Unless you have been living under a rock, you have probably heard of Black Eye Peas' new hit song "I Gotta Feeling" recently. I don't listen to the radio or watch TV much, but I have somehow been exposed to this song. So from what I understand, this song is pretty big and loved by many people right now. But honestly, it is not ground-breaking material. The vocals are fine, in terms of hitting the notes correctly, but there is a lack of variety in notes and range. It is overly repetitive and lyrically uncreative.
But hey, there must be a reason why it is number one on Billboard's chart. The repetitiveness in a way assures us listeners that there is stability and structure in the song. Also the simple and easy lyrics ("Tonight's the night / Let's live it up / I got my money / I'm paid / Let's spend it up," "Let's do it / And do it," and "I feel stressed out / I wanna let it go") seems to resonate with most of the youth of our society. Everyone wants to have a good night right? And repeatedly singing "tonight's gonna be a good night" seems to convince us that it will happen. And for different people, "a good night" means different things, therefore the artists can grab the attention of all types of people. As much as it is a rather unoriginal song, it has somehow connected with our current culture's morals and lifestyle, so it has become a huge hit.
So did you check out the music video? To view the music video please click here.
This music video has a lot to say about what our values are today. Middle schoolers or possibly younger students watch these, yet there is so much vulgarity and sexual motions. It seems to be accepted in our culture to wear such skimpy clothing and use our bodies as sexual objects. In other words, one can analyze that the dominant hegemony of our society is all about being physically attractive and "doing it" often. That is what a fun night is, and this is how to have a good party. Is it just me, or was there way too much skin that was exposed? (Fergie's naked ass anyone?) I am failing to describe how scary this music video is when realizing that young kids are watching this, as well as learning that this is what to be when older.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Sorry ohnsoon, what we fail to realize is that music has first an aesthetic appeal before anything. Yes, artists have a certain level of responosibility, but it's all in good fun. No one actually thinks about having sex (or atleast I don't) when they think of this song. It's more about going out and having fun and not worrying about the stresses of life. Of course, the Black Eyed Peas are smart enough to have connotations such as the ones you point out, but if your child is smart enough to understand these connotations, then he/she is mature enough to have "the talk" about sex, music, and the media. We can't always blame the artist because there is a reason there is a demand for music and music videos. It is proven that we want it. I don't agree with censorship because every opinion is a relevant opinion, so if you don't want your kids to watch MTV, there's always a V-Chip.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting discussion. I do see Ohnsoon's point that sexuality in music videos HAS become the dominant hegemony. AND part of that aesthetic appeal is the LOOK of the artist. I'm not sure that we can lay the blame totally on the audience. I didnt ask, or want, Britney Spears to show me her crotch. I found the Lady Marmalade totally offensive- and yet the artists were happy to dress up in that way. But I also agree with the point about censorship. for the purposes of our class, we arent making ethical judgements on sexiness, but rather pointing out the dominant hegemony of the music industry.
ReplyDelete