Whitney Elizabeth Houston was born in Newark, New Jersey, on August 9, 1963 to gospel and R&B singer Cissy Houston. “By age 11, Houston was performing as a soloist in the junior gospel choir at her Baptist church. As a teenager, she began accompanying her mother in concert, and went on to back artists like Lou Rawls and Chaka Khan” (Huey, Steve). Houston is now described as one of the biggest female pop stars of all time. Over her twenty-seven years in the spotlight that began in 1984, Houston has progressed to become a well-known and admirable icon in both music and film. She has proven herself to be an extraordinary hit maker. Throughout years in stardom, she collectively has sold over 120 million albums worldwide. She also reached “a film box office total of over a half billion dollars” (D., Lisa). She was the only artist to chart seven consecutive #1 Billboard Hot 100 hits, with songs such as “Greatest Love of All”; the first female artist to enter the Billboard 200 album chart at #1 with her second album, Whitney; and the only artist with seven consecutive multi-platinum albums. Although Houston has had numerous amounts of…
Set in the “Booga Basement,” Praz, Wyclef Jean, and Lauryn Hill took the 1990s by storm. The group was composed of three multitalented MCs. One in particular, Lauryn Hill, found major success as an actress in the film Sister Act II and solo prestige in her critically acclaimed “Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” album. I have spent the majority of my life listening to hip-hop, so it was hard to narrow down to this song. Nonetheless, “Vocab” provides an interesting look at hip-hop. This is 1994 and hip-hop is beginning to take a prominent role in the mainstream media. When we think about gender equality in hip-hop, it is fair to say that Lauryn Hill more than holds her own. In this essay, I hope to further develop the importance of this group dynamic to hip-hop at the time and breakdown some unique hip-hop elements in the song itself.…
Born Beyoncé Giselle Knowles on September 4th 1981, in Houston, Texas, she began singing with the original members of the popular R&B group Destiny's Child comprised of LaToya Luckett, Kelly Rowland and LaTavia Roberson in their teens. The girls went through various incarnations, singing a mix of gospel, rhythm and blues, and hip hop, before they officially became Destiny's Child in 1995. Knowles' father, Mathew, served as manager of the group. After performing in the Houston area, the group appeared on Star Search, the popular television talent competition. Although they did not win the competition, a contract with Columbia Records soon followed. Their first release, 'Destiny's Child' (1997), was a tremendous success in Europe. Upon the album's release, the group kicked off a tour of sold-out shows there. Their second effort, 'The Writing's on the Wall' (1999), brought them wider acclaim back home. The album generated three top-ten hits on the Billboard R&B singles chart.…
Assata Shakur is a very strong and determined individual that refused to give up her beliefs and ideas to receive her freedom. When she was incarcerated, treated like an animal, beaten to a bloody pulp and lost all basic human rights, she only grew more stronger and determined. Shakur was a political prisoner and suffered because of her Black Panther & Black Liberation Army affiliation. She spent six years in prison for crimes that she was not proven to have done or had any connection to. Most people would have given up and “sold out” to get their freedom back, she didn’t because she simply took it back!…
Her fight against black stereotypes even makes us respect her…
Nicki Minaj is at the forefront of the surge of feminism today. Minaj stated that she has always been a big advocate of feminism and introduced me to the actual meaning of it, she’s taught me that feminism isn’t about having a woman dominated planet but one in which both genders live equally. Nicki has encouraged me to further pursue my feminist ideals and spread the word, I was influenced by her to dismantle the patriarchy kindly and with tact, but to still inform people of first and third world injustices societies no matter the size. Recently, I started a fundraiser for female work slaves in…
The article, “Cissy Houston on Whitney: ‘She was raised well, she knew better’ than to use drugs” is about Whitney Houston’s mother talking about Whitney’s childhood. Whitney’s mother is still mourning for her loss, but tough minded about her drug addictions. She believes that good parents do not always have good children and vice versa. Whitney’s mother says it is the person’s responsibility, when they reach a certain age, to choose to be a bad or good person. Cissy discussed how she raised Whitney in a good home and gave her the tools to choose not to do drugs. Cissy thinks that being called “Whitey” early in the music business and her marriage to Bobby Brown may have led to her drug abuse.(1)…
Being a Woman is powerful. Being an African-American woman is even more powerful Ain't I a Woman is a speech by Sojourner Truth. This speech is very in lighting to many women of color. For women of color to be noticed is something Sojourner thought was important. Women's and Negros rights is something positive and that should be looked upon and that's how Sojourner saw it.…
Macklemore and his inspiring lyrics, and his dedication to rap about equality are all things that have in my opinion influenced and help spark activism. He inspires public conversation about social and racial issues and it’s the most accurate musical reflection on what is going on in America today.…
I think that there is racism in the field of music. When the world is slowly closer to the multilateral cooperation and the blending of multi-cultural, multi-ethnic. Unfortunately, in many areas people still caught somewhere has the sad stories about bad feces racial, religious affiliation and so on. The music of African Americans (also called black music) is present everywhere in the African-American culture. African-American ancestors were brought to North America as slaves in the cotton plantations, brought with them the songs polyphonic (polyphonic) typical of hundreds of ethnic groups across West Africa and sub-Saharan. Another popular music of the black is soul music. Soul music…
Personally, I’m okay with Beyoncé running things because she is committed to making a difference. Sure, Justin Bieber’s “Purpose” is a great album (if you’re into that, I guess), but it’s no different than One Direction’s “Made in the A.M.” Both albums just catalog their lives, mainly the personal issues they’ve faced and yeah, they can be relatable, but they surely don’t improve society. They don’t make any changes. And that’s why we care about Beyoncé: she’s a catalyst for…
Recently, The Black Eyed Peas released a song called Where is the Love? The song brings light to the thriving injustices of our society not only in America, but throughout the world. Most people tend to associate the…
These last two years of college have been the most influential in my life in terms of being racially aware and contemplating/ attempting to understand social issues regarding racism and white supremacy. I’m currently enrolled in a class called Global Hip Hop and Social Justice that has challenged my understanding of race and racism extensively. I always said that I wasn’t racist, because I have no prejudice against people of different ethnicities and believe a persons worth has nothing to do with skin color or cultural traditions. However, we read an article in my social justice class about how even acts of “color blindness” and claiming to not be racist while also not doing anything to stop it is still ignorance to racism in the eyes of ethnically…
Alicia Augello Cook is a singer-songwriter, pianist, music producer, actress, and philanthropist. She is best known professionally as Alicia Keys. Apart from writing and singing influential songs, she is a leader that most aspire to be. Alicia Keys is important to society because, of her powerful use of words and her contributions made to help others in need. Alicia Keys is the co-founder of the Keep a Child Alive foundation.…
This is a real life example of what it looks like when feminism and Poetry intertwine. Nikki Giovani an American writer and activist from Knoxville, TN has a quote a about poetry that really relates to the way Beyonce creates her music. “Writers don’t write from experience, although many are hesitant to admit that they don’t. If you wrote from experience, you’d get maybe one book, maybe three poems. Writers write from empathy.” – Nikki Giovanni. Beyoncé’s (Destiny’s Child) song Survivor “show a belief in women’s ability to solve their own problems, assuring us that whatever rough situation we’re in, well get through it” (Weiner, 2013, pg. 297). Beyonce is able to empathize and relate to other women. This is what makes her music so incredibly inspiring to some…