Seyma Says: Music has no boundaries.

"Hey Seyma, what kind of music do you listen to?"

"Hmm, well I mostly listen to J-Pop (Japanese Pop)
and.."

"Wait, are you Japanese?"

"No."

"Do you understand it?"

"Not really, but I'm working on it..."

"Then why do you listen to it?"

Other very common questions are:

• "Are you ashamed of your culture?"
• "Do you want to be a different ethnicity?"

It angers me so when I encounter such an ignorant person like this one. Is it music's only purpose for us to be able to understand it completely? When I ask this question, the answer I usually get is: "No.. but what's the point of listening if you can't understand it?"

That's like asking, "What's the point of listening to a teacher's lesson when they're often saying things that we don't understand?"

The possible answers are the same:

1. I want to learn.
2. I like the challenge of having to piece things together.
3. I enjoy it.

Now who the hek enjoys listening to a teacher talking for hours without having a clue on what they're saying? Well, let's not get into that. This blog post is about music not teachers.

Music is art. Art is diverse and abstract. Drawings, writing, photography, and graphics are all forms of art.

Is it so easy to understand every single piece of art? Can we extract the meaning of every painting as easy as dissecting every single sentence in a book? Can we comprehend the structure of every photo as easy as finding the propaganda of an abstract graphic?

The answers are no, no, and no. It's impossible to understand every single piece of art. Therefore, it's impossible to understand every piece of music you hear.

We understand a piece of music because we, as people, are able to interpret it on our own.

May it be a different genre or a different language, the only barrier that prevents us from understanding music is ourselves.

Music does not speak to us through language. It speaks to us through sound. And so in this case, language does not act as a barrier. Instead, it is one of many instruments alongside vocals and various other mechanisms that help create it.

Is it so uncommon for someone to listen to music that they don't completely understand language-wise? Is it so unusual for someone to be listening to music that's not common in their area?

Just because I listen to music in a language other than my own doesn't mean that I'm ashamed of my culture or ethnicity. My reason is because I love being exposed to different languages and cultures. I can learn many things about them just by listening to their music.

So I hope you understand my points:

• Music does not have any boundaries.
  
• Language, culture, religion, and heritage should and does not matter.
  
• We should not judge others based on their music preference, no matter how 'unusual' and uncommon it may be.
  

Mikeala AxToGrind: Dear Music Industry...

The other day, I was with my grandmother, seated in the passenger's side of her silver mini-van. With one hand, I turned the dial of the radio, the other hand I used to punctuate my rant about the state of the music industry. After skipping past at least five songs that all seemed to sound exactly the same, my grandmother asks me,

"Well, what do you think of that Gaga person?"

It took me several moments to answer, being that taken aback with her query. My answer was something along the lines of, well, at least she's different.

But is different really enough?

My answer to that would be a no.

Although Lady Gaga's music is admittedly rather catchy, and her appearance alluring, it isn't a level of musical talent that really seems to justify the following that she's built up for herself. We call her a pop music star. But I wonder, can we really leave the word music in that phrase, sans guilty feelings?

We don't seem to care anymore about who has musical ability in the music industry. If it sells, if it catches mass attention, we, the society, deem them a star.

It no longer requires talent to be famous, just a shocking fashion sense and the Autotune application. The check list for a hit artist, let's see...

Must be able to:

-Dance around an award show performance, smearing fake blood on abdomen

-Steal microphone from and insult Taylor Swift on television

-Rhyme "Mick Jagger" with the word "swagger"

-Make hat out of own hair

The meager qualifications for stardom have created an entire radio dial's worth of monotony and a source of irritation among those who would like at least a side of talent with their so-called "stars".

To be perfectly honest, I do not hate Lady Gaga. I just wish that we had more of the rock, less of the shock. It shouldn't be your image that sells your album, but the album itself. Music for the sake of money, music to be famous for is what I'm sick of.

I want music for the passion of music.

Thumbs Up Michy!: Jeffree Star, Breathe Carolina and autotune

Well I haven't been blogging as much of late. Here's some music related updates of what has been feeding my ears.. (last.fm/user/raz0r_blades209)

I have been slowly drifting away from that alternative, hard-rock sound when I discovered Breathe Carolina's new album Hello Fascination. Their electronica tune mixed with screamo sounds appealed to my ears, and I wonder why I have never listened to them before. I sure have been missing out. So what was my first impression? Well, I love it. It's something new to my ears. Upon obsessing over their new CD, I went back and listened to some of their songs from It's Classy, Not Classic such as "The Birds and the Bees" and one of their songs featuring Jeffree Star. Another point: I have also discovered Jeffree Star upon listening to Breathe Carolina. His recent album Beauty Killer just struck me with its upbeat techno tunes and Jeffree's self-confident lyrics.

Singing along to BC's "The Dressing Room" and Jeffree's "Lollipop Luxary," I notice that new music is following a sort of trend here. That techno-y electronica sounding beat is just music to our ears right? Well to me, it's sort of magical. Autotune has never sounded so good. Will a new era of music use this futuristic vibe to their advantage? The autotune should be noticeable and effective if used though, because I don't mean that robotic voice T-Pain has. Because that's just autotune gone wrong. If used properly and effectively it can create some new, very catchy and likable music. Hm, I suppose this blog went from my Breathe Carolina and Jeffree Star mini obsession to how effective autotune can be. What do you think?

-More at thumbsupmichy.blogspot.com

Thumbs-Up Michy: RIP Michael Jackson (1958-2009)

It's a regular morning so far. I pour myself a bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats and turn on the computer. Everything loads, and suddenly I get an instant message on AIM. "Michy, Michael Jackson's dead!!" I couldn't believe it. I didn't want to believe it, but it was true. The King of Pop was gone. My family basically grew up with listening to Michael, his music is timeless. My 60 year old grandma loves his songs, and my 5 year old sister is always dancing whenever "Beat It" is on.

Michael Jackson is considered the King of Pop for a reason. His dance moves and singing were unique. It was evident that there could be no other person that could duplicate Michael's style. He basically opened the doors for other artists to make music. Michael started it all. Since he has passed away, it seems like the end of an era. The future of music is bright however, and many musicians should strive to follow in his footsteps. Even though Michael had to overcome many obstacles, he still came out strong. People will remember him for his classical tunes and effortlessly gifted talent.

Rest in peace.

-More at thumbsupmichy.blogspot.com