J Cole’s second studio album, Born Sinner, runs for fifty-nine minutes and twenty-eight seconds; however, its effect on an audience is indelible. The album implements a clever duality between reflection at sin and rejoice at morality. Furthermore, the album is bifurcated so that the sin occupies the beginning of the album and the morality occupies the end of it. The sum of these parts results in more than a collection of songs, but a cry of spiritual expression. Cole skillfully employs seriality in order to plant specific themes of sin, God, life, and morality into the listener’s mind. These themes then grow and deepen with each new song. Overall, Cole’s use of seriality exemplifies why his album, Born Sinner, is a permanent form of spiritual …show more content…
Every song involves a lyric where Cole poses an idea or frustration to the listener. For example, in the song “Power Trip” he raps: “No heater, but a [guy] made heat, may I vent?” (0:53-0:55) and the hook recites, “Would you believe me if I said I 'm in love?” (1:25-1:29). Both rhetorical questions illustrate Cole’s confliction of emotions. The first details his desire to “vent” or expound on all his troubles, and the second indicates his desire for the audience to confirm a feeling he is equivocal of. Cole’s confliction demonstrates that his feelings during the production of this album were erratic. In the song “She Knows” he raps: “You know I got a girl back home. You got a man what you want, what you want? What these [females] want from a [guy]?” (0:53-0:59). The temptation towards adultery the woman presents baffles Cole. His use of rhetorical questions then becomes a way of seeking guidance. One of Cole’s emotions during the album’s production is ambiguity; Cole is lost and uses his music to ask for counsel from either the audience or …show more content…
For example, his song “Rich [Negroes]” starts with a light piano and the sound of rain crashing onto a window pane. This is meant to translate a feeling of melancholy to the audience. Thus, the intro attempts to get the listener to be empathetic with his sadness by evoking their own sadness. The song also loops the vocals of a woman harmonizing (2:11-2:18), which distracts the listener from Cole’s lyrics. The woman’s vocals are distracting because they start abruptly and crescendo. This effect is reflective of the sadness Cole feels during the creation of the album, which surfaces haphazardly inside of him. In addition to sound effects and vocals, instruments also reflect sadness. Cole’s use of drums in various songs keeps time by establishing a slow pace. This slow pace keeps the song centered on sadness. This use of drums is very effective in the song, “Chaining Day.” This track undergoes a significant beat shift at the (2:39) mark. Cole slows his entire rhythm and drags out the final vowels at the end of his verses. The drums are also more pronounced and just as lethargic. The song even ends at the completion of an unusually long fade out. Cole uses rhythms, instruments, and vocals to convey the sadness he felt during the creation of the
“Hurt” a song originally recorded by Nine Inch Nails which portrays self-harm and heroin addiction has been covered by many great artists including Johnny cash. When Johnny cash covered this song I got a deferent message from the lyrics while he sings it, maybe it is because of his voice or how he lived his life, but when he is singing this song I get a sense that he is singing about a loved one that has passed on, growing older, and his legacy.
"Certain songs might tell you a little something about my upbringing. Certain songs might tell you how I relate to others life experiences. On the album I never get specific on all my dirt because I don't feel I need to talk about that. I want to put the spotlight on Mobile, and give the listeners an idea of what's going on here from a young black mans perspective." Listen up!
Afterwards the same guitar roars in for half the time it did before as Mr. Collins proceeds to go into the first verse of the song. After the first verse he returns back to the chorus this time with additional vocals that lags behind his every word and ends with the guitar roar once again that comes predictably at the same time. The first words to his second verse starts with the singer's voice tweaked up a bit with the reverb machine. The prophet and a host of warm instruments continuously ascends with every whole note for a total of four measures in a harmonious fashion, but returns back to the tonic key after the fourth keystroke. In closure of the last verse the song increases from a (p) piano to an (mp) mezzo forte. An intense eleven strikes on a live drum set introduces the climax of the song, which then cancels out the sound of the electronic drum set, yet introduces the sound of a brass instrument that appears every two or three measures.
The influence of secular rock music on contemporary Christian music has awakened a generation of listeners who enjoy being in the “gray” area. There’s a generation out there that does not want the label of “Jesus freak.”
...to help create a better image and to help viewers or readers really feel what the speaker feels. Lines one, five, eighteen, and twenty-nine to thirty-one clearly state a type of figurative language. In line one, Hunter Hayes uses hyperbole to over exaggerate the fact that without the person he is addressing this song to, he would emotionally fall apart. In line five, the speaker compares a caring person to factors that keep nature happy. Line five uses indirect characterization to show that this girl Hunter Hayes is addressing , has a good heart, not just a beautiful appearance. Lines twenty- nine to thirty-one use a metaphor to compare fairy tales to their everlasting love for each other. “Wanted” by Hunter Hayes and Troy Verges uses figurative language to address the point to someone special that she will always be loved, wanted, and appreciated.
