We all know the myth of Narcissus, the young man, who like many of our teenage selves, spent too much time staring back at himself in a pond, a mirror in our cases, and essentially fell in love with himself. Recently, I came across an interviewwith Dr. Nathan DeWall, a psych professor at Kentucky U, in which he describes his recent study that concludes that the increase in egotistical song lyrics over time directly correlates with a huge increase in narcissism in society.
DeWall's study analyzed the lyrics in songs on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart from 1980 to 2007 and found a statistically significant trend toward narcissism in lyrics, with the words "I" and "me" gradually replacing "we" and "us." So, nowadays, instead of talking about love being between "we" and "us," it's more about, as Justin Timberlake put it so well...
When asked the question:
"So how does this affect the way teens and young adults and even old folks who listen to this music function in society and think about themselves as they sing along to all this?"
DeWall answered:
"It reinforces this idea in American culture that we really need to focus on how people feel about themselves. You know, we can't really threaten other people's self-esteem. We can't give them accurate feedback about who they really are. People who are very narcissistic, they come off as very confident, but if you insult them or provoke them in any way, it sort of breaks their bubble, and they're very fragile people."
So are the increasingly narcissistic lyrics in popular music a reflection of the growth of narcissism in our society, or are the opinions expressed in pop music making us more obsessed with ourselves?
Revolutions are still televised, but, these days, they're tweeted, facebooked, and youtubed first. One such revolution goes by the name OFWGKTA (short for Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All). A tight-knit group of nine skateboarding-computer-nerds-gone-rap-rebels, Odd Future's revolution began with with a video gone viral. Shocking the micro-bloggers whose deification of the group coordinated Odd Future's unlikely rise to fame, the number of views the video for "French" acquired were not the only aspect of the video that could be described as viral. The way a viewer's stomach may feel after watching the video could also be described as inflicted by a virus. Full of vomiting, suggestive maneuvers with a Ronald McDonald doll, and extreme violence, the video for "French," directed by group-leader Tyler, the Creator, was OFWGKTA's way of telling the world that they simply don't care what anybody thinks, they'll do what they please.
And "French" was only the beginning. Since then, the group has somehow succeeded in shocking Youtube even more with each video release. First, with Earl Sweatshirt's "Earl," which features seizures; a blended concoction of weed, pills, and alcohol; and a whole lot of blood. Even more shocking than the visual content is the lyrical content regarding murder, drug abuse, and rape...delivered by 17 year old Earl.
With the success of "French" and "Earl," Odd Future's fanbase was growing steadily, but it wasn't until the release of Tyler, the Creator's "Yonkers," this February that the group truly "blew up." The video, which concludes with Tyler's appearing to hang himself, has been able to garner over 5 million views in just two months, evidence that Odd Future is not simply riding on shock value, but is a group of not only extremely talented, but also insanely ballsy musicians. Even more impressive than the amount of Youtube views Odd Future's sadistic videos are able to garner is the fact that the oldest member of the group is a mere 22 year old. Odd Future is not only here to stay, but is here to take rap music back to the days of revolution and aggression.
Legendary drummer of the Roots, Questlove, said of OFWGKTA, "They aren't user-friendly, and that's been lacking in hip-hop for the last 20 years." He continues by calling them a fusion of elements found in gangsta rap and hardcore punk, citing conscious hip-hop group Geto Boys and influential punk quartet Bad Brains.
The most important aspect of Odd Future's sound lies in their refusal to concede to involvement in the popular rap scene, remaining defiantly adverse to sanitizing their image or lyrics. Their music, composed of noisy, brash, and almost entirely sample-free instrumentals coupled with sadistic, misogynistic, shocking lyrics are a grosly pleasant contrast to the cleanliness found in the rap world.
Tyler says his goal is, "make great music … be the leader for the kids who were picked on and called weird, and show the world that being yourself and doing what you want without caring what other people think, is the key to being happy," and so far, he, and the rest of Odd Future, seem to be succeeding.
Tracing its roots back to Africa's long-standing poetic tradition, hip hop in North Africa has always had a large following. Rap maintaining a strong anti-government focus has ruled the streets across North Africa for years. The following video from rap duo Y-Crew has remained an underground hit for years:
Recently though, due to widespread unrest across the region, hip hop artists have garnered worldwide attention, producing what has become a soundtrack for revolution. The most popular group to emerge from North Africa recently is a collective of 8 hip hop artists who go by the moniker Khalas, which means "Enough!" The members of Khalas come from diverse locations, 3 artists from Tunisia, 3 from Egypt, 1 from Algeria, and one from Libya, yet they all share the same goal of protesting the corrupt regimes and dictators that have plagued their nations for decades. Khalas have adopted a violent form of hip hop, directly their words right at their nations' corrupt governments and calling together their countrymen to stand up against oppression. This style is evident throughout their recently released Mixtape Vol. 1, entitled Mish B3eed, or "Not Far" in English:
One of the mixtape's most powerful tracks is Ramy Donjewan's "Against the Government." In this song, Donjewan attacks Egypt's government with a laundry list of complaints. Furthermore, Donjewan employs pathos, calling out the wrongdoings of the government against the common man, in attempt to call together a revolution.
Translated into English, the chorus' lyrics are:
Your blood, the government's shedding it
Your nation, they've exhausted it
Your religion, they've targeted it
Your portion... they've swallowed it
While each song describes the unique circumstances in each artist's country and carries with it the subtleties of local dialects, the most important aspect of Mish B3eed is the unifying factor that highlights the extraordinary similarity of each artist's struggles.
I've always had a soft spot for jazz. I remember the days of nighty-night rides when I was a young preschooler. My parents would drive me through the hills of Hollywood in attempt to soothe me to sleep, jazz tunes filling the car. And so, this month I've been following the Smithsonian's paying tribute to a variety of Jazz artists across several decades as part of itsJazz Appreciation Month. The International Sweethearts of Rhythm, a group NPRcalls "An All-Girl Band That Broke Racial Boundaries," was featured this week.
The band not only featured some of the best female musicians of their day, but, more importantly, was the first integrated all-woman's band in the United States. During their peak in the 1940s, the band fought a two front war, against both gender and color discrimination. The band did not only contain both white and African-American members, but had a rather "International" cast...Willie Mae Wong (saxophonist) is Chinese, Alma Cortez (clarinet) is from Mexico, Nina de La Cruz (saxophonist) is Indian, and Nova Lee McGee (trumpet) is Hawaiian.
While the band toured the world, playing in venues from New York City, to Paris, to Germany, they remained relatively ignored in popular jazz circles. It wasn't until they were rediscovered by Feminist academics in the 70s that the impact their protest against both gender and race discrimination was fully realized. Years after the Sweethearts broke up in 1949, Earl Hines, a notoriously great bandleader, called the group "the first freedom riders." While their music wasn't overtly political, in this case, the group's actions spoke louder than their tunes. Each time they stood up on stage next to women of numerous other races and performed to primarily white audiences, the Sweethearts took a swing at the racial and gender barriers imposed during their time.
