, on a personal level, Illmatic is an album that helped shape me as a music fan and person altogether. I first came across this classic record at the beginning of my initial adventures in the discovery of music, and specifically hip hop. I was a 12-year-old kid and I was infatuated with the works of contemporaries like Eminem, Jay-Z and Kanye West, and naturally while digging deeper, I found one of their greatest inspirations—Nas. After my first few listens of Illmatic, I was convinced of the record’s conciseness and importance to the genre and culture. With all of these ideas and realms of significance of Illmatic in mind, one may begin to understand the greatness and importance of the album as one of the greatest hip hop, New York City, and just flat out outstanding albums of all time.

Nasir Jones was 21 years young when he recorded his debut album Illmatic in 1994. The record truly came from Nas’ experiences living in the Queensbridge housing projects in the early 1990s. It was a rough public housing project in an inner-city filled with crime, drug abuse and a lack of hope to break the cycle of violence and inescapable poverty.

So as more and more blacks moved into public housing in Queensbridge and more and more crack was being distributed throughout the area, it was more and more likely for blacks to wind up addicted to crack, and/or dead or in jail as a result. Once parents fell victim to these hardships, it created an environment for their children and their children’s children to do the same. On Illmatic this cyclical lifestyle takes the form of stories about Nas’ kinfolk from the neighborhood including “the mentions of his friend Willie “Ill Will” Graham’s senseless murder, wars with police and references to legendary gangsters like Alberto “Alpo” Martinez, Lorenzo “Fat Cat” Nichols and the Supreme Team.” These stories are told through anecdotal references on tracks like “Represent” or in the form of letters to imprisoned friends like on “One Love.”

Though Queens is currently undergoing serious gentrification in neighborhoods like Astoria—which demands rent in the ballpark of Manhattan and other expensive areas— Queensbridge is still very much the ghetto it was in the early ‘90s. While listening to the record, one could imagine a youthful Nas looking out the window of public housing, into the streets he called “the fucking dungeons of rap,” perhaps witnessing a robbery or an arrest. With this perspective and desire for an improved, morally sound life, Nas wrote poetry and raps, and began to take music seriously.

Nas aimed for Illmatic to be not just a debut record, but a record with lasting inspirational power. In 1994, he told The Source magazine, “This feels like a big project, that’s gonna affect the world.” Many, if not all of the ideas and beliefs related to gangs, crime, and the inner-city expressed throughout Illmatic ring true today. That is truly why the record is so special and important. Though not a single song or record can change a place or group of people, it can certainly aspire to do so. An album like Illmatic can inspire both the residents of a rough neighborhood like Queensbridge to try and break the cycle of poverty and crime, and expose the issues of a particular neighborhood to those who do not live with those issues everyday.

Since Illmatic is such a culturally reflective and important record—and was such a well received one at its time of release, and still today—it has served as the greatest curse to Nas’ long musical career. It is a debut album that set up decades of shortcomings for the MC. For example, it is near impossible to come across interviews in which Nas is not asked about Illmatic, it’s influence on hip hop, his career and how he feels that his best work came so early in his career. One particularly interesting answer from Nas on the subject came during his press run for his 2006 album Hip Hop is Dead. Pitchfork asked Nas if he wished Illmatic was not as great of a record as it was so people would stop comparing it to his subsequent works. He responded, “I could never wanna wish that…I want each album to say something different and be accepted better than the last one but I don’t have any point to outdo any particular album of mine.” Imagine how it feels for Nas to have achieved something so incredible and special with his first album, to only continue missing and disappointing people for many of the next 22 years of his career.

Despite the onslaught of antics and mediocre music he has made over the years—including ironically titling one of his albums “Hip Hop Is Dead” at a time in which Nas’ relevance and influence was fairly questionable in hip hop, and titling another album “Nigger” solely for shock value, only to make it an untitled album before release—hip hop fans and the culture as a whole still embraces and loves Nas, mostly for his very first record, which released 22 years ago. On one hand, all of the disappointments and failings of Nas’ career since 1994 make Illmatic all the more special because he will never be able to make an album as good as it again. He will never again be able to capture the same energy (dare I say vibe?) of Queens and New York City at the time. And at the same time, DJ Premier, Q Tip and other contributing producers will sound dated trying to recreate the sounds they crafted with Illmatic. So when he raps, “I dropped an ancient manifest of hip-hop straight off the block,” Nas is not lying. It is a self-predicted and fulfilled prophecy; he dropped a piece of rap mythology on his first try, and it was for the better of the music. Illmatic represents what many music enthusiasts refer to as “the golden age of hip hop,” having conventional, but excellent production and strong complementing lyrics.

