Tag: hiphop

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21 Savage’s Deportation Being Discussed with New Released Track ‘A Lot’

21 Savage’s music video ‘A Lot’ sparked immense attention from the public with excellency of music & lyrics & video altogether, but also his arrestment on immigration status. His Album I Am > I Was, was in the top chart for two consecutive weeks after its releases, earning him Grammy Award nomination, with over 3.3 billion on-demand streams in the US. In his ‘A Lot’ music video, visual is unfolded as if telling a story and it dramatically augments the meaning of lyrics. In his track ‘A Lot’, he raps about brings his personal life story to the music – about his friend who was shot during a drug dealing, reality that money ineffective in solving personal plights, gang violence, trauma, and his fear. Rap is a sublimation of a speech/thoughts/novel transformed into an art form that often becomes a mirror of an individual’s personal stories. However, it sometimes becomes an issue where the boundaries to be set up that reveals how much of personal stories one opens up with the world. It is the question of how comfortably enough a person could open oneself that does not detriment their public images. 21 Savage spoked,

“People will be going through a lot of stuff, but you’ll never know what they’re hiding behind their smiles. Like, nobody would ever know that I wasn’t born here.”

The immigration issue has been one of the hottest topics in the US with the presidency of Donald Trump. It is a predicament to many people who don’t get publicly mentioned nor being much cared from society.

21 Savage was arrested on Super Bowl Sunday in Atlanta by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ironically less than a week after performing his track “A Lot” at The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

https://youtu.be/opKizJadkzA

He performed with substituted lyrics where he shows compassion for immigrants and people who struggle to immigrate to the US. “Been through some things so I can’t imagine my kids stuck at the border / Flint still need water / People was innocent, couldn’t get lawyers,” (January 28). According to ICE, 21 Savage is originally from the UK and has been illegally staying in the US with his expired visa. Bryan Cox, the ICE spokesperson, iterated that the arrest was on a “targeted operation with federal and local law enforcement”. 21 Savage’s legal team stated that he was originally born in the UK, however, legally arrived in the US at the age of 7 (in 1999). He has been ongoingly present in the US for almost 20 years, but visited the UK in 2005 due to his uncle’s death, and returned to the US with H-4 Visa. H-4 Visa is “granted to spouses or children under the age of 21”. The visa was expired a year later it was granted in 2006. In 2017, he applied for a U visa, which is “a visa for victims of certain crimes” and his status is still under review. He has been acclaiming that he is from Georgia, Atlanta, and 3 of his children are all lawful US citizens.

All of these Youtube comments are mentioning about his visa status and his revealed UK citizenships:

21 Savage’s lawyer appeared on Good Morning America on February 15th, publicly acclaiming that he was targeted because of his music, fame, and ICE allegedly manipulating the incident to convey the message to non-US citizens. He spent nine days behind bars and was released on February 13th, with a granted bond. According to the most recent news, his hearings on deportation that was scheduled on April 9th has been postponed to no specific dates to come. He has expressed his fear of deportation – “The worst thing was sitting in there not knowing what was going to happen, or when it’s going to happen. Whenever I went to jail before, it was, ‘You’re being charged with this and going to court on this date.’ But immigration ain’t like that. You’re just being held.” Additionally, a fear of losing the home that he identifies with –

“the possibility of me not being able to live in this country no more than I’ve been living in my whole life.”

When an artist publicly brings their voices up, they automatically become the target of governments, organizations, and people. However, they sometimes bring hope to the other groups of people. The big voices become an incentive to one individual, bringing the confidence to fight back to the unjust, biased, prejudiced world of overflowing problems. Artists’ lives depended on what they put on to the markets is daunting and frightening. However, intrepid voices are also the ones that constantly transform our society to be a better place for us all.

