Topical Blog Post #2

The Auto-Tune Trend in the Music Industry

Using the Auto-Tuner is a recent trend in the music industry. The Auto-Tune effect is the robotic voice sound that changes the pitch of a singer or rapper’s tone. This voice pitch magic was first used in the 80’s, by rock star Peter Gabriel and then by funk legends Roger and Zapp. Recently, Tallahassee R&B singer T-Pain has made millions of dollars off this simple studio effect. Listening to the new Kanye West album, “808’s and Heartbreak”, I noticed the rapper jumped on the Auto-Tune bandwagon as well. On the album, West used the Auto-Tune on every track and sung every lyric. Surprisingly, the rapper opted to sing all tracks, not rapping at all. This is disheartening to hear one of Hip Hop’s most creative and promising stars following a Pop trend.

Many Hip Hop artists have ventured into the Auto-Tune world as well, including Snoop Dogg, Lil Wayne, Akon, Rick Ross, and 50 Cent. This trend is a lack of creativity. The Auto-Tune effect distracts the listener from the lyrics, allowing artists to create lyrics without relevance or substance. Unfortunately people will still listen to this type of music because it sounds interesting due to the Auto-Tune. These artists sound like robots and have sold out to the industry to make a quick buck. Today’s average listener consumes large amounts of dance trendy Hip Hop and this auto-tune craze is the pinnacle of nonsense within the Hip Hop world. 

Yet, there is hope within the Hip Hop culture. There is a strong movement of conscious rap in the underground realms of Hip Hop. Artists such as Living Legends, Hieroglyphics, and Dilated Peoples promote music, which contains meaningful lyrics with soulful backdrops of beats, something, Kanye used to do as well. I am eagerly awaiting the day the Auto-Tune trend is over and we can return to restoring the heart of Hip Hop.

Topical Blog Post #1

Technology and the Obama Campaign

Technology plays a major role in my life. I also noticed that technology played an unprecedented role in this year’s presidential election. President-Elect Barack Obama’s victory can be credited to a well-run campaign, heavily influenced by technology and multi-media marketing tools. Obama’s campaign used blogs, social networking and texts to expand political awareness among the public, and ultimately secure a win for the presidency.

The voter turnout on Election Day was huge, surpassing experts predictions. The use of technology enabled the Obama campaign to form a direct relationship with the general public. This campaign was one of the most effective campaigns using new technology within the media. Instead of the normal phone call to home Obama supporters would receive a text with the information needed to help them find a polling station. 

Technology allowed for Obama supporters to engage in the multi-media campaign and created a closer bond with the candidate. The campaign was hip, in tune with technology, and socially conscious, sealing the victory for Barack Obama. This election was historic not only for the reason that we now have our first black president, but also for the heavy use of technology. I believe we will continue to see campaigns follow in the footsteps of the Obama campaign in order to achieve success. 

My Kind of Magazine

For the past 2 years I have had a free subscription to the Hip Hop publication XXL. I am a music driven person so I love any type of publication which features music, but I tend to enjoy the ones that focus on Hip Hop. Since I was a young teenager, I have been reading music publications including The Source, Rolling Stone, VIBE, Murder Dog, Blender, and most recently XXL.

I enjoy XXL because the magazine covers the urban music genre in a direct fact driven way. Most magazines tend to overlook the Hip Hop genre unless it is commercialized Pop Rap. Other publications seem to push agendas of record labels and favorite certain artists, XXL seems to be more diverse than the other magazines featuring articles from all artists and honest album reviews. Although the XXL publication has actually become slightly weak with their content within the past couple years, they have the respect of the industry due to their past work. Futhermore, the magazine has a great online community, which allows readers to communicate with the editors and other readers to share their opinions and suggestions. 

XXL magazine is my magazine of choice for the moment, it may be partially due to the fact that I have a free subscription. But I will always be interested in reading music publications. Maybe I will be reading The Source again in 2009. Overall, it is great material as long as it is music related, Hip Hop or not. 

Reflections on the Elections

I have participated in the past 2 presidential elections. Yet, both those elections were not as historical as the presidential election of 2008.

After enduring 8 years of the worst presidential administration of all time, this country needs a change. As a country, we endured terrorist attacks, economic downfall, hurricanes, and military invasions. The American constitution was disregarded and our liberty and rights were taken away. Yet, when George W. Bush is asked about his legacy he states "I liberated Iraqis". 

Within these past 8 years, this country has been kept in fear through belief of a constant threat against our nation. This fear is instilled within our people to keep us ignorant to the actions of our government, thus allowing us to be subject to the diction of the administration. 

This why there is such a dire need for change within our country. In this election, I saw a country come together through media, music, education, and youth movements in order to spark a revolution to ensure a change of administration. 

I first learned about Barack Obama back in 2004 with his role in the United State senate, I knew the man had a bright future, but I didn't think he would become president so quickly. Unlike our last president, Obama is charming, engaging, well spoken, and passionate about his work within this country.

Overall I am proud to have taken part in this historical election. I don't believe Barack Obama is going to be the perfect president, but he seems to be the lesser of the 2 evils. Although change was promised, Obama is already picking top Washington insiders to his Cabinet. The new president-elect is hiring people with experience into his administration but it seems as if it is more of the same. Only time will tell if this is a true change for this country or just the same game with different people. 

FOG Index Assignment

For my FOG Index assignment, I decided to use a paragraph from my recent term paper on blogs. This seemed to be the proper sample of my writing due to the fact I am posting this on a blog. Below is the paragraph...

"This technology must be understood by individuals within public relations campaigns of company due to the fact they are used and understood by the general public. In today’s technology driven world, blogs are the quintessential tool for providing good public relations for any company. Blogs give companies and their employees their own voice on the web as well as a place to collect and share ideas and pertinent information with customers and potential customers, thus making corporate blogs a great public relations tactic for any company."

In my results,  I had 28.6667 words per sentence, which 17 hard words. The total for this equation is 28.66 + 17 = 45.66 x 0.4 = 18.26. According to the text, a reader would have to have a college education to understand my writing. I feel this is a little over exaggerated, and it seems that the results are based more on the number of hard words within my writing then the actual content. Maybe next time I shouldn't use a term paper as the sample for my writing. 

Got What It Takes Quiz

On the Got What It Takes To Be A Reporter quiz, I scored a total 0f 27 points. The score puts me in the second category. According to the category list, I am a solid contender to be for a successful journalism career. I've got the personality and ability that a good reporter requires.

I was actually surprised by the score that I received from this test. Although I do enjoy this journalism class and enjoy world news and events, I never thought that I would be journalist. My minor is public relations which is the reason I am taking this class. After taking this test and this class I had to second guess my major. Maybe I am in the wrong field. I do enjoy writing but I do not want to be a journalist nor a reporter. One of the sections on the test where I missed points is the first question which has to do with reading. I do not like reading books, but do enjoy reading a lot of information in newspapers, online sources, and magazines. Therefore, in my opinion, I feel that I might not be a good fit for journalism. Overall, this test was an interesting eye opener to see where I stand within the journalism community.

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