For me, personally, Illmatic is still an album to revisit on a monthly basis for inspiration and to return to purer, lyrical hip hop in the onslaught of noise and laziness in modern hip hop. This record proved to me there was more to rap than catchy hooks, pretty electronic beats and braggadocios lyrics—sorry Kanye, I still love you! I digress. Illmatic is an album with infectious and head nod-able beats that are some of my favorites ever. But on top of that, there are genuine, real, important lyrics that can change one’s perspective. In a way, hearing Nas say he is “straight out the fucking dungeons of rap” brings you to that place.

CLICK HERE FOR NAS’ VERY OWN ANNOTATION ON “N.Y. State of Mind”!

Though New Yorkers from the 80s and 90s will relate to Illmatic’s commentary on the state of the city during Crack Era, it is not just an album for that era or even for people living in the Queensbridge projects or similar circumstances. It is for all people, and particularly those looking to be uplifted. Refrains from “The World Is Yours” telling me that the world is mine makes me feel like it actually is, or could be. Similarly, I am a self-diagnosed insomniac, so the bar “I never sleep, cause sleep is the cousin of death,” is pretty relatable. “Represent” is a testament to how truly terrible Nas’ upbringing was, given the constant violence he was surrounded by against his will, and provides some perspective to me of how much better my childhood was and how much smaller my issues are comparatively. Unknowingly, Nas brought white Jewish Long Islanders to Queensbridge for a walking tour, to show the inner workings and struggles of the neighborhood. This greater understanding is just the start of a conversation about differences in race and class that divides people within New York City and the entire country in general.

As stated earlier, it is not expected for a piece of art or music to change a group of people, a place or society as a whole. However, in this case, Illmatic makes an attempt to at least recognize what is wrong and needs to be changed in certain areas and facets of society. Because of this and the excellent level of artistry—both on a musical level from the numerous talented (and now legendary) producers and on a lyrical level from Nas—Illmatic is an album that has transcended New York City. It is an album that has also transcended the 90s, and more importantly, hip hop as a genre, which usually comes with negative connotations to certain groups of people. It is an album that speaks to and for an incredibly marginalized and suffering race of people, and calls out to those who are unaware of this to be aware. Historically, culturally, musically and personally, Illmatic is one of the greatest works of music of all time, and there is hardly an argument against this.

Bridge Over Troubled Water

May 11, 2016 delcastillokenneth Leave a comment

I did not know what to expect when I clicked that play button. To me, it was just another assignment to complete but soon enough, that very assignment turned into an experience. Listening closely to the voices of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel for the first time immediately captivated me into an emotional trance. I was taken aback by the beauty and power of music made long before I was born. How could I have ignored such a timeless gem for so long? I owed it to myself- no, owed it to them- to give the duo the proper recognition they deserved. One song after another, Paul Simon’s lyrics garnered my concentration and deepened my musical taste. I have never experienced such simple, catchy music with a lyrical depth confronting complex and serious issues. Any of Simon’s songs could either be listened to in leisure or with purpose and with such versatile music like this, it was no surprise that the musician rose from a national phenomenon into a global superstar.

I am only one among millions of people worldwide who are still transfixed by Paul Simon’s poetic compositions that reflects his signature dense and subtle style of intellectual music. This is mainly due to how Simon’s musical poetry is capable of transcending generations as timeless music relatable to anyone no matter the time period or geography. If today’s world is still captivated by the seventy-four year-old’s music, society in the 70s, during the peak of the duo’s career, was absolutely beguiled by their performances. Simon managed to capture the essence of New York City society during that time and used it in his works to reflect his life and culture. The landscape of songwriting was introduced to a fresh new style with Simon’s lyrics portraying the solitude and isolation of an outcast in New York City. This very music was responsible for bringing him to new international heights