‘A Lot’ by 21 Savage – Official Music Video

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The Government Knows…

As technology grows, the boundaries of the musical experience continue to expand. Ironically, this music video, from the group KNOWER, comments on the government’s invasion of privacy through technology. KNOWER is a duo band comprised of Louis Cole and Genevieve Artadi that combines jazz, disco, dubstep, funk and all sorts of other genres with their self-made videos on YouTube. With 1.5 million views and 29,000 likes, it has become quite popular since its release in early 2016. It is quite a spectacle to watch, accompanied by an incredible musical experience with all the drops and catchy synth grooves. Some people may not be able to handle the grunge and the high intensity, but something about watching about it is addicting. Fair warning, listen to this video and you’ll be looping “the government knows when you masturbate” in your head for the rest of day. His song has been very well reviewed by a large audience and his dramatic use of costumes, dancing along with multiple audio/visual effects elevates the musical experience to another level.

Evidence of this musical experience can be found in the infamous YouTube comments. Upon first review of the comments, they are all relatively positive towards the video and are very supportive. 

Evidence of this musical experience can be found in the infamous YouTube comments. Upon first review of the comments, they are all relatively positive towards the video and are very supportive. This first comment really strikes me as a great way to sum up this video in three words. This video takes a disturbing topic not typically discussed, and makes a huge monumental presentation out of it. The ironic use of an upbeat and catchy tempo to explore a very awkward/dark topic is genius.

The reference to Snowden at 2:01 in the track is what gives this political message some context. On June, 2013, Edward Snowden revealed that NSA had taken control of the internet to increase surveillance on “persons of interest” in an effort to protect America’s security. This disclosure created much controversy and protest regarding if and when the government’s role to protect us from terrorism was worth losing our personal privacy. With the potential threat of having ‘Big Brother’ looking over our shoulder many felt that their personal freedoms were being infringed upon.

One comment suggests that this there is empirical evidence to back up the public fear of being watched by our governments:

After googling the term, it was found that with the help of the United States NSA, government security in Britain was able to collect webcam data from Yahoo users. Some of this information contained sexual/explicit content. It furthered reinforced the realization that governments were actually spying on their citizens for nefarious reasons and thus the need for more public awareness. The continuous repetition of the comedic political message of this song is well conveyed in and therefore is an integral part of the musical experience.

Indeed, there are a lot of different images displayed in this video. Everything from the patriotic suits, president masks on the background dancers, clips of blowing up houses, army soldiers, and clips of political leaders make on head spin after the first take. It is a lot for the listener to absorb, but I believe that it complements the intensity of the song itself, and that is why it really works.

Another comment points out how comedic the performance is. It adds another element to the musical performance that makes it unique. With the aid of technology, the synth/dubstep pads in the song, as well as the audio visual effects, it provides a humorous factor to this rather home-spun musical experience. It is funny in many different ways including the weird content and the offbeat reference to Snowden. It also provides the listener relief while focusing on a sensitive issue.

One aspect of the performance in this video cannot be forgotten: what is the purpose of this song and is it being realized? One comment even provides a “thank you” to KNOWER for writing this song. It is almost as if it this issue was not discussed enough, and that this song was bringing awareness to both the people and the government about our surveillance state. Given the amount of likes on this comment, it seems that this statement was well supported by others as well.

Last but not least, we cannot forget the music itself:

The beginning synth pad has a futuristic/electronic feeling that has been stuck in my head for days. There is no way that this song can’t get you bobbing your head at the minimum. This song can be appreciated by both unexperienced listeners and musicians. A trained musician may have heard the jazz harmonic substitution, going to E major instead of Eb major in the third bar of the last vamp before going back to F major in the first chorus (1:24). This provides a surprise to listeners right before the break going into the second verse. The catchy and repetitiveness of the chorus will appeal to just about any listener even if they might be offended by some of the lyrics.

I believe that with the overwhelming support by the YouTube community and outside sources, we can recognize the importance of this music video. This video has a lot more to it than the weird impression you may get in watching the first 10 seconds. This video is political, comedic, relatable, and musically satisfying and really pulls people in to watch. Most importantly, the technological aspects in both the music and video were imperative to projecting this songs message convincingly.

Extra sources: 

https://www.laweekly.com/music/la-duo-knower-stretches-the-boundaries-between-jazz-funk-and-sanity-7016203

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/27/gchq-nsa-webcam-images-internet-yahoo

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/04/27/new-study-snowdens-disclosures-about-nsa-spying-had-a-scary-effect-on-free-speech/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.169bb229d2bb