Musique by LASA Ezine

Musique Ezine 2019 Fall Semester

Letter from the Editors Welcome to Musique, a unique magazine filled with contrasting articles about various different topics. As you read, pay attention to the conflicting and diverse styles of music mentioned and explored in the magazine. Throughout the magazine, we kept a minimalistic theme, with some exceptions scattered throughout. You will find hand drawn images with each stroke painstakingly painted with a mouse on a monitor. We slaved over our keyboards for hours, sometimes sacrificing our lunch periods to work on this masterpiece of art and visual design. We had no pay for this work, but our reward was seeing this magazine come together and be enjoyed by readers like you. Thank you, and we hope you enjoy the magazine.

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Meet the Editors William partakes in multiple after school activities including band and loves his instrument. He enjoys listening to classical music and his favorite music is from the romantic period.

Aj is 14 and loves to produce music and make money. HIs favorite artists are Kanye West, Mike Dean, and Pharrell.

Navya is 14 and is a freshman at LASA high school. Some of her hobbies include playing basketball and martial arts. She enjoys all type of music but her favorite genre is hip-hop.

Yadira is a freshman at LASA high school. She is bilingual and her main hobby is playing basketball. She also like to go to El Coliseo to dance. Her favorite rappers are JayDaYoungan and Kevin Gates.

Sophia is 14 and loves to listen to music and enjoys graphic design. Her favorite artists are Tyler the Creator and Frank Ocean, and her favorite color is blue. Musique - Fall Ezine 2019 | 5

Table of Letter from the Editors

Table NavyaofFeature Contents Article

Hot 100

Will Austin Music be Taking a Rest

How to Publish Your Own Song

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Top Songs of Summer 2019

The Battles Between Rap Er

ras

Contents 20

From the Studios to the Streets

Progression of Hip Hop

From Pianos to Electric Guitars

Evolution of Music

The Battles Between Rap Eras

The Greatest Rappers Of All Time

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The top 100 How Local Artists Relate to the Most Popular Ones By Sophia Roberts

Rap artist Lil Uzi Vert performing at Weekend Two of ACL on October 11th. Photo by Greg Noire.

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Singer Billie Eilish performing at Weekend One of ACL on October 5th, 2019. Photo by Charles Reagan.

Y ou’re behind the curtain on a

stage, waiting for your show to start. You hear the light roaring of the crowd in front of you and the clamor of the stage crew preparing for your show. The speakers are plugged in, the sound levels tested, and your microphone is ready. The light flashes green, you step in front of the curtain, and the roar of the crowd swallows you whole. All of the current major, popular artists do large festivals and concerts all around the world to adoring fans. The artistic sets and hear their live vocals are shown to many, but the work that goes behind it or the work that took that artist to get where they are today is relatively hidden from the public. An insight into this is looking at smaller, local artists, from here in Austin. Curtis Roush is a local Austin

artist who has played in the band Bright Light Social Hour since 2007. They’ve played at the Austin City Limits Music festival multiple times and have even played at another large music festival called Lollapalooza in Chicago. “We did one in 2012 or 2013 that we opened up for Aerosmith, in this French Canadian town, Quebec City, and there were estimated to be 70 to 80,000 people,” Roush said.

“I remember adrenaline took over so much I couldn’t even really feel my legs, like couldn’t understand how I was still standing”.

“But you make it through the set, it’s like muscle memory takes over and you kind of get through it. Some of my favorite shows ever are those festivals.” Jeff Byrd is a sound technician who has worked in the music industry for 25 years. He has worked and toured with many local bands like Spoon, at venues big and small. “A smaller venue can sometimes be very challenging with the acoustics or you know, if you got a really loud band, it’s sometimes harder to work with when they’re in a small room because they’re just so loud,” Byrd says. “Sometimes, the big, big shows are really exciting. But sometimes for bands I’ve worked with those shows you feel a little Musique - Fall Ezine 2019 | 9

disconnected because it’s just such a massive audience… Sometimes it’s great to have those smaller shows because you really feel like you’re right in the middle of it with the crowd”. Jackie Venson is another local Austin musician. She has been a singer-songwriter guitarist since 2013, and has performed at the Austin Urban Music Festival and a concert at the Austin City Hall. As a smaller artist, she has a different perspective on the crowds she performs for. “Oh man, the biggest difference is the sound... the speakers, and getting a venue acoustically treated, it’s very, very expensive. So that means they’re going to only hire people who are really, really qualified...And then you just get it done and it sounds so good. It’s just like I’m cradled in my own dream cloud of my own sound” Venson said. “ It’s unreal...When I’m in a big venue like that, it’s like I’m sharing the dream cloud” Venson says. While a larger venue can be a great experience for a musician, a smaller venue can cause the opposite reaction.

