John Unhealthys Influence On American Culture

I sat down with Tanner VanderKrabben in his dorm on October 8, 2016, to interview him about how music has shaped his life. Tanner has been involved in music since elementary school, and his passion for music has only grown since then. Throughout his life, he has found music to be a powerful tool to express himself. This fall, Tanner began working towards a degree in music education at the University of Minnesota so that he could one day share this tool with his future students.

Popular singer Elton John once said; “music has healing power; it has the ability to take people out of themselves for a few hours”, and for most, music is the portal to an out of body experience. African American lyricists especially have been found to use the art of music to escape the real world, commencing from the slavery era and onward. The blues song titled The Tracks of My Tears does just that; expresses the ability to remove your soul from a treacherous reality. Similarly, the lyrics from popular modern songs, written by black artists, speak volumes about what is presently going on in the country, parallel to the way African American slavery songs did. Music written at an earlier period have been found to correlate to music of the past through providing strong emotion toward present day commentary.

In the memoir A Long Way Gone, author Ishmael Beah describes his survival journey as a lost child in his country, because of the civil war in Sierra Leone, then becoming a child soldier facing war daily, afterward the process that Beah went through during rehabilitation and finally in fear escaping the civil war. Ishmael Beah emotional journey has three stages of development in which Beah utilized music. In the first stage, Beah uses music as a survival mechanism to keep sane and safe. In the second stage, begins when he loses his brother and friends, Beah reaches the lowest point with the loss of his entire family again, some friends, music, and being forced to join the war. In the final stage, is the process of rehabilitation where Beah connects with music once again. Ishmael Beah exposure to music at a young age stayed with him throughout his life. (Beah, 2007, p. 5-218)

McBride uses emotional, logical, and ethical appeals to drive his point. His use of emotional appeals are used to get attention and provoke thought from people who may have similar backgrounds to his, or those who may have a strong opinion towards hip hop culture. An example of this would be “hip hop remains an enigma, a clarion call, a cry of ‘I am’ from the youth of the world” (McBride 1). A clarion call is a strongly expressed demand or request for action- a plea, essentially. This pairs with the word “cry” to create a sense of despair in the youth of the world. By grabbing the reader’s heart as well as their attention, this moves the reader to consider the music as more than just defiance.

The decade of hip-hop is what some may call it. Tupac, Naz, Biggie Smalls, as well as other artists, were major contributions. Not only for the people who are trying to find their footing, but Buck as well. Throughout the book various lyrics were embedded in order to create a better understanding for its readers. In addition, this book is based upon a 90s lifestyle within Philadelphia, which included drugs, gang activity, crime, hip-hop, and havoc. Malo was directly in the center of everything, the girls, the fights, the guns. His experiences shed light towards what it’s like to as an African American individual living in or near the hood. Not everyone realizes what people go through while living there, but now it gives some readers an image of what goes on. Though times have changed, not all previous feelings

Millions of people in the world listen to music for all different reasons. Most people all over the world listen to different genres of music in order to relax, but not too many people pay attention to the actual lyrics of a song. If you listen to the lyrics of a song you will realize that many songs have important messages or themes to them. An example of this is the lyrics of the song “Changes” by Tupac Shakur. If you listen to this song, you will realize that Tupac raps about not only the problems that African Americans face from society, but also the struggles that poor people in society have to endure and overcome. Many

Marvin Gaye grew up surrounded by the art of music. Born in the nations capital on April 2, 1939, Gaye’s ageless sounds and intriguing vocals still influence the world today. Gaye’s father, a minister in the Apostolic Church, played a foremost role in Marvin’s musical education. In fact, most of Marvin’s inspiration for religious topics came from the church music he grew up singing. Through the art of song, musical icon Marvin Gaye uses pathos, symbolism, and imagery with an objective to connect to listeners on tremendously personal levels.

Many people don’t think much about how people from the past have influenced their lives. For example, musicians from the past are often ignored by my generation, even though the music they listen to would never be the same without them. Louis Armstrong is a great example. He was an African American musician, born on August 4, 1901 and died in 1971. In his lifetime, he recorded many songs that are still played today with his trumpet solos and gravelly singing voice. He played music with a passion. He also differently than other musicians at the time, and as his popularity spiraled upward, his impact on music continued to grow. Even today, over a century after his birth, his musical pieces are still praised and he is still honored for being successful as an African American at a time when that was very difficult.

