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Rolling Stones Artist Profile

Introduction

The Rolling Stones was one of many bands that were apart of the “British Invasion” (which was the invasion of British rock in American culture), they fought with The Beatles, The Who, The Kinks, The Animals, and many more for to be considered “The greatest Rock band in the late 60’s”. The Rolling Stones pioneered the way for hard rock as a whole, their work is directly cited to be the beginning of a new generation of rock. 

Formation and Early Years

Through the years Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were the backbone of the band, as they met in school when they were younger and became best friends. After they drifted apart for a little while they eventually became friends again in 1960 when they were introduced to each other again from a mutual friend Dick Taylor. Keith and Dick were already in a band called “Little Boy Blue & the Blue Boys”, Mick then decided to join that band to become officially reunited with Keith. Around a year later they met Brian Jones who is the guitarist and vocalist. Brian lived a crazy life as he ran away to Scandinavia when he was 16 and had two kids there, he then eventually came back and started playing with the Ramrods. He then later moved to London where he played in Alexis Korner’s group Blues Inc. He then decided to form his own group and he was able to get in contact with a blues pianist named Ian Stewart. Brian and Ian would play at pubs for some time before going back to Blues Inc. which now had a new drummer Charlie Watts, Mick and Keith would make appearances in the band from time to time also. Eventually Mick became the lead singer for Blues Inc. and the band set off to record its first demo tape. The tape was rejected by EMI so Dick left the band to attend the Royal College of Art, later forming the Pretty Things. Before Dick left the group renamed themselves to “The Rolling Stones”. They performed under their new name at Marquee Club in London on July 12, 1962. 

Breakthrough and Success

At the time the current members were Mick, Keith, Ian, a drummer named Mick Avory, and Dick who returned. Dick left again as quickly as he came and was officially replaced by Bill Wyman, Avory also left and later joined the Kinks. The Stones were able to persuade Charlie Watts to join after he had quit Blues Inc. to work at an advertising agency because the band's schedule was too hectic for him.  By 1963 the Stones had finally solidified their roster, and for the next eight months they played at the Crawdaddy Club and grew a small fan base there. This attracted Andrew Loog Oldham who would become the Stone’s manager. Andrew did not know much about music but he was really good at promotion, his idea was to make the Stone’s the bad boy version of the Beatles. This caused Ian to be forced out of the band, eventually he did become one of their main roadies and played on their albums and tours until he died in 1985. With the help of Andrew the Stones were able to sign with Decca records and they released their debut single which was a cover of Chuck Berry’s “Come On”.

The single did fairly well and reached 21 on the charts, and the group was able to support it by appearing at many festivals and tours. The Stones kept one releasing cover songs of famous artists and it proved to work as each one would land a higher spot in the charts than the last. In 1964 The Stones released their first album followed by “It’s All Over Now” which went Number One in U.K charts, around this time they started to gain popularity in the States as well.

That summer they toured all over the US and recorded at Chess Records in Chicago. They kept releasing music and they landed another UK number one single with Howlin’ Wolf’s “Little Red Rooster”.

Andrew decided that Mick Jagger and Keith Richards should start to compose their own songs so that they could start to earn more money. So they did just that, releasing their first single “Tell Me” which became their first American Top 40.

They released a few more singles but they did not become superstars until the release of “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” in the summer of 1965.

In 1966 the Stones finally released their first album of all songs that they made themselves, called “Original”.

Challenges and Changes

With all of this success it was bound that something detrimental was going to happen, and in February of 1967 exactly that happened. Both Mick and Keith were arrested for drug possession and three months later Brian was too. Lucky for them they were all just put on probation and were now on heavy watch, at this time the group decided to lay low for a little bit. They started to become more active in early 1968, first order of business was to fire Andrew and hire a new manager named Allen Klein. The band started to produce more edgy music and while all of this was happening Brian Jones was sitting out as he was still dealing with a serious drug problem. On July 3, 1969 Brian left the band claiming that “he had an artistic difference between him and the rest of the group”, almost one month later Brian was found dead in his swimming pool. At the time of Brian’s death he was replaced with Mick Taylor, who did not contribute to many projects. Later on in 1969 they announced another american tour as it had been three years since the last, on this tour they were given the name “The World’s Greatest Rock and Roll Band”. 