“But a venue that like, is small and poorly run and tidy and just not good, you don’t get that experience, because the sound system might suck” Venson said. “The place fits like 100 people...That’s the thing that kind of can be emotionally taxing... man showing up to a place 10 | Musique - Fall Ezine 2019

to play your stuff and the sound man doesn’t know what he’s doing and he also doesn’t care. It is just demoralizing. It makes you wonder how much longer you can do this. Then once you start throwing those really big gigs in the mix doing really big gigs, and then really small gigs in the mix, it’s like a roller coaster ride”. Musicians have different experiences performing at venues big and small, but how they get to that level of performance remains a The lit up neon guitar that is hung at the mystery to most. enterence to the ACL Music Festival. Photo “I think the biggest thing is just by Mignon McGarry & Assosiates having a good song,” Roush said.

“I know it’s really kind of a dumb answer, but no matter how styles change, or how recording or how beats are made, or what instruments are popular, the most exciting thing to most listeners is just a song that connects with people.”

Venson brings up the fact that a lot of people gain popularity from timing and randomness. She says, “If somebody tells you that they know how to get a hit, they’re lying...Nobody knows any of that stuff ” Venson said. “Just like nobody knows how to win the lottery. People just know how to try. And so the music industry is full of people who are just constantly trying, rolling the dice, gambling...The people who succeed are the people who are good at gambling...It feels like everybody is just sitting at a poker table. We’re all just looking at each other like, who’s gonna be the one who gets it?” Being a smaller, lesser-known person in the music industry gives you an alternative perspective

Singer and guitarist, Jackie Venson (right) performing with musician Gary Clark Jr. (left) at Stubb’s, in Austin, Texas.

on how the Austin music scene operates. Although Venson hasn’t been playing for as long as many others, she still has noticed how Austin’s changed music wise. “It’s become a lot more corporate… I don’t think we’re fully like L.A., New York or like epicenters for the entertainment industry” Venson said. “I think that one day Austin will be as well, and I think that it’s really evident right now,” Venson said. “It used to be just this jammy, blues, rock, jazz town where you could just start a band and it would do okay...That’s when everybody was like, yeah, I’ll start a band, there’s a venue right down the street from my

house, let’s play there. And it’s just because there’s 250 venues...Have you ever seen anything like that?” Byrd feels a similar way but is a little less optimistic about Austin’s future in music. “The problem that’s happening now is that the majority of the clubs that are downtown that do support local music are being encroached by hotels and condominiums...So there really needs to be an established district or area where there has to be a zoning so that it remains a club” Byrd said. “ Once the venues start to disappear, then the music disappears... when you don’t have those places that

help nurture the music. It’s going to go away. So if Austin, and really if Texas, wants to continue to say that Austin is the live music capital of the world, they need to put those words in an action and really do things to preserve that”. Austin City Limits, the largest music festival in Austin is set for two weekends every October and South by Southwest is the second-largest festival, occurring in March. Those who go and see their favorite artists will take into account the work put in behind the scenes, and what it took them to make it as an artist, and be on that large stage.

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will austin music be taking a rest ? Insight into the ever-growing music industry in the Live Music Capital of the World By: Navya Singh

Next to Lady Bird Lake, a guitar statue sits at its banks while downtown Austin shines brightly in the backkgrond. Th guitar is a tribute to the local artists and musiciscians in Austin. Photo by: David Coleman.

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Thousands of people swarm a

single stage with flashing arrays of neon lights, screaming almost as loud as the music booming out of the speakers themselves. The mass of sweating people jump up and down in randomized patterns, making the scene look like waves on the surface of the ocean. An artist on stage immersed in their music, performing without a care for anything else in the world. Austin, Texas is one of the few Music students practice playing their instruments in an educational program at the cities in the United States where Austin Chamber of Music. The Austin Chamber of Music provides many opputunites music is celebrated with such vivid for enhancing students’ musical abilities, especially during summer vacation. Photo courtesy of: Austin Chamber of Music. enthusiasm by locals, and that musical indulgence has even earned out and seeing shows, Austin is bar “It’s hard to kind of start trying Austin the title as the ‘Live Music to none, so you see a lot of local to pick apart the influence here Capital of the World.’ The city has artists here.” because there’s just so much that’s seen many successful local bands, going on [and] a lot of [artists] artists, and major live-music events Jeni Gossard is the Director of think that because they come to like South by Southwest and Austin Education at the Austin Chamber [Austin], whatever they create City Limits which draw thousands Music Center and works with the will be imbued with some of that of music fans like moths attracted younger generations of Austin weirdness or whatever it is. They to a flame. With all of the success musicians. She said Austin has a Austin has seen in all departments, musical climate different from other A mic from 5th Street Studios is put on display. Photo Courtesy: 5th Street Studios. musicians are beginning to get cities. impacted and not always in an advantageous way. “This is the hub of music,” Gossard said. “I don’t Nick Joswick has been a lead know if a lot of cities can engineer, producer, and manager at pull off what’s happening 5th Street Studios in Austin for 14 here. I think what’s years. He also manages the tours great about this city is for the Austin native band Black that there’s so much of Pistol Fire. Over the years, Joswick everything.” has been at the music scene in the ‘Live Music Capital of the World’ Joswick said Austin, and thinks that this city is worthy compared to most other of that title. cities, has an odd culture, “The majority of popular music is probably coming out of LA, New York, and Nashville in all of the genres that you can think of,” Joswick said. “But I think that for live music for actual shows, going

and that goes into the musical productivity of this city. “For a long time, Austin [had that] ‘keep Austin weird’ thing,” Joswick said.

