Essay Example on Uniting the World with Music: The Power of Despacito

Music is one of the most powerful tools used in uniting and influencing the world. To prove such an accusation, one should visit YouTube and look at the most viewed video: it turns out that 'Despacito,' a song of south American origin, has over 5billion views. As per 2017, it is estimated that the world's population stands at 7.53billion (Zhang, 2019). from just a single song, it is evident that over two-thirds of the world has heard the song. Music has different Genres, one of them being rock and roll, a combination of genres such as rhythm, blues, and country music. Rock originated in the early 1950s in the united states of America. I8ncorpotration of other styles into the new genre developed different types of rock music, which include raga rock, southern rock, country rock, folk-rock, jazz-rock, and blues-rock. Rock has been mainly centered on the sound of the electric guitar as a song is played. From the 1960s, whites have dominated the music industry, mainly the music genre rock-Elvis Presley is one musician who grew popular from the incorporation of the rock culture. The non-whites minority who took on rock music genre had a chance but was limited as discrimination was a huge factor at the time. The following essay is an analysis of the biography and career of the living color band.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

The living color band is a US-based band that was formed by Vernon Reid (guitarist), Muzz Skillings(bassist), Corey Glover (vocalist), and Will Calhoun (drums). As the band performed in various regions and events, their luck came in when they performed in front of Mick Jagger. During that time, Mick Jagger, an English singer, producer, and actor, was a worldwide known artist singer and founder of Rolling Stones. After the performance, Mick Jagger invited them into his studio, where they worked on various albums. The result of two produced demos landed the Living Colour band with a contract with Epic Records. The year 1988 was a successful year for the group, and their debut, Vivid, grew to become rated as number six in US charts. As the band grew to become well known all around the country, the incorporation of politics into the songs took place, and in 1985 when Reid together with Greg Tate, a journalist, formed the Black Rock Coalition Pressure Movement. This coalition made the Living Colour Band to be viewed as the most articulate black rock band in the nation.

The band won the Grammys award when they released the ' Cult Of Personality.' The song featured samples of speeches by John F. Kennedy, thus making the authenticity to boost its ability to win an award. All through this period, they maintained strong ties with the Rolling Stones, thus making them be able to collaborate with other known artists, and their career became a considerable success as awards were subsequently won. They had their worldwide tour, where they managed to establish the Living Colour band as a highly potent force in the rock music genre.

Since most of the collaborations with other artists were singles from Reid, the band stated losing its sense of unity. The dissolution of the group came into effect in 1995 when the founder, Reid, announced that the spirit of unity and purpose of the band was growing weaker and fuzzier. The band dissolved, and the different artists involved took on diverse careers. In the early 21st century, they marked up a reunion of the group when Reid joined Calhoun, Wimbish, and Glover on stage. After their meeting, the band continued to appear on different events and produced songs.

The living color band had a unique method of playing rock music, making them stand out and a famous brand. The use of hard rock, jazz, and metal funk is a characterization that has suited many black communities, thus making them so popular among blacks. The blacks have always loved jazz, thus having jazz in the rock genre has made that Living Colour to influence the black community widely. Also, having Reid as the lead guitarist and the power of music in raising emotions has uniquely placed the band into its current position.

The band has had various encounters with the struggle as minorities in the white-dominated industry. They found it hard to strike a deal, and hardly anyone believed that they would have a breakthrough. Calhoun, a band member sais that "one of the most frustrating things is the ignorance of people who will not admit or deal with the fact that black people invented rock 'n' roll." The release of "Cult of Personality," was an actual confrontation of the non-whites rock musicians to the whites rock musicians. The record was meant to convince record companies that black music also matters.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the struggle of the non-whites in America has been evident all through the times of slavery. The notion of diminishing others as per their color is something people should do away with. The LivingColour band is a living proof that hard work and persistence pays. Music should be viewed according to the content and quality, not by the people producing (Taylor, 329).

Works cited

Taylor, Robert W. "Hyper-Compression in Music Production; Agency, Structure And The Myth That Louder Is Better." Journal on the Art of Record Production. Issue 11/2017 (2017).

Zhang, April Yan. "A Brief Statistical Introduction of the Global Refugee problems with Data Analysis." (2019).