Altamont Speedway Incident

Everything was going great until they decided to do a free concert at the Altamont Speedway, where they hired Hell’s Angels (a biker gang at the time) for security. The show was so unorganized and it got even worse when one member of the security team killed a young black man. The stones faced heavy attacks on their image through the media so they decided to step back from the spotlight for a few years. During their time off they released “Sympathy for the Devil” which some critics claimed cited the violence from their sets. 

Later Years and Decline

During their break they released one more album under Decca and then would later form Rolling Stones Records, which was under the control of Atlantic Records. Soon after though the band would begin to split as Keith became addicted to drugs, soon after the band would start to fall apart. They released another album called “Goats Head Soup” and even though it did well in both the US and the UK they started to lose their main fanbase.

Mick Taylor would leave shortly after so they started recording their new album while simultaneously hosting tryouts for a new guitarist. They would choose Ron Wood who was the former lead guitarist for The Faces. Just like Mick Taylor, Ron Wood was only featured on a small number of projects. Around this time the stones continued to make projects but none of them really stuck like the old music, even though they were selling out concerts in the 80s-90s their new music was not selling that well. 

Legacy

To this day, The Rolling Stones continue to perform, but audiences primarily attend for their classic hits. Their influence on rock and roll remains significant, cementing their status as legends of the genre.

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Music Scene in Boston

Boston has been a hub for classic rock fans for decades as it has a deep musical history, popular venus, and a deep appreciation for rock music. Some of the most popular bands to this date have come from the city of Boston, Including Pixies, Aerosmith, The Cars, and of course Boston (the band). A lot of venues attract rock l artists each year including House of Blues Boston (The Killers, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Arctic Monkeys), Paradise Rock Club (U2, R.E.M., The Police, Foo Fighters, and Pixies), Fenway Park (Aerosmith, The Rolling Stones, Pearl Jam). In this blog post I will discuss the history of rock and roll music in the city of Boston from the 50’s all the way up to present day.

Rock first became prevalent in the city of Boston through the form of radio in 1950, stations like WBZ and WMEX introduced rock to not only the city of Boston but across the whole US. By the late 60’s Boston had its first wave of rock bands ( Ultimate Spinach, Beacon Street Union, and Orpheus). Even though none of these artists ever grew to nationwide popularity, their contribution played a big role in paving the way for some of your favorite bands. A popular Marketing campaign at the time called “Bosstown Sound” was implemented to promote local psychedelic bands, and was meant to rival the rock bands in San Francisco at the time (though it never did). Unlike the 60’s the 70’s was a massive break though in rock for Boston as bands like Aerosmith, and Boston emerged, making some of the most respected rock music at the time. Aerosmith produced hits “Dream On”, “Walk This Way”, and “Sweet Emotion”,

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while Boston produced “More Than a Feeling”, “Peace of Mind”, and “Smokin’”.

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Not only were all of the songs listed instant classics they were all on each band's first album ever released. Then came the alternative rock era with bands like The Cars, Pixies emerging. The Cars are most popular for songs like “Just What I Needed”, “You Might Think”, and “Good Times Roll”

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while the Pixies produced “Where is My Mind?” and “Here comes Your man”.

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The 90s were not that prevalent in the history of rock in boston, people saw a lot of local indie rock bands, none of which became extremely popular. The highlight of the 90s rock scene in Boston was a rock version of “Mrs.Robinson” (by Simon & Garfunkel) performed by The LemonHeads.

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Even though the city of Boston’s Rock history is not that deep it still played an important role in the genre itself, from producing legendary rock bands of all time and having some of the most historical rock venues in the US. Other cities like San Francisco, New York City, Los Angeles, and Nashville all have a deeper history. The reason why I chose Boston for this blog is because I live in Boston and my dad would always played signs from bands like Aerosmith, and The Cars when I was kid, even to this day as he does his work he listens to it without earbuds on full volume (even though my mom bought him a pair last christmas.

