Does Reflection Rhyme With Deception?

I'll admit when we started this assignment a while back I didn't have the slightest clue what I could or should write about. What was something interesting that would relate with people in this school and people in our age group? I really didn't know until I was recommended Music, I decided upon it and made that my topic of choice. What could I write about? Several genres, it's effect on the mainstream, Censorship, there was several topics that stemmed from Music that I could focus on and I didn't have to have the spotlight on one specific genre. Knowing this I knew that I had many paths which I could pursue and I dove into the world of blogging.

Even though I had some prior knowledge of most of the topics I touched on in my blog I did learn some interesting facts about it. On the blog which spoke of back masking for example I knew a lot of songs have a hidden message in there willingly or without prior knowledge of it but it's up to out minds to decipher what is said. Our minds have a quality to put things together even if they're not there, we might hear a sound and another one right after it and our brain will automatically fuse them and trick us into thinking we're hearing something when we're really not. This is one of the few things that really puts a hole on the controversy of back masking whether is it truly a hidden message or are we just whispering in the wind with this topic. Besides the ones that have been proven and actually acknowledged, some of the messages on various tracks are very disputed.

I've learned a few things like how in the past ten years the music industry has actually had more lawsuits and claims toward them than it had in some decades combined. This brings me to how I feel about my topic and it pretty much hasn't been swayed by my constant explorations into the realm of it's controversies and flaws. No matter how much power the music industry has over the mainstream media and air waves it still is belittled by the other severe issues plaguing the world right now at this exact moment. In English class we are discussing slavery which is as alive in the world as it has ever been, so why aren't politicians and so called world leaders out there fighting slavery than some music company who put out some song which they find offensive or incorrect for the masses. I wonder why society today will always point fingers to something or someone first than actually realize that problems are far more deeper than what someone is listening to on their way to work or in a club. The world today has to find a balance rather than tip the scale over.

If I'm Ze Pequeno, Who's Benny?

City Of God (Cidade de Deus) has to be one of greatest and realest movies I have put my eyes on. What do you think this has to do with music? Well besides the music that adds to the score of the actual film, it's movies like these that sometimes are belittled and condemned in the movie industry because of the harsh reality and and pure raw emotion pulsating from the movie. These kind of films your average movie audience might find "too real" or even to the point of disturbing, which I think are some key similarities that I see with music especially genres like Heavy Metal, Hip-Hop, Punk Rock who put that rawness into their material and are pursued and singled out for it.

The Story of City Of God is one of desperation, fear, loathing and greed put through the eyes of the figures taking part in the events going on in their world. It starts of with an amiable boy named Rocket who lives in a slum of Rio de Janeiro named Cidade de Deus (City Of God) a place riddled with crime and poverty. The Tender Trio are three teens who rob from businesses and local companies transporting gas through their city and share the profit with all of the citizens of the city. One of these kids is Rocket's eccentric brother, Goose, who besides hanging out with the rest of the Tender Trio is being followed by an amoral kid named Lil' Dice. They device a plan to rob a motel to which Lil' Dice convinces the Tender Trio that it will be the big times and they will have more profit that they could think of. Willing but a bit reluctant they go into the motel and proceed with the robbery, tying up all the people and stealing their valuables. Lil' Dice acting as the lookout then let's out two shots from his revolver to let them know that the cops are coming and they need to disappear from the scene. However the three later find out that Lil' Dice went into the motel and murdered every single person in there, and that the shots he let go where just to get rid of them so he could have his way with the people in the motel. Knowing that they are the prime suspects and that they were set up by Lil' Dice they have no chance of being absolved, the three of them flee. They take an adamant stand to leave crime in the past, one joins the church the other two continue living without committing crime but constantly fighting it's temptation. A few years later one of the three, Goose, encounters Lil' Dice with his friend Benny who have come back to the City of God after leaving for a few years after the motel incident, he confronts him but Lil' Dice shoots and kills him in cold blood marking the end of the Tender Trio. Meanwhile Rocket is a spectator to all of these events currently happening.



Years pass, Rocket is older and wants to pursue photography as a career. On the opposite side of things Lil' Dice has adopted another name, Ze Pequeno and him and Benny have taken over other drugs cartels and made their own drug ring empire. There is other drug lords out there one called Carrot especially is not happy with Ze's new found position and showing some animosity towards him. This is the climax of the story, events just start happening that shake the entire story and puts the City of God into turmoil. First.........



Wait...nah forget it. I already told you the basic premise of the story the would be antagonist and what happened in the beginning to set up the climax and the best part of the entire movie. This movie is the epitome of great film making so for me to just give you a bare bone description of what happens next I would be maligning this film. If you can, watch it. You won't be disappointed with the conclusion.

