House Party By Sam Hunt

William Michael Sponheimer
Writing Assignment Six
SYP 3630
House Party by Sam Hunt
Official Music Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FhRhzAWzLA Tour Music Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yF1-IHn8cRU One of the hottest and fastest growing names in country music right now is Sam Hunt, a former college football player turned country music singer and songwriter from Cedartown, Georgia. His rise to fame and country stardom features three very popular hit singles “Take Your Time”, “Leave the Night On” and “Raised On It” as well as writing singles for the likes of Kenny Chesney, Keith Urban, and Billy Currington, all of whom have an enormous presence in country music. He has toured the country with Little Big Town on their Wheels Up 2015 Tour as well as starring on his own nationwide tour called the Lipstick Graffiti Tour with Michael Ray and Native Run. With all of that being said, Sam Hunt’s most popular piece of work and the focus of this article is his song “House Party”, which is currently sitting at #39 on Billboard’s Top 100 Songs, #4 on Billboard’s Country Music Top 100, #16 on iTunes Top 100 Song Sales, as well as a mainstay on country music radio stations across the country. At the young age of 30, Sam Hunt has already established himself as a star with limitless potential and who is poised to dominate the country music world for years to come. The title of the song in focus is “House Party” which was released to a country music radio station in Nashville, Tennessee on June 1st. 2015 off of Sam Hunt’s debut album, Montevallo. One of the unique things with country music is that most singers also write the songs in which they perform, and with Sam Hunt this is no exception, as he help to co-write and record this summer party country anthem. The mainstream radio stations have begun to play this song more and more frequently, many country music fans say that this song is a far cry from what country music is and resembles more of pop song and although Sam Hunt is extremely talented in the country music genre, this song should not be played off as country music. I agree with the country music critics in that this song has elements that resemble country music influence, but this song is going to be considered by almost everyone, including myself, as pop music. This song has very catchy lyrics that are easy for the listener to remember and enjoy like, “We'll have a house party, we don't need nobody, Turn your TV off, break that boom-box out, We'll wake up all the neighbors til the whole block hates us, And the cops show up and try to shut us down” (AZ Lyrics), which makes it very easy for people to relate to what he is singing about. The song has a very smooth rhythm, fast tempo, and the “country style” chorus which seals the deal of the uniqueness of this song. Sam Hunt combined influences of country and pop music and blended their styles together to create a country anthem that you will hear being played at parties for years to come. The reason that I chose this song is actually quite simple and it is how most people across the country are exposed to new music, I was driving home from work one day while listening to K92.3 (Orlando’s Country Music Station) when I heard a new song on the radio that I had never heard before, which indeed was “House Party”. Up until this point, I was not very familiar with Sam Hunt’s music so when I heard this song on the radio that I did not know, I used the Shazam app on my iPhone and then looked up the song on YouTube which got me hooked on this song that I now listen to daily. The part of the lyrics which stuck with me even after the song ended was, “So I'll be at your door in ten minutes, Whatever you got on, baby, stay in it, You ain't gotta leave the house to have a good time, I'm a bring the good time home to you” (AZ Lyrics), because it is so catchy and I could easily relate to this and seeing myself saying this to my significant other one day. With country music, one thing remains important among the rest and that is relatability, the more that a person can relate to what the artist is singing about, the more likely that person is to enjoy that music. Sam Hunt is putting an emphasis on the “House Party” presence in this song which is very common not only in country music but across America in general, therefore many people can relate to the ideals and messages he’s presenting which will in turn increase the popularity of this song. Listening to this song from Sam Hunt has also convinced me to listen to his other songs, in which I was also not disappointed one bit. This is one of my favorite songs because it is enjoyable with catchy lyrics to not only to listen to but also to sing along to no matter where you are, whether it be at work, in the car, or even at a house party. The resounding theme throughout the entire song as well as for a majority of the country music today, is the emphasis on the “party culture” and having a good time on the weekends with friends, family, and loved ones. One of my favorite things about this song is that there are two official music videos, one which shows Sam Hunt on tour and signing this song in front of thousands and thousands of fans and the other which shows him at a house party singing the song. Both offer different perspectives that attribute to the overall public perception of the song as in you can see the intended storyline of the lyrics from the song in the official music video as well as being able to see the audience reactions to the song on the tour music video. The biggest emphasis of values and roles in this video is that they value hard work during the work so that they can party hard on the weekend with their friends. This is a resounding ideal of most blue collar workers throughout the country, the primary listeners to country music, so they can most likely relate to what Sam Hunt is singing about. Throughout the video you see symbols of people having a good time such as a DJ playing music, disco balls, lasers, dancing together, singing, drinking out of Red Solo Cups, all of which are symbols of parties. When Sam Hunt says, “You ain't gotta leave the house to have a good time, I'm a bring the good time home to you” (AZ Lyrics), he is showing that, for many people across the country, it doesn’t take much time to have a good time when you are with the people who matter to you having a party in your own home. The themes and ideals in this song represent hard work paying off by having a good time with friends and loved ones as well as not caring what the rest of the world thinks about what you are doing, which is what helps many