For Sunday 4/19

Close Reading Other Writing about Music 

OK, so because writing descriptively about a work of music is such a central part of Essay 2, I want us to begin looking very carefully at examples of good, detailed music writing–some of it pretentiously called “music criticism” 🙂 .  I’m hoping that this writing will give you inspiring ideas for different ways of writing about the track you’ve chosen for your Essay 2.  (I am rewinding us a bit because I think we need more practice writing descriptively about sound–which is hard! We will get back to working on discussing articles about social issues and connecting them to your songs next week.)

So what I want you to do for Sunday is read texts # 13-15 in the Course Readings folder (you should know where this is, but ask me if you can’t find it).  Then I want you to read each text carefully and provide me with two simple pieces of writing responding to it:
A) Very basic: just list the author’s full name, title, and publication info for each text
B) Choose one—and only one—sentence from each of the readings that strikes you as an interesting way of describing a sound in one of the songs being written of (or–in the case of Drake’s video, a visual).  Copy these sentences into the first part of your response.  Then write a paragraph that responds in some way to one, two, or all three of the sentences you’ve chosen.  Simple and open, this one–be creative!
Thanks, as always,
M

10 thoughts on “For Sunday 4/19”

  1. A.) -“Drake: Rapper, Actor, Meme” By Jon Caramanica published October 23, 2015
    -“On rap and white noise” by Jace Clayton published March 2016
    – “The full retard- central question: is fashion a form of time travel” by Jeremy Schmidt published July 1st 2012

    B.)
    In “Drake: Rapper, Actor, Meme” –
    “This week, though, the Internet decided it wanted “Hotline Bling” back. Late Monday night, Drake released its video, mostly made up of long shots of him dancing in front of a plain background that’s constantly changing colors: mustard, lavender, baby blue, and peach, chartreuse.”

    In “On rap and white noise”-
    “His compressed rhymes sparkle with aphoristic detail.”

    In “The full retard”
    “Like an oracle crowning herself queen, the hook from “The Full Retard” predicts its own reign.
    I chose this sentence to write about because this opening sentence really intrigued me. From reading this sentence alone I can only assume this song must be powerful for the author to immediately compare the chorus of the song to an oracle (someone who can predict the future) crowning herself and cleverly using the words reign to describe the hook. The next sentence “The song’s track is all clanging beats and zapping lasers…” Reading this just confirms my notion of thinking the song to be loud, strong and powerful.

    1. Brittny,

      Thanks for this. I too like the opening of Schmidt’s text on Jaime Melina’s “The Full Retard.” Can I challenge you to go a bit further with your analysis of it though. Can you connect Schmidt’s use of the word/symbol “oracle” to the content of the line in the song he’s discussing a bit more (which has everything to do with the future…).

      It strikes me that all three sentences you’ve chosen are really really great examples of writers using intense descriptive details to describe visuals in videos or sonics in songs. Can I encourage you, though, to try to reduce your first quote to just one sentence that does this? There are a couple sentences in there, and I don’t think you need both of them; and this is part of the work we need to do when quoting: we want to carefully sift the material we’re quoting and reduce it down to its essence… Think of it like panning for gold. 😉

  2. A)
    “Drake: Rapper, Actor, Meme” – written by Jon Caraminica, published on Oct. 23, 2015 by New York Times
    “On Rap and White Noise” – written by Jace Clayton, published in March 2016 by New York Times Magazine
    “The Full Believer” – written by Jeremy Schmidt, published on July 1, 2012 by Believer Magazine

    B)
    In Caraminica’s “Drake: Rapper, Actor, Meme” –
    “Transparency has always been Drake’s bailiwick, but this approach to content creation takes it past a place of emotional vulnerability and into an advanced space where an artist induces people to create their own narratives: The star is at the center, but not in control.”

    In Clayton’s, “On Rap and White Noise” –
    “The track uses white noise to depict a kind of death, yet it’s also the sound of a channel being changed or a TV or radio shutting off: Someone is controlling this switch.”

    In Schmidt’s, “The Full Believer” –
    “Meline offers us a chance to jump forward in time by becoming early adopters, but time travel screws massively with the idea of being an informed cultural consumer: it magnifies the repercussions of each choice while simultaneously calling the possibility of choice itself into question.”

    One particular concept that I found interesting while reading the first two articles was this concept of control. In Carmanica’s, “Drake: Rapper, Actor, Meme,” one line that stood out to me was the following, “The star is at the center, but not in control.” While Drake is viewed as an artist who uses his marketing genius to manipulate different ways into making his works of art as this repetitive trend of becoming a meme, I began to wonder: Is Drake controlling the uncontrollable? Is he using this rare, intentional concept to him, but mostly unconsidered to his fanbase, to continue generating shares, reposts from creatives who meme his videos, and streams to further his profit yet expand his legacy? We see this again this year with his new song, “Toosie Slide,” where he purposefully markets the dance as a new wave to an already brand new platform known as Tik Tok, which became vastly popular during this current coronavirus epidemic that has caused millions to be quarantined at home and has challenged us to find creative outlets to keep entertainment going.

