Jill's Final Presentation

An important aspect of Jill's presentation that I especially liked was that she focused a lot on music uniting a group of people. They find comfort through music, so it becomes more important that just providing entertainment. An example of this was the new remake to Michael Jackson's song, We Are the World. Dozens of famous artists came together to reproduce this song in order to raise money to support in Haiti. In this case, artists were not recording music to get more money, but to help a good cause. On the plus side, they created a great remake and were able to do something positive with its profit. The song goes back to the major theme of Jill's blog of unity. While the artists came together to make the song, they also were able to unite with Haiti and help them out of the difficult time. A quote that I thought was interesting was, "Nothing separates the generations more than music" (Cosby). This also demonstrates that music changes over time. As we learned in class, jazz was important for blacks when they were segregated. It was a way for them to enjoy themselves and see the beauty of music. Even though jazz is not as popular as it was back in time, there are other types of music that act as an escape. For instance, the sometimes vulgar and inappropriate lyrics to rap songs are ways for rappers to open up and share their feelings about a certain topic without feeling like less than a man. The stereotype of rappers usually has to do with violence and drugs, however sometimes the lyrics of their songs are just as powerful as any other genre of music. For instance, Jill gave a great demonstration of the intelligence in Tupac Shakur's music. He talked about this difficulty of life that no one understands, however most would not see that side of the song if they simple labeled it as "rap." That goes to show a lot about America, though. I believe it is true that we have a tendency to judge people based off their race or background. Tupac lived a very harsh life fill with violence, but his music was there as an escape to unite him with his listeners. However, some never gave it the chance because they let his outside life affect them. As Jill explained, rap is a type of expression, and yet people are becoming segregated based on how they express themselves. Personally, I think it's ridiculous and will continue to listen to rap if that's what I like. It is the fault of America if we continue to let racial barriers stand in the way of good and thoughtful music. I think the main part of music though is it allows everyone to come together. It brings common interests together to unite them as one. It benefits people not only for entertainment but through connecting many emotions and even helping a worthy cause.