Marching to the Beat

A statement that precisely describes marching bands at HBCU’s (Historically Black Colleges and University’s) is that “the show doesn't start until halftime”. I believe that I would get a multitude of people to agree with that quote from the 2002 box office hit Drumline. However, HBCU’s aren't the only schools that believe in this motto as you will see later on.

When HBCU marching bands come on to any football field, crowds immediately expect a show, as mentioned previously. These bands include everything from trendy song selections, to extravagant dance moves, to formations that just blows everybody’s minds away. One would never expect that from a predominately white school however.

I didn't think that a predominately white marching band would be able to pull off what a Morgan State, Southern University, and both HU’s (Howard University and Hampton University) are able to do as far as getting people anxious for what they might see as far as marching bands are concerned. Majority schools are usually stereo-typically the wholesome bands that display very safe formations with little to no movement besides the marching. There is nothing wrong with all of that. After all, it is called a “marching band”. However, if you are looking to entertain young college students while your school football team is in recess, you might want to spice things up a little bit and not have the majority of your song selection exclusively come from a catalog of 18^th century patriotic American songs.

The Ohio State University proved me, along with millions of other people wrong with this stereotype as they put on a display that I will not forget for a very long time. In this Michael Jackson tribute performance, they shattered every stereotype that I ever had of a marching band that is not from an HBCU. The performance was a medley of hits from the Thriller album by Michael Jackson, who is known by many people around the world to be the greatest performer of all time, so they couldn't disappoint. The band started off the performance by playing the song, Thriller. Then they went on to perform their own rendition of Bad, using the band members to actually spell out the word “BAD”.

Ohio State Marching Band

The most impressive part of the whole performance took place when they went on to play Billie Jean. The band members joined together to form what appeared to be Michael Jackson’s contour. You could hear the crowd’s loud reaction as everybody began to realize what they just did. And as if that weren't enough for the crowd’s entertainment, they took that same formation and did perhaps Michael Jackson’s most iconic move, The Moonwalk. The crowd got louder with every move being made.

This performance definitely raised the standard to how marching bands across the nation should perform from that moment. The Ohio State University marching band showed that they can compete with any marching band, as they put on one of the best performances, if not the best you will ever see.

To see another great performance by the Ohio State marching band, click here.

Is this the Life?

A career in the music industry can be a very rewarding and fun one if in it for the right reasons. Many people hear about the success that comes from this career. However, what you see from the outside isn't all it is said to be. This blog is especially about the financial aspect of the industry.

If you take a look at one of my previous blogs, 4 Myths About the Music Industry, I talk briefly about the common misconceptions that people have when it comes to the finances of the music industry as a whole. 

Well, in this blog, I wanted to go a little more in-depth on this topic.

If you watch these artists on television, you will see a plethora of elegant, expensive material things such as big houses, nice cars and the like. There are three explanations as to how they get a hold of these luxurious things. That is they actually have the money to buy them, they are spending   beyond their means, or these things are not actually theirs and they’re borrowing them. In a lot of cases, they do have the finances to live this flashy lifestyle, but there is as much of a chance that what they’re showing you is actually just a figment of their imagination.

On average an artist may make several million if they are lucky on his or her first recording contract. However, like Damon Dash points out at the beginning of this video, that several million dollars you make can quickly dissipate. You have to keep in mind that a chunk of that goes into taxes, then some people who see this kind of money get overly excited and want to go haywire as soon as they get that check. The money goes towards things such as cars, clothes, big houses, and forms of entertainment that shall remain unmentioned. They also have to keep in mind that they have family and friends who want a piece of that pie. Not to mention, there are still bills that have to get paid and food that has to be put on the table. Before they know it, those millions of dollars that they thought would seem infinite is no longer there.

Many people think that the amount of album sales equals money in the pockets of recording artists. This may be true if the artist chose to go the independent route. In that case, he or she gets all of the revenue that comes in. However, if the artist is signed to a major recording label, only about 10-15% of the total record sales are going to the artist according to this Cheka Digital article. The way artists usually make their money is through tours and any merchandise that they sell. People are in the mainstream scene now and are selling millions of records but getting just a small percentage of what they actually sell as a result of being signed to a record label. The difference may not be much between an artist signed with a major deal and an independent artist. In some cases, if handled right, an independent artist may end up having more success in the long run.