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The insides of one of 5th Street Studios’ recording studios are put on display. They have two which they reffer to as Studio ‘A’ and Studio ‘B’. Photo Courtesy of 5th Street Studios.

want to get inspired by being here.” Matt Ott is the founder of Austin Music Foundation and co-founder of Black Fret, both being organizations meant to help local artists lodge a place for themselves in this highly competitive industry. He said that many factors go into Austin’s success in the music scene. “I think that this is really part of the city’s DNA,” Ott said. “Austin has always been a creative city, and you see it in education, with the university. You see it in government, with the state house here. You see it in technology. I think [it] all started way back in the 60s and 70s [when] there were a bunch of creative, smart people who came here and decided to create here. That spirit lives on today.” The creativity of Austin’s music 14 | Musique - Fall Ezine 2019

scene has been through dramatic shifts, especially in the past 20 years. In fact, every aspect of the global music industry has transformed significantly over the past few decades. One of the biggest changes being the creation of one of the first online music services, Napster. Ott explains the detrimental effects the rise of this company had on artists in not only Austin but also across the entire world.

“I don’t know if a lot of cities can pull off what’s happening here.” “[Napster] was really the precursor for all the streaming services you see up today, but it gave people an

opportunity to steal music and feel okay about it,” Ott said. “Streaming pays maybe 1% of what selling CDs ever did, and it still does.” Joswick explains the financial crisis musicians currently face today from his personal experiences with being a music producer. “[Streaming is] one of the big revenue streams that artists get these days, and not even these days [anymore],” Joswick said. “It’s kind of going down because Spotify and iTunes don’t pay very well. It’s like for one stream of your song on Spotify the artist gets .006 cents. So it takes 6000 before you get $1. That’s where you realize it’s not that easy.” Also, Austin has lately seen movement of people into town on a Texas-sized scale. So many people have been moving here, and it’s been affecting every aspect of Austin, including its music. Ott notices the

way this mass migration could affect Austin’s authenticity. “The people who move here have to value the things that make Austin what it is and not take it for granted,” Ott said. “If people continue to take the things that make Austin for granted [and] take the things that make Austin special for granted, Austin will no longer continue to be this special place. We all have to value [this culture].”

“We’re going to see things continue to get worse until they’re just unsustainable.” The increase of people has helped the growth of technology, population, and arts in Austin, and this surplus of activity has drawn not only musicians to Austin but also higher pricing. Joswick said musicians are financially struggling due to this higher pricing. “The cost of living is getting more and more expensive, but artists aren’t getting paid anymore,” Joswick said. “It’s hard to pay the bills with a joke. Everybody enjoys [the cheap or free music]. Everybody loves it, but I don’t.” Many people are moving out of Austin due to this movement of outside masses migrating into the capital of Texas. Ott said this will negatively affect Austin’s charismatic climate that attracted people into the city in the first

place. “I think [increasing prices is] going to ultimately mean that we’re going to see things continue to get worse until they’re just unsustainable,” Ott said. “We’ll hit a tipping point, where even the cheapest places where people live now get too expensive. The artists are eventually going to want to go somewhere else.” The rich mixture of cultures you find in Austin is one of the driving forces of the uniqueness in Austin, and as Ott explains it, that diversity is also being threatened. “We are in danger in Austin of losing a lot of our diversity, for the same reasons that we’re losing artists, to communities around the city,” Ott said. “It’s becoming unaffordable for many people. It’s becoming unaffordable for people who don’t have high paying technology jobs Although many things about Austin are being altered by development, music is still being heavily celebrated, and arguably, the live music in Austin has been the best it’s ever been. Joswick said this is giving the city more opportunities. “When SXSW or Austin City Limits comes into town, that pulls in a lot of people. We get a lot of calls of artists looking for studio time [or] collaborate with another artist,” Joswick said. “When you’re a musician full time and music is what makes your livelihood, even if you’re out on tour, [you’ll always be] looking to do things in the studio. It’s maximizing where you

This is the album cover for “O Joshua”, an album by Freindly Savages. Freindly Savages are a rock band from Austin, Texas. Photo courtesy of 5th Street Studios.

