Hello for a final time my dear readers. It has been a fun and sometimes tiring ride, but it has come to an end. This will be the final blog post for this blog. There are two weeks remaining of the semester and we have to finish up our blogs. This post is meant to be a retrospective overview, but I thought that that alone would be kind of dull, so I interviewed two good friends of mine to make things a little more interesting.
If you have been reading this blog since the beginning you may have noticed how my choices tend to be people who are musicians and listen to rock and metal music. The musician part was intentional, because I assumed they would have more to say in regards to music. The rock/metal part was not. It has come to my attention that I have been inadvertently bashing rap and hip-hop music. This was never my intent. I actually like rap and hip-hop. I might not have the most refined taste in that genre though. But to prove my point I will list out my favorite rap songs and my two blog choices are people who tend to listen to rap/hip-hop.
So to start my list of favorite rap/hip-hop music:
1. Raekwon-Guillotine (swordz)
And now on to the first victim, Stoyan Velev. He is a student from the Southwest University in Blagoevgrad and is studying English phonetics and languages. I have known him since grade school.
His first memory is from when he was 6 years old. He heard Tom Jones-sex bomb after that it was random bits of music here and there. Stoyan claims the reason he like sex bomb was just because it was a catchy song. His first favorite artist was Eminem. He enjoyed Eminem’s music, his rap style and his lyrics. From then on, he continued to listen to rap until he got bored of it. Then he switched to rock, then metal and now everything except Bulgarian Chalga. His favorite song when he was a kid was Eminem-lose yourself.
It took him a while to understand what they were singing about in rap music. “The rhythm was really nice, and I really enjoyed the beat.” From there he started listening to more artists and bands.
Stoyan eventually got bored of it. “Music back then, it was original, everyone was rapping about their life and how hard it was, now it’s all about money and women. It represented their way of life. How they grew up on the streets in a poor neighborhood and eventually grew up to be a famous artist.”
As to how music has affected Stoyan as he grew up, he claims that when he was a kid and he listened to rap music he wanted to be a thug. He wanted to rap too. Eventually he wanted to listen to it for the entertainment.
Now he focuses more on soundtracks from videogames or movies or orchestral music. “It pumps you up.”
Now his favorite group is Two Steps from Hell. His favorite composer is one of the members Thomas Bergerson.
Now to the second victim Martin Todorov. Martin is a sophomore in AUBG. He is majoring in Mathematics and Economics. He is from Ruse (north part of Bulgaria).
His first memory of music is from when he was 6 years old. He had two CD’s his father gave him. One was hip hop and the other was Greek music. The first song that Martin remembers playing over and over was DMX-party up and that was the first hip-hop song he vividly remembers as being his favorite song.
Around 5th grade Martin got into soft rock stuff like Linking Park and Thousand Foot Krutch. He really got into that kind of music and from there he got into normal rock until 7th grade. Then a friend of Martins introduced him to hip hop. “It was like rediscovering the style, because the last time I listened to that I was like 5 years old. I believe that’s what I kind of liked in the linking park, thousand foot krutch period is what I liked in hip hop itself, which is the lyricism which I believe is the most important part of music as a whole and that is the message which a person is trying to send to another person.”
Since 8th grade hip hop has become Martin’s main genre of music. He also listens to a little bit of metal like Iron Maiden and sometimes some Serbian music when he is in the mood. But generally when he wants to listen to music he puts on hip-hop.
Martin never really felt that hip hop was angry. He got into it mainly because he thought it was calming. The hip hop he listens to usually has a hidden message inside. Something that the musician tries to share with the audience, which is why Martin considers it to be not very popular and more underground hip-hop. Martin thinks of it as the artists sharing their trouble and their problems and protecting the others from making the same mistakes.
Martin’s favorite all time lyricist is Big pun(isher). He has a lot of word play and puns. Martin considers it to be pretty much like poetry. “He died young and doesn’t have many songs. He is considered one of the best ever and he has like only one album, which is saying a lot.”
Martin likes the songs and artists that deal with an issue and not just bragging about something that they don’t really have, or who repeat popular opinions. He likes the songs that deal with real stories and real situations. That is why Martin likes hip hop.
“I believe hip-hop is one of the most popular genres right now. The problem is that the songs that are popular are not all that good. There are two parts of every song one is the beat the other are the lyrics. The ones that are really popular are really well produced because they use the most modern technology and they have a lot of money. But the lyrics are very simple that is because it is easier for people to remember them and relate probably. The hip hop that is popular is not really the hip hop I would listen to. “
Martin’s favorite current hip-hop song is La Coka Nostra- The Stain
I was curious whether Martin ever felt a connection between the rap/hip-hop music and the sort of thug life (like Stoyan did). Martin replied that to him not at all. He grew up in a not so rich neighborhood. It was not a ghetto, but it was similar in many ways. It was Bulgarian middle class. Martin never really made the connection that if he listens to hip hop the street life is meant for him.
So to sum all of the blog posts up as is the requirement of this post I would say that I realized that music is different for everybody, but at the same time very similar. Some people listened to music because they liked the meaning, some for the entertainment. It seems that almost everybody went through different music stages in their life. That is all the wisdom I really have on the subject. I am supposed to link to and I think talk about all my blog posts, but to be honest that seems kind of boring. Especially if you have been reading up until now, there really isn’t any point. I will post the links for each blog post at the bottom. One cool thing about all of this is the new things you find out about your friends while interviewing them, because on any given day you aren’t really questioning them about their past. I might get a lesser grade for this comment, but I don’t believe in lying just to get by. I don’t like Twiiter and Storify. They are an utter waste of time. Thinglink was ok, because I can see some use for it. Another note is whether or not I have answered my question, which is “What is your first memory of music?”The answer to that is a resounding no. I have found out for most of my friends, but not everybody. So let me pose the question to you reader. What is your first memory of music? So it was fun while it lasted, but alas it has come to an end. So as the song Look on the bright side of life says, it’s your last chance of the hour, might as well go out with a grin. (Or something like that)
p.s. I will post some links to cool songs on the bottom here for whoever wishes to listen to music more.
Fin
Blog post 1
Blog post 2
Blog post 3
Blog post 4
Blog post 5
Blog post 6
Blog post 7
Blog post 8
Awesome music:
Secrets-you look good in plastic (give it a chance)
Guilty Crown OST (skip to 10:10)
Miles Kane- come closer
Louis Prima- closer to the bone
Peter, Bjorn & John-Young folk
Exitmusic-The cold
BeatTheTempo 