Women Progressing in Music World

For a long time, women in some cultures were looked at as being the inferior gender in the human race. They would be the ones to have the responsibility of cooking, cleaning, looking after their kids and that is all they were allowed to do as a livelihood. Shelly M. Jargow mentioned in an article she wrote that “…women were expected to become home-keepers, bear children for family labor, and perform daily domestic duties”. If they went as far as to think about doing a job that was considered as being a man’s responsibilities, they would have dealt with some repercussions, including death. However, we live in a world today where women are no longer confined to a certain space that society placed them into. Women, at least in America for sure, are free to do anything they want so long as it is not detrimental to society’s well-being. This includes pursuing a career in music, specifically any kind of composition or leadership position, such as a band conductor.

Women in the career of music also need to be held at a higher regard when it comes to the quality of music they create. For example, I listened to a piece by Amy Bach titled “Symphony in E Minor” about a year ago. If I would have listened to this without knowing the composer’s name, my inclination would have suggested that a male composed this piece. This is not because I didn't think that a woman was capable of composing such a piece, but because I never really thought about a woman being a composer. I have heard of a Bach and Beetoven, who are two of the greatest classical music composers of all time. As I heard the piece by Amy Bach for the first time in my music class, I was thinking to myself that this had to be one of the greatest pieces of music that I've ever heard. It had everything that a good classical piece would have. It was very cinematic, emotional, and just sonically pleasing overall. However, due mostly in part to her gender, I think that this had a long-term impact negatively on her legacy as a whole.

Marin Aslop

As far as females in the world of music conducting goes, it has improved, however, there is till that disparity in equality between men and women. Marin Aslop, whom in 2007 became the first woman to ever conduct a major orchestra (The Baltimore Orchestra) and also became the first female to conduct the Last Night of the Proms, which is a popular classical music event in Britain stated in an interview with BBC that she is honored by all of her achievements but also said that there’s no room for complacency. She recalled the time when she first started her career and could not get any employment, with her gender being a factor. “I was rejected for so many things partly because I was a woman”. She suggested that especially on her quest to being an orchestra conductor it was especially challenging because people weren’t used to seeing this kind of thing. She compared it to a woman operating a plane and admitted that she even hesitates because that’s something she’s not used to.

As a society, I think that we need to do a better job of judging a person’s work based off of quality, not based on their gender. This goes for any career field, not only music. Although I’m not a female, I do sometimes get tired of hearing the phrase “You do that well for a woman”. I think that there is still a ways to go when it comes to gender equality. 

So You Want to be a Vixen?

Meagan Good (center) as Lorie in Video Girl

I caught a movie on television called Video Girl, starring Meagan Good. Good starred in the movie as a girl who loved dancing, however, her dancing career doesn't really pan out the way that she wants it to. She then meets this video director named Shark (Adam Senn). Shark specializes in directing music videos. So to make a long story short, Good’s character, Lorie, has a relationship with Shark and gets in the music business as a video vixen. From a person outside looking in, she sees all of the perks of being a video vixen and thinks that this could end up being the career choice for her. She gets what she wanted and figures out that a career as a video vixen isn't all it was made out to be.

This movie really raised the question in my head “Is this how most video vixens live like?” I have watched a number of music videos during my lifetime, and up until I saw that movie, I didn't really have a problem with girls looking and acting in a seductive manner for music videos. I still don’t really have a problem with it, but I am very curious about how they enjoy that kind of lifestyle if they do in fact live like how Lorie lived in the Video Girls.

According to blootwenty2.com, a video vixen is a woman who models in a music video to enhance the video’s overall look and appeal. The website then went on to describe the stereotypical vixen, especially in the hip-hop industry as having “curvy thighs and hips, a slim waist, big breasts and the signature but of perfect circumference.” The reason behind having these kinds of physical requirements is because most hip-hop videos are trying to convey a sexual, seductive theme in their videos. Having the body types that were described are widely viewed as attractive, particularly in the hip-hop culture.

From the description that was mentioned of what a video vixen is, most people would classify it as objectifying. A lot of the lyrics said in most songs that they are in would go on to further prove the previous statement to be accurate. Various examples of objectification  can be seen here. One of those examples is Buyckcherry’s “Crazy Bi**ch” when the song says “Hey, you’re a crazy bi**ch, but you f**k I’m on top of it. To me, this suggests that everything can be wrong with a woman, but as long as she performs her duties sexually, she is still accepted. If you watch the video, you can automatically notice that this isn't even a hip-hop song.

I can’t tell artists what to do as far as their music videos go. However, the point of me writing this blog is to bring attention to the way that we are portraying these women. There are ways that we can admire the contour of a woman without using degrading actions to get our points across. Women don’t have to show an ample amount of skin to bring about attention. 

