Content & Connections

Watch these short videos to see how music make meaning and sometimes specific songs can be connected to social movements and critical thinking related to Race, Ethnicities, Religious Beliefs, Wealth, and so much more. While these videos does not necessarily address these topics, it gives you a way to see connections to ideas outside the music industry and artists.

Music – Explained

*20 min Watch Time

https://youtu.be/Xb33zXpEgCc

How Heavy Metal and Satan Gave Us This Sticker

https://youtu.be/v9gLmBgUTV4

Part 1– Due November 30, 2022 by 11:59 pm ET

The expressive arts such as painting, photography, dance, film, and music all contribute to the exchange of information and experience. The artists are experts in the field of their lives, their communities, and their art form. Music, in particular, with its combination of poetry has the ability to create a direct connection with us to our lives, our identities, and our communities. The lyrics combined with layers of instrumentation have the ability to elicit memories of personal life events while bringing together a community of listeners to share in the experience. Often times, songs address social and political issues through a personal lens of identity. Issues of gender, race, sexuality, class, activism, and privilege are woven through the words, their delivery, the music, and sometimes a music video.

This project requires you to pick one song that you connect then think about it critically through a structured analysis. Your task is to determine the relationship between society (audience) and the song lyrics that you have chosen.

Once you have a song, think about these questions to help you get started:

• Why do I like this song?
• What about this song speaks to me about my life?
• What are the ideas and themes in this song? And, do I agree with them?
• How does this song connect to ideas about gender, race, sexuality, class, activism, and privilege?
• What are the ideas?
• How does the music support the feeling of lyrics?
• Does this song reflect my communities and me? How?
• If there is a video, what do I see that tells me about what the artist(s) are saying about gender, race, sexuality, class, activism, and privilege?

Project Guidelines – Experience Music Project Part 1

Choose a song that has themes related to gender, race, sexuality, class, activism, privilege, diversity, culture, power, etc.There are no regulations on content. Remember, however, that you will be analyzing and connecting with this song, so make it something important to you.

Document all of the relevant information.

• Artist
• Song Title
• Album
• Release date/year
• Record Label
• Length
• Producer
• Album or single cover, if available
• Link to video, if available

Get the lyrics and read through them with and without the music. What are the lyrics saying? What are the important messages? Are the explicit mentions of race and ethnicity? Or, are race and ethnicity intrinsic to the story and events in the song?

Briefly summarize the main points of the song. What is the overall “message” or theme?

Set the song within the context of its genre or classification – rock, alternative, hip-hop, country, classical, pop, rap, R & B, bluegrass, opera, etc. Is the song typical of its genre? Why or why not?

Describe the audience for the song you chose. Who does this speak to? Be specific in your characterization of the audience. How do you know who the audience is? What do the lyrics reveal about the values of its listeners? Does the song value love, money, a perfect relationship, sex, fun, violence, social responsibility, non-conformity, or/and revenge? Are there stereotypes reflected in the lyrics? Why does this music appeal to some people but not others?

What does this song mean to you and what are your connections? Explore why this song speaks to you. Saying you don’t know and that is just does is not enough. Put some thought into this part.

Now make explicit and meaningful connections between what we have been reading in class and the song. How you do this is up to you. Choose at least three of the readings assigned from this class to use in analyzing the social significance and meaning of this particular song.

While connecting the resources you must describe the terms and ideas offered by the authors and content creators. Here is how you do this for each idea:

• • Introduce your claim – For example “[Name of Song] by [Name of Artist] is a modern-day expression of [choose your topic(s)].
  • Cite Evidence from the resources that support your claim. These are specific examples, not generalities. Quotes are great here.
  • Explain how the evidence from the authors and creators that you are using supports your claim. This can be done in bullet points or outline format, but the explanations must be written in clear complete sentences.

You must use in-text citations and include a Works Cited section at the end of the assignment.

Failure to do so will result in a 0 on this assignment until you complete the integration of resources and citations.

For guidance, please refer to the Experience Music Project Guide.

There is a rubric at the end that will help guide your work.

Experience Music Project NJIT F22.pdf

Resources

Netflix. (2020). Music – Explained. By Vox and Netflix on YouTube. https://youtu.be/Xb33zXpEgCc

Vox (2019). How heavy metal and satan gave us this sticker. By Vox on YouTube. https://youtu.be/WE94D5_d0z4