Jordan Brown – Literary Arts Blogspace

the beauty of covers.

Imitation is the best form of flattery, especially when it comes to reinterpreting art in unique and fresh ways. There is this argument though, that it kills originality and the genuity of the original themes and messages an artist was trying to initially convey. This thought is especially seen within the music industry, with sampling and covers. Personally, the notion that these renditions kill individuality in the imagination simply does not make sense. I think it just takes on a new form and the connections through music or feeling/messages of a song can not be measured in a way.

BASS BASS BASS

There is an artist that really embodies the explanation I’m trying to convey. Her youtube handle is Nikki Chin (above) and she’s a part of a called Tash’s Safe Space. Her personal account is mostly made up of bass covers from what I’ve seen so far. Noticing the attention to detail that she pays tribute to in her covers really made her stand out to me.

She covers my favorite song by my favorite band called “Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)” by Deftones. She really utilizes the accents of the song within her piece, her bass really adding definition and texture to a song I’ve heard more than a million times. I don’t know but it really felt alive to me. Like Deftones did a really good job with it and of course, no one can outdo the doer, but her cover really brought the bass to another level within the song. She does this with another song that I covered myself, “The Chain” by Fleetwood Mac. She definitely has some techniques that beautifully stray away from the song and even the tabs she used. I think the way she personalized that song is such a huge example of why covers are so important to the music industry.

tyler, question mark space, the creator question mark

I think it goes without saying that Tyler the Creator is an extremely talented artist. One of my favorite things about him is his usage of samples. How he can rebrand a song and make it something completely new. For example, in his album Igor, the track I THINK was sampled from Special Lady by Bibi Mascel and Get Down by Nkono Teles. Two songs were released decades before Igor’s time, and two songs of completely different genres. His artistry helped bring a fresh and new outlook to these with a strong rap forefront and funk/disco undertones. By far it is one of the most talented things Tyler has been able to do.

Our Voice Matters (a poetry review)

During writing time for class, I tend to strictly listen to music as a way to focus and extract new ideas or perspectives on a piece. So far, it has proven as a gateway to writing some of my favorite works. Recently, I have begun to dive into my love for slam poetry once again instead of the usual playlists. It is a theme that I intend to achieve in my senior showcase, so I thought that maybe I should look at some examples of what I would like for it to look like. There, I found some of my favorite performances and impactful pieces that correlates to the black experience and the beauty of intersectionality. I would like to share with you some of my favorite pieces and dissect them a little…

Kai Davis- Ain’t I A Woman

Kai prefaces a story in the beginning of the video that really brought the poem together. She says that in her class that there was a discussion about the separation of blackness and gender and how her professor believed that you were “black” before you are a “woman”. Well Kai rightfully disagrees stating that the two coincide and that you cannot be one without the other. To which said statement receives backlash from her male peers and even her professor. However she took notice to the complicity and silence of her female peers. It affected her so much so that she wrote this beautiful piece. Throughout reading I felt all the boxes being checked of what kind of poetry that I aspire to write and the message that I wish to spread. “Too black to be a woman, not man enough to be black”, or “Ask him to stop calling my scars sacrifices, calling my suffering an inconvenience” were just some of the lines that really stood out to me. It was both a new and fresh telling of the life of a black woman and yet it felt familiar as if I already knew the words. The poem felt like a warm hug, like my experiences were not isolated. It made me want to write pieces where people could see themselves in it just like Kia’s. I could feel her anger, her frustration, her eagerness for understanding, and her hope through the changes in her voice. Her performance was a reflection of what it poem achieved and I thought that it was so beautiful to see an active comparison between the two. This was one poem out of a set so I highly recommend that you listen to the others.

Tolu Obiwole and Ashia Ajani- Black College

I really love to see performances where there is more than one person, especially in the back and forth format, I feel like it work perfectly with this piece. I especially like the parts where they would speak together, it added perfect emphases on the lines I felt were most impactful. I really liked this piece because of how widely relatable it was. It is about the nuances of adjusting to PWI’s and the isolation you feel when being the only black person. It is something that I could relate to as the nervousness and awkwardness expressed in the piece were a reflection of mine. There were a lot of points made throughout the performance of which I felt were the perfect balance of explanation and the giving a non-black listener the task of figuring out. The rhythm added such a impactful punch to the noteworthy themes in this poem. Like always I highly recommend that you give it a listen.

