Cloud Rap Album Review

LONG.LIVE.A$AP

Packed full of psychedelic and dreamy beats along with suggestive actions, this album is breathtaking. The feeling that runs through the listener’s body influences the mind in multiple ways.

The album LONG.LIVE.A$AP by A$AP Rocky was released in 2013. Recorded by LLC/RCA Records and marketed by Polo Grounds Music/ ASAP Worldwide, LONG.LIVE.A$AP sat in the tenth position of the year-end US Top Rap Albums chart. Studio sessions occurred in various locations such as Florida, New York, California, and others.

Lyrics throughout the album makes the impression of gold and diamonds. ASAP Rocky depicts a show in listerner’s minds. The use of imagery creates the image of money. The artist also uses personification to erect an image of the love of money, while you can’t love money due to the fact that money does not have the ability to love back. The intricate diction use that Rocky incorporates in the album, creates the impression that you yourself are rich. The waste of money is heavily imbedded all throughout this music, allowing the audience to feel what his life is like without actually partaking in the careless lifestyle.

This album is a looking glass into the life of a cloud rap artist. The actions portrayed in the songs on the album represent the lifestyle of sex, drugs, and no fear of tomorrow. I highly recommend this album to those individuals who would like to get a peek inside the livelihood of a rapper.



Image by: Nicklas Verbes




Beauty Behind the Madness

Love is notorious for leaving hurt in the heart of humanity. In this album ,lyrics dive deeply into themes of heartache and the act of moving on. The audience moves out of their headphones with the sensation that the world around them has changed beyond belief.

Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, otherwise known as The Weeknd, dropped his album Beauty Behind the Madness on August 28, 2015. The album was recorded by Republic Records as well as XO. With various producers on the tracks of this album, it reached number one on the US Billboard 200 following its release. The Weeknd features several other popular artist leading to mass popularity among the youth of the nation.

In the most famous single of the album, “The Hills”, The Weeknd is trying to express the thought that if you think you can top it, come on over. He portrays the fact that he has already experienced the eliten, and no being can come close the the level where he resides. In another song of the album, “Losers”, the artist conveys the fact that anyone lesser settled for less, once again reminding his peers that he is at the top of the game. The Weeknd is doing nothing more than trying to spread his name beyond where it stands. His songs seem to be directed at those who caused hurt in his life.

Not only does this album expose what happens behind closed doors, but also the things that make us who we are.Hence the album title, “Beauty Behind the Madness.”



Image by: Mayu Shimizu



17

Thoughts derived from controversial topics in today’s society are rooted miles beyond the surface of this album. Listeners walk away with a completely new outlook on life.

XXXTENTACION, born Jahseh Dwayne Ricardo Onfroy, with the help of multiple producers, dropped this album with eleven tracks. The album was released by Empire Distribution and Bad Vibes Empire on August 25, 2017. Sounds of the lo-fi and hip-hop genre qualify this album to fall in the realm of cloud rap. 17 sat at number two on the US Billboard 200 charts of 2017-18. The album made an appearance high in the charts once again in August of 2018, following the death of XXXTENTACION.

In this album XXXTENTACION shares the aspects of life that drag him to his lowest points and derail the train from the tracks. The tracks of this album provide reasoning for the lifestyle he has acquired. He portrays the hardships of life that are not shared with the world. The hurt that humanity has endured, but is too afraid to speak of. Jahseh helps the audience to understand the lack of respect by telling how the world is damned him; how God has damned him. The feeling left after listening to the album stays lurking in the depths of listener’s minds, truly impacting their outlook on mankind.

There are problems in every individual’s life. By listening to this album the audience can walk away with the comfort of knowing that they are not the only one that experiences these taboo subjects. I definitely recommend this album to anyone who might be at a tough point in life.



Image from: Dash Two

Golden Age Video Games

Stargate:

In 1981, the game was released to the public. Defender is the original game making Stargate a sequel. Vid Kidz is the developer of the game. The purpose of the game is to eliminate the opposing characters coming from down below until you get to the boss. Then you must defeat it to win the game.

The game has an eerie vibe to it. Starting out in a desert like setting you must run through obstacles and shoot down the opposing characters. There is a panel where you can see objectives and tasks at hand. In order to win the game you must defeat all of the generals.

Q*Bert:

The game was produced in 1982 by Gottlieb, D., & Co., a Columbia Pictures Industry. Atari is the developer of the game. The object of the game is to make Q*Bert jump on every block in order for him to continue on to the next level. Later on they made a sequel to the game called Mello Yello.

At the beginning of the game you have to move up, down, left, and right on the blocks to alter the color in order to advance to the next level. A false move off of the pyramid will result in death and a restart of the game.

Berzerk:

Developed by Stern Electronics, Inc and released in November 1980, the game was first presented on Atari. The object of the game is to shoot down the enemy, which are robots, with laser beams in order to stay alive and advance in the game.

The game starts out on the inside of a building perhaps. Robots then soon try to attack the character. In order to stay alive and continue through the game, shooting the raging robots with a laser beam is necessary.

The Bride of Frankenstein critical analysis

James Whale’s Bride of Frankenstein, a 1935 classic film, depicts Dr.Frankenstein (Colin Clive) creating a bride (Elsa Lanchester) for his previous creation, under the control of Dr.Pretorius (Ernest Thesiger). Interem, the original monster (Boris Karloff) fears being destroyed by people who do not acknowledge his intent.

I was intrigued by the dark themes and and gothic feel displayed throughout the film. Scenes throughout the flick consist of impressively gripping moments that kept my eyes glued to the screen. The film exhibits the use of brilliant direction and cinematography. The change in lighting and scenery portrays the mood changes of characters. This element helped me to further understand different themes and feelings that are presented. The cast truly took their roles to heart. The realistic actions and body language of the actors completely sold the act. On another note the role of women and views on homosexuality have changed vastly since 1935. With that being said, the feminist views of today’s society would appreciate certain aspects of the film. Bright Lights film journal writes, “The Bride of Frankenstein (1935), in the guise of a comic horror tale, assaults the notion of the sanctity of standard sex roles and “family values.” One downfall to the film is the opening sequence. Mary Shelley sitting in a room with others has no meaning to the events that take place in the motion picture. This scene was completely irrelevant and unnecessary. The whole film summarized guarantees that people will walk away from the screen with a different point of view on humanity.

   

Music Revolution

Technological innovation influences music vastly within a decade. A decade in which advanced faster than pretty much any other decade throughout the 1900s is the 90s. Music continues to change everyday and persists to be influenced by new technology. Technological advances affected music heavily in the 90s and continue to improve as time progresses. The evolution of music through technology started in 1991, as RollingStone says, “the first completely digital recording and editing system from Apple Macintosh was rebooted as Pro Tools.” The reboot of the computer software, which is used for creating and editing music, introduced increased speed within the software along with various other tools to artists. This large advancement allowed people to make and edit music right at their fingertips. This creation sped up the process of releasing music to the public also.





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With the help of Moving Picture Experts Group and German engineer, Karlheinz Brandenburg, MP3 emerged in 1995 making it possible to listen to music from your pocket. Items we see today such as smartphones and other music playing devices, are evolved versions of the MP3.


Going hand-in-hand with Pro-Tools, Auto-Tune, which was created by Dr. Andy Hildebrand, came out in 1997 highly impacted hip-hop and other genres of music. Singers such as T-Pain developed a career with the use of Auto-Tune. Although this invention was created in the 90s, it is used more in the present day opposed to back then. Listeners of the young generation enjoy the feature, further providing evidence of the evolvement of music.





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