people across the country get through their jobs each and every week. Usually when it comes to traditional country music, the taste public would be very specific in which it would consist of working class blue collar Americans that love their guns, trucks, and alcohol but for the case of Sam Hunt’s “House Party”, which is a cross blend of country and pop influences, the consumers for this product is much more diverse. It is very possible and more than likely that those same blue collar Americans that are entrenched in traditional country music would also more than likely purchase this song but there are also millions of people who do not fit this category across the country that are enamored by the uniqueness of this song. Many people, including myself, who are not considered to be a part of the “country” lifestyle but instead heard this song on the pop radio stations because that is the music we are accustomed to hearing, are also likely to purchase this song. By having multiple audiences being engaged in this song, it helped the song to not get “swept under the rug” as any other traditional country party song but instead grow in popularity in both culture markets. Becoming popular in the pop music genre, with a predominantly teenage girl audience, can help an artist’s popularity and fame spread like wildfire especially if he is the “hot new boy toy on the block”, which is exactly what happened for Sam Hunt just like the likes of One Direction and Justin Bieber. Finally there is a cross breed in between those two extremes of music fan bases where the majority of consumers, also including myself, enjoy music from multiple genres which therefore would be more likely to buy music from those genres. When it comes to taste public, it doesn’t always come down to the stereotypical groups of people we would associate with that type of music to be the ones who purchase it but more of an influence on the outlets which broadcast the music to its listeners, who would in the long run be more likely to buy those songs. Sam Hunt’s “House Party” taste public would contain everything from the traditional country music listeners to the teenage girl’s pop music lovers, and everything in between, to be the ones that would consumer this music. The most important thing that could ever be emphasized with pop culture and especially with the music industry, is the ability to match the target audience with products, ideals, and values that are associated with that group of people. This song by Sam Hunt hits the head on the nail with its target audience because it reinforces the values of hard work and in turn having a good time which offers a sense of escapism to all those listening, that they don’t have to worry about any of the troubles in the world around them while they are enjoying their party. The taste public for this song like mentioned above contains many hard working blue collar Americans who bust their butts all week long just to get by, so a song like this reinforces the values of freedom and allows them a mostly harmless outlet to release their frustrations with whatever may be bothering them in their daily lives. Many people in this group would consider drinking to be the remedy that mutes the frustrations, pain, and suffering from their miserable jobs and music like this will help them get through their days in order to celebrate the hard work they put in during the weekend. Music like this helps to reiterate to them that it is worth it to work hard during the week and that they get a small sense of freedom and rebellion in that time in which they are free to party and have a good time. Most country music that you hear today focuses on the struggles of being a blue collar worker, which is predominantly its target audience, with crappy jobs, lack of money, physical and strenuous work, but songs like “House Party” offer this taste public a sense of freedom and allows them to escape from their problems for just a little while which reminds them that putting in all their hard work during the week was worth it and they will continue to do it week after week for many years to come. Sam Hunt is a revolutionary game changer in the country music world with many saying that “House Party” has created its own new genre of pop country, that many artists seem to be getting involved with so their careers continue on and they continue to be relevant in the the public eye. He has risen to fame in a mere span of a couple years and with the limitless talent that he possess, it would be a surprise to no one if he continues to remain in the Top 40 Music and Sales charts for many years to come. For some, getting famous and relevant was easy but staying relevant is what is tricky for so many “one hit wonders” that we see in our music culture today. Sam’s unique style of country and pop influences allows him to stand out amongst the crowded plethora of musical talent in the world. His song “House Party” has already been and will continue to be popular for a long period of time due to its country style song with pop influences and relatability to his listeners, which is a trend to see that we are beginning to see in the music industry. Sam Hunt went out on a limb to step away from his country roots, but with the success of that song, he is now going to be considered a trend setter in the music industry that we will continue to see people attempt to emulate for many years to come.
Relatability
Works Cited:
Wikipedia. "Sam Hunt (musician)." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, 28 July 2015. Web. 28 July 2015. <https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FSam_Hunt_(musician)>.
Wikipedia. "House Party (Sam Hunt Song)." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, 27 July 2015. Web. 28 July 2015. <https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FHouse_Party_(Sam_Hunt_song)>.
Betts, Stephen L. "Sam Hunt Headlines Lipstick Graffiti Tour." Rolling Stone. Rolling Stone, 10 Nov. 2014. Web. 28 July 2015. <http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rollingstone.com%2Fmusic%2Fnews%2Fsam-hunt- 2015-tour-dates-20141110>.
Hunt, Sam Lowry. "House Party." SAM HUNT LYRICS. AZ Lyrics, 28 Mar. 2015. Web. 28 July 2015. <http%3A%2F%2Fwww.azlyrics.com%2Flyrics%2Fsamhunt%2Fhouseparty.html>.
"Hot Country Songs." Billboard. Billboard, 28 July 2015. Web. 28 July 2015. <http%3A%2F%2Fwww.billboard.com%2Fcharts%2Fcountry-songs>.
"The Hot 100." Billboard. Billboard, 28 July 2015. Web. 28 July 2015. <http%3A%2F%2Fwww.billboard.com%2Fcharts%2Fhot-100>.
"ITunes Charts." ITunes. ITunes, 28 July 2015. Web. 28 July 2015. <https%3A%2F%2Fwww.apple.com%2Fitunes%2Fcharts%2Fsongs%2F>.