Week 11 Post 2 - Intentions For Creating Based On Experience
Henry Romain
Miles Davis recorded Kind Of Blue with the purpose of counteracting an issue he saw in music that was being created at the time. Davis's problem was this; “The music has gotten thick,” Davis said. “Guys give me tunes and they’re full of chords.” The album was praised as being "exquisitely simple" and was different because it was overall at a relatively slow tempo and it was almost entirely improvised, putting focus on the improvisation of single notes than that of predetermined chords. This simplicity was not easy to achieve. "Simplicity comes only after you’ve begun to exercise mastery of your skills. Even then, it comes slowly. Miles Davis explained it best:“You have to play a long time to be able to play like yourself.”"(Source 1). Through his mastery of music, Davis was able to solve the problem he saw in music through deciding exactly what he wanted to accomplish and then doing that. While Davis had the goal of counteracting a musical issue, rapper Logic released songs to deal with a more social issue, that of mental health being addressed in hip-hop. Logic released a song entitled Anziety, and it addressed his experience with anxiety in a way that his fans with anxiety or a similar ailment could relate to. A couple years later, Logic wrote a book, Supermarket, which is a novel about a young man experiencing the same mental health issues that logic experienced. Similar to the way Logic became a voice for people going through mental health struggles, NWA became a voice to those being abused by police. Ice Cube wrote "Fuck Tha Police" as a response to his experiences with police and how they affect his life. He stated; "You know him and Eazy were runnin' around fuckin' up, you know what I mean? (laughs) So Dre had to check himself into jail every weekend and as a teenager (laughing), weekends with Dr. Dre, you at the club, you're partying, the music is banging, you're around hip-hop -- he go to jail, all that stop -- so our weekends was boring, bunck! -- we was back on the block, we was just not doing nothing. So I was just mad that all the fun stopped and Dre had to go to jail 'till monday - so I wrote 'Fuck Tha Police', you know what I mean? Because it was like, enough is enough."
Miles Davis's experience of hearing other musicians' music at the time led him to take an issue with the way most music was being written as well as motivating him to make an album to counteract that status quo. Davis wanted to make music that wasn't "thick" and that led to the creation of Kind Of Blue. The album was unique in that it was performed at a relatively slow tempo, and it was largely improvised. Mastering this exquisite simplicity is not easy; "Simplicity comes only after you’ve begun to exercise mastery of your skills. Even then, it comes slowly. Miles Davis explained it best:“You have to play a long time to be able to play like yourself.”" Through his mastery of music, Davis was able to produce an innovative album that accomplished what it intended to. While Davis had the intention of addressing a musical issue, rapper Logic has intended to break the stigma on mental health with his music. In 2017 he released a song entitled Anziety on his Everybody album, this song spoke openly about Logic's personal experiences with anxiety and derealization with the intention of comforting fans who may be going through these same things, to let them know that there is someone out there that they can relate to. Similar to the way Logic addressed the issue of mental health in his music, NWA addressed the issue of police brutality and corruption. Ice Cube came up with the idea for "Fuck Tha Police" as a response to his experiences with the police and how they have affected his life; "You know him and Eazy were runnin' around fuckin' up, you know what I mean? (laughs) So Dre had to check himself into jail every weekend and as a teenager (laughing), weekends with Dr. Dre, you at the club, you're partying, the music is banging, you're around hip-hop -- he go to jail, all that stop -- so our weekends was boring, bunck! -- we was back on the block, we was just not doing nothing. So I was just mad that all the fun stopped and Dre had to go to jail 'till monday - so I wrote 'Fuck Tha Police', you know what I mean? Because it was like, enough is enough." The song addressed specific racial issues ("Thinking every nigga is selling narcotics") and was one of the first songs to illustrate how life was as a black man in Compton. NWA's experiences with police led them to create a song with the intention of illustrating and calling attention to their struggle.
