Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Beat.
Review: Vince Staples 'Big Fish Theory'
Big Fish Theory is one of the examples of the evolution and diversity of hip-hop. The album is something that your average hip-hop fan might not be compelled to listen at first but they should. The production of the album is different and innovative. In combination with the wittiness and intelligence of the bars of Vince Staples it makes for an amazing project. Big Fish Theory proves that you can make great music without trying to fit into one specific genre or approval of your peers.
By J.R. Gonzalez9 years ago in Beat
Help us, Hipsters. You're Our Only Hope.
Musicology is the study of music. Within classical musicology, there are terms given to certain musical formats or layouts of pieces of music. For example, let us imagine a hypothetical piece of music that has a certain length of music that we would call Part A. Imagine now a piece of music that is distinct from this Part A, which we will call Part B. If a piece of music arranged these parts in the order AABB, meaning that our Part A was played twice, followed by two playings of Part B, we would apply the term ‘Binary Form’ to this piece.
By Dean Conway9 years ago in Beat
Akala, Illa State, Hip-Hop Shakespeare and the Rise of Conscious Grime
As a white, working class British man in his 20's from the rolling hills of Surrey, Grime Music is not something I claim to own any rights to. At an early age I became a huge fan of Eminem and always held him in such high esteem compared to other rappers just due to the fact he always seemed to challenge himself lyrically - This was really my only understanding of Rap Music until my teenage years where I started to branch out into other areas of the genre, particularly liking the sound of artists including Nas and Kid Cudi.
By Jordan Catto9 years ago in Beat
Appetite for Destruction
I'm 40 years old now. I first heard this song on my friend's cassette player when I was ten years old. I fell in love. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. This song just consumed me! I was like "Oh My God!" I was ten years old and had never heard anything like it! I couldn't wait to get the cassette for myself. Of course, my parent's were skeptical just by the group's name. "Guns N' Roses." I remember my sister, who is older, said it had to be bad just by the name. "Guns N' Roses," she said, "It's simple, you shoot someone with a gun, and then put roses on their grave."
By Kelli Cartrette9 years ago in Beat
Billboard Update: Big Debuts From Lorde, 2 Chainz, DJ Khaled and More
Here are the updates for both the Billboard 200 and The Hot 100 charts. First off, I missed last week's Billboard update so I feel the need to mention that SZA debuted at No. 3 with her first studio album, CTRL. Amazing!
By Sadé Sanchez9 years ago in Beat
The Greatest Music Man You Have Probably Never Heard Of
So, what you do if you're a scion of one of the richest dynasties in America? Well, you turn to music, of course. John Henry Hammond, Jr., born in 1911 into a branch of the Vanderbilt family, was never destined to tread a path into the world of banking. From an early age, he was only interested in music.
By Bob Robertson9 years ago in Beat
#OverloadMondays: New Releases from DJ Khaled, the OVO Clan, Diddy and more.
Before I start, I of course have to address the loss in Hip Hop we had to face this week. Prodigy of Mobb Deep passed away at 42 last Tuesday. The news came suddenly and was just overly shocking. I remember first hearing Mobb Deep, I was maybe 7 or 8, and I was just obsessed with the sound of it. Obviously, it took me some time to catch up to the content but I got it eventually. Their music takes you somewhere. A legend himself, the man was the voice of Hip Hop. The gritty sound Mobb Deep, of Prodigy himself, embodied New York. And he was just 42… damn. Now having to keep up with the current music, I haven’t played my throwback playlist in quite some time. I can’t recall last time I heard a bar from Prodigy. Salute to a real G.
By Sadé Sanchez9 years ago in Beat
How Do Musicians Make Money?. Top Story - June 2017.
If you have ever seen a guitar player busking for money, you're probably under the belief that musicians really are almost always either totally broke or filthy rich. Speaking as someone who has a lot of friends in the music industry, I can tell you that being a career musician is really brutal.
By Skunk Uzeki9 years ago in Beat
German Country Singer Gunter Gabriel is Dead!
Germany's Johnny Cash is dead. As a pioneer of the German country music scene, singing in German and therefore connecting directly to the blue collar masses, country music and especially trucker-song-singer Gunter Gabriel passed away on Thursday, June 22nd. He died from complications from an earlier fall down a set of stairs, on the eve of his 75th birthday.
By A. Michael Uhlmann9 years ago in Beat
Prince: Purple Rain (Deluxe Expanded Edition)
In 1984, Prince became a household name when his popularity soared into the stratosphere upon the release of his film debut and its accompanying soundtrack, Purple Rain. Eventually selling over 25 million copies to date, Prince’s sixth studio album concurrently served as a full-length release of new material as well as underscored his dramatic first appearance upon the silver screen.
By Eric Allen9 years ago in Beat
Experimental?
Does experimental music involve the giving up of music? To answer this question both music and experimental music needs to be defined. Composer Elliot Schwartz (n.d) defines music as ‘the organisation of sound and time’. Similarly, composer Larry Austin (n.d) uses the word sound rather than harmony in his definition: ‘music is wanted sound’. The use of the word ‘sound’ is interesting as John Cage (n.d) said that the ‘more meaningful term; the organisation of sound’ should be used rather than the word music when talking about all music not played on ‘18th and 19th century instruments’, suggesting all post 19th century music is experimental music. However, the definition of experimental would contradict this suggestion. The dictionary definition of experimental is ‘involving a radically new or innovative style’, suggesting that experimental music is music that involves new and innovative ideas, for example, Royal Blood (band) can be considered experimental music as it features the use of heavy processing and FX to create a full rock band (four - five piece) sound from a two-piece band (drums and bass guitar). This definition of experimental music is heavily linked to John Cage’s use of non-traditional instruments and prepared piano, for example, in the piece ‘Water Walk’ (1960), which features heavy use of items not considered to be instruments (radios, water, a bath etc.) to create the sonic content of the piece.
By CHEM USERS9 years ago in Beat
Guide to Metal Subgenres
Any newcomer to metal is almost immediately overwhelmed by the cornucopia of metal subgenres in existence. When you look on paper, names don't mean too much. Doom metal? Black metal? Death metal? They basically sound the same, so what's the big deal in mixing the terminology up a little? Who's gonna care?
By Bethany Tiamat9 years ago in Beat