These words by Rocket I think, describe the entire atmosphere of the film and describe the movie better than anything I could of written.

"What should have been swift revenge turned into an all out war. The City of God was divided. You couldn't go from one section the other, not even to visit a relative. The cops considered anyone living in the slum a hoodlum. People got used to living in Vietnam, and more and more volunteers signed up to die."

Can You Tell Me A Story...?

When Hip-Hop started as just another sound in the block and just someone rhyming over a funky beat who would now that a few decades later it would be the biggest genre of music. With a title like that you should expect some backlash and that is exactly what hip-hop is getting and has been getting for years. In the late 70's when hip-hop first came to be, people thought it would be gone soon enough. In the 80's when hip-hop really developed itself to a real art, everyone became aware that this was a legit genre of music with many artists having success and the genre becoming bigger. The 80's especially the late 80's are what is considered now the Golden ages and they continued on through the mid nineties, this is when arguably the best music hip-hop music was being released. However the late 80's and mid nineties were also when hip-hop started getting pursued as just another bad influence and negative form of music. This is when groups like N.W.A. (N****Z With Attitude) one of the most popular hip-hop groups of all time, started up and caused a ruckus with their songs about rebelling against cops and other controversial topics. This caused a stir all over the country about how can music like this actually be supported and why is it being played on airwaves everywhere. N.W.A. still had some positive songs but the media only wanted to point out their songs which they thought sent a wrong message noteven trying to see the other side of the story. Ultimately cases like this went on through out the best era of the music which only increased it's appeal and popularity. While songs about negativity were being put in the limelight other songs and artists like Public Enemy focusing on positive issues and trying to raise awarness, were still being played and were out there making music. Hip-Hop survived several attempts to try and stop it and it still is going on today.

Currently Hip-Hop is probably the biggest genre in music with several artists and albums coming out frequently and getting major success. However the music has been in a downward spiral being as repetetive and boring as it could possibly be. It's still getting heat for several issues like degrading women and praising drug use and distribution. You can't watch the news without somebody blaiming Hip-Hop for something currently wrong with society like murder or drug use, it seems that it has become the scapegoat for many issues that in reality are part of a bigger picture than just music. As for how will this genre be years from now in the future, well it will probably still be going on strong and poular as ever and maybe by then there will be another genre that's blamed for dumb issues that people don't want to admit are problems in our society and not just being caused by one thing or maybe things will still be the same. Whichever way you look at it, if you agree or disagree or don't really care remember that these topics go way deeper than just nodding your head to your favorite kind of music.

Did I Just Hear That?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjnxWDSQ58Q

In the honor of speaking about how music is used as a scapegoat, I decided to post this video. For people that are malinformed this video would be a dream come true, except that there really isn't anything bad in here. This is a video of Backmasking, backmasking is the process of adding hidden messages on songs by listening to the track backwards some of these are intentional and some are not. Backmasking has been some of the fuel adding strength to the music bashing debate, "This song made my kid into a violent, crazy psychopath" is a common theme, if you will, with backmasking since many of these groups of angry parents or just legislation seems to think that these songs will have an automatic effect on teens or any other person and influence their actions. Truth is that it has never been proven fact that backmasking can influence the mind with hidden backward messages so why all the fuzz? However this video I posted are some of the softest songs with backmasking there are other videos out there with other songs that do have some strange messages that might make you wonder. Anyway it's up to you to decide what your position on this stands. Next time that you're listening to your favorite song and maybe you feel like fighting a grizzly bear or punching a tree or maybe your not affected at all, remember this.

Music?

Music used to be for entertainment and to be enjoyed but recently in the last few years where music has become a focal point, things have changed. Now music is attacked daily by politicians, parents and even the so called listener. Music is one of the biggest industries today so it's only obvious that it will constantly be blamed for problems today. The way industries push their products is almost by shoving it in your face, this is not far from the truth with music, when you might hear over a few dozens times on t.v., radio or on your own personal music player. Censorship, warning stickers are some of the precautions taken on albums against profanity on CD's and only people a certain age can buy a certain album. Is music, just music, or does it have a powerful and lasting effect on the consumer or are people overreacting and forgetting it's just entertainment. Many people are affected by this but it seems that recently in the past few years music has been aimed at the younger children to teenage demographic. Teenagers are some of the biggest music targets and it seems that music industry knows that they will fall for whatever they make hot and appealing at the moment. Are teens really enjoying music or are they taking farther than just entertainment?