Miles Davis recorded Kind Of Blue with the purpose of counteracting an issue he saw in music that was being created at the time. Davis's problem was this; “The music has gotten thick,” Davis said. “Guys give me tunes and they’re full of chords.” The album was praised as being "exquisitely simple" and was different because it was overall at a relatively slow tempo and it was almost entirely improvised, putting focus on the improvisation of single notes than that of predetermined chords. This simplicity was not easy to achieve. "Simplicity comes only after you’ve begun to exercise mastery of your skills. Even then, it comes slowly. Miles Davis explained it best:“You have to play a long time to be able to play like yourself.”"(Source 1). Through his mastery of music, Davis was able to solve the problem he saw in music through deciding exactly what he wanted to accomplish and then doing that. While Davis had the goal of counteracting a musical issue, rapper Logic released songs to deal with a more social issue, that of mental health being addressed in hip-hop. Logic released a song entitled Anziety, and it addressed his experience with anxiety in a way that his fans with anxiety or a similar ailment could relate to. A couple years later, Logic wrote a book, Supermarket, which is a novel about a young man experiencing the same mental health issues that logic experienced. Similar to the way Logic became a voice for people going through mental health struggles, NWA became a voice to those being abused by police. Ice Cube wrote "Fuck Tha Police" as a response to his experiences with police and how they affect his life. He stated; "You know him and Eazy were runnin' around fuckin' up, you know what I mean? (laughs) So Dre had to check himself into jail every weekend and as a teenager (laughing), weekends with Dr. Dre, you at the club, you're partying, the music is banging, you're around hip-hop -- he go to jail, all that stop -- so our weekends was boring, bunck! -- we was back on the block, we was just not doing nothing. So I was just mad that all the fun stopped and Dre had to go to jail 'till monday - so I wrote 'Fuck Tha Police', you know what I mean? Because it was like, enough is enough."
Miles Davis's experience of hearing other musicians' music at the time led him to take an issue with the way most music was being written as well as motivating him to make an album to counteract that status quo. Davis wanted to make music that wasn't "thick" and that led to the creation of Kind Of Blue. The album was unique in that it was performed at a relatively slow tempo, and it was largely improvised. Mastering this exquisite simplicity is not easy; "Simplicity comes only after you’ve begun to exercise mastery of your skills. Even then, it comes slowly. Miles Davis explained it best:“You have to play a long time to be able to play like yourself.”" Through his mastery of music, Davis was able to produce an innovative album that accomplished what it intended to. While Davis had the intention of addressing a musical issue, rapper Logic has intended to break the stigma on mental health with his music. In 2017 he released a song entitled Anziety on his Everybody album, this song spoke openly about Logic's personal experiences with anxiety and derealization with the intention of comforting fans who may be going through these same things, to let them know that there is someone out there that they can relate to. Similar to the way Logic addressed the issue of mental health in his music, NWA addressed the issue of police brutality and corruption. Ice Cube came up with the idea for "Fuck Tha Police" as a response to his experiences with the police and how they have affected his life; "You know him and Eazy were runnin' around fuckin' up, you know what I mean? (laughs) So Dre had to check himself into jail every weekend and as a teenager (laughing), weekends with Dr. Dre, you at the club, you're partying, the music is banging, you're around hip-hop -- he go to jail, all that stop -- so our weekends was boring, bunck! -- we was back on the block, we was just not doing nothing. So I was just mad that all the fun stopped and Dre had to go to jail 'till monday - so I wrote 'Fuck Tha Police', you know what I mean? Because it was like, enough is enough." The song addressed specific racial issues ("Thinking every nigga is selling narcotics") and was one of the first songs to illustrate how life was as a black man in Compton. NWA's experiences with police led them to create a song with the intention of illustrating and calling attention to their struggle.
How did you decide to incorporate both Davis and NWA in one post? It is both informative and insightful.
ReplyDeleteI incorporated them to show how musicians often make music that they feel speaks on or solves a problem them see in the world, whether it be social or purely artistic. They are also musicians who make very different music but have the same impact on their respective genres in terms of revolution and change.
ReplyDelete