Welcome back to Parsons Playlists! Today’s playlist is curated by Music Library student assistant Luis (class of 2025) and features music by Columbian singer Karol G.
Karol G
Carolina Giraldo Navarro, better known as KAROL G, is a Latin artist from Medellin, Colombia who has been rising in the music industry as of late. She just won her first Grammy this year and is only continuing to rise in the charts. I have been listening to her a lot recently and wanted to share some of my favorite songs.
Welcome back to Parsons Playlists! Today’s playlist is curated by Music Library student assistant Nikoloz (class of 2026) and features some hip hop selections.
Editor’s note:Arachnophonia (“Arachno” = spider / “-phonia” = sound) is a regular feature on our blog where members of the UR community can share their thoughts about resources from the Parsons Music Library‘s collection.
Kanye West has been one of the most talented and controversial men in the current music industry. Apart from the many social and political statements he has made throughout the years, West is one of the best producers and lyricists in music.
Additionally, those interested in finding out more about this artist and where he has come from, there is an amazing documentary on Netflix called jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy. It’s a very interesting documentary that shows the process of his first album and how he came up in the musical scene.
Editor’s note:Arachnophonia (“Arachno” = spider / “-phonia” = sound) is a regular feature on our blog where members of the UR community can share their thoughts about resources from the Parsons Music Library‘s collection.
The dynamic duo that swept the Hip hop scene in the late 1990s/early 2000s, OutKast consisted of André 3000 and Big Boi. With only six studio albums and 32 singles, OutKast made a big name for themselves in hip hop, and disbanded in 2007. They have very memorable songs that many have heard in movies and radio such as “Hey Ya!” And “Ms. Jackson.”
Many of their albums live in the Parson Music Library at UR. My favorite of the bunch must be Aquemini, released in 1998. Their music is the type to transition into our current media in the best way possible. This album can be a refreshing break from the current hip hop and musical scene. Songs to check out form the album include: “Chonkyfire,” “Mamacita,” and “Da Art of Storytelling.” Aquemini is definitely worth checking out from Parsons Music Library.
Welcome back to Parsons Playlists! Today’s playlist is curated by Music Library student manager Deisy (class of 2024) which features hip hop & R&B tunes from the 1990s.
Welcome back to Parsons Playlists! Today’s playlist is curated by Music Library student manager Kiran (class of 2024) and features songs presented by UR’s Bollywood Jhatkas and Block Crew in a recent performance on campus.
Bollywood on the Block: The Sequel
Bollywood Jhatkas and Block Crew recently performed their second joint showcase, on March 25th. Here are some of the crowd’s favorite songs/remixes!
Welcome back to Parsons Playlists! Today’s playlist is curated by Music Library student assistant Nikoloz (class of 2026) and features phonk, a subgenre of hip hop and trap music which is popular in Russia.
Phonk
Phonk songs, especially Drift phonk, usually use distorted/sampled sounds that most of us are familiar with. Regardless, these phonk songs sound quite different from those melodies you might know and love, to the point where you wouldn’t guess in a thousand years that music pieces that you listen to on a regular basis are used for their creation.
This phonk comes from Russia, however more recent works that become popular are in English (That is, of course, if they have any lyrics at all.)
Welcome back to Parsons Playlists! Today we’re featuring a playlist of music by Japanese R&B/hip-hop artist Joji, curated by Music Library student manager Brianna (class of 2024).
George Kusunoki Miller, who goes by the musical pseudonym Joji, is a Japanese singer, songwriter, and comedian. He began his career in entertainment on YouTube, releasing comedic rap songs under the name “Pink Guy”, and various other videos where he would often star in multiple roles. In 2015, he retired from his YouTube career and began making the music he had always wanted, now going by Joji. When asked how this was different from his previous musical career as Pink Guy, he said “I guess that’s the difference, Joji’s just me.” His debut album Ballads I made him the first Asain-born artist to reach #1 on Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart in 2018. His most recent release from 2020, titled Nectar, reached a peak of #3 on US Billboard 200. Here is a compilation of my favorite songs from Joji.
Editor’s note:Arachnophonia is a regular feature on our blog where members of the UR community can share their thoughts about resources from the Parsons Music Library‘s collection.