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Artist Interview

On Friday I had the pleasure of talking to Alex Gizzo who is a recreational DJ trying to make it as a professional. I have personally known Alex (we call him Gizzo) since early February this year, as I joined the same fraternity as him. Over that past 10 months almost every Friday Gizzo would DJ for our parties, and he has done a very good job so far. Often when people leave we hear them talking about how good he is, and the day after we see him getting compliments on social media. Hearing this made me curious so I decided to head up to room 7 to get an inside scoop of what being a DJ is really about:

“How did you first get into DJing?”

I started DJing about, I would say, almost two years ago now. It kind of started on a whim—I thought it was interesting and seemed like something fun to do, just a hobby to pick up. I don't really do it for profit right now; I just do it for fun, like I said. But yeah.

“What's your process for finding new music?”

Mainly, I find most of my music on SoundCloud, mainly because there are a lot of good remixes that people post. What a lot of DJs do is they’ll upload remixes on SoundCloud and provide high-quality download links. These versions are specifically made for DJs to use in their sets, which is very useful for me. So, yeah, a lot of my music comes from SoundCloud. Other than that, I find a lot of popular music and end up playing that.

“What kind of equipment do you prefer to use?”

I prefer to use my own equipment. Right now, I’m using the DDJ-FLX4, which is a pretty entry-level board and costs around $300. There are definitely more expensive boards out there with more features, but I don’t really see the point in getting one right now. Like I said, I do this as a hobby and don’t make any money from it, so I only need basic equipment to do what I want, and it serves me well.

“How do you prepare for a live set?”

In my software, there’s something called crates, which are basically folders where I can organize my music. I’ll organize it based on genre, mood, BPM—stuff like that. I’ll also make crates specifically tailored for certain events; for example, if I were DJing a country party, I’d go out of my way to find country music and create a crate specifically for that set.

“Have you ever had a technical issue during a performance?”

Yes, I have had technical difficulties during a performance. A few weeks back, my computer decided it didn’t want to work, so I was troubleshooting on the spot. I tried downloading drivers from the Internet and a lot of different things, but what ended up solving it was creating a small folder of my songs, sending it to someone else, using their laptop, and plugging my board into it to continue DJing.

“What are some common misconceptions people have about being a DJ?”

A lot of people think DJing is just clicking a button when, in reality, it’s a lot more than that. I will say it’s easier than it looks, but it does take a good amount of skill to be a good DJ. There’s a big distinction between good and bad DJs. Song selection is difficult, and reading a crowd is something I struggle with, especially since I do this as a hobby and don’t have much experience with crowds. I often don’t know what the crowd wants, and DJs with more experience are definitely better at that. There are also technical aspects, like phrasing—you have to know the songs you’re DJing with very well. Overall, it takes a lot of practice, and I don’t think people realize that.

“Do you have a favorite song to play in your sets or one that always gets the crowd going?”

I have a top three: “Dreams and Nightmares” by Meek Mill, “FE!N” by Travis Scott, and “Mo Bamba” by Sheck Wes. They aren’t my favorite songs in the world, but they’re songs that everyone loves to hear, and the crowd always goes wild for them. So, yeah, those are definitely my top three to play during a set.

“If you could collaborate with any artist who is alive, who would it be and why?”

Fred Again. I started DJing a while back, like I said, and I’ve been trying to learn music production as well. From what I’ve seen, Fred Again is an incredibly talented artist. He knows what he’s doing from a DJ perspective and as a music producer. It’s amazing what he can do with his equipment. Collaborating with Fred Again would be ideal.

In summary, Gizzo is just a dedicated small artist who just DJs as a personal Hobby, he is able to do this by finding new tracks on soundcloud and then creating a specific playlist for each set. Although he is continually sharpening his skills by learning to read the crowd, his love for music ensures a very positive experience from his crowds. Even though at some points in the interview he talks negatively about himself I still consider him one of the best Dj’s I know, and everytime I hear his sets I am always having a good time. I will leave links to his social medias below:

https://www.instagram.com/g.o.z.z.i.i?igsh=MTY5aWNsOHU3bG4zdQ==

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Blog Post 5: How it Sounds

Money Trees by Kendrick Lamar talks about the struggles of growing up in Compton, it mainly focuses on Kendrick “hustling” to get money and the power of money. The song samples the Beach House song "Silver Soul". Kendrick opens the song talking about how robbing houses was really tempting as people go to work and their homes are empty. “Home invasion was persuasive. From nine to five I know it's vacant.” He talks about being poor growing up, and how the only thing he had to free his mind was music. Kendrick then proposes that he was given two options “Halle Berry, or hallelujah” Halle Berry referring to money, sex, and drugs, or, hallelujah meaning a life of God, at this point in his life he chose Halle Berry but more recently he has somewhat changed his ways and now he follows God. Kendrick also tackles the power that money holds saying “a dollar might just fuck your main bitch, A dollar might say fuck them n****s that you came with, A dollar might just make that lane switch, A dollar might turn to a million and we all rich.” Money could make your girlfriend cheat, money could make you go against your friends who have been with you since day 1, and money could change your life forever. The last line “A dollar might turn to a million and we all rich” refers to the lottery and how it is profiting off of the less fortunate by flaunting huge amounts of money that they could win when in reality the odds of winning are so extremely low. On a side note any form of government lobby (scratch tickets, any number picking games, powerball, etc) have the worst payouts, if you go to a casino and put $100 on red or black and it hits you win $100, in the lottery if you hypothetically put $100 on red or black and it hits you only win $50, so just never play the lottery and dont even gamble because you will lose (unless you are good at poker or can count cards in blackjack). One important line that is repeated is “Everybody gon' respect the shooter But the one in front of the gun lives forever” meaning that the shooter might get temporary attention from committing the murder, it’s the victim who is remembered and honored forever. Kendrick  elaborates more on this in an with The Guardian “You don’t hear no artists from Compton showing vulnerability. You always hear about the person pulling the trigger. You never hear about the one in front of it. That’s the most interesting story to me.” One of the last important lines in the song is “Money trees is the perfect place for shade, and that's jus' how I feel”, Kendrick implies that the ultimate end goal is to have as much money as possible, and that is the perfect place for shade meaning once he gets all the money he would finally be able to settle down and rest from all of his hustling. . 

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Spotify Playlist

I made this playlist mainly to serve as a party playlist. I find myself using these songs for when I have a lot of people over, or when I'm bored of just listening to rap music. All of these songs will make you just bump your head and just enjoy life. I gathered all of these songs from my time in college so far and I would love to share them with the world as some of them do not get enough recognition. This playlist has songs from artists like Tiësto and Lewis Thompson kick things off with vibrant house beats, creating an atmosphere that encourages people to start moving and getting into the groove. The playlist then transitions into electronic music, featuring tracks from John Summit and Alok. The intensity then ramps up with Badger delivering high energy dance songs. Here is a short description of every song on the playlist.

“Both” by Tiesto is a very high energy track that captures modern EDM (Electronic Dance Music). The song has a house and bass like beat to it with a very catchy hook. The song also features 21 savage, whose verse is ok in the beginning but towards the end it does get better. I found this song while I was playing rocket league on my xbox and it came up in my recommended songs on spotify.

“Fever” by Lewis Thompson is a house song that is extremely groovy. I like it because it makes me get up and move. The song has no features and is pretty repetitive, but this song is more of  a club song so I feel like it makes sense as a lot of club songs are very repetitive but still catchy. Just like “Both” I also found this song in my spotify recommendation but it was while I was walking to class.

“Where You Are -Zedd remix” by John Summit and ZEDD is kind of a mix of EDM and house but it  has a lot more vocals (done by HAYLA). The song itself is very uplifting which keeps the listener engaged from start to finish. The drops are perfect which make them a great option for a club or party setting. The chorus makes you feel euphoric for a little while. I found this song while I was at a party a few weeks ago and I had to pull out my phone and Shazam it so I would not forget it.

“Deep Down” by Alok is a very high energy EDM track. The melody is very catchy and I often find myself humming it over and over again. I have never been to a club before but I would Imagine that this is a type of song that they would play. You could play this song at the beach, at a party, or even while you're doing your homework (I am currently doing that last option). I found this song while at a beach, I overheard someone playing it and I immediately fell in love with it.

