Song of the Week

Andrew Kim
Period 5
Music Appreciation


Artist: Gang Starr
Song: Moment of Truth

          Gang Starr is an East Coast hip hop duo founded in 1987, consisting of MC Guru and DJ Premier. The duo were influenced by the New York hip hop scene, producing songs that reflected that particular style. Not only would the duo produce songs that reflected their style, but they also created songs that were innovative, combining hip hop with jazz beats in order to create their own specific style.
         Keith Edward Elam, Guru, was born on July 17, 1961. His MC name Guru is a backronym for Gifted Unlimited Rhymes Universal and also God is Universal; he is the Ruler Universal. Both of the backronyms are references to the teachings of the Nations of Gods and Earths. Guru died on April 19, 2010 at the age of 48 from cancer.
         Christopher Edward Martin, DJ Premier, was born on March 21, 1966. He is also known as Preem, Premo, or Primo for short. The Source named DJ Premier one of the five greatest producers in hip-hop history. The editors of About.com ranked him #1 on their top 50 Hip-Hop Producer list. To this day DJ Premier is still an active producer. He contributed a song on the Game's "Red Album". In a recent interview, he also expressed his desire to work with J. Cole and Drake.
         I like the song above because the beat is smooth and original. The lyrics also show the intellectual side of MC Guru. A trait that is all too forgotten and ignored in today's hip-hop scene.

Mario Object

Andrew Kim

Music Appreciation

Period 5

           My mario character is the smiling cloud. The materials I will use to construct this object wil be white foam boards, cushion pullows, and maybe some styrofoam. Because my metaphor will be the Loyola campus, I will draw out bricks in my cloud. The bricks are suppose to remind someone of the bricks of Loyola, making the metaphor obvious.  After constructing the cloud, I will hang it up so it looks like a real cloud, enabling a person to experience and see the stuff Mario would see in a 3-dimensional world.

          The metaphor for my cloud wil be the school campus, specifically Loyola Hall. In Mario, the cloud is always happy. It doesn't really do anything for you, but it is always there to support you. The cloud is just a part of the environment. It smiles so it is always suportive of your moves. Just like how the school campus supports the student and gives him the basics to succeed. Even though the campus is there for you it doesn't mean that it will help you. Like Mario, the cloud doesn't help you. You have to bea the level yourself. 

         The sound my object will make is the background song in the mario game. The cloud is a piece of the environment, and thus the background music goes well with the concept of my object.

Song of the Week

Andrew Kim
Period 5
Music Appreciation

Artist: Atmosphere
Song: Sunshine

          Atmosphere is an American hip hop group from Minneapolis, Minnesota. The group is made up of rapper Slug (Sean Daley) and DJ/Producer Ant (Anthony Davis). Two of my favorite songs from this hip hop group is "Sunshine" (the song above) and "Yesterday". Slug's rapping style is very introspective. Most of his songs' lyrical content reflects the things he is thinking about. He opens about his life in his songs. His music almost is used as a sort of therapy for him, using his creative song writing proccess to deal with the issues he's been facing.
          The song above, "Sunshine" is from their album "Sad Clown Bad Summer". I like this song because it sounds very soothing. The most noticable instrument used in this song is the piano. It gives the song a very cool and chill vibe, making it a great song to listen to on a Sunday afternoon.

Song of the Week

Andrew Kim

Period 5

Music Appreciation

Artist: Murs

Song: L.A.

Born on March 16, 1978, Nick Carter aka "Murs" is an American rapper. He is signed to the independent recod label "Record Collection". Murs was a member of many famous hip hop groups such as Living Legends, Felt, and 3 Melancholy Gypsys. My favorite Murs song is the one above "L.A." I like this song because the beat is very original, and his lyrics actually has some meaning to it, unlike most rap songs on the radio. Murs is rapping about L.A., the place where he grew up in. And because I also grew up in L.A., I was easily able to relate to his lyrics. This song is also just simply a bery catchy song that I like listening to. 

Song of the Week

Andrew Kim
Music Appreciation
Period 5

Souls of Mischief-Cab Fare

         Formed in 1991, Souls of Mischief is a hip hop rap group from Oakland, California. The rap group includes emcees A-Plus, Opio, Phesto, and Tajai. The group was also part of the hip hop collective Hieroglyphics. One of their more popular songs includes "Cab Fare" (the song above) and "93 til Infinity". I like thier music because their songs include original beats that sound amazing. They are very creative with both their lyrics and beats. If you were to compare their lyrics to the lyrics of today's mainstream hip hop songs, you would clearly be able to notice the different caliber of creativity these guys include in their lyrics.
       I think these guys are a good example of the kind of hip hop music produced in the 90's that is just so much better than the hip hop music being produced today. During the 90's, hip hop was at its finest. With emccees such as Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac, the 90's was the golden age of hip hop. Even though there are still some hip hop songs today that are outstandingtoday, most of these songs and artists have gone underground. The mainstream hip hop songs today that are being played in the radio are full of no real artistic talent. Artists such as Tyga, Waka Flaka, and Soulja Boy, solely rely on catchy phrases that make no sense to gain their fame. It disgusts me to hear their songs playing on the radio.These artists simply rap about women and sex, while the underground artists and the artists of the 90's actually rap about topics that have substance. It's sad to see terrible hip hop artists rise to fame through their terrbile songs.

