Head of State

Head of State was I think a comedy that could be used to see into our potential future that no one took into consideration. Chris Rock was thrown into the presidential candidacy after the nominee ruining passes away. Within the movie lies a typical love story about a woman who if course doesn’t want to be with Rocks character until he is up for the democratic presidential nomination. I don’t believe anyway truly thought about the possibility of a black president. A connection is made between the character of Rock and current president Barack Obama and the character of the late Bernie Mac to Sarah Palin. As a laid back comedy the film portrays a comical side to the government and the possibility of the first black president.
When this movie first came out even though it was in 2003 I’m sure that people took the movie as a just that, a comedy. A black president no matter how far advanced in race relations would not be possible in most peoples eyes. Such as Obama, Rocks character has no problem with public speaking and large crowds and does exceptionally well. So many things have changed since the movie has been released but the concept of the story is still valid. The idea that the white house can be another house to party in such as every other and hip-hop was an important factor of both of the Rock and Obama election. Now the election process is something I believe youth is more involved in because it was modernized. It is now perceived as a good thing to care about the elections and I think movies such as Head of State helped with that concept. The concept of a black president is no longer completely far fetched. It can’t be used as a punch line anymore.

Death of Soul Music

I believe that soul music is not the only thing that is dead. In the year 2009 there are not that many artist that put out music worth listening to. For my parent’s generation they cannot understand what my generation sees in the music that we listen to. R & B is some of the last music that has any type of substance to music made after the 90s. The Motown era had artist that all put out music with messages in them. It was music with substance worth listening to. If you ask someone who is a singer of her generation it would take them several minutes to name one. Though there are several it is not many and not many good ones. Artist such as Alicia Keys are one of the last few to actually have music with a message and talk about something other than the usual topic of women, money and power. Beyonce is one of the few artists left that has a positive message of being an independent women and being a role model but majority of the music she puts out I feel like lacks soul. Music has no soul, depth and meaning anymore. I think some of my favorite artist with soul who isn’t from the Motown is Jill Scott, Lauryn Hill and Alicia Keys. Most of the artist who are out are very watered down pop singers such as Rihanna, Keri Hilson, Usher and Chris Brown. I’m not at all trying to say that they are not entertaining but their music means less than the music that is from the Motown generation.
I appreciate being born in the household I was because even though music now is less than about a message and more about a beat and entertainment I know what real music is. Real music is Marvin Gaye, the Temptations, and Diana Ross.

MisEducation of Lauryn Hill

Lauryn Hill is a legend in her own right. She has a beautiful voice and is very talented. The music she sung about was so real and relatable and versatile. Hill is multitalented with the ability to act, sing and even be able to rap. Songs such as His eye is on the sparrow and can literally bring tears to her audience’s eyes with the connection she brings. Over a decade ago she put out the CD The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill that had a lot of successful tracks that a lot of radio plays. As an artist she was able to branch off from the Fugees and create a successful career.
When it is said on the podcast that Hill didn’t reach her full potential of how good she could sound in comparison to her role on the movie Sister Act II I would have to disagree. She has a very unique voice and style when she sings. Depending on what an artist sings I believe is how you perceive them. For her album it’s a composition of her style of music and her distinctive voice. As appose to when she sings other songs she I think adjust her voice for the type of song she sings. I find myself vibing and nodding my head to Lauryn Hill a lot but I also listen to the words of the song she is singing in comparison to music now where you listen more for the beat because the lyrics have no substance. You have to incorporate I think the whole package when you judge a person’s talent. With just listening to her CD I can image her performance and ability to entertain as well as the situation she is singing about. I believe that it all counts. I think with each CD she put out she did sing to her potential and she was able to entertain and had actual talent.

Boys In The Hood

It actually took me until a couple of months ago to see the movie Boys In The Hood. I had seen the spoof of it, Don’t Be A Menace, before I saw the actual movie it was majority based off of. The movie had a lot of recognizable actors that I didn’t know were in the movie such as Morris Chestnut, Cuba Gooding Jr., Nia Long, Regina King, Ice Cube, Laurence Fishburne, and Angela Bassett with director John Singleton. I’ve seen a lot of positive black movies with Morris Chestnut that I think had a lot to do with his role in the movie. Ice Cube made a successful transition from the music industry as a rapper/ gangster into film as a respected actor. Angela Bassett became a highly respected actress in her own right.
The reference to the similarities in Boys In the Hood and Cooley High is actually interesting. I haven’t seen Cooley High in a while but it does have the same characters, the typical athlete and boy that comes out of the hood. I appreciate the plot of the story and how Chestnut’s character was struggling to get out of the hood and get into college. When he was shot and killed I think a lot of the audience watching identified with the character. Some people cried and others became enraged at the fact that he was killed when he deserved to leave the hood the most. The delivery of the movie was such a powerful one from all of the actors. As a spectator you could feel the pain Cuba Gooding Jr. went through and you wanted to get up and punch a wall as well. It made you upset that the protagonist couldn’t reach his goal of making it to college. As a underlying goal of the movie it was the goal that couldn’t be reached and maybe that was the point of the film. I enjoyed the blog because it depicted each character and the message in ways that I wouldn’t have noticed by myself.