Advanced Essay #1: Open Your Ears

Music has always been one of the few things to connect people no matter where they come from. Genres like Reggae, RnB, Hip-hop and many others have had influences in revolutions and times of trials for countries. Music has also been one of the only outlets to utilize the entire brain. Bringing in more memory, language, and the ability of relieving stress, music holds power that is able to give life meaning whether it is a booming baseline of Rap or the soothing tunes of jazz, the power of music can captivate anyone and make the simplest times meaningful.

It was one of those Saturdays. I slept in and woke up around 11. It was so cool outside because it was fall, but the sun was so bright and the sky was clear. I woke up with tiredness still in my eyes, but I decided it was time to get up.

I made my way to the bathroom where I turned on the cold water. I then started to splash my face and it woke me up right away. The smooth coolness of the water was just something that settled in with the calm feeling of this Saturday. Suddenly, my mother with a raw, horse morning voice started to yell that Saturday chores needed to be done. Still being in my calm mood, I just seemed to find a way to tune it out. With all the aggression and yelling surrounding me, I found a way to still enjoy my morning. I told my mother I would do my chores right after I ate breakfast. We had just gone grocery shopping and that added more happiness to my life. After eating and feeling replenish, I decided to avoid any more yelling. I decided them to begin cleaning.

It is a common routine that when I start to clean. I must have music on, preferably hip-hop. The sounds of the beats from songs like Push it Along by A Tribe Called Quest and Dead Wrong by Notorious BIG create a relaxing  atmosphere. Songs like those allowed me to just bob along and the cleaning gets done and just creates a soft mood.

In addition to Saturdays of listening to music and cleaning, over the summer, I was able to fall more in love with hip-hop. One of the ways I was able to do that was take a class at Drexel called The Politics of Hip-hop. When music was brought up in general, not only was I able to see music as an art, but music is freedom. It is liberation. In addition, not only was I able to love and appreciate hip-hop more, I fell in love with the connection different genres had with each other. Music has always been one of the few things to connect people no matter where they come from. In particular, Reggae has been one of the most influential genres in music. One of the most noteable genres Reggae has had an impact on is Hip-hop. Reggae gave power to the people of Jamaica. Reggae allowed many young people to be free. In music, political fortunes might rise or fall, society made or undone but it is the people’s space. It was also the same with Hip-hop. Dance floors were where the minority became the majority and nothing could stop that.

It was in this class throughout the summer that music became something that represented a whole culture and became the way for a nation to voice injustice.