Steven Willis- How the Hood Loves You Back

This performance has to be my favorite of the three. It had the love, the sorrow, and the anger balanced so brilliantly. It brought literal tears to my eyes because of the frustration I felt in his voice and in his movements it was hypnotic to witness. I got chills when he began to describe the way in which the hood can show love in the most violent of ways. He did so in a way that wasn’t historically dehumanizing or critical and I really appreciated it. Lines like “This is no longer Jefferson’s Avenue, but where Twig got shot” or “If the Hood Loves you, she’ll write it in tombstone tats” felt so heart-wrenching to hear but so beautifully spoken. Once again the bass in his voice really added to the urgency of this topic and how uniquely painful this niche form of love is. I beg with the utmost urgency to give this piece a listen.

Mood Swings Into Order (MITO)- DPR IAN

This long-anticipated album has been on repeat for about three weeks now. It has so many elements within the album that blends so well together while also giving an insight into this artist as well as this artist’s struggles. It is such a wonderful complimentary album to MITO (Mood Swings In This Order) which was released a year before on March 12, 2021. It explores Ian’s journey of living with bipolar disorder and how he uses music to tell the story of how it has affected him. From beautiful ballads to upbeat bedroom pop, this album has really captured the essence of connection through music.

The previous album MITO 1, was mainly about MIITO a character curated from Ian’s own personal chaos. It builds an alternate universe that has somewhat the same characteristics as the biblical story between God and Satan. I really like how he tied it to his own experiences and gave us such rich, beautiful, and dark songs. Although you don’t have to listen to or watch the videos from MITO 1 to understand MITO 2, I highly recommend that you do simply because of how other-worldly the cinematography and music are. While MITO 1 talks about the relationship between MIITO and his creator, MITO 2 gives us the origins of MIITO and why he is the way that he is while also tying it to Ian’s disorder. Without further ado here is MITO.

Seraph

As I’ve said before this album has strong but subtle biblical tones and the first song really displays that. The song opens with an orchestra, something that helps to highlight the tone, and honestly, I was not expecting it. I’ve known Ian to sort of have these instrumentals in his song before, but it feels different. Both dark and heavenly like how people view the Seraph. A Seraph is an angelic being, regarded in traditional Christian angelology as belonging to the highest order of the ninefold celestial hierarchy, associated with light, ardor, and purity. It is a being that can be perceived as narcissistic, impure, or judgmental. Or at least that is what I got from the rest of the album. But I’m getting ahead of myself. This song describes MIITO’s fall from grace as something that is solemn and heart-wrenching. To compare it to the story of Lucifer, MIITO describes the fall as if he does not want to leave “heaven”, whereas on most accounts Lucifer does. Also, he says maybe three times “I feel myself changing” and I believe that he is being stripped of his celestial invulnerability and becoming human and subjected to the behaviors of man, bipolar disorder. I thought it was very interesting to see the parallel between the two.

Avalon

I’m going to skip ahead to (what I believe) is one of the best songs on the album. It has more of a modern techno feel to it. There is a balanced amount of auto-tune and electrical SFX that heavily accent this feeling. I especially like the reference to King Arthur with the title and the parallels of this sort of technology utopia the song gives. For context, Avalon is a paradise to which Arthur is carried after his death. I think this song is about distraction and wanting some sort of relief. Because of the repetition of dance floor and parties I get the feeling of losing yourself and forgetting your issues with these big distractions as it gives the illusion of Avalon. Take me to your Avalon is said five times in the song and not to mention the amount that was stated in the adlibs. It is sort of a mantra meant to put you in a trance to make you believe that at this moment you’re happy. So really MIITO just wants relief from not only his disorder but the mix of emotions that he now has to face after leaving his creator, and in his way of coping, the only way to do that is to basically hypnotize himself.

Sometimes I’m

So this is the last song on the album which is the best song, there is no debate. I think in this song there is a mixture of DPR IAN and MIITO as this had a more direct approach to bipolar disorder. Throughout the album, we see these metaphors and story-telling of what it’s like or how to deal with the disorder, but the outro song flat out tells you what it’s truly like. It seems all over the place with the switching of pitches and the placement of adlibs, but it still seems cohesive. I think what really brought out the theme of chaos was the switching of adlibs in your earphones. One part is completely in the left ear, then the next one is in your right ear. I especially like when artist incorporates these things in their work because it shows you how much detail and work was put into this. It feels like mania it feels like chaos, it feels tiring, draining, beautiful, and bright. I really love to see the different layers in the album all compiled into one song. Definitely an album of the year for me.