can make your money and making sure that you get the most out of it.” Austin City Limits, or ACL, doesn’t only bring in outsiders, and Ott explains the opportunities given to local performers that they wouldn’t normally get anywhere else. “[These music festivals] highlight a number of Austin artists and give them the opportunity to play on the same stage as bigger national acts, and that’s a real great opportunity,” Ott said. Austin’s music climate is still being polluted by the shadow of Napster, unfair pay for artists, and increasing prices. It’s important to remember this city still has an enormous amount of opportunity to offer its performers. “It’s a very unique climate, and all of that [is] never gonna die,” Gossard said. “I think it’s just going to keep growing, there’s always new [things that keep] popping up. Everyone trying to reinvent something here, and more people [are getting] excited about it.” Musique - Fall Ezine 2019 | 15

Publish How To Your own song By: Navya Singh

There are so many steps to producing a song with all of the great technology we have access to these days! To reduce the complexity, here are the main steps steps that every composer must go through.

Step One: Song Writing The first step to produce/publish your own song is to begin writing it! Musical compositions today are mostly wordless, so songwriting mostly includes rythym, harmony, and melody.

sjsdiusdsduf

hello how are you today Step Two: Tracking If you choose to create the song digitally, then you would proceed to the tracking stage. The tracking stage is also known as the recording stage. This is when the various muscal instruments in the song are to be recorded alongside the vocals. 16 | Musique - Fall Ezine 2019

Step three:Editing Now you can arrange the different musical components of your song. This is also the stage where you clean up your song by revising, deleting or timing tracks so they can perfectly fit into your song.

This includes removing background noises like foot steps, sqeaks, or any other unwanted, awkward audio.

Step Four:Mixing The mastering process is for balancing and blending the the sonic parts of your song. Mixing makes use of digital techniques like: equalization, compression, and reverb.

This ensures the audio will be uniform throughout the entire song, so it can be ready for export.

All information provided by E-Home Recording Studio Musique - Fall Ezine 2019 | 17

Top songs of summer 2019 By Sophia Roberts

This graphic shows some of the most streamed, popular songs of summer of 2019, as well as the artists behind them.

“Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X This song started blowing up in the Spring, but the “Old Town Road Remix” featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, took off in the summer as the 4th most streamed track globally. Currenty, it total amount of streams is 1,887,690 on Spotify. Information provided by “Spotify’s Most Streamed Songs of the Summer 2019” by Spotify’s For The Record, and the Spotify Global Top 200 Chart. 18 | Musique - Fall Ezine 2019

“Bad Guy” by Billie Eilish This song from her recent album, When We All Fall Asleep Where Do We Go, is the second most streamed song of the summer, with the total current global streams counting to 2,681,672 on Spotify.

“Truth Hurts” by Lizzo This song broke out over the summer and is continuning to blow up and currently has a total global stream number of 2,082,299, 18th on the leaderboard on Spotify. “I Don’t Care” By Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber This song is the most streamed album of summer 2019, with total current global streams of 2,486,204 on Spotify. Musique - Fall Ezine 2019 | 19

Studio to the streets How Hip Hop and Fashion have Evolved through Time

Pharrell Williams wears his signature Billionaire boys club brand. Photo provided by BBC Icecream. 20 | Musique - Fall Ezine 2019

From the beginning of hip hop history, also known as the 1980’s, rappers have always dressed in fashion. Some more uno

As you scroll through instagram, watch a concert, or look at a music video, fashion is everywhere. From Versace robes to directly influenced fashion and vice versa. From the beginning of hip hop are popular designers in modern “I think Louis [Vuitton], really like Max history, also known as the 1980’s, hip-hop fashion, Berlinger explains came up and, Louis is an icon now, Berlin that rappers have always dressed in what really set off the designer like you can you can ask anybody writes and fashion. Some more unorthodox trend. and everybody knows [about it],” newsp The than others. Berlinger said. “I think it’s like the New Y Busibiggest luxury brand nowadays in ness o knowl- As you scroll through Instagram, hip-hop and the designer trend.” edgea has writte watch a concert, or look at a music fash- video, fashion is everywhere. From On the flip side, there has been a ion to talked Versace robes to Yeezys, hip hop less brand heavy trend happening. with r has studie has directly influenced fashion “I think that Kanye West is a and vice versa. big inspiration for fashion, with In the neutral colors and plain clothes. mode cloth- Max Berlinger is a journalist ing in Influencing others to wear [his] speaks that writes for many unbranded [clothing].” Berlinger on cu design- magazines and newspapers er clo said. defi- such as GQ, The New nitely you York Times and The know Kanye has exceptionally owens Business of Fashion. He changed the modern fashion he’s g in his is knowledgeable in his in hip-hop, wearing logoless, music style field and has written on plain colors and styles. His and sw anything from fashion Yeezy merch is worn by As Raf Si to video games. He has many alike and his shoes Ow- talked with rappers before are one of the most popular ens ar in and has studied how streetwear shoes of all time. mode Ber- rappers dress. linger set off the de Rich Semere owns Private Louis [ In the modern age of Stock. Private Stock is an Austin Vuitto up and,designer clothing in hipLouis based streetwear store with a you hop, Berlinger speaks can y heavy collection of streetwear and ev-on current popularity of erybo brands. They have extensive I think designer clothing. it’s lik knowledge on sneakers and brand streetwear and how it has changed nowa the “A$AP [Rocky] definitely through time. They discuss on the design did contribute, like you popularity of both older and newer On the know like Raf Simons, Rick sneakers and what was popular. flip si less brand owens he’s given them shout ing. “I outs in his music and that’s think a big really his style and swag and it’s Kanye wears his Trademark inspir with dope,” Berlinger said. neutr Yeezy brand on a New York clothe street. Photo Provided by GQ to we ers As Raf Simons and Rick Owens [ clothi Kanye has exceptionally changed the modern fashion in hip-hop, wearing logole styles. His Yeezy merch is worn by many alike and his shoes are one of the most pop shoes of all time. Private Stock is an Austin based streetwear sive knowledge on sneakers and streetwear and how