My Artistic Score

Andrew Kim        
Period 5
                                     My Artistic Score
    

  
       My score was created in a spiral winding shape. It is basically a standard music score, but instead of just being linear, the score forms a circle and becomes narrower as the music note come to an end. The symbols I used for my score were some basic shapes, lines and picture. Probably the most visually pleasing thing about my score is the red shades that I included in it. The red shades just add to depth of my score, making it seems as if the music is truly a three dimensional structure.
       The purpose of my score is to make people see stuff in different perspectives. For example,  if a person where to read my score he or she would have to be constantly shifting the paper. He would have to be angling the paper in such a way where the music notes appear linear, allowing to read the score. By shifting the paper, he is seeing my score in a different perspective, fulfilling the purpose of my art. I think that people these days don't realize the importance in looking at things in a different perspective. Thinking, looking, acting differently, being unique -- these are the ideals that I try to infuse on people who look at or read my score.

Song of the Week

Dan Finnerty & The Dan Band

Candy Shop

Andrew Kim

Music Appreciation

Period 5

            The song above is a remix of the 50 cent original rap song "Candy Shop". Although it is a remix, I still think that Dan's version of the song is creative and original. Only the lyrics are the same, but everything else, the beats, rythm, meter, and sound are different. The song was featured in the 2009 film "The Hangover" starring Bradley Cooper. The movie is a comedy and the song above only adds on to the humor of the movie.

            The Dan Band is a comedy band from Los Angeles, California. The band mostly does covers of popular songs such as "Candy Shop" by 50 cent. I especially like the song above because it is only one of the few songs in the world that can genuinely make me laugh. If you haven't heard this song before, I am pretty sure that your first reaction will be hysterical laughter. Not only do I like this song because it is funny, but also because of its smooth beat. The rythm almost incorporates some soft cool jazz into it. The cool and calming beats directly contradicts its explicit lyrics, which makes the song humorous. In the movie, the song was also performed live during a wedding, and I thought that it was funny that this song was performed during the wedding scene.



Sounds of the Earth

I heard (14 different items)
         -cars                        (Distant) swift, rushing
         -crickets                  (Close)   consistent, almost never ending
         -people walking      (C) steady low pitched thumps       
         -people talking         (C)  chirping like mumbles
         -cart rolling by           (D) fixed and enduring never ending
         -someone closing a locker (Loyola) slamming blunt noise
 -someone riding a skateboard (C) very rigid and squared continual
         -someone sneezing        (D)  harsh, abrupt  
         -bus drive by                  (D)  booming rush, sudden
         -birds chirping               (C)   high pitched murmurs
          -airplane                       (D) thunderous roar
          -helicopter          (D) contant and regular beeps
          -vacuum                (D) numbing humm
          -truck                    (D) deafening rush of air

Andrew Kim
Period 5

Song of the Week

Andrew Kim

Period 5

Nujabes-Feather

Nujabes was a Japanese hip-hop producer and DJ. His real name is Jun Seba. His DJ name is just his name spelled backwards. Many of Nujabes's songs includes an element of jazz in them. Although most of his songs are only instrumentals, he still created some songs with lyrics in them. The song above is a collaboration with him and a rap group called CYNE. The rappers who are featured in the song are Cise Starr and Akin. The song above is from his album Modal Soul. Even though Nujabes isn't as famous in the U.S., he is considered a God in Japan. He his famous for producing a number of songs featured in anime cartoons.The theme song for the anime cartoon show, Samurai Champloo, was created by Nujabes. Nujabes died on February 26, 2010. He was involved in fatal car accident. He was 36 years old. I like his songs because they sound very peaceful and have a calming effect. Whenever I feel stressed out, I listen to his music to unwind and relax. The song above is a clear example of how music can unite people. Nujabes is Japanese, and the rappers from CYNE are American. Despite their  cultural and ethnic differences, they are still able to collaborate and create a beautiful song.

Deaf People and Music

Although deaf people can't ultimately hear, deaf people can still be involved in the realm of music. In fact, there are many famous deaf musicians such as Ludwig Von Beethoven and Robert Franz. The way deaf musicians listen to music is by listening and feeling the vibrations of the sound waves. Both deaf people and non deaf people register sounds in the same brain center, so being deaf really is not a big problem in listening and enjoying music.

Because I am not deaf, I have a really hard time grasping this concept. I just don't understand how someone who does not have the ability to listen to sounds can be a musician, yet alone an outstanding musician such as Von Beethoven. I understand the fact that they feel the vibrations to listen to the different tones of music, but it is still a very intriguing topic for me. Again, the biggest thing that I have a hard time understanding is the way deaf people feel music vibrations. I don't understnad how someone can feel music. I hear music. I don't know how to feel music. If i try to touch the vibrating sound waves, I am pretty sure I will not be able to notice the different tones of music.

Even though this topic is very intriguing, learning about this topic gives me some insight on how Beethoven and other fmaous musicians worked around their disability. It is amazing to see that a disability that is so important in their field still didn't stop them from pursuing their passion. Not only did they continue to do the thing they loved, but they also became successful. This topic just shows that nothing is impossible. If ou want to do somthing you love, there is always a way around a setback in order for you to do the thing that makes you happy.

Andrew Kim
Period 5

Difference Between Hearing and Listening to Music

Hearing is the physical sense of being able to perceive virbating air or sounds through your ears or other senses such as your sense of touch (vibrations). Listening is the mental aspect associated with music. Listening requires one to perceive sounds and interpret it in a meaningful way. Listening to music can stirr up mixed emotions and memories, while hearing music cannot. Listening to music requires to steps. The first step is to hear the sounds and or sense the sounds. The second step is to arrange it and interpret the music in your own way.

Andrew Kim
Period 5