Recently Added

It’s been a good minute since I’ve written one of these. And what better way to close out the year than with an idea I first started out with. As usual, due to it being such a long time since I’ve written one of these I have so much music for you to listen to.

THAT THAT- Psy (feating and produced by Suga from BTS

You know that overwhemling excitement you feel when two of your most favorite people work together on a project. I can not describe to you the feral scream I scrumpt when this was announced. I went completely hysterical, even now as I am listening to it, it feels like a fever dream. This is such a good song and I feel like we got to see the same Psy that made Gangnam Style. I love that Suga still keep true to his style but Psy sort of pulled him into the world of his unique artistry also. From the dance to the beat this song does not miss! I mean its a masterpiece that is uncomparibale to anything that has ever been released. I might be overexaggeration but I love this song so much!!

Punk Tactics- Joey Valence & Brae

This has to be one of my favorite songs out right now. Since finding it on Tiktok, as one does, I have been playing it on a loop. I tend to do that a lot when finding songs I really really love and it isn’t one that you can get tired of. This has to be my favorite style of rap like it just has that old school feel it and its so hype. I truly believe it is physically impossible to not bob your head when it starts playing. From the unique but nostaglic beat to the funny yet perfect lyircs this songs proves itself to be a classic. The back and forth on the chorus is so gooddddd!!!!!!!! It really restored my faith in music production. If you like old school rap and the tingling feeling of nostalgia I strongly suggest you give this song a listen.

Logan Paul- Col3trane

This is such a perfect song for the summer time. It reminds me of late night rides with the window down surrounded with nothing but the vibrant green of trees. Or when the kickback starts to windle down and all of your friends just sit around and talk about old memories. And the vocals are so angelic, like I don’t even have the words to describe how good his voice is. The soft steady beat is just fast enough to dance to but slow enough to just sit and listen.

Habit- SEKAI NO OWARI

NEW FAVORITE ARTIST ALERTTT!!!! The clown lowkey creeps me out though. But that has nothing to do with how good this song is. I found about this song through Tiktok also when seeing the many recreations of the choerography from the music video (which you should also watch when listening to this song). It has a very good instrumental behind it, my favorite being the bass. It slowly grows on you and quickly becomes a song that you can not live without.

Gogo Dance- El Alfa

I’ve always love El Alfa’s unique voice. It’s so undescrible, yet so addicting to listen to. This song is such a good song to dance to. Like it isn’t really a song I can disect its more like an experience. You’ll just have to listen to yourself.

Cry Baby – Official Hige Dandism

This song is the best anime intro song I’ve ever had the pleasure to listen to. It so catchy and such a great song to head bop to. I really love how the music video pays homage to the anime also. I thought it was very cool to see the same themes from the show displayed in the music video and I really appreciate how they did it in such a unique way.

Honorable Mentions

Tek It- Cafuné

Binz- Solange

The Weekend- 88rising & BIBI

little story- Kehlani

Vegas- Dona Cat

Tití Me Preguntó- Bad Bunny

albums i wish i could listen to for the first time again…

CTRL

Need I say more?

Love Yourself: ‘Tear’

This album is so meaningful and the music is just top-tier.

The Low End Theory

Best album I have ever listened to.

Amor Prohibido

Iconic.

ANTI

I said what I said and I’ll say it again.

Being Human in Public

More specifically, Sola. Truly underrated.

Boy.

I will always advocate for OffonOff supremacy.

Revenge of the Dreamers III

Best collaboration album of the century, no one can ever convince me otherwise. LOOK AT THE FEATURES!

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill

No one is touching Lauryn with this album. Please look more into her process and the meaning behind this album. Also, be respectful to the queen!

I really want a Telfar Bag…

Actually I want their entire collection, the entire store if you will. Telfar is a black owned designer brand originated in Queens, New York. It has since taken the black community and the world by storm with its unique pieces and iconic bags. When I first discovered this brand in the summer of 2020, I knew that they were going to be very big. They have basically been a household name since it was created and I really love that, especially for it to be Black-owned.