store with a heavy collection of streetwear bran Musique - Fall Ezine 2019 | 21 it has changed through time. They discuss on the popu

Rapper A$AP Rocky Dresses in fur coat for photo shoot. Photo provided by GQ

“[A lot] of Reeboks, especially because of 50 Cent’s Reebok collaboration that made Reebok explode” Semere said. I remember when Uggs were popular with influencers like Birdman. Lil Wayne as well. Jordans are the largest contributor by far though. [Jordan] 1’s and the Black Cement 3’s were sold in 1986-87 and those were the first major shoe drop where people were lining up at stores. These really took over sneakers in hip hop. People rapped about Jordans so much after this.” They also talk on sneakers coming back from the 90’s. 22 | Musique - Fall Ezine 2019

“Like you know, from 90s to now, chunky shoes are probably the biggest one the most profound one,” Semere said. “Yeah, there are major trend big retailers like Balenciaga and making big chunky shoes, just like the 90s. Puma is also coming back. Yeah, so also it was Reebok and a lot of brands like that with those [chunky] shoes.” Influence wise, there are rappers that have changed the fashion game. Christopher Morency is a journalist that writes for Highsnobiety and occasionally Business of Fashion. He specializes

in clothing and spends lots of time at fashion shows and rapper photoshoots. Due to his high knowledge of fashion, he was essential to understanding how hip-hop and fashion correlate. “For the modern era, Kanye is one of the most influential,” Morency said. “Kanye wears a lot of his his own line because he likes to promote it. From his sweatpants to his Yeezy jackets. Of course the Yeezy 700’s, 350’s and whatever mockups he got. [ASAP] Rocky wore a lot of Acne brand skinny jeans and Guess shirts back

in the day but now it’s more experimental designer and his own “Testing” brand merch” Morency said. In the 2000s, fashion was a lot different.

“For the 2000’s, I really think Pharrell was the biggest influencer” Morency said. “He’s always just been on like the super creative side of art and music and fashion, so I think his fashion work is super interesting just because, Pharrell has always influenced a lot of artists and now his work with fashion is in other rappers fashion too, which is really cool to see. Pharrell really pushed Bape (A Bathing Ape) and BBC (Billionaire Boys Club),” Morency said. Private stock has also had a keen eye on influence and trends.

“The biggest influence is Kanye West”

Semere said. “Definitely the biggest one with brands like Yeezy and all his Louis Vuitton stuff and wearing Polo tees and dressing in a preppy, rich kid type of way. Even more modern, [right now] oversized clothing is really popular with people like Billie Eilish and Travis Scott. The color green has also been getting extremely popular thanks to people like Young Thug and Playboi Carti.” Perhaps the most legendary brand was Ralph Lauren. Almost every artist dating back from the 80’s to now has wore and spoken on the Polo brand. n addition to these artists, the Wu-Tang Clan was essential in influencing 90’s fashion.

The Wu Tang Clan dress in their trade mark oversize clothing style. “Their heavy use Photo provided by of Polo Grailed. Ralph Lauren jackets and oversized hoodies and pants really set the scene. Reeboks and Carhartt were also heavily popularized by them,” Semere said.

It is often that history repeats itself. Throughout time, fashion has directly progressed with hip hop. From Wu-Tang Clan’s Polo jackets, to Kanye’s Polo tees. From chunky Puma’s in the 90’s to Balenciaga’s today. From Bape in the 2000’s to Bape now. There will never not be a time where hip hop is not influencing fashion and streetwear. As clocks change, hip-hop and Rap have forever changed fashion and streetwear as we know it.

