Childish Gambino - Because the Internet

Childish Gambino, aka Donald Glover, has recently been releasing a few of the singles contained in his upcoming album "Because the Internet".  I have always been a huge fan of Childish, ever since his first album "Camp" was released, and he is continuing to grow and mature as a rapper with these recent singles. Known for his versatility and compared to all star rapper Drake, Childish has upped his game since "Camp" almost 10 fold. His voice has become even more smooth and his range has sharpened, while his rhyming and lyricism has also developed. He's always been a clever lyricist, but now he has combined his cleverness into realness, rapping about denser subjects instead of just spewing one liners. I'm very excited for the release of "Because the Internet" and will be purchasing it the day it comes out. 

It Might Get Loud

I thought the movie "It Might Get Loud" was probably the best, or at least most interesting, film we've watched in class so far.  I'm not exactly a music expert, much less a guitar wiz, but it was definitely cool to see how guitar styles changed from each decade between each different guitarist. I've never played guitar so I don't have a very good sense of how much skill it takes to do certain things, but I definitely respect the three guitarists for their talents, even though I have no ability to compare it to anything. Guitar is probably my favorite instrument to listen to, mainly because of how many different things a good guitarist can do with it, and watching this documentary kinda made me jealous of the skill of each guitarist. It was a good watch. 

GQ's Man of the Year

Recently GQ magazine named rapper Kendrick Lamar as one of their "Men of the Year".   This is obviously a very prestigious award, but Kendrick decided to skip out on the gig he had lined up at the "Man of the Year" party because of the article that was written about him by a GQ writer.  I'm summarizing a summary of the article in saying this so it won't be the most detailed, but the white man who wrote the article basically passive-aggressively used racism (or at least Kendrick claimed he did).  Kendrick is widely known for his lack of a partying lifestyle, something very common with nearly every rapper.  This was highlighted in the GQ article, which stated it's surprise that Kendrick didn't party and drink as much as his peers, especially because of where he grew up (Compton).  Kendrick did not like how the writer highlighted this, he wanted the writer to highlight his accomplishments rather than how he stands out against other rappers because of his lifestyle.  In some part I agree with Kendrick's opposition to the article, but I think it was disrespectful to GQ as a whole to cancel his concert.  He should've shown the opposition in a different way, rather than completely missing out on a concert that was to acknowledge his accomplishments.  Although it was slightly pre-Madonna, Kendrick did have a good reason for missing the concert. 

Festival vs. Small Venue

In my opinion, smaller scale venues that don't hold a large amount of people are better for listening to an artist who you deeply enjoy and for a more low-key listen.   Festivals are more for someone who wants to be around a large amount of people, a large amount of drugs, and a large amount of unwanted noise.  Festivals are also for someone who wants to see a variety of different artists in a small amount of home. Small venues don't host as many bands or artists as a festival does, and a festival also takes more effort and planning to completely utilize.  I prefer smaller scale venues if I want to see someone I deeply enjoy, and festivals for socializing and seeing a lot of different people.  The crowd who attends festivals is a more "outgoing" and " adventurous" group, while the crowd that attends smaller venue shows is a crowd that genuinely enjoys who is playing. 

Sgt. Peppers

From someone who's not a huge fan of the Beatles, I actually thought the Sgt. Peppers album was a pretty good listen. It might be because it was influenced by Pet Sounds by the Beach Boys and I'm a fan of the Beach Boys, but something about it made it more bearable than the previous Beatles albums. The trippyness of a few of the songs added a new element to them that I hadn't heard before and I definitely enjoyed it. The second song, I can't remember it's name right now, was probably my favorite.  I also liked John's voice in one of the songs, again I can't remember the name of it, but he sounded a lot different than I he previously sounded, in a good way. Sgt. Peppers was a definite success in my opinion. 

Beach Boys

Pet Sounds was definitely my favorite album we have listened to far, the Beach Boys also being my favorite band so far. I'm not really a musical expert so I can't come up with a bunch of technical reasons for my preference to them instead of the Beatles, but it's definitely there.  Everything about them is catchy and I just enjoy their music. It's surprising that this album didn't sell and was considered a failure, considering how good it actually is. I also like the fact that each song is only about 2:30-3:00 minutes long and never very repetitive.  The leader singer's voice is contagiously fun and lightens the mood instantly. I will probably download a couple of their albums and check them out further. 

MMLP2

Following up with one of my previous blogs about Eminem's new singles, I'm going to review his new album "Marshall Mathers LP 2".  I had previously mentioned how Marshall hasn't been living up to his legacy.  I think the only reason I said this was because I have become so used to the continuous increase in quality of his music with every album, to the point where when he releases something of good quality, just not increased quality, I dislike it.  MMLP2 is not a bad album in any way, shape or form, it's just not as good as some of his previously released albums.  His lyric quality is up to par with most of his old stuff, I think the only difference is the production. A lot of the songs sound the same, not necessarily in a bad way, but they don't make me want to listen to them over and over like "Recovery" and "The Eminem Show" did. I'm still a huge Eminem fan, but I do think Marshall has hit the end of his career with this one. 

Free Will/Destiny Spectum

The Free Will vs. Destiny debate is one as old as time itself. There have been countless arguments for both sides, and most of them are soldly logical. No matter what anyone says, it all comes down to the simple fact that there is no worldly way to prove either side. That is why I believe there is a spectrum between free will and eventual destiny.  I have no physical proof for this, like everyone else, but I do have logical reasons for my belief.  Naturally, us humans are given the feeling that we create our own future and make our own independent choices to determine an unforeseeable future. Religion brought in the idea that an omnipotent being has control over every aspect of everything, therefore every human's past, present, and future life has been mapped out and predetermined before they are even born. I think this way of looking at life is much more depressing, seeing as one has no control over how one's life will turn out. With a "Free Will" mindset, it puts more meaning to ones life, seeing as one has complete and utter control over one's future. Now here's where it gets tricky. I do think at some point, one has a destiny from birth, mentally handicapped people for example.  They are born with something, out of their own control, that hinders them (in most cases) from ever having the choices most fully-functioning human beings are capable of making. This is why I think it is impossible to say free will and destiny are mutually exclusive. 

New Eminem

Eminem has recently been coming out with a few new singles leading up to the (hopefully) last album of his career, Marshall Mathers LP 2.  I am a huge fan of Eminem, I've heard every one of his songs since Infinite and I've always liked every one of his projects, even Encore and Relapse (both highly criticized).  That being said, I think his new stuff is just awful. It all sounds exactly like Recovery, his last album, but at a much worse level. I respect Marshall more than any other rapper, but I don't think he is what he used to be.  He doesn't use his former alter-ego Slim Shady anymore, which I think accounts for a lot of why his new music isn't as strong as his older music. I'll still be buying MMLP2 and hoping the singles are worse than the rest of the album.