Musically Inspired Movements

From infancy to adulthood, music has been a huge part of our lives. Whether one is listening to their favorite song in the car or out at a social event, music not only is very entertaining, but possesses the ability to influence specific behaviors in an individual. With music, various emotions are triggered using schema’s and person-level and context-level construct’s. Schema’s are like a folder in a document that collects and combines a host of day-to-day interactions in the everyday life of an individual. For example, think about every time you have attended a birthday party. By attending multiple birthday parties, you then have a “schema” of what to expect and not to expect at a birthday party. This concept is also applied to music. Our schema helps one distinguish the difference between genres and styles, rhythms, and eras. Once the human brain is familiar with a given song; the familiarity can be referred to by the context-level constructs (Barret et al, 2010). By context-level constructs, a person’s relationship to a given song can be expressed by the degree in which the song is associated with their personal memory; however, not everyone has the same feeling towards a song and this is known as person-level construct (Barret et al, 2010). Therefore, as music possesses the ability to motivate individual’s to express particular emotions, it more importantly displays its message in the masses of society further leading to cultural movements. Examples of musically inspired movements include Michael Jackson’s environment awareness, the Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G rivalry, and Drake’s motto YOLO.

Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, inspired a worldwide movement. In 1995, Michael Jackson wrote a socially conscious piece on...

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...ir chest. Drake’s hit single, “The Motto” has now created the battle cry of the generation.

In summation, Michael Jackson’s “Earth Song,” Tupac and Biggie’s rivalry, and Drake’s motto YOLO, all exemplified musically inspired movements. These movements were constructed through schema’s and person-level and context-level construct’s. These concepts were perceived in Jackson’s “Earth Song,” when individuals expressed complicated feelings towards the environmentally-conscious inspired song. Tupac and Biggie’s rivalry divided the interests of the hip-hop consumer world, further manifesting itself through a contention between the east and west coast. “The Motto,” by Drake inspired a carefree and reckless approach towards decision-making. Music is one of the world’s most prized discoveries, and its influence through generations motivate change by virtue of human support.