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The Evolution of Rap and its influences

By AJ Yenamandra

1994

Illmatic by Nas Nas’ debut album. He talks about street life, violence, drugs and corruption.

2008

808’s and Heartbreak by Kanye West Kanye’s 4th studio album. A pioneer in sing song autotune rap. 808’s was revolutionary in influencing today’s rap.

2010 24 | Musique - Fall Ezine 2019

MBDTF by Kanye West Seen as Kanye’s best album.With amazing production and lyrics, Kanye expresses his feelings about fame and love.

2011

Take Care by Drake Drakeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 2nd studio album. Drake talks stories of a love and broken heart. This album largely influenced melodic rappers and singers of todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s music.

2015

Rodeo by Travis Scott Extremely influential to trap rap and trap beats. Revolutionized modern rap beats and rapping styles.

2016

Cozy Tapes by A$AP Mob. Heavily popularized the A$AP Mob and Harlem rap. Talks about getting money, fashion and drugs. Musique - Fall Ezine 2019 | 25

From Pianos to ELECTRIC GUITARS HOW THE MUSIC INDUSTRY HAS CHANGED By: William Yang

Nathan Felix poses for The Daily Texan magazine. The magazine was writing an article on Nathan Felixâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s classical music experience. Photo courtesy of Nathan Felix

A hand model poses on the piano. This was part of an article about how to play piano better. Photo courtesy of Takelessons.

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One of the best performances of all time, named by Billboard.This photo was the cover of a Billboard magazine. Photo courtesy of Billboard

From jazz music to rap music, from classical to rock ‘n’ roll, popular music has drastically changed over the years. It has evolved in countless ways that nobody could have ever predicted. We have seen composers live and die, but the music they create is as vibrant and filled with life as ever. As human culture evolves and differentiates, our perception of good music changes with it. But, how has the music changed? Together, we will take a closer look at how the music industry has evolved. More than 400 years ago, the start of the Baroque period marked the beginning of popular music. During this time, classical works like Canon in D by Pachelbel and Le quattro stagioni by Vivaldi were composed. After this period came the classical,

romantic, impressionist, modern and contemporary periods, each with their own specific styles and types of music. Nathan Felix, an Austin composer, shares his own opinions on classical music. Although Felix was not interested in classical music as a child, he discovered it was an acquired taste as he grew up. He was intrigued by the complexities and moving parts which could be found a single piece of classical music “I hated classical music,” Felix said, “But then I’d hear all these other different pieces and I thought, wow, this is really interesting. There’s so many things moving around and arranging, and I just got captivated.” You can hear classical music’s influence on popular music in

the use of similar instruments and complex harmonies. “Music genres have melded quite a bit over the last decade or two and you hear a lot of artists using classical music or orchestral instruments in their music,” Felix said, “Orchestral instruments in more popular music has always been used, but now it seems more prevalent most likely due to access of recording tools and musicians wanting to redefine genre stereotypes. I love it ” Classical music itself has not remained unchanged. It has been affected and modified by the different styles of popular music. For example, you have already started to hear electronic instruments like synthesizers incorporated into classical music, and

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specific styles and types of music. Nathan Felix, an Austin composer, shares his own opinions on classical music. Although Felix was not interested in classical music as a child, he discovered it was an acquired taste as he grew up. He was intrigued by the complexities and moving parts which could be found a single piece of classical music “I hated classical music,” Felix said, “But then I’d hear all these other different pieces and I thought, wow, this is really interesting. There’s so many things moving around and arranging, and I just got captivated.” You can hear classical music’s influence on popular music in the use of similar instruments and complex harmonies. “Music genres have melded quite a bit over the last decade or two and you hear a lot of artists using classical music or

orchestral instruments in their music,” Felix said, “Orchestral instruments in more popular music has always been used, but now it seems more prevalent most likely due to access of recording tools and musicians wanting to redefine genre stereotypes. I love it ” Classical music itself has not remained unchanged.It has been affected and modified by the different styles of popular music. For example, you have already started to hear electronic instruments like synthesizers incorporated into classical music, and Felix thinks classical music will continue to experience the influence of modern technologies. “I think it will progress with more melding of genres,” Felix said, “I also think technology will play a big role. It’s only natural that we use the tools in our time to create and reshape art.” Many years ago, hundreds

Nathan Felix holds a small concert in his apartment. After the concert,he donated all 6 pianos to schools to encourage young musicians. Photo by Ashley Bradley

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Ted Gioia talks about the state of Austin’s music. This event was hosted by Crisis In Music and its goal was to improve the quality of music in Austin. Photo by Brenda Ladd

of people would go to piano concerts just to hear their favorite composers play the piano, violin, or another orchestral instrument. However, classical music is dying out nowadays. The younger generation is becoming uninterested in classical music because it is too old fashioned for their taste. Classical music is a dying art, and it runs the risk of stagnating. “Classical music is dying out mostly because it has failed to keep up with the times and therefore a younger generation or two has seemingly been skipped over,” Felix said. “With a modern society having so many options for entertainment and luxuries, classical music in the concert hall has stuck too close to ‘tradition’ both in repertoire and lack of inclusivity. Personally I’ve found it mind boggling because

