Anya's Blog for Musical Explorations!

Sampling the Afro-Cuban Musical Experience Some Background      Traditional Cuban music stems from the Spanish and African heritage that is deeply rooted within Cuban culture. This fusion of cultural backgrounds was a result of the African slave trade when Spanish settlers brought their slaves to cultivate the island of Cuba ( Hosted In Havana ). There are five basic genres of Afro-Cuban music: rumba, son, cancion Cubana, danzon, and punto guarjira ( Brozensky et al ). However, the three most common genres which will be discussed further are the rumba, son, and danzon. What is unique about the Afro-Cuban genres is that each genre has its own associated dance each of which has individually laid the foundation for numerous contemporary dances that are still popular today. Rumba     Some of you may be familiar with rumba as it has become very popular in the U.S. as a ballroom dance.  However, traditional rumba is actually split into sub-genres in which the rhy...

An Evolution Of Pop Music - 1950s - Now      The term "pop music" originally referred to the music that was simply popular at the time, regardless of the genre that the individual songs were classified under. However, as time went on popular music genres and styles intermingled, creating a unique blend of influences that characterizes modern pop music as its own genre. The pop genre was distinguished by its largely teen and young adult fan base who were typically more open to radical changes that go against the current of more traditional genres. The 1950s     The '50s marked the infancy of true pop music as this was a time that artists began playing with stylistic choices and deviating from the confines of a single genre. An influential player in the blurring of genre lines was Mitch Miller, a producer working with Columbia Records, who was known for combining country, blues, and folk music with mainstream rock'n'roll to create a new element that was unique to ...

  "How Do You Sleep?" Sam Smith Listen Here Some Background        "How Do You Sleep?" was written by Sam Smith along with Savan Kotecha, Max Martin, and Ilya Salmanzadeh. It was released on July 19, 2019 and originated from England. "How Do You Sleep?" was also included on Sam Smith's third album, Love Goes , which was released in 2020 ( Wikipedia ). Additionally, Sam Smith announced that they identify as nonbinary in 2019, so I will be referring to Sam with them/their pronouns throughout this blog post. My Feelings I have been a big fan of Sam Smith for years, I admire their musical abilities and I love the style of music they produce.That being said, I don't really connect with this song emotionally regarding the lyrics, but I enjoy the composition of all the moving parts of the piece, including the music video I have linked in this post. I appreciate that this song was a result of a turning point in Sam Smith's life. As mentioned above, the...

 "Lovely" Billie Eilish and Khalid Listen Here Some Background     "Lovely" was written by Billie Eilish and Khalid. Billie's brother, Finneas O'Connell produced the song as well as assisted in writing the piece. "Lovely" was initially released in the U.S. on April 19, 2018, as a lead single for the second season of the Netflix series, "13 Reasons Why" (Wikipedia).  My feelings     From the beginning, the song exudes a dramatic and emotional tone which is expressed through soft accompaniment, hushed vocals, and pensive lyrics. This song addresses the struggle of overcoming depression and attempting to make the best out of a bad situation. I relate to this journey and this song elicits reflection from when I hit my perceived rock bottom. Around the time this song was released, I was trying to learn how to cope with my mother's terminal diagnosis, I was struggling with my own mental and physical health, and I was dropped from the degree...