From its conception, hip hop has been branded as music for uneducated street hoods. But, the debut album of the obscure group, Midnight Voices, shatters this stereotype with its thought-provoking commentary on the Black experience in urban America. Featuring saxophone, keyboards, guitar, bass, and percussion, along with the scratches and cuts typically found in rap, Midnight Voices delivers its urgent message of racial injustice with its equally impressive music. The group merges the styles of hip hop and funk to create a refreshing alternative to mainstream rap, which is often characterized by the repetitive sample of beats. In doing so, the band effectively expresses the lyrical content of the songs through its music, and succeeds in creating a complementary blend of provocative lyrics and musical ingenuity.
The song “Most People are Good” by Luke Bryan, describes a theme of hope and seizing the day. This song is clearly directed to an adult audience for it could not be relatable to a younger crowd. The song offers words of wisdom and a recollection of youthful times gone by. The song is told in the first person and portrayed by an ageing man or woman who is expressing their beliefs and personal morals through their experience of youth and forgiveness. The hopeful lyrics are informal but provide bright ideas expressed with a buoyant attitude.
The first line ending with "innocent" and the next line with "it". The same also happens in the next four lines, and last two of his verse. As Cole continues his song he uses more repetition and rhyme. In the first few lines the listener will hear multiple uses of the sound "in" and followed up by a series of rhymes. Using repetition again Cole says "on her" in the middle part of this verse. As Cole finishes his first verse he uses "in" again to rhyme his words and give the listener an image of what his emotions are.
All blondes are dumb. Gingers have no soul. All Jews are greedy. All Asians are bad drivers. Imagine living in a world where people are put into a category simply because of their appearance, race, or religion. It limits a person’s chance of expressing individuality through categorization. Desmond Cole’s article, “The Skin I’m In” introduces the struggles faced by black people through racial stereotypes in Canada— a country known for its diversity. Cole reveals the experiences of black people who are stereotyped as dangerous; as a result, they are victimized with prejudice, discrimination, and injustice by society.
Krohn, Franklin B., Suazo, Frances L. “Contemporary Urban Music: Controversial Messages in Hip-Hop and Rap Lyrics.” ETC: A Review of General Semantics. 52 (1995): 193-54. Web. 10 Mar. 2014.
Responses to Amazing Grace Amazing Grace is a legendary song” published in 1779”(www.princeton.edu/-achaney/tmve/wiki100/docs/Amazing-Grace.html) that is also a poem where there are verses in this poem that suggest that the composer John Newton (1725-1807) was going through a pivotal point in his life and he felt that by writing these harmonic verses in rhythmic metaphors could captivate and inspire not only those that read “Amazing Grace” but especially everyone that listened to its meaning. Conviction can come at a time when it seems you are most likely going to die from an act of God, and all the wrong that someone has done becomes a consciously enormous burden when they start to consider what the after life may have as punishment or reward. There are many different responses to this poem. Most of the responses are positive, but when you look at the author John Newton’s life you will start begin to understand the gist of what he is saying and the meaning behind them.
The book, The Spirituals and the Blues, by James H. Cone, illustrates how the slave spirituals and the blues reflected the struggle for black survival under the harsh reality of slavery and segregation. The spirituals are historical songs which speak out about the rupture of black lives in a religious sense, telling us about people in a land of bondage, and what they did to stay united and somehow fight back. The blues are somewhat different from in the spirituals in that they depict the secular aspect of black life during times of oppression and the capacity to survive. James H. Cone’s portrayal of how the spirituals and the blues aided blacks through times of hardship and adversity has very few flaws and informs the reader greatly about the importance of music in the lives of African-Americans. The author aims to both examine the spirituals and blues as cultural expressions of black people and to reflect on both the theological and sociological implications of these songs.
J Cole’s fourth studio album tries to break away from the typical rap sounding album into something that transcends just a piece of artwork. Instead, it is a piece of artwork. At its core, the meaning challenges the idea of glorifying a life of crime. Using imagery and strong word play, J Cole reveals the consequences of living in this life. However, he empathizes
Cole’s musical idols, which greatly influenced his musical style. His style captures the attention from younger generations and the adolescent population, whom also came from an uneasy childhood and along the way lost motivation. “I 'm here to spread a message of hope. Follow your heart. Don 't follow what you 've been told you 're supposed to do.” (Music times, 2014) Through this message, J. Cole constantly portrays to be an ambition seeking activist. He hopes to project hope in those who are struggling by sharing his life challenges and voicing how he overcame
Hip Hop was, at its inception, a means for African Americans to tell their unaltered story. Towards the mid-’90s however, the genre began to be way more salse conscious than it ever was before. Artists, such as Nas for example, began to stray from their genuine and authentic selves to start making music about drugs, violence, and sex because that was what pushed their sales to the corporate level. This album was Lauryn Hill coming to re-educate the people in an attempt to bring them back to the root of Hip Hop. This poem focuses on many different themes, however this focuses on religion. In the poem Mystery of Iniquity the writer Lauryn Hill examines religion to illustrate racial discrimination, corrupting and crooked