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (MBDTF) is my favorite Kanye album. Many fans, reviewers and artists in the industry also agree with me that the albumis both technically amazing and culturally significant, with many music publications reporting back in December that MBDTF is their top album of the entire 2010s, such as Rolling Stone and Billboard. Why I believe this album is worthy of this praise is two-fold: first, the album continues the musical genius and masterful production that were present in The College Dropout, Late Registration and Graduation; and second, this album marked Kanye’s public apology for his previous wrong-doings and public controversy, while apologizing in the most ‘Kanye’ way possible; self-reflection upon fame and ego.
I would be remiss in writing about MBDTF if I did not first acknowledge the character and artist behind the production of the album. Kanye has had his fair share of headlines throughout the past ten years or so, between his support of Donald Trump and the idea that Democrats have “brainwashed” black Americans, to his laptop being “stolen” by his cousin who leaked private videos of him, to his famous Twitter tirades in which he has attacked figures such as Wiz Khalifa and the company Nike, to his ongoing bouts with Taylor Swift. The list is long and could have been expanded upon further. Kanye is rarely in the news for positivity, but I argue that his albums should be judged separately from the creator. It is actually the last headline, his history with Taylor Swift, which started the production of MBDTF. In 2009 at MTV’s Video Music Awards, Kanye infamously took to the stage to interrupt Swift’s acceptance speech for Best Female Video, proclaiming that Beyoncé should have won the honor. This prompted nationwide outrage against Kanye, which prompted an apology tour soon afterwards. He then took off to Hawaii that same year in the form of a retreat, in which he began working on MBDTF in Honolulu’s Avex Recording Studio.
Kanye West Performing at SWU Music Arts Festival 2011 by Renan Facciolo – Kanye West – SWU Music & Arts, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18137550
MBDTF is a journey. First, many elements of his previous albums can be identified on tracks throughout this album, indicating a feeling that the work in its entirety could be considered Kanye’s magnum opus. It borrows on the soul and experimental hip-hop aspects found in The College Dropout and Late Registration, mixed with the unrestricted emotional and innovative gleam evident in Graduation and 808s & Heartbreak. Second, the album explores themes such as wealth, prominence, decadence, excess, escapism, self-aggrandizement and self-doubt. An interesting understanding I found in my research is from Andrew Martin of Prefix Magazine, in which he notes in his review that this work “derives its intrigue from the shortcomings of its creator” and “it’s a meditation on fame.” Topics from previous, and even future Kanye albums, explore social issues that plague the world, such as abuse of drugs or the ongoing mistreatment of people of color. However, the “apology album” that MBDTF was expected to be allowed Kanye to reflect on the personal characteristics of his life, and to recognize that he is not perfect.
Focusing on specific tracks, the album opens with the aptly titled “Dark Fantasy.” Nicki Minaj introduces the first track through spoken-word, which then transitions into Kanye rapping about his images of grandeur as a child, and how the population perceives the fame, he has experienced incorrectly. Continuing through the album, “All of the Lights” is my personal favorite track. Between the masterful uses of synthesized sound bites to the lyrical story of a convicted man due to physical assault charges, the song is amazing in my eyes and by the public, receiving many accolades such as Best Rap Song at the 54th Grammy Awards. Another noteworthy track is “Runaway,” which appropriately premiered as a live performance at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards, a year after Kanye’s public condemnation for his action against Swift, which prompted the creation of this album. Many reviewers laud “Runaway” as Kanye’s best song, placing emphasis on the ego of himself in a statement of lyrical apology for his public figure, but referring to the flaw of human nature of self-absorption that caused his problems. Some other album highlights include “Monster,” “Devil in a New Dress,” and “Lost in the World.”
Music is a strange dichotomy in which it is explicitly linked with the creators of itself and its performers, while also taking on its own personality completely separate from association with a person. I believe that My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy should be viewed through a similar lens. Personally, I have friends who refuse to listen to Kanye West’s music simply because of the nature of himself as a person and the way he has publicized himself throughout the world. However, I believe it to be a great tragedy to close oneself off to the music that he creates as a separate entity of himself, only to experience the idea of the music and what it is trying to portray to us as an audience. No recommendation could ring more true than his album, which should be experienced and loved by all listeners.