The influence that the spotlight is on in this essay is not somebody that I have met before, but someone I’ve watched, listened to, heard of for years, and watched grow as I grow, Jacques Webster Jr, also known as Travis Scott. Travis is a person who has a mind just as wild as mine. He shows his emotions through music producing and mood of instrumentals he creates and shares with the world. People don’t even think of Travis as an artist they think of him as beyond that and on another level compared to the rest of the music community. I found Travis when I was a freshmen in High School ,after finding and learning to enjoy life and what truly makes me happy from Keith Cozart. When I found Travis he was just a quiet guy who just needed a push to be extroverted ,like he is to this day, but before the push Travis

John Lennon’s music still impacts people’s lives today by giving them hope even after his unexpected murder 36 years ago.

When we are born into this World, some say we are born with no predefined path, others will say one 's Destiny is already chosen. It is one of the many wonders of the Human experience to try and seek purpose and meaning in life, to be freed of the constraints society puts upon others. Many people living today do not know what path they are taking, they are walking blindly, in the dark. However, it is possible for one to open their eyes and to see the many opportunities that come their way and to see the light in this complicated world of ours. One of the many people in this world who have experienced this enlightenment is John Coltrane. What makes this man special is that he like many others started out life with no path he only lived in the moment not thinking about how he can leave his mark on the world. However unlike the majority of the population Coltrane midway through his life realised he needed to make a change in the world and that the way he would do it would be through his music. Coltrane’s success came to be due to his determination to fulfill his dream of making the world a better place, while overcoming the various barriers society and the world he was born into put in front of him; this determination led to his success. However like all barriers, some simply can not be overcome, and failure will play a crucial role in Coltrane’s career. Although through failure, one can learn to better themselves and achieve complete greatness, this is exactly what Coltrane

John Coltrane being born on September 23, 1926 in a household with his mother, father, uncle, aunt, cousin, grandpa, and grandmother was raised in the south. Around age 12, the death of his father, grandfather, grandmother, and uncle occurred which then led his mother to leave and go off to Philadelphia to find work. John had to take time off from music after moving to the North but eventually fell upon it again. Coltrane struggled with a drug addiction which got him kicked out of bands but fortunately was able to quit “cold turkey” after realizing his music career was going to fall apart. After quitting, his music career risen higher than before and eventually found new love after divorcing his first wife.

Throughout its history, music has permeated the significant events of American history. Its effect on American society and the way the American people cope with each event has only grown as popular music evolves and new genres reach more and more individuals. People can remember where they were and their exact surroundings to amazing detail when asked about life-changing events in history. Older generations will remember the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Their children will remember when Kennedy was assassinated and when man walked on the moon. Their grandchildren will remember much of the turmoil of the ‘70s and ‘80s and their great grandchildren grew up in the world impacted by the events of September 11, 2001. Even one’s surroundings during the start or end of a relationship or personal events such as graduation, getting a driver’s license, or getting married can all be paired with the music that was popular at the time.

While music across all genres is emotional, there was an elevated sense of feeling put into much of the music. A lot of it would leave a piece of that artist with you. I think it has since become commonplace for musicians today to do the same. As a musician myself, I can say that Chris Cornel and Rob Thomas particularly left a huge stamp on the way I write. The things I do vocally, as well as musically through the writing process takes a lot from the 90s grunge scene.”

Do you ever wonder what is the meaning behind what you so proudly sing whenever you hear it? Music is an art form of culture which organizes sound with times It first came around in prehistoric times, however, as times passes, music is drastically changing. As a result, in the last decades music has experienced drastic changes in the themes they are talking about. These changes are due to the generations and what they are living, political and social actions of the time. For example, the decade of the 80s was the rise of hip-hop and rap music from a local phenomenon to a worldwide known genre of music. Previously, a crack cocaine epidemic had stroke major cities in the USA and it coincided with the rise of hip-hop in black communities as these