American music is still writing it’s history, yet classical music seems to be mostly be interested in acting as a history museum. Rock ‘n’ roll is not similar in the slightest to classical music, and yet you still see similar trends. Ever since it started gaining in popularity, you can find hundreds of fans at every rock concert, having a good time and listening to aggressive music. Even though it sounds wildly different now, the fans from the beginning still attend concerts today. Garret Brown, creator of the “History of Rock ‘n’ Roll” club shares his opinion. “I think that the sound has obviously changed as it follows the trend, but I don’t think that the spirit behind it all has really changed that much,” Brown said, “Although, you don’t hear rock as much anymore as you used to, at least in the same

spirit.” Much like classical music, rock ‘n’ roll has also been declining in popularity. It has been declining for years after the peak of rock ‘n’ roll in the age of Led Zeppelin and other bands from the 70s. “I would say that’s probably the biggest [decade] because even today, that’s what stood the test of time,” Brown said, “That’s [what] you hear on the radio and all the classic rock stations, I’m going to say probably the decade of the 70s.” Like classical music, rock ‘n’ roll has also influenced modern popular music. Most musician’s guitar career starts with roots in rock ‘n’ roll. They start playing rock ‘n’ roll so they can learn cool guitar solos or simple rifts. “Rock ‘n’ roll, that’s where everybody likes to learn their instruments and play along too,” Brown said, “One of the Musique - Fall Ezine 2019 | 29

How Music Has Evolved R.I.P Bach N.Y Philharmonic Orchestra 1839

End of Baroque Period 1750

Canon in D 1680

Mozart Starts Composing 1764

1700 1725 1750 1775

4 Seasons 1725

1800

1825

1850

Now showing... Beethoven Beinning of Romantic Period 1803

French Horn 1705 30 | Musique - Fall Ezine 2019

Ever wanted to know how the music you listened to now came from classical music? This can tell you all you need to know on how music has changed.

Jazz 1920

Sound Recording 1877

1850

1875

1900

By: William Yang

Electronic Music Popularized Now

1925

1950

1975

Now

Billboard Top 100 1955 Ragtime Composed 1899 Musique - Fall Ezine 2019 | 31

Information provided by infoplease Information provided by Library of Congress Information provided by Billboard

The Battles Between Rap Eras How the 21st century has transformed the world of music, more specifically the rap industry. Khafre Jay gives an inspiring speech to his stuents co workers andthe community. He works on trying to get rid of bad stereotypes about the ulture of Hip Hop music.

Photograph by Hip Hop for Change.

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By: Yadira Mandujano

The world of rap has been shifted, who knows what’s next? There have been alterations made to the world of rap thanks to newer generations and styles. If you’re a rap enthusiast or just someone who likes rap in general, you have probably noticed a slight or drastic change in the music. Some of us see it as a good thing, while some people absolutely hate it and they’ll argue that what the newer generation has done to it has completely ruined it, but what are the changes that people have seen in rap music and how is it different from rap music in the 90s? Over the course of the past couple of decades society has seen a world-wide shift in rap music. The music is just different now, rap doesn’t sound like it did in the 90s. Nowadays it’s made to sound like something you’d play at a club to dance to, and the lyrics are all about things like gangs, drugs, alcohol, violence and relationships. But the songs about relationships aren’t sweet, they say mean things about the person, call them awful things

using foul-mouthed language, they just portray a situation that is dreadful and sickening. Rap songs in the 90s were all about real life situations and problems that happen to a lot of people, problems that no one talks about, that should be spoken on but are not, nobody really does that now. Rappers from the 90s spoke the truth and kept it real with everybody around them. Now with young rappers it’s different, they all rap about being in gangs, smoking weed, how much money they have, etc. Unlike the 90s, modern-day rap music is pretty decent, but the thing that throws the song off is the lyrics. Even though some people do happen to like the words, they just aren’t that good and they don’t really have a purpose. The 20th century was pretty weird and very eventful, but when we get to the 90s everything changed. “The thing with the 90s is that it really didn’t have a lot of sound, what they rapped was dope but

the sound was just not what it should have been,” Micah Street said, a music producer who has created music with some of the most well known rappers during an interview. While the sound back then wasn’t great, the lyrics were and they held some type of power and influence over people. “The alteration here is that rap music had a vice versa effect, there wasn’t really any development,”said Street. In the 90s the sound and beats weren’t that great until now, but the lyrics had so much power and feeling unlike the lyrics in rap songs these days. “If you listen to the message of the song, I mean, they’re talking about some real stuff, and I feel like modern rap just doesn’t have that,” Street said. Lyrics are kind of like a poem, and poems have some type of message, story or meaning behind them, but the thing is that the rappers of today don’t have that their

A young student performs to her peers pouring her emotions out giving the audience an amazing show. Photograph provided by Hip Hop for Change.

