In a recent post, I shared a video of Sam Smith’s acoustic performance of “Latch” by Disclosure, and I expressed hiw talented and soulful he is, but that is only scratching the surface when it comes to this artist. Not too long ago, Smith released his first album ” In the Lonely Hour”, and it is been nonstop for him from there. In listening to his album, the melodies, and the lyrics you can here a little bit of Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye and Luther Vandross , the legends or blues and soul.Sam Smith is a rare individual, he embodies everything that the artists before him worked years to get noticed for. In listening to every song on this album, I feel like he is speaking exactly how I feel, whether it’s going through a breakup and knowing your going to be okay, like in his song “Restart”, or knowing that the person you love, doesn’t love you the same or is loving someone else, as he sings in ” I’m not the only one”. But the song that speaks to me the most is his first single “Stay with me” which explains how you can be in a relationship with someone, but you know that it’s not going to work but you still want that sense of comfort from that person. The key thing about this album is that anybody who listens to it can definitely relate to it. Sam Smith is a soulful legend in the making and I hope to hear more greatness from him in the future.
Author: Krista B.
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Sam Smith: Legend in the making
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Divided they fall:Female rappers
It is upsetting to see that female rappers in the hip hop industry fall under the umbrella of “divide and conquer” instead of “united we stand”. As females we were taught at a young age how to be strong, courageous, and fearless. We were also taught that the best way to overcome any obstacle is by standing together,but that doesn’t seem like case anymore for the females in today’s hip-hop world. Female rappers once identified themselves, as well as there counterparts, as ” Black Nubian Queens and Princesses”. The rappers of the late 80s to early 90s like Queen Latifah, MC Lyte, Salt and Peppa represented a power movement, a term of endearment, a sisterhood. Sadly, as the times change so did the meaning of sisterhood in hip-hop.Today, for a woman to be considered a respectable emcee, she has not only sale herself through her lyrics but also as a sex symbol. For kids growing up in the 90s era, we had two of the best female emcees to ever touch a microphone, Lil Kim and Foxy Brown. These two women not only set the bar high in producing unbelievably great lyrics and music but the images they both displayed was also something that had to be matched or topped from the female rappers of today.Lil Kim and Foxy Brown both had amazing rap careers which led to one of the most remembered hip-hop feuds. Due to this feud, a divide was formed “Team Kim v. Team Foxy”. But when this feud died and both ladies disappeared from the rap industry, the “throne” was vacant and someone new took over, and that person is Nicki Minaj.In my opinion, all three female rappers brings something different to the table when it comes to lyrics, style and entertainment, but Lil Kim will always be the best female rapper of my era, and Nicki Minaj is the best female rapper of this era. So why is it so difficult to pay homage to each other and then move on? Will the sisterhood of hip hop ever be restored?
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Powerhouse Movement in the making: The Dean’s List Tour Auditions
I always express how music today isn’t the same as it was in the 90’s and that the style of music with a postitive message within lyrics needs to make its way back to inspire the kids of this and the next generation. After being a part of history in the making this past weekend, I feel better knowing that there are artists out there that feels the same as me. This past Sunday, I had the opportunity to witness unimaginable raw talent at the Dean’s List Tour Auditions.The Dean’s List is a tour that has been running for two years now and was created by Brooklyn’s own Scott Morris. During the course of this tour, everyone from the participants to the behind the scenes crew gets the chance to travel to different colleges and (starting this year different high schools), across the country to display their talent with others, from singing to rapping, to dancing, and even spoken word. Scott Morris who is a mutli-talented artist himself, came up with this idea to bring back the positive vibes that he as well as others grew up listening to, to create a balance between the “turn-up” and “positive vibes” styles in music. While being at the auditions, I had a chance to sit down with some of the artists and talk with about the Dean’s List Tour. Some of the people that I interviewed such as hip-hop artists She Real, AR Stylez and dance group 908 had participated in previous tours and they expressed to me how being a part of movement like this is so motivating not only for them but also for their audiences. I also spoke to artists who auditioned for the first time like singers Chris Demarco, Jerrra Blues and rappers Maxxx Flair and Prophecy DaFuture, who believe that their unique style of music can influence a lot of people.There are a lot of things that I admire from being a part of this audition process but the two main things are the fact that this artists have so much drive to come out and perform something great for others to be influenced by and that they think highly of Scott Morris and his creation of the Dean’s List Tour because it is a way to bring back something that had been missing for a long time.There aren’t enough words to describe what Scott Morris is doing and how great he is at doing it, but I will say this he is an innovative person who will take this tour to another level. This year’s tour is going to be something that you do not want to miss. It will definitely blow your mind with the amount of raw talent that will be showcased to many across the world.So definitely be on the look out for this Powerhouse movement in the making.