Smash hit trap/rap anthem of the Winter is now blowing up across the US. With a very distinctive beat and a catchy hook and chorus, New Jersey rapper Fetty Wap has made a name for himself as he joins the rap scene. Part of the rap group 1738 RemyBoyz, he raps and traps in his video alongside CEO and fellow member Montana Buckz, explaining how he loves to trap, rap, get high and fly with his baby, or Trap Queen.
Although “Trap Queen”‘s first plays were a few months back on radio stations in Atlanta, like Streetz 94.5 FM and HOT 107.9 FM, the song is consistently getting more and more play. Released almost a year ago back in March 2014, the song has over 15 million plays on Fetty Wap’s Souncloud; the music video released in Aug. 2014 has 10 million views and counting (stats as of Late February 2015)
Let’s all take a moment to remember this unforgettable summer jam from the 90s! Featuring none other than rapper Trick Daddy and hip-hop songstress/rapper, Trina. Winner of the 2001 Billboard Music Award for R&B/Hip-Hop Group, “Take It to the House” was the first single from Trick Daddy’s fourth studio album, Thugs Are Us and is still considered a stand-out song for its time.
Featured on the track are rappers of the Slip-N-Slide collective: Sung, Money Mark, J.V., Trina and Co. The song was a favorite throughout the mid-90s and still is heralded today as one of the key, stand-out rap songs from the era. This version of the song saw frequent play from the now defunct, but legendary Atlanta radio station 95.5 FM “The Beat.”
Artists credited on the song include the “Slip-N-Slide Express” the alias of the collective group, though many websites and music sites list the song as “featuring Trina.”
Slip N Slide the Miami record label was founded in 1994 and features artists such as Plies, Trina, Rick Ross (a former member), rock artists and new up-and-coming artists like Sebastian Mikael, Swazy and Qwote.
(artist and album information obtained from wikipedia.org)
So, I wrote this paper (see below) for my media and popular culture class last week that apparently was really good. I decided to analyze a song I’m very familiar with, “Gas Pedal” (the original and SALVA remix are on my tablet now) by Sage the Gemini. I kind of took an idea and ran with it and was unsure if my paper was any good at all, in fact I thought it was terrible. My professor graded it and thought it was excellent and wanted me to post it as an example. This completely turned my day around, as I was not expecting that kind of feedback.
Surprise, surprise.
Sometimes you can think that what you do doesn’t matter, isn’t good enough, or is not up to par. We get so caught up in things that we do wrong, we don’t always notice what it is we do right. In this aspect we all need to be glass “half-full” people and not “half-empty.” There is some truth to “willing” something into existence.
This scenario is common in college students; normal ones, and especially those with depression or other mood disorders. The classic example is the girl who freaks out about a math/chemistry/english test thinking she failed and she’s no good and then she gets an A.
How I usually feel when I study.
When we let doubt and criticism get the best of us, we don’t do things at all. How can you be good or bad at something if you never try, and how can you improve? I am guilty of this myself in other aspects of life, though I’m working on changing that. Our perfectionist society demands a lot and reminds me of a good article I read called “F*** Perfectionism” that basically said if we all were perfect the world would suck and be boring.
Another great example is the new SuperBowl commercial from Coke where the soda spilling on an Internet mainframe caused people viewing negative comments about themselves to see them positively and smile. The commercial was a bit random but it’s underlying message is powerful. Be happy, be positive, be confident, turn your negatives into positives, always.
Media Representation Study 1
The media plays an important role in society, specifically the music industry which surrounds us in everyday life, advertisements, TV programs, concerts and many more activities. Music can tell us how to think, feel and even behave through its messages and meanings. This analysis will consist of the popular Hip-Hop song “Gas Pedal featuring Iamsu” by the artist Sage the Gemini. The themes and motifs of the video will be analyzed in the Frame Setting theory of mass communication. (Music video at: http://youtu.be/X8LUd51IuiA)
Sage the Gemini’s rap single “Gas Pedal,” achieved mainstream success after its release in early 2013. Not only is the song popular (with +55 million views on Youtube) it has also spurred an Internet “meme” of its own with people doing the “Gas Pedal” dance. Dominant stereotypical themes of rap music appear present such as when the rappers command a female to “slow down, then wiggle like [she’s] trying to make [her] a** fall off” then “speed up, gas pedal” in the lyrics.