    As for the second article, I found particularly interesting how Clayton uses the following line, “Someone is controlling the switch,” when referring to the sudden silence that occurs in Vince Staples’ “06”. What intrigued me is how the white noise is referred to by Clayton as the kind of death because in the same context, Vince Staples discusses his traumatized childhood of growing up in police discrimination and brutality in Long Beach, California. What I questioned for this particular line was the following: Why does this “white noise” refer to death? Why does this “white noise” control the switch? As for the both articles, one interesting outcome I got from it was also this question: How does the role of control play in determining what the future holds?

    1. Jayvon!
      Amazing response all-around—seriously, this is one of the finest blog responses I’ve received in years. Not only are all three of the sentences you’ve chosen super interesting to think about, but you’ve gone one step further in connecting them. Of course, your analysis does make me want to go even further with a couple of the ideas in here:
      –what does it really mean for Drake to “control the uncontrollable”? It’s a great way of putting how Drake is attempting to use meme-culture to his advantage. But is it possible that part of what he’s doing involves being aware that he’s not ultimately in control of all the viral content that gets made about him—and perhaps even celebrating a certain loss of the artist’s control over his work?
      –I think you can begin answering some of your own questions about Staples’ work—and Clayton’s analysis of it. In what ways is the ending of the song like death? Is it possible that Clayton wants to see the one controlling the switch at the end of the track as a symbol of the brutal American police who can turn off the lights (and sound) so to speak on any of the POC they brutalize…and sometimes even kill? Who do you think “controls the switch” at the end of the track? If it’s Staples himself, is this gesture suicidal? Why/not?

  3. 13) “No celebrity understands the mechanisms of internet obsession better than drake.”
    -Drake has definitely mastered capturing the internet’s attention. After “Hotline Bling”, his internet fame just grew more. For months I couldn’t scroll through my social media accounts with seeing constant videos of people jumping out of their cars and dancing to “Keke, Do you love me? Are you riding?” It was EVERYWHERE! Literally on every radio station and it played after every other song. Kids in school were singing it at random like it was just stuck in our heads. It was stuck in my head so much I started to hate it. Yet again, he takes over the internet at the right time. Quarantine. Tik-tok has been the internet’s favorite app to do dances and funny skits and guess what artist has created the most popular song to dance to on the app? Drake. I believe the song is called “Toosie Slide” but, its stuck in my head as “Left foot up, right foot slide
    Basically, I’m saying either way, we ’bout to slide.” Drake is indeed a master of the internet. All it takes is one post and he’s captured the world’s attention.

    15) “I think about what my taste will look like in two months or twenty years…”
    – Totally going off topic from what the article is originally about, I actually spend lots of time thinking about how my taste has changed over time in almost everything. It’s a big part of growth. My taste has changed in music, food, friends, clothing and even men. Even beyond that, our eye changes towards certain things based on our experience with them or it. Some people grow bored of things and feel for something different and that directs taste. I’m really curious as to what my taste will be like within the next five months. So far, I’ve gone from my old fashion of T-shirts and vans (what I call my high school phase) to sweatsuits and leggings of all kinds (what I call my college phase). My taste in music seems to remain at a standstill. My taste in men has always been the same. Friends… that’s a topic beyond me. My taste changes with their attitude. My love for trying new foods will always remain so my taste is a never ending change…literally!

  4. A)
    -Jon Caramanica, “Drake: Rapper, Actor, Meme”, published October 2015 by New York Times
    -Jace Clayton, “On rap and white noise”, published March 2016 by New York Times Magazine
    -Jeremy Schmidt, “The full Retard”, published July 2012 by The Believer Magazine

    B)
    * “They’re small moves that he repeats — in essence, he’s making a GIF of himself, anticipating what will inevitably happen to him online.” -Drake: Rapper, Actor, Meme

    * “This is a glimpse into the hypnotic heart of hype itself”. – The Full Retard

    * “White noise is a spray of pitches and volumes that contains all audible frequencies. It is constant and patternless. Quite literally, it’s the sound of undifferentiated possibility.” -On rap and white noise

    I absolutely love this quote by Jace Clayton because the description he gave us is so unique and versatile; it could be applied to several songs that I know of. I thought that this was an interesting way of describing the song “Summertime 06” because the audio evokes several feelings when you really listen to it. When I listened to the song right after reading the article, I noticed that the comment left by Jace is true, and in fact, if you listen to the song you’ll notice that the rhythm felt constant and patternless, almost as if there is no structure. Overall, the randomness of the audio is strange in its own unique way and I think this song is “the sound of undifferentiated possibility” for a lack of better words.

  5. A) “Drake: Rapper, Actor,Meme” by Jon Caramanica published October 23, 2015
    “On rap and white noise” by Jay Clayton published March 2016
    “ The full retard” by Jeremy Schmidt published July 1st 2012.