.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjNgn4r6SOA

Within Simon’s arsenal was his flexibility towards adapting to other genres and styles of music. It would surely be an insult if one were to simply call the musician a folk rock singer as Simon proved otherwise time and time again of his versatility through his songs such as his titular hit “Bridge Over Troubled Water”. When listening to it for the first time, there is a sense of an uplifting beat that gradually grows to reach a climatic finish. A Catholic vibe rings through this gospel-inspired music as well. This was because Simon was partly inspired by the Swan SIlverstones, an America gospel music group. This very song became their signature hit of the album, praised for its spiritual essence that was captured by the piano’s melody and Simon’s harmonious lyrics. It was his first among many departures from the labeling folk art genre and ventures into new and different musical tastes (Rock Hall)

Another song that quickly rose to be just as popular, if not more so, was the first song on the second side of their album “The Boxer”. This was another homage and portrayal of New York City life in the sixties that the duo was already so accustomed to. A variety of different instruments were pitched and played in the song such as guitars, harmonicas, flutes and tubas (Janovitz). This combination of instruments collided to create a synchronized, powerful tale of a “classical New York Story of a small-town boy beaten down by the big city” (Village Voice). Important to note, the song was never recorded in one place as the duo endured a long, grueling, over 100 hours of production in several places from Nashville, Tennessee, to their home base in Columbia Records as well as Columbia University (Village Voice).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMrYvFTfIGI

The remaining songs on side two complete the album’s list. Known for its happy tunes and up-tempo beat (Bennighof 47), “Baby Driver” draws inspiration from the Beach-Boys like style and consists of pseudo words. “The Only Living Boy in New York” is another recalling to the city life and features the audio-visual effects “with its mix of strumming acoustic guitars, start-and-drop drums, and a far-off wall of harmonies”. Garfunkel recalls how the “aahs” recorded in the song came from them screaming in an echo chamber and having their voices lowered to a soft pitch (Eliot 39). In “Why Don’t You Write Me”, Simon continues the trend of experimenting with different genres by using elements of reggae music to which he would continue to use for his solo career. The only song in the album that was not written by Simon was their cover for “Bye Bye Love” by the Everly brothers and featured the audio effects of having the audience’s clapping during a concert recorded. Their last number “Song for the Asking” was meant to portray an accord between the duo in the hopes of a prosperous future together. Unfortunately, this turned out not to be the case as tension within the duo were on the rise to tear them apart (Janovitz).The album went on to immediately receive universal praise and quickly hit the top spots for billboards across the United States and parts of Europe. The incorporation of multiple genres such as R & B, gospel and jazz became a critical cornerstone for the album’s success and the positive reviews that followed. The Times in 1993 awarded the album a number twenty spot on their official “The Vultures 100 Best Albums of All Time” (The Times), while Rolling Stone’s Peter Puterbaugh was astounded by the “reassurance and solidarity that Simon wrote as a vehicle for Garfunkel’s golden tenor” (Puterbaugh) and gave the album a perfect rating. To little surprise, the album won a wealth of awards from the prestigious Grammy’s such as Album of the Year and Record of the Year. Despite the critical receptions, it was the mainstream popularity that boosted the album to new heights. Simon and Garfunkel stood in stark contrast to the traditional, blaring rock that swept through the country at the time, making them stand out as a unique group known for their New York City soul music.

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One question might rise from the duo’s reliance on reflecting so much of New York City through their album and that is whether the duo appropriated the city’s culture. The textbook definition of appropriation is generally defined as taking something for one’s own use without the owner permission. To say that Simon and Garfunkel are stealing from their own city for the intentions of profit and fame would a be a rather vague accusation. The duo was born and raised in New York and, as such, became a part of the very society they were portraying through their music. It would be a challenge for them to produce music notinfluenced by New York City than anything else of their own tastes. Rather than appropriation, this album stands as homage and appreciation to their home city. Just like how other New Yorkers want to show appreciation for their city, Simon and Garfunkel mean to do the very same through their own craft. The duo’s love for the city was proven countless times such as their significant 1981 concert within Central Park where they played to over a half a million New Yorkers. Their dedication to their birthplace brought New York together like a “big city suddenly sitting down on the grass” (Giodarno). If anything, Simon’s work could be described as a form of spatial appropriation with the City’s permission. When viewing appropriation from this, less negative standpoint, Simon was simply becoming a product of the mood and atmosphere of the cultural and physical space that he occupied while producing the album. The very same isolation and solitude Simon channeled through his album would continue when the duo split one last time after the album’s release.

https://vimeo.com/62293073