Welcome back to Parsons Playlists! Today’s playlist is curated by Music Library student manager Deisy (class of 2024) and features some hip hop from the 1990s and 2000s.
1990s and 2000s Hip Hop
Listen to some hip hop from the 90’s and early 2000’s.
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 last track, “Get Well Soon,” is a tribute to the lives lost at the Manchester Arena bombing during her previous tour. There are 40 seconds of silence at the end of this song to commemorate the 22 victims who passed away, bringing the runtime to 5:22 (the date of the concert).
If you’d like to listen to these songs mentioned and more, you can check this CD out from the Parsons Music Library today. You won’t regret it!
Welcome back to Parsons Playlists! Today’s playlist is curated by Music Library student manager Amy (class of 2025) and features music by American R&B artist and songwriter Victoria Monét.
Victoria Monét
Victoria Monét, a talented R&B artist and songwriter, secured three well-deserved Grammy Awards at the 2024 ceremony, including the coveted title of Best New Artist. Witnessing her triumph filled me with absolute joy, as her musical creations, both as a songwriter and a vocalist, are nothing short of extraordinary. Recognizing that not everyone may be familiar with Victoria’s incredible talent, I decided to curate a playlist featuring some of my favorite songs penned by this exceptional artist.
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 manager Deisy (class of 2024) which features hip hop & R&B tunes from the 1990s.
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.
Amy Winehouse’s album Back to Black has been my top album since I was 16. Not only is the unique quality of her voice astounding but her lyrics perfectly encapsulate the realities of an abusive relationship.
Back to Black was Winehouse’s sophomore album and the title track, “Rehab,” suggested the album would be nothing like its predecessor Frank (released in 2003). Frank sounded as if Winehouse had taken the lyrics of an artist like Michael Bublé and added a bit of hip-hop to it, the most notable piece was her voice.
These raspy painful notes that begin “Rehab,” a Top 10 hit in the UK and US, point to the three years between Frank and Back to Black being far from easy. After Frank debuted, Winehouse began a very topsy-turvy relationship with Blake Fielder-Civil, a music video assistant. Fielder-Civil has come forward and admitted to being Winehouse’s introduction to hard drugs. The two would get into physical and verbal altercations in public, the catalysis of this being Fielder-Civil leaving Winehouse at one point for his ex-girlfriend.
Fielder-Civil leaving was the inspriation for the song “Back to Black.” It described the dark moments of depression she felt after he left. It also described how she went back to abusing alcohol after he left because she didn’t have anything else to cope with.
Another of her famous singles “Love is a Losing Game,” a long metaphor for love being an unfair game, the song, while quite simple with lyrics like “Know you’re a gambling man/ Love is a losing hand,” is considered to be one of Winehouse’s most powerful songs because of its deep meaning.
My personal favorite song, “Tears Dry on Their Own” is an anthem for those who need the hard truth: it is time to get over it. In an interview with BBC, Winehouse described her inspiration for the song: “I was with someone that I couldn’t really be with and I knew it wouldn’t last. But I think because I knew it couldn’t last, it’s kinda like saying, “I’m upset, but I know I’ll get over it, I guess.”
After a stint in rehab and an arrest for marijuana possession, Winehouse won five Grammy Awards in 2008, an award ceremony she was not able to attend as the US denied her visa on grounds of use and abuse of narcotics. That same year, Back to Black was said to be the second-highest selling album in the world. Winehouse died of accidental alcohol poisoning on July 23, 2011.
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!
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.
Throughout my years in college, I have tried to expand my musical taste by asking friends to introduce me to some of their favorite artists. Along the way, a good friend of mine introduced me to Amy Winehouse, one of the best things in my life. My favorite song of hers has to be “You Know I’m No Good” and “Back to Black.” Her Back to Black album was on repeat for a long time in 2021 as I began to discover more of her work.
If people are interested in discovering new artists and songs, I recommend asking a friend or coming to the Parsons Music Library where there is a large collection of CDs and LPs to look through.
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.
Beyoncé in Formation offers a deep-dive into the lyrics and meaning of Beyoncé’s 2016 album Lemonade through a Black feminist and LGBTQ+ lens, creating a deeply nuanced and complex view of the Billboard #1 album.
Tinsley effectively combines her personal life, renowned Black feminist and LGBTQ+ artists, and Beyoncé’s album into one cohesive story wherein she breaks down the ways in which Beyoncé’s album is not only a Black-empowerment album, but an album that introduces complex feminist and LGBTQ+ ideas rarely seen in mainstream music.
I originally picked up this book because I love picking apart lyrics and delving into hidden messages in songs and music videos, however I quickly realized that it would be about much more than song inspection. I appreciate the way in which Tinsley was able to integrate her life into the greater story of Black feminism in a way that felt raw and real, much like the rest of the book. She doesn’t dance around any subject, and no subject matter is too grandiose to take on. Whether it’s gender and sexuality, racism, or the history of music, Tinsley covers it all.
Of course, this book would be nothing without the album Lemonade itself. The CD is also available at Parsons Music Library — feel free to check out both the CD and the book to heighten your experience!
Picture of the author (Eliana class of 2024) at a Beyonce concert in 2016
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.