    B)

    “Its words and sounds don’t matter. What matters here is the rupture” From “one rap and white noise”

    “The taste curve has been flattened. This is already the future, which doesn’t exist, so might as well listen”

    “ mostly made up of long shots of him dancing in front of a plain background that’s constantly changing: mustard, lavender, baby blue, peach, chartreuse” from “Drake: Rapper, Actor, Meme” To me I feel like this line gives us the whole feelings about Drake’s song. The colors really set the moods for the song and he he dances.

    1. Redoanul Islam Sahat
      Eng 1101
      A)
      “Drake: Rapper, Actor, Meme” – written by Jon Caramanica, published on Oct.23, 2015 by New York Times
      “On Rap and White Noise” – written by Jace Clayton, published in March 2016 by New York Times Magazine
      “The Full Retard” – written by Jeremy Schmidt, published on July 1, 2012 by Believer Magazine
      B.
      In “Drake: Rapper, Actor, Meme” –
      “Transparency has always been Drake’s bailiwick, but this approach to content creation takes it past a place of emotional vulnerability and into an advanced space where an artist induces people to create their own narratives: The star is at the center, but not in control.”
      In “The Full Retard”-
      “This is a glimpse into the hypnotic heart of hype itself. What does it mean to pump, promote, or even love something right now, knowing that it—the song or the idea or the meme—will be ubiquitous in the future?”
      In “On rap and White Noise”-
      “Their looking was the only thing to see. When the dancer-choreographer Storyboard Pperforms for video, he exploits the camera’s two-dimensional limitations to create on-screen moves that appear simultaneously awkward and impossibly fluid. He dances as if he doesn’t want to be captured, in gravity-defying bends and evasions — all escape, no center”

      One particular idea that I found interesting while reading the first two
      articles was that personalized videos give all the control to the creator in a music video. They set their own price and types of fan interactions, decide which requests to fulfill, as well as where and how they will promote to their community .We’re starting to see emerging artists and small to midsize creators and athletes drive significant orders by developing very creative ideas and then communicating exactly what they are offering to fans.; “The “Hotline Bling” video is also the moment when Drake fully becomes a meme”. Music has had a profound impact on our society and culture. The sound of music has changed as society has changed over the years, thus the change in the sound of music is really a reflection of our cultural evolution. However, our culture also has changed music and how we perceive it. The article ‘The Full Retard’’ focus on our history with music , the relevancy of the music and the impact it had to the future of song writing. In some ways music videos have become just as or sometimes even more important than the artwork due to the way we now consume music “Their looking was the only thing to see. When the dancer-choreographer Storyboard P performs for video, he exploits the camera’s two-dimensional limitations to create on-screen moves that appear simultaneously awkward and impossibly fluid’.

  6. A)
    “Drake: Rapper,Actor, Meme” By Jon Carmanica, published October 2015
    “On Rap and White Noise” By Jace Clayton,published March 2016
    “The Full Retard” By Jeremy Schmidt, Published July 1, 2012

    B)
    In “Drake: Rapper, Actor,Meme” :
    “Living Gallery in Brooklyn will host a Drake‐themed party and art show featuring the work of five artists, including Daren Chambers, whose work as True Minimalist is popular on Instagram.”

    In “The Full Retard” :
    “The song’s track is all clanging beats and zapping
    lasers, its lyrics Jaime Meline’s standard skyscrapers-and-sewers
    futurism, its overall effect a parade of sonic likenesses of the coming
    world’s broken infrastructure.”

    In “On Rap and White Noise” :
    “Black entertainers in the celebrity spotlight mark one extreme, the grainy videoclips of African- Americans dying at the hands of the police, whose name-recognition is always posthumous, another. How to speak against that? You can’t.”

    This particular sentence that Clayton wrote caught my eye because I feel that this song may be based on a number of emotions. It can be related to hopelessness or sorrow due to a continuous loop of police brutality occurring. Although people are fighting for justice and fighting to be treated equally, their voices are being silenced. The names of these innocent people who are dying from brutality aren’t released or shown sympathy until after a tragedy has happened.

  7. A:
    13: Jon Caramanica, Drake: Rapper, Actor, Meme, The New York Times, October 2015
    14: Jace Clayton, On rap and white noise, The New York Times Magazine , March 2016
    15: Jeremy Schmidt, The Full Retard, The Believer, July 1, 2012, Issue 91

    B:
    13: “The star is at the center, but not in control.”
    14: “when the song cuts to a blast of loud static, followed by silence. The effect is
    so jarring that it can easily be mistaken for an error, a glitch in the stream.”
    15: “This is a glimpse into the hypnotic heart of hype itself. What does it mean to pump, promote, or even love something right now, knowing that it—the song or the idea or the meme—will be ubiquitous in the future?”
    C: This quote from “The Full Retard” stood out to me because I feel like it essentially unites all 3 readings. In “The Full Retard” it states, “What does it mean to pump, promote, or even love something right now, knowing that it—the song or the idea or the meme—will be ubiquitous in the future?” (Schmidt, Pg 1) Drake and Vince Staples both disregarded these thoughts in their mind while creating their projects. Drake, in particular, was aware of his market and “Meme Culture” and used it to his advantage to promote the song. While Staples wasn’t thinking in a commercial sense, he created music in reference to what he felt and liked at the moment.

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