Sexual Violence and Objectification of Women in Music Videos

http://www.youtube.com/v/ayj29LLe6yM?version=3&autohide=1&autohide=1&showinfo=1&feature=share&autoplay=1&attribution_tag=yWQMHOdAUR7lOuYRuwst8Q

Blog Pics Post

Student waiting in line for Frostburg Homecoming comedy show

Dance team, Epitome,  performing at Frostburg's pep rally.

Frostburg student, Ola, trying to get all of his school work done before he starts enjoying the festivities for  Frostburg's homecoming.

4 Myths About the Music Industry

You need expensive equipment to make a good record.

I can attest to this falsity of this myth myself, being that I am an aspiring music producer. Say about 30 years ago, this might have been more accurate. However, thanks to the technology that we have today, it is possible for a person to make a hit record in the comfort of his or her own house. Juicy J, hip-hop artist who made the club hit “Bandz A Make Her Dance”, said on an interview with Power 98 FM, that the record was done in a girl’s apartment. All one needs to make a decent record today is a running computer, a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW), and some talent.

You have to get a record deal to be successful

Although this might be true for a few genres of music (such as pop) you should not by any means think that you need to be signed to a label to be successful in this industry. As mentioned in the first myth, a few years back, you might have needed to go to a studio with all of the top-of-the-line equipment to make a decent song, and people needed access to these studios. Record labels paid for the studio time for the artists that were signed to them so they didn't have to worry about how to come up with that money. In this day and age, there is software that produces just about the same quality of sound as a million dollar studio would. One of the key benefits of being independent is that you own All of the music you make, and also you own 100% of the revenue.

Record labels take advantage of their artists.

Although some record labels do unfortunately prove this myth wrong, this statement is somewhat exaggerated. A lot of record labels are still in the business of discovering musical talent, and maximizing the full potential of that talent. However, are a few sharks in the music industry that are money hungry and are ready to prey on young, inexperienced artist who have not the slightest clue about the business of music.

All recording artist are millionaires

Yes, most of the artists in today’s music industry start off with several millions of dollars when they start off with their recording contracts. However, there are several things that come out of that check such as taxes, bills, cars, family, etc. A lot of artists go beyond their means of living just because they see that large amount of money that they see on their first checks. They have to get the biggest houses, shiniest jewelry, and nicest cars. As a result, they end up spending more than they really have, and unfortunately end up going broke. There are just a few artists like Jay-Z and Puff Daddy who actually know how to be frugal with their money and also have the business savvy to multiply their net worth. Click on the link below to see how this myth is in fact false. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmXcpWkkin8

Kendrick taking over Hip-Hop?

Kendrick Lamar

It has been an eventful three months for the hip-hop community, thanks to rising superstar rapper, Kendrick Lamar. Kendrick, who has received critical acclaim for his debut studio album, seemed to have never disappointed his fans since that point. In August, fellow rapper Big Sean, released a song titled “Control”. Due to sample clearance issues, he was not allowed to have the song on his album, but thought it would be good for the hip-hop, especially those who are into lyrical content to drop the song anyway. So in early August, he did just that.

Control Verse: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaMreUKk5Fk

In a matter of hours after he released the song on his twitter, uproar was started, due in large part to Kendrick’s verse. There were two parts in particular that caught the majority of the rap universe. In one part of the verse, he mentions “I’m Makavelli’s offspring, I’m the king of New York, king of the coast, one hand I juggle them both”. In this part of the verse, he was implying that he is the hare to Tupac (Who referred to himself as Makavelli). Also, since the hip-hop genre was originated in New York and he, along with a multitude of avid hip-hop listeners think that he is one of the best, if not the best rap artist right now, he is now the self-proclaimed “King of New York”.

However, the “King of New York” line didn’t bode well for too many people, especially those who hail from there. Papoose, a New York Rapper, responded to Kendrick’s verse by saying “If you disrespect New York, I disrespect you”. In addition to that, he went on to make a Control remix, in which he goes on to say in reference to Kendrick “You a Fu**in joke, I laugh at you hehehe”. Several other rappers made remixes to this song, including Joel Ortiz, Joe Budden, and Cassidy.