I personally love generating money back into my community. So, whenever I have the chance to support a black owned business I usually go broke. I mean really when have you ever heard of a black owned, LGBTQ+, and unisex brand being as big as Telfar. And don’t get me started on the designs, because we’ll be here all day. I have been trying to get a Telfar bag since I discovered them and when I tell you it is one of the hardest thing to do. Every time there is a new drop announced, it is automatically sold out. Just recently they added a new color to the collection and I can just feel people typing their orders. Hopefully, I’ll get my bag before I graduate or something. One can only hope.

Remembering the Sewol Ferry Tragedy

This pass Saturday marked the 8th year anniversary of the most horrid events in history. For those who are unaware, a ferry traveling from Incheon to Jeju sunk, killing about 325 people, around 250 were high school students. While researching this event, I found it very disheartening to watch students making final videos and distressed “I love yous” to their loved ones while also reading some of the letters written by parents years after. Birthed from this tragedy was a sort of rebellion against those in charge. One of the things I found most disgusting was how the entire situation was handled by those in charge of the ship, the government, and the coast guard.

It is important to mention the culture around authority in South Korea. As an observer, and eager learner I think it is important to note the culture and give a respectful glance into situations such as these, while also honoring the people. That being said, in South Korea, it is very common to honor those who are older than you or those who are of higher rank. However, that very culture is still being questioned because of this tragedy. Since then, there have been multiple protest against the former Korean president, which resulted in her impeachment. From looking at numerous interviews of parents, one thing that has been consistent was their regret from telling their children to listen to those in charge. The captain and a few crew members ordered the students to stay in their cabinets as they made their hasty escape. It is horrifying to know how many lives could’ve been saved because of this selfish decision.

Media’s Call to Action

I initially learned of this issue through a very popular South Korean drama titled, All of Us Are Dead. This show is about zombies, but it proves to be much deeper than that. It touches on topics similar to this tragedy by showing the struggle students had with authority figures in the show. One quote that stood out to me the most was, “I don’t trust the ones in charge anymore.” It’s not a direct quote, but it still holds so much power. Much like the students on the ferry, the kids in the show were given horrible directions and were forced to fend for themselves, the government never lending a hand to help.

There was also another aspect I really liked about this show. To always remember those who were lost in this tragedy a yellow ribbon is used to symbolize what happened. In the show, yellow ribbons were used as a guide for the students to navigate their way through a forest. This was a sure connection between the two and I really love that they paid homage to that.

Though this event is not common knowledge in America, I do believe it is up to us to always remember what happened on April 16,2014.

Commentary

I think I spend a good amount of time on YouTube watching commentary videos. Seeing how big and diverse the commentary scene has gotten I think its about time to pay tribute to some of my favorite commentary YouTubers. They really helped shaped my views on a lot of things while also providing different or conflicting views on controversial topics.

Kurtis Conner

I’m pretty sure every one is familiar with this creator. He started off on vine and then progressed to YouTube (as did every other vine creator), and since had gained a massive following. I really enjoy watching his reviews of terrible movies and most recently, his commentary on toxic masculinity shown in media, more specifically, Tiktok. Through somewhat terrible puns and the occasional highly saturated memes he has managed to really spread the message of just being a good person.

Chad Chad

Chad Chad deserves more credit. Their content is sort of similar to Kurtis’ in the sense of very weird/funny memes and the occasional pun. I don’t think I’ve ever watched their videos and haven’t laughed. Their content is really centered around women’s issues. They call out many harmful ideas, usually generated from men, and sort of dismantles them through said jokes.

Shanspeare

This creator is so aesthetically pleasing. Their set up and voice just scratches the best parts of my brain. The topics they choose to discuss are always diverse, but mostly centered around their blackness. But I love that it isn’t always the focus of their videos and they tend to connect those things at the right time. Their videos are very lengthy, but its all worth it in the end.

Jubilee

I wouldn’t really consider this commentary, its more like a discussion. However I do center a lot of my values around some of these discussions. I really love this channel, I love that we get to hear from two opposing sides and really get to the heart of conflicting views, Middle Ground. The content is very diverse they have videos like this one where two opposing sides come together to discuss why they’re right. Or they have videos where it is a spectrum and people of the same side or common thinking talk about the extent to their values. Then they have harmless videos where they take on dating shows. It is really a huge range when it comes to this channel and I really encourage you to check it out.

“That Jada and that Will Love”

The incident at the Oscars has roared up much controversy. More importantly, it has raised the question, how far is too far? Whether you think it was staged or not, I think it is important to discuss these two icons and their need for privacy and respect.

