Today was the last day of this class and let me say, that I will actually miss it. It has challenged me in ways that I was not ready for. It made me think about the way that I listen to the songs that I hear on the day-to-day and how it impacts me.

The idea of compression in the songs that I listen to is something that is so interesting to me just because while it does make the the songs smaller and more confined, it makes them easier to listen to for the normal person.

I guess the biggest thing that I will take away from this class is just to not be afraid to question everything.

The world is full of BS, whether it is trashy music, or fake news sites, the world is meant to be questioned.

This class showed me the power of being not afraid to ask questions to anyone if I have doubts about the validity of their statements.

We started to talk about our final project today and it is something that I have never done before. Our final is to make a song and then write a paper.

I am personally excited for this, the idea of being able to show my creative side in a class that I normally don’t is something that gets me going. I love being able to do projects that show the work that I am willing to put in, then, I get the grade I actually deserve.

I think this project should go pretty well for me, I am excited to make this song and paper.

This week is Thanksgiving, and I would be lying if I said I was really paying attention to class all too much, so this will seem a lot lighter than most of my blogs.

Honesty is the best policy.

In class, we talked about streaming music and what its effects are.

I, for one, am all for it, I am a user of Spotify and have no problem paying out 5 bucks a month for unlimited streaming on almost every artist except Taylor Swift, who is overrated.

There are some people that do not like streaming and I do not get it at all.

It is a growth industry that makes music so much easier to access. It is a win-win for everyone.

For class this week, we needed to have read Mp3 by Sterne, which I did. I found the book so interesting because it was literally an entire book about the sound files that the music that I listen to. I never really thought too much of the file and why it was created in the significance behind the creation of the file. After reading it, I think it was a great invention. While it did compress all of the music that is out, it made the idea of listening to music portably so much more realistic. I do not know what I would do without having the ability to listen to music that is so compressed that it can all fit onto my phone. Overall, even though the compression of music makes most, if not all people, mad, I think it has so many more benefits to it.

Sampling is one of my favorite things about hip-hop.

It makes songs that would otherwise just sound normal sound like a piece of art because of the samples that are featured on the song. For example, Kanye West’s first single, Through the Wire, sampled an Aretha Franklin song and because of the sample, the song is a work of art.

That being said, I do agree with the families of the artists that’s work deserves to be credited and the original artist deserves some credit as well as money for having their song sampled.

If I made a classic piece of music that is sampled 200 times, I better be paid for every single song that has been sampled.

The fact that some artists don’t take into account the fact that some current artists do not pay for their samples is so upsetting. It is a huge sign of disrespectful to the original artist.

This week we were talking about Wikipedia and how it can be misleading to those who are looking for information.

If I am being totally honest, I have used Wikipedia for my papers in High School, and I would use the references on the bottom of the pages as my references.

I do think that Wikipedia is a great place for people to come together to gather and collect and read information in a place that is very accessible to a large group of people.

Is it good for us? I really don’t think I have an answer for that.

I think Wikipedia is a great tool, but, it is only as good as the people using it are. If the people who use it are using are using it as a secondary way to gather info and back up their points, it is fine, but, if the same people are using it as the only way they gather info, then it is something that is making us stupid.

Using the database of newspapers, I was able to find the earliest mention of hip-hop and I found a newspaper that totally laughs at the concept of hip-hop and calls it a fashion statement instead of a genre of music.

I think it is funny that one of the most popular genres of music was once seen as something that is stupid.

Also the fact that it was seen as a fashion statement is something that I cannot get out of my head. That is so ridiculous.

I find the origins of things such as this to be quite interesting and vexing to a certain degree. Hip-hop is such a part of the fabric of our culture and to see it first being mentioned is something that i didn’t expect to be so different and interesting.

Every time I think about Huddie Ledbetter and the Lomax family, a part of me just feels deeply disturbed.

The fact that Ledbetter was discovered to be this great artist after he murdered someone is just absolutely absurd. There is no way that he should have been allowed out of that prison.

And the fact that the Lomax family became this group of people who discovered some of the most well-known musicians like Jelly Roll Morton makes me so honestly sick.

They would use these artists as a way to get their messages across to people who wouldn’t listen to them otherwise.

I don’t know why I am always surprised by what our country has done in the past, it just makes me sicker and sicker every time.

The idea of genre in music is something that has been so engrained in me since I could listen to music, so it sounds weird to not have it.

There is one group that currently defines all genre barriers, their name is twenty one pilots. Yes, I wrote that the right way, that is the way their name is written in most publications.

Their music is technically defined as alternative, but, they have so many influences that include hip-hop and reggae.

While genres are a very important part of music and should be respected, they are not all that musicians should force themselves to follow.

This week in class, we talked about Minstrel shows and their impact on current culture.

I feel like this was one of the most rock bottom things that has happened to our country.

White people dressing up in blackface has never ended well, ever, and this is a large reason as to why.

Yet another example of black culture not being taken seriously.