The other line that was maybe the most controversial was when he mentioned his peers that are relevant to today’s hip-hop community, and called them out:

“I'm usually homeboys with the same ni**as I'm rhymin' with But this is hip hop and them ni**as should know what time it is And that goes for Jermaine Cole, Big KRIT, Wale Pusha T, Meek Millz, A$AP Rocky, Drake, Big Sean, Jay Electron', Tyler, Mac Miller I got love for you all but I'm tryna murder you ni**as Tryna make sure your core fans never heard of you ni**as”.

Kendrick implied that although he is friends with the people he mentioned in the verse, he also wants to be the best among all of them. He is trying to be so much better than them that they would sound mediocre at best in comparison to him.

The responses generated by the people he mentioned were mainly positive given the lack of meaningful content in the rap genre in recent years. They felt as though this kind of thing was needed to motivate other artist to put their best foot forth. Meek Mill responded to the verse saying “I live for competitive things…I don’t want to lose in nothing”.

Drake

One of the other superstar rappers, however, didn’t take too kindly to Kendrick’s controversial verse. Drake suggested, according to an interview with Big Boy’s Neighborhood on Power 106, he suggested that no one mentioned in the song would want to do a record with Kendrick after that whole situation. As far as him doing a song, he said “I’m good”. He added that he was just concentrating on the album he was then about to come out with.

Just recently, on the BET Hip-Hop Awards Cypher, Kendrick Lamar added fuel to the fire by doing a verse on what most people thought was a shot at Drake. Could there be another battle stirring up in the hip-hop rap industry? Check out the diss Kendrick Lamar supposedly threw at Drake in the link right below.

http://www.bet.com/video/hiphopawards/2013/cyphers/uncut-cypher-playlist.html

Proud Sinfonians

Of the many Greek letter organizations that are on numerous college campuses in the United States, there are few that are as unique as Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia fraternity. Phi Mu Alpha, founded on October 6, 1898, serves as a platform for men who have a love for everything music. The fraternity gives them the opportunity to come around others of the same interest and hone in on their skills as musicians. Phi Mu Alpha currently has more than 150,000 members as well as approximately 6,000 active chapters in the United States. I wanted to know more about the experience as a member of the Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity, so I decided to ask some current members about what life is as “Sinfonians” (Members of Phi Mu Alpha).

Howard University student, Jared Bailey, says that he initially wanted to join Phi Mu Alpha because he saw some of his friends join. He also saw that both of his high school band directors were also Sinfonians but he “never payed too much attention”. That is until he was attending Howard, and added that they were the “defining pieces” to him making the decision to enroll at the university. That ultimately lead him to joining Phi Mu Alpha.

Travis Cohen, is a member on Frostburg State University’s campus said he was introduced to the fraternity by his older brother, who joined back in 2007. As Travis was a high school student, he saw all of the enjoyment that his brother was having by way of Phi Mu Alpha. “I was in High School at the time and just noticed how much fun it looked and it was always something on my to-do list…”he said. To my surprise, he told me that as far as activities go, they don’t really do much with music as he mentioned “…we only do a few music related activities, publicly that is.” They would periodically go to senior citizens’ homes and perform for them and also would schedule to perform in some concerts. Most of the time, you will see them informally performing around Frostburg’s campus. Travis goes on to mention that “Thursday we have a Jukebox which is really just us hanging at a table, waiting for people to ask us to play a song on Spotify through our PA”.

As far as how Phi Mu Alpha has impacted Travis as a person, he said that since being a member of the fraternity, he has learned to become a better leader, something he wasn't very familiar with before. Being a member of this fraternity also allowed him to build stronger relationships with other people. “My position made me take on a leader position was never something I've ever had the opportunity to do. Plus, you never really know the extent of social relationships until you have brothers. People always say stuff about brotherhood, but really having one is something that you can never really describe.”

One does not have to major in music to become a Sinfonian. However, a certain grade point average is required. It is also recommended that a prospective Sinfonian is a member of other organizations.

The Sinfonians at Frostburg State University are having a band called Humming House perform at the ARMAH on October 16. They will also be having their Probationary Member recital on October 22.

To learn more about Phi Mu Alpha, you can visit http://www.sinfonia.org/.

Who is the G.R.O.A.T (Greatest Rapper of All Time)?

Tupac Shakur

We all know that never-ending debate of trying to decipher who is ultimately the greatest rapper, dead or alive. In this discussion between my roommates and me, we attempted to figure out who would hold the throne as the greatest rapper to ever live. The factors that we included in our debates were lyrical content, flow, wordplay, performance, and album sales. All of my roommates, which consisted of Ryan Bromwell, Hayden Wilkerson, and Phillip Croddick all took the time to join the debate to try to figure out who they think is the greatest rapper of all time.

