Music and Us: Our New Playlist

This class has been a great opportunity for me to be exposed to all kinds of music I probably never would've heard otherwise, and even if I would've heard it in the future, I would've had no idea where it came from, why it was created, or any of the other fascinating things I've learned about all the cultures we've studied. Although I don't have nearly as much time and access to primary resources as I would like to properly cover all these aspects of the pieces I have selected, I will cover what I do know or have found. I hope you enjoy these pieces as much as I have.

My first selection is a traditional Ukrainian patriotic song which dates back to a WWI riflemen brigade. Since the recent(ish) invasion of Ukraine by Russia, this song has become a rallying cry for the people of Ukraine. The central image of the song is the viburnum, a white flower with red berries which has become a symbol of Ukraine representing both blood/war (through the red berries) and life's perseverance (through the white flower). I thought this song was interesting because I grew up hearing the American Army Song sung (rather poorly) at various events (my dad was in the Army), and I'm amazed at how well these soldiers can sing. This particular recording may be from a select Army band/choir of some kind, but even in the videos of modern soldiers singing this song in Ukraine recently, they are all surprisingly good singers.

My second selection doesn't come from a distant country by any means (it was created in the United States), but it certainly comes form a unique culture: the Deaf community. This is a form of hip hop created by the Deaf musician Warren "WaWa" Snipes which he calls Dip Hop. It combines typical hip hop elements (looping background track, heavy use of percussive elements), ASL performance, and a focus on common deaf experiences. Since its creation, other musicians have join in on Dip Hop including Sean Forbes, a hard-of-hearing musician responsible for creating D-PAN (Deaf Professional Arts Network). The two of them actually came together to interpret for the Super Bowl halftime show back in 2022. This particular song is about a hearing boy who is trying to learn basic signs in order to impress a Deaf girl, and you'll have to see if you can tell whether or not she says yes by the end.

My third selection goes back to South Africa and their Isicathamiya groups because I love hearing good choral groups, and these groups are consistently some of the best I've ever heard. I also particularly love hearing all male choral groups since that is such a unique sound people rarely utilize here in America. I'm also always partial to music I could feasibly perform. This particular recording was from a South African morning news channel featuring the group "Thee Legacy." I love how, as we discussed in class, it is just assumed that they should be moving while they sing; this is another heavily underutilized element in (particularly choral) performances in America.

 

My final selection comes from the folk music tradition of the Malagasy people of Madagascar. This song, "Salakao," is a traditional folk song of the Malagasy people, but I have no idea what it actual translates to. Despite my searching, all the translations I have found differ so wildly in tone and topic (ranging from something close to a Christian fearing God idea to a song about holding together through the struggles of life) that I'm not even sure if I'm looking at translations of the same piece. While I have no idea what they are saying, I really enjoyed listening to this piece, so I still wanted to include it regardless.

I hope you have enjoyed my selections and have now been exposed to at least one kind of music you've never encountered before and likely wouldn't have otherwise (it was probably Dip Hop).