Privacy

This couple’s relationship has always been under the harsh judgmental eye of the public. I personally believe that the nature of their relationship should be kept to themselves, however it is their choice if they want to be open to the public. This reminds me of the incident with R&B artist August Aslina. That whole situation wasn’t our business. I think it was very unprofessional to talk about in a bragging way, or just to randomly drop that delicate piece of information in an interview. It simply wasn’t anyone’s business.

I felt as though the Red Table Talk with Will afterwards was kind of forced. The public didn’t really give this family time to process this, and that’s unhealthy. As fans, or just observers it is important to set a sort of boundary to these situations. Their relationship should not be something that is debated on Tiktok or anywhere online. To restate my claim, IT ISN’T ANYONE’S BUSINESS. You can still see how much love they have for each other, that’s all that really matters, well for me anyway. It is important to remember that you don’t know the nature of their relationship, or what goes on behind closed doors.

Context

From what I could gather about the incident at the Oscars I could come to the conclusion that Chris Rock was most definitely in the wrong. The joke about Jada’s hair was uncalled for and as a black woman, very hurtful. And it simply was not funny, read the room Chris. As a man who recently filmed a documentary on the relationship between black women and hair, you should know better, be better.

Jada has been very open about her alopecia. Alopecia causes hair loss from the scalp or anywhere on your body. There are many variations of this condition, and I’m not too informed on Jada’s state. She was also very open about her hair journey and how acting in Hollywood made her equate her value to her hair. I’ve learned so much from listening to her speak about this issue and I hate that she had to deal with that humiliation. She’s so beautiful and strong and I hope that this whole situation just rolled off her back.

My Opinion

The slap might’ve been deserved, but it could’ve been handled better. For one, I think it was very unprofessional to do it live on international TV. However what’s happened can not be changed. So, where do we go from here? I think we can learn a lot about respect and sensitivity from this incident. Learn from other’s mistakes.

the art of being alone

Self-isolation is something I’ve become more than accustomed with since I was very little. I grew up with four other siblings and even though the house was always full, I was always alone. It’s not because I was excluded or anything, I chose not interact with others. Of course there are a lot of other things that factor into my love for anti-socialism, but that’s not what this post is about. From the outside looking in, many people see being alone as something that is sad and depressing. As an antisocialist, I am here to debunk all the negative stigmas that surround the art of being alone.

Get to know yourself

Often times I tend to hide my own interests to fit in with the people around me. It is a survival tactic that I’ve learned at a young age to thrive in the social environment I was in. Therefore, my own personality would often drift away as I adapted to whoever I hung around. However, earlier into the pandemic I had a sort of identity crisis because I didn’t know what I liked or what I found entertaining. Being by myself really forced me to come to terms with my lack of personality. It also really helped me to identify the things I actually liked and disliked. I found my love for K-pop and art again. I also found my love for painting and my hatred for minimalistic aesthetics. I experimented with different writing styles and unique perspectives. After the lockdown, I would hang out with my friends and often feel like I didn’t really like the things that we would do. I became a more prominent voice in my friend group and was able to really voice my opinions and advice on certain aspects of our friendship. Being alone really helped me to find my voice and place in this world.

Experience loneliness to the fullest

Social anxiety will always and forever be apart of my life, but being alone most of the time really made it more manageable. I was basically forced to be in the world by myself after not being with people I love for a long time. Since being stuck in a house for 2 years and moving to a residential high school, I’ve really learned to value being isolated. Before the pandemic you would never catch me going out to dinner or shopping by myself. I was always with my friends or my sister. Now I find it very enjoyable to do these things alone. I always try new and strange things on the menu at restaurants. I’ve learned to love the silence of working in a library alone, not to mention the many people I’ve met there. I’ve also expanded the style in which I wear/buy clothes as I’m starting form my own aesthetic. I can finally say that I enjoy my own company when doing these things alone.

Know no bounds

Like I said before when hanging out with other people I’m kind of forced to ‘s accommodate to the people around me. Of course it’s important to be considerate, but it can get tiring at times. If we’re hungry, we all have to agree on a place to eat. If we want to have fun, we all have to agree on a place to go. I didn’t know I hated to that so much until I had to reconnect with other people. With being alone you can just about do anything you want. I really took that ideal and ran with it since coming here. I really enjoy seeing knew things and experiencing the weirdness of the world by myself. Though forming relationships with people is important, I strongly recommend that you make time for yourself. Being alone doesn’t have to be as depressing as it sounds.