The debate started with m asking the obvious question of interest “Who do you guys think is the greatest rapper of all time?” There was a moment of silence for a while and it was apparent that they were pondering the question. Then Phil finally answered, “Tupac”. He went on to say “it all comes down to the delivery that you perform your raps with”. When it comes to that, he had the best delivery of all of the rappers. He made sure you listened to his content, whether you liked it or not.”

Notorious B.I.G

Hayden then replied by saying “aren’t people supposed to like the content though, especially if we’re debating who the greatest rapper of all time is?” He thought that The Notorious B.I.G had an edge over Tupac. “I think that people understood Biggy’s songs more than Tupac’s. Don’t get me wrong. I think Tupac is dope, but as far as delivery I think Biggy got that on lock. I also think that people could relate to his songs more.” Phil interrupted by rhetorically asking “You said people can relate more to Biggy’s songs than Tupac?” I took Phil’s side in as far as who related more to the general people. Tupac rapped more so about everyday life issues, such as gang violence, drugs and poverty. Notorious B.I.G did the same thing, however he rapped about how he rose from that to the lavish lifestyle he lived until his unfortunate death in 1997.

Nas

I then kindly interrupted by asking “What about you Ryan?” He then said “I think Nas got it. He didn’t have as many radio hits as Big and Tupac, but he is the best lyricist that I’ve heard.” He added that Nas doesn’t really have the commercial success that the other two have, but said that “he keeps it real”. I then said in return “we are factoring commercial success in too. Both Tupac and Nototious B.I.G had commercial success and still had those ‘real records’”. We even played a sample of each of the artists’ music to prove our point.

After about 45 minutes of back and forth banter, I asked if we are in a new golden age of hip-hop. Everybody concluded that we are inching closer to that kind of musical era. Phil reminded us about the verse that Kendrick Lamar did on Big Sean’s verse control, which he essentially called out all of the present-day rappers of notice, and basically said he wants to be the best of all of them. We each agreed that the verse alone catapulted hip-hop today to a whole new level and one day there might be an argument for whether Kendrick Lamar might be the greatest rapper of all time.

Kendrick Lamar

The Myers Attract Audience Despite Rainy Day

It was a day to remember in Frostburg State University as the City of Frostburg held its annual Appalachian Festival. The festivities began with the film festival which began on Thursday and then concluded with a Saturday night concert. A cluster of events, however, were on Saturday, which included some of the top musicians from around western Maryland and West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. Some of the musicians that comprised of this line-up were Ray Owen, Garrett Highlands Pipe and Drums, Blue Shades, and Allegany County’s own Grand Ole’ Ditch.

The repertoire of musicians also included the father and daughter duo of Kathleen and Ed Myers from Keyser, West Virginia. Kathleen Myers started gaining an interest in music at the early age of five when she started playing the fiddle. Ever since then, she has gained a strong reputation as a gifted fiddler. There is reason why she would be recognized as that being that she has placed first second, or third in a number of Maryland state competitions. With achievements such as these, it was hard for her father not to let her join alongside and start performing with him.

The duo made their way to Frostburg State University’s campus to five the people of sample of their musical talents. The weather was not really fitting for a festival as it was raining throughout the performance and for most of the festival. As Frostburg residents know, the temperature can start to drop anytime from late September. This was true for Saturday, September 21 as the chilly weather started to kick in. However, this did not deter people from coming out to listen to what the father-daughter duo had to offer.

A group of about twenty, no more than twenty-five people crowded into a tent to avoid getting soaked from the heavy rain and listen as Ed and Cathy Myers played their country tunes. They played their own renditions of well-known songs. I had no idea what the names of these songs were but could tell they were popular just by the vibes that the audience was showing. Even if it wasn’t a full-fledged concert, it felt as though everybody connected in a way.  People could feel the chemistry between the Myers as they would crack jokes in between songs and I could see the enthusiasm on their faces as they were performing. Ed would also change between his guitar and banjo for different songs while Cathy was strictly playing on her fiddle. At the end of their performance, the crowd showed their appreciation with a large round of applause. The host then insisted for an encore by saying “how about one more”. Someone in the crowed subsequently added “five more”. The crowd responded to that statement with an uproar of laughs. One of the audience members described the whole performance as great and is happy that the rain “didn’t put a damper on things”.

To get more stories on Kathleen Myers and the Myers family you can visit this website http://www.mountaindiscoveries.com/stories/ss2002/myers_plain.html