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Snoop Dogg smiles at the camera with founder of Hip Hop for Change. This was after he performed songs from his new album. Photograph provided by Hip Hop for Change.

music. When listening to modern day rap, you can see that the rappers don’t really sound so sure about what they are saying and it seems like they don’t know what they’re doing.

Ulises Lopez, a music producer who has worked with newer and younger rappers, also believes that the music produced in the 90s wasn’t that great.

“You know, one of my biggest frustrations with the music industry is that a lot of artists, in fact, don’t know what they want,” Street said. “That’s kind of where I feel the job of producing has become so much more important.”

“The 90s wasn’t very advanced in that area of producing music as opposed to how developed we are now,” Lopez said. “Today we have access to so many things, and our world is starting to develop itself around technology, now we can do things that we might have not been able to do in the 90s.”

The rap industry plays such a big role in the world of music, it is transforming other genres of music as well, “Rap is taking over, you can see that even with pop music, when you listen to pop you can hear parts of trap music and drums playing in the background” Street said.

There are different perspectives in the changes in rap music involving its’ culture. Khafre Jay is the founder of an organization called Hip Hop for Change who educates young people about hip hop and rap culture.

As rap music evolves so do other music genres, that’s how big of an influencer rap has become to the world of music.

“There are two pathways that have been created through society over time about hip hop and rap music,” Jay said. He adds that these pathways are based on stereotypes that people have of rap culture

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forming an exclusive idea of rap music in their head. In his opinion he believes that modern day rap is what creates most of these stereotypes based off of what these newer and younger rappers make their music about. He hopes that with the events his corporation hosts the two pathways will kind of merge and create a more positive view of hip hop culture making rap music less indecent and push rappers to be less foul-mouthed in their songs when they’re making their music. Rap music has changed and evolved throughout the course of its time and it is going to keep transforming into something different, but it will never stop influencing the different genres of music. Music will continue to change depending on what’s happening with rap and what rap is doing at the time. Hopefully we can all come together to admire what hip hop culture and rap music has done for our society.

One of the performers at a hip hop for change event throws his fists in the air, pumping his hands in the air. He is showing the audience the pride he has for his music and culture. Photograph provided by Hip Hop for Change.

Like anything, there will be ups and downs along its journey, but

its history and commencent will always follow it as it continues to

develop into hopefully something even greater than it is today.

Khafre Jay performs a song for the rowd at one of his corporations event. Khafre Jay is the founder of HH4C who educates people about the culture of Hip Hop and Rap music. Photograh provided by Khafre Jay.

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The Greatest Rappers of All Time : By Yadira Mandujano

These are the 7 of the best rappers in the world you will ever really need in your life. The following artists are very relatable. If you ever feel lost, confused, sad, etc. they will be a couple clicks and play button away to let you know that you’ll be okay and they can be a motivation or inspiration to you helping you to move forwrd.

Tupac 1. Tupac Amaru Shackur is one of the most influential rappers because his music always spoke the truth and he kept it real with the world, giving real world advice while rapping about his life stories and experiences.

Eminem 2. Marshall Bruce Mathers is influentialbecause in his music he raps about the struggles he went through growing up while also sharing how he felt during those times.

XXXtentacion 3. Jahseh Onfroy also known as X, was an influential rapper because he connected to others. Through his music he expressed his emotions and thoughts, he helped lots of people get through what they were going through and was an inspiring person.

J. Cole 4. Jermaine Lamarr Cole is an infleuntial rapper because his music speaks on problems around the world that people face and how/ why people are the way they are. Some of his songs also talk about past historic events.

Lil Peep

T.I 7. Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. is an infleuntial rapper because he makes music on real life issues we don’t talk about but that do happen when were young and the mstakes he made as an young adolescent

6. Gustav Elijah Ahr was an nfluential rapper because he made his music about the dificulty of life and the pain he would feel which a lot of his fans related to, he’s like your go to artist when your feeling down and need someone who understands you.

Lil Wayne 5. Dwayne Carter Jr. is an influential rapper because he is open about what his music is about to his fans, friends and family, some of his songs also provide insight on his love life issues. 36 | Musique - Fall Ezine 2019

G.O.A.Tâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s First Album In Order Here are the first masterpieces created by the greatest rappers of all time. Check out the music they made when they started spitting bars. Information provided by Medium Music and XTTRAWAVE.

Nothing But Trouble 1991 Infinite 1996 Members Only Vol. 2 2015 The Come Up 2007 No Breaking Up Till We Meet 1990 Mall Musicc 2015 Planet Oz 1991 Musique - Fall Ezine 2019 | 37