The Editors of encyclopaedia Britnncia (10-19-2014) ERYKAH BADU AMERICAN SINGER SONGWRITER (online)
SU,MMARY
Overall this article explains how Erykah started in the music industry, her educational background, where she came from, her first album and how she made an affect in the music industry. The Article explains that Badu didn't have much of a musical background, but on the other hand she had done dance and theatre in college. She dropped out of college in 1993 to pursue her dream to become a famous musician. She ended up creating a band named Erykah free with her cousin, while working as a waitress and a drama teacher. In 1995 she had an opportunity with her band to open for D'angelo, which was able to catch Badu enough attention to get signed to a record label. In 1997 Erykah first single called On&On was released and gained a lot of popularity, a month later she had also released her first album called Baduizm which reached number 2 on the billboard. The same year she had won 2 Grammy's, four soul train awards, and 2 NAACP image awards. Her second album Mamas Gun(2000) sold decently well because of singles such as bag lady. In 2003 her 3rd album worldwide underground was released, it is a collection of songs that were said to be an EP (extended play). In 2008 she released another album called New Amerykah . Part One:4th World War which used a lot elements from the funk genre and also used a lot of conscious lyrics. A second part of the album was released in 2010 ( New Amerykah . Part two: Return of the Ankh) and it gained a lot of controversy for Erykah walking naked through Dealey plaza for won of her videos where president
John .F.Kennedy got shot. I was influenced by this article because it explained in small detail how she
had gradually made her way up the ranks through the music industry, how she was influenced by
many old school artist, how she used elements from different genre to create her own sound and lastly how she includes conscious lyrics within her music.
LUX4RT(Published on 9th Oct 2016) Lauryn Hill available at : accessed 1/5/17)
SUMMARY
This interview was based on the true understanding about Lauryn Hills debut album Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. She talks when she was producing the album she didn't think it would make that much of an impact then what it actually did, as she said she was trying to express herself through her music . Hill was trying to find her unvidual voice, because I believe she was so used to relying on other group members to back her up, but as a solo artist you have to be more independent and rely more on yourself. Lauryn said that she was really excited to use other elements from different genre, from old school songs Doo Wop, harmonisation and contrast them together to make her own sound for the new generation. The reason why I was intrigued by this interview is because I was able understand the background more clearly from the artist perspective. I also wanted to understand the deeper message she tried to give out to society at the time. She wanted to embrace women hood and show the beauty, and power women are capable of having. That is why I wanted to relate some my songs with Hills first album.
by Editorial staff (October 22nd 2013) Summary and Analysis of phenomenal woman By Maya Angelo (online) available at https://beamingnotes.com/2013/10/22/summary-analysis-phenomenal-woman-maya-angelou/ ( 7/6/17)
Summary
This article breaks the poem phenomenal woman into 4 stanza, and explains in deep detail the true meanings of the poem. in the first stanza it explain that Maya begins with showing hatred upon stereotypes. It gives a description of her not having the typical perfect body but she has still been successful in life. It explains that her secret is meant to be here confidence, posture, smile, and the she moves her hips. Maya explains that her body is an expression of womanliness. She finishes the first stanza with explaining she is a phenomenal woman. the word phenomenal is meant to describe her physical structure as well as personality.
Stanza 2: In the second stanza it talks about Maya explaining that she doesn't have much of a feminine features, but men fall for her like a swarm of bees. As she knows she is a phenomenal woman she embraces it everyday
Stanza:3 in the third stanza she says that men are still inspired by her, but she also says that her secret is not unique, is only exposed through her body movements and expressions. Her unresolved mystery makes her so intriguing to men, but Maya says she is a woman phenomenally.
Stanza 4: In the last stanza Maya tries to explain to her readers why she walks with her head held high. She also says she doesn't need to be loud to catch attention is only her body movements and expressions that make her phenomenal woman. This poem is influential to me because it gives a clear understanding that their is more to beauty than the physical appearance, and how you should embrace who you are as person because everyone is unique. I used certain elements from this poem to create one of my songs called African Queen. The song is based on uplifting coloured women and understanding how precious they are as people.
MangoldProject (published May 19 2017) Neo Soul Chords for Beginners: Simple Principles for Voicing Them (accessed 1/6/17)
It talks about how to create Neo soul chords. You must use either the 7th, 9th and 13th chords, also the chords are mainly clustered notes. You choose a scale and take only the 7th, 9th, 13th. The rules of chord voicing are : You can move them up and down an octave, you can double any note an octave without changing the chord itself. Throughout the video gives examples of neo soul chords and how to create them.
LUX4RT ( published October 10th 2016) Lauryn Hill | Interview | Full (accessed 1/6/17)
In this interview Lauryn Hill talk about the process and development of her first album. She also talks about about her band and what she was going through at the time of her producing Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. Hill explains that you have to be independent an unique to stand out in the music industry. She talks about the messages of her music in deeper detail. I believe that Lauryn Hill made a big affect within the Neo-Soul genre as well as the music industry, so I think that its really important to understand her point of view and her mindset behind the creation of her albums.