“These Words” by Badger, and Natasha Bedingfield is a remix of Natasha Bedingfield's “These Words”. I could be wrong but I think this song blew up on TikTok and died quickly (I don't know as I don't use TikTok, and everyone knows instagram reels is better), but I never stopped listening to it. This is another EDM / house song (you can probably pick up on the trend by now) that is very good at making you want to dance. I found this song by making a collaborative playlist with my friends and one of them added this song.

I chose these songs because they kind of describe my character(very fun and outgoing). I've been listening to these songs for about a year now and I always seem to go back to them and replay them all the time. All of these songs are in a bigger playlist that I made (which is a summer playlist), the playlist has 23 likes on it actually (which is pretty good for a Spotify playlist). All of these songs are great for driving with your friends with the windows down, playing spikeball at a beach, or just chilling in the backyard.

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DJ review

Last Friday I had the pleasure of going to a party in New brunswick. I thought it was going to be just your average rutgers party (hot, sweaty, packed like sardines, bad rap music the dj is just playing off spotify) and I was only partially correct. It was extremely hot and there was zero ventilation as it was in a basement, but the music was something else. It wasn't the usual pre mixed empire state of mind new york new york mashup, it was actual live Djing. Although I never got the name of the dj I heard that he was popular around town and since last week I've been trying to find him on social media. His ability to read the crowd and seamlessly blend different genres kept everyone on the dance floor all night long. Their transitions were smooth, the track selection was really good, and they even took the time to incorporate some requests. What really stood out was their creativity, taking tracks that you might have forgotten about like USHER’S More and Hello by Martin Solveig  and mixing them together perfectly. He would also do something called “wordplay” where he would take a lyric they said in a song and change it to another song. An example he played was Party In the Usa by Miley Cirus and at the part where she says “and a britney song was on” he kept repeating that and it faded into Hit me baby one more time (Here's the link to a version of the mix on youtube but its not exactly what he played). I thought I was going to leave the party at 12am (which is very early for a college student)  even though I got there at 11pm, but I was there until 2am since he kept it lively for so long. I wish I could tell you guys where the party was but I genuinely have no clue my friends just brought me there, all I know is that it was somewhere in New Brunswick in the basement of a white house. Overall it was a great experience, I just wish it wasn't as hot as it was in that basement. I would recommend going out in New Brunswick on a Friday or Saturday night looking for these types of parties because I did have a lot of fun (Just be sure to wear clothes you don't mind getting dirty because my shoes got destroyed).

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Jay-Z's & Kanye West's Watch The Throne Album Review

The collaborative album was originally released in 2011. The idea for the album started during studio sessions for Kanye's My Beautiful Dark Twisted fantasy, Jay-Z originally wanted it to be a 5 song EP, but since the chemistry between Kanye and Jay-Z was so good it became a full length album. The album was created in many different luxurious locations around the world, with a very iconic recording session at the Le Meurice hotel in paris. Although Kanye has a lot of verse, he mainly focused on producing while Jay-Z did the vocals. The album features a lot of well known producers like Mike Dean, Hit-Boy, Q-Tip, and Swizz. SInce Jay-Z and Kanye had very different styles (Kanye being more Risk taking and experimental  while Jay-Z is more of a traditional rapper) there were tons of debates in which way the music would sound. The album talks about a lot of themes like wealth, power, and fame but it also brings up a lot racial issues in America (The murder rate in Chicago being mainly mentioned). After one year of development the album was finished in july 2011 and released August 8, 2011, and debuted No. 1 on the billboard 200 chart. “Otis” the fourth song in the album won Best Rap Performance, and Best Rap Song at the 2012 Grammys. During its first week it sold 436,00 copies, and 321,000 Itune downloads which was the second highest at the time, and on November 23, 2020 the album was certified quintuple platinum by the RIAA. Now that you are all caught up with the general history of the album let's see if it deserves all the praise it got.

No Church In The Wild

This is the opening track of the album which features Frank Ocean in it. The song talks about rebellion, morality, and questioning religion. The song is very dark with haunting vocals. The song challenges traditional beliefs and highlights the struggles of the modern world. I really like this song a lot, but I remember when this song first came out I did not. 8/10

2. Lift Off

The song features Jay-Z’s wife who is an up and coming artist, her name is Beyonce. This is one of my favorite songs on the album as Beyonce’s hook is so perfect with the trumpets, synthesizer, and if you listen very carefully you can hear Kanye’s Roland TR-808 board which single handedly made 808’s and heartbreaks. Even though there is not a lot of depth in the lyrics it is just very catchy and uplifting, 8.7/10.