Editor’s note:Arachnophonia is a regular feature on our blog where members of the UR community can share their thoughts about resources from the Parsons Music Library‘s collection.
In doing so, they document how the U.S. criminal justice system’s policing of hip hop and rap music has evolved, and elucidate the dire consequences and First-Amendment concerns of using rap lyrics to convict and incarcerate young men of color.
Here are five deeply concerning takeaways:
1. Rap lyrics are almost always permitted as evidence to prosecute serious crimes like murder, robbery and drug trafficking
Throughout their research, Nielson and Dennis have identified more than 500 cases across the U.S. in which rap lyrics were used as evidence in a criminal trial. In some cases, the prosecution introduced a defendant’s lyrics as substantiating evidence of the defendant’s guilt in some crime. Other times, the lyrics were the crime.
According to the New Jersey ACLU, rap lyrics were permitted as evidence in 80 percent of cases that considered their admissibility. But Nielson and Dennis say the number, according to their research, is significantly higher.
2. Police and prosecutors target young, black and Latino amateur rappers
In roughly 95 percent of cases involving rap lyrics, the defendant is a young, black or Latino man with a local fan base, if any fan base at all. Because of their social status, amateur rappers, in the eyes of police and prosecutors, are not real artists.
3. Rap lyrics are used to convince jurors of the defendant’s “true character”
By Dennis and Nielson’s analysis, police and prosecutors nationwide interpret and present to jurors rap music as autobiographical. A training manual written by a California prosecutor says that, through music lyrics, prosecutors “can invade and exploit the defendant’s true personality.” The manual tells prosecutors not to be fooled by the defendant’s nice court attire.
“The real defendant is a criminal wearing a do-rag and throwing a gang sign,” according to the manual.
In the hands of prosecutors, rap lyrics are taken out of context and construed as accurate depictions of the defendant’s real life, despite the art form’s well-known tradition of hyperbole. Because of this, defendant’s will often plead guilty in exchange for a lesser sentence, knowing their lyrics, presented by prosecutors, might significantly bias the jurors.
To introduce lyrics as evidence, prosecutors often argue that the lyrics they wish to introduce are evidence of the defendant’s motive, knowledge or ability to commit the crime in question. If a defendant is being accused of murder, for instance, prosecutors will cherry-pick from the defendant’s rap lyrics the lyrics most evocative of murder, and argue before the jury that the rap lyrics at least prove the defendant is capable of murder.
Prosecutors have used rap lyrics to argue for harsher sentences. Dennis and Nielson have identified thirty cases in which prosecutors used a defendant’s lyrics to argue that the defendant’s “true character,” as exposed in his lyrics, was so beyond any hope of rehabilitation that he should be sentenced to death.
In at least one case, prosecutors used a defendant’s lyrical abilities to argue that he was mentally stable and intelligent enough to be executed.
4. Rap lyrics and videos are used to warrant “gang enhancements”
If prosecutors can show that the crime the defendant is standing trial for was committed on behalf of or in association with a gang, prosecutors can request a “gang enhancement,” which can double a defendant’s sentence. In some states, gang enhancements allow for juveniles to be charged as adults.
Prosecutors regularly use rap lyrics to seek gang enhancements. If a defendant references gang themes in his lyrics, or even just mentions certain neighborhoods, prosecutors will use those rap lyrics to connect the defendant’s crime to gang activity.
Increasingly common is the use of rap music videos to justify gang enhancements. Dennis and Nielson have identified cases in which prosecutors used rap music videos to justify a gang enhancement for defendants who were seen in the background of a music video.
5. “Gang experts” routinely use rap music and videos to surveil entire communities
Nielson and Dennis make clear that, although “Rap On Trial” is focused on the use of rap lyrics as evidence in criminal trials, police and so-called “gang experts” nationwide use hip hop, rap music and videos to surveil communities, to identify suspects and to justify arrests, all before rap enters the courtroom.
Michael Render, also known as “Killer Mike” from the Atlanta, Georgia, hip hop duo “Run The Jewels,” is a close friend of Nielson’s and wrote the foreword to Rap On Trial.
“Right now, aspiring rap artists need to know they are being targeted by the authorities,” Render wrote, “and they need to balance their right to free speech–and their desire to push the envelope of free speech–with the reality that police are watching.”