The power of the male over the female is reinforced in the music video with many women appearing with their faces obscured by red hoods. The women all wear short skirts and dresses, while the rappers are dressed quite formally in suits. These “faceless” women stand around Sage the Gemini as he appears to sit on a throne. His “subjects” stand silently at attention unless “commanded” to dance as one woman does near the end of the song.
The ideas that rappers are cool, have a lot of power and influence and can make people (especially women) do what they want are very present. Despite the simplistic, mildly raunchy lyrics, the rappers appear in formal dress, possibly to make their message a bit more acceptable. One of the rappers appears on a throne in the music video, with women surrounding him, framing him more as a king, than for example a pimp or “player.”
Furthering their power over the listener to dance in a certain way is the popular meme of the “Gas Pedal” dance. The meme consists of people, mostly female but some male, dancing suggestively to the song, usually in the style of twerking. While in other environments twerking would seem inappropriate, when “Gas Pedal” is playing it becomes completely acceptable. (See: Gas Pedal Vine Dance FULL http://youtu.be/JvAf2HJcjRA)
The rappers framing of themselves as cool, the notion of women as objects or symbols, and the acceptability of the “dance” are strong and largely successful. The popularity of the song has even led to it being re-appropriated into an educational song. A popular YouTube video made by a middle school science teacher parodies “Gas Pedal” with his students rapping, dancing and striking cool poses while rapping about metal. (See: “That’s Metal” http://youtu.be/BlBKsbCLY24 ).
The changing of the lyrics makes an otherwise inappropriate song OK for a group of mostly Caucasian teenagers to cover. Reflecting the ideas that cursing in rap is fine or OK, one of the students (though censored by silence) raps “They [metals] conduct electricity too, light it on fire. That sh– burn blue!” In all these cases the rappers have used framing of their media to their advantage.
Written by and solely owned by Darris Pope except for licensed material such as songs and pictures used under fair use for critique and study. Use without permission is prohibited.
For those that are so inclined, I released a new mix under my alter-ego, LUMINUS, for the upcoming Spring season in March. This is the second volume of my “In the Mixx” series and is available on Soundcloud and through a link after the post.
This blend of hip-hop/rap music and electronic dance music features hits such as Young Thug’s “Danny Glover” [REMIX], the blog-topping, chart-climbing “Partition (Dave Aude Remix)” and a slick remix to Tinashe’s “2 On feat. Schoolboy Q” single by Wax Motif.
Also featured are songs from fellow DJs I’ve blogged about such as FLCNS (FALCONS) and DJ Renz (of the APH x Renz duo) and more. Check it out at the link up top or right here:
KiD CuDi released Satellite Flight: Journey to Mother Moon with few hours notice on Twitter and exclusively on iTunes.
The album features many of the dark, space-like overtones and sounds Cudi is known for.
Following the Beyoncé marketing/distribution model Cudi released the album two months early, without any promotion and mainly just by informing his followers on Twitter the album was now available.
Standouts include the rock-influenced, WZRD reminiscent “Going to the Ceremony,” and the more spacey, deep tuneage of “Destination: Mother Moon”, “Satellite Flight,” and “In My Dreams 2015.”
“Copernicus Landing” also channels this spirit and the more beat-influenced ride through intergalactic soundscapes of “Too Bad I Have To Destroy You Know,” is what we have come to expect from the Moon Man.
The album is a good listen all the way through and reminds one of his last album Indicud with elements of the Man on the Moon albums and his WZRD project.
If this album release is successful, we are bound to see more artists “suddenly” releasing albums and more no-marketing, direct-to-fan approaches, which for Beyoncé worked incredibly well. Not good news for promotional agents, but great news for music artists and their fans alike.
I released a new mix a few days ago on my Soundcloud, you can check it out if you haven’t already! “Afternoon Bisque” – LUMINUS . This mix combines trap elements, with house, downtempo and hip-hop. DOWNLOAD for FREE on Soundcloud. Runtime: ~11 min
This is the latest mix I have created with eDJing for Android. From my alter ego LUMINUS, comes a mix of deep house slowly gravitating towards hip-hop. Let me know what you think!
LUMiNOUS Musings 