3. N***** in Paris

When people hear someone talking about Watch the throne this is the song they immediately think of. This song is one of the most iconic songs of the 20th century, everyone and their mother knows this song. Now while it is the most popular song on the album I don't think it is the best, even though it is incredible. The song is funny, it flows really well, and it features some scenes from the movie “Blades of Glory” which is one of my favorite Will Ferrell movies. Overall I would give it a 9/10. Fun fact, when Kanye and Jay-Z went on tour they sung this song 11 times in a row when they went to paris

4. Otis

Best song on the album, one of the greatest songs all time. During this song Kanye and Jay-Z just ping pong verses back and forth and each one is better than the last. The instrumental samples Otis Redding’s “Try a Little Tenderness”. The song mainly boasts about how wealthy and powerful both artists are, the lyrics don't really have a deeper meaning to them as they are all pretty surface level, My favorite being “I made Jesus Walks so i'm never going to Hell” which is Kanye claiming that since he made a song about talking about jesus he is guaranteed to go to heaven (later doubling down and making an entire album about jesus called JESUS IS KING). Overall 9.9/10

5. Gotta Have It

This song is also really good, it is really fast paced and playful. The song samplesJames Brown’s “My Thang,”. Like all of the songs it talks about how wealthy both the artists are but this is the fist song that talks about race. The song opens with Kanye saying “Hello white America, assassinate my character” which touches on all of the predominantly white critics that were trying to almost blacklist Kanye and other black artists from the music industry. The song is a very good hype song as I do have it in my gym playlist. Overall 8.9/10

6. New Day

This song slows the album down and it mainly just speaks to the listeners. It talks about how all the fame and wealth that Kanye and Jay-Z were just flaunting is actually hurting their children. Kanye stated how he doesn't want his children to be hated because his father is such a controversial person, even saying “Don't be like your daddy that would never budge. Kanye then proceeds to say how he is going to raise his children to be very respectable people in society. Jay-Z then takes over and immediately apologizes to his future son for having the paparazzi already all over him, and says that his fathers sins are going to make his life 10x harder. This is a very emotional song and the lyrical depth makes up for the lack of depth in Lift off. 9.3/10.

7. That’s My Bitch

This song makes me feel like I'm in a jungle, and I like it. A lot of critics say that the lyrics in this song are too boastful but I think they are wrong, if they were Kanye or Jay-Z they too would be flaunting the money they have. The song in itself is very bold and it stands out in the album. It's not my favorite song but I still enjoy listening to it 8.4/10

8. Welcome to the jungle

I recently listened to this song and I just started liking it. This song is the reason I'm doing this review as it reminded me of how good this album is. The track's raw intensity really resonated with me which makes it a good addition to the album, even though it is not as popular as some of the other songs. I do agree with it not being as popular as it is a good song but it's not as good as the other tracks, so I give it a 7.9/10.

9. Who Gon Stop Me

This song definitely stops as it is almost like a techno song, Kanye has this filter over his voice in the beginning and the synths in the background  remind me of a 2010 call of duty montage. Just like That’s my Bitch this track is very bold and stands out in the album. Overall I rate it a 8/10

10. Murder to Excellence

This song does not follow the trend of flexing money and power and it tackles the racial issues in America. It talks about the killings in Chicago and compares it to the war in Iraq. Jay-Z makes comments about how the higher you go (more successful) the less black people there are. The song mainly suggests that we need to celebrate black excellence more, and to stop killing in these urban neighborhoods. Overall 8.3/10

11. Made In America

Frank Ocean pops up again in this album, sadly it was on the weakest song. I was never a huge fan of this song, it's mainly just Frank Ocean thanking all of the black leaders and saying that “He made it in America” meaning he is successful. 6.5/10

12. Why I love you

I really do enjoy listening to this song, this one you're able to sing to Charlie Wilson’s hook. The track talks about love, loyalty, and appreciation which goes against the whole money and power theme the beginning of the album talked about. The lyrics are very heartfelt and I love it. 8.4/10