Tag: artist

Drake

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Listening to Drake is a life-changing experience. While some generalize him as a popular rapper with hit songs that all sound similar, his catalog and talents run much deeper.

Drake is a lyrical genius. His songs touch on all aspects of life, from the highs to the lows, which can help the listener find the right song for the moment or occasion.

Drake’s talent extends beyond rap. Drake is versatile and not afraid to rap, sing, or perform in different styles of music or even languages. Some notable hits from Drake, including “MIA” and “Gently,” both featuring Bad Bunny, exercise Drake’s talents beyond simple English rap. Drake’s hit album “Honestly Nevermind” is widely considered a top Drake album, with all but one song being House/Dance music.

Drake’s catalog is versatile and easily rotatable without the feeling of overlistening to one artist. I am currently listening to “Summer Games” from Scorpion and “Race My Mind” from Certified Lover Boy.

It is refreshing to hear different types of music conveying different sounds and feelings when listening to each song. Drake is easy to listen to and is widely respected as a top current artist, with his longevity of producing hit songs that have exceeded a decade.

Drake 'for All the Dogs' Review: Incohesive With Glimpses of Old Drake - Business Insider

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Tom Lehrer Is A Genius

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There is a very niche genre of songs my Dad loves.

They’re a blend of weird slapstick-parody comedy. Think Weird Al but more archaic.

Artists like Dr. Demento and Allan Sherman (Camp Granada guy) produce music in this genre. My Dad’s favorite, Tom Lehrer, however, stands out to me.

Like the rest of these creators, he is really smart. In fact, he graduated from Harvard. When I was a kid, I remember watching his song “New Math.” Besides being really catchy, it is overloaded with subtle jokes like the rest of his songs. Anyway, he’s a really clever guy and is one of my favorite satiric songwriters.

I feel like I need to write more so I’ll talk about Weird Al, I guess. I have first introduced to him a really long time ago one night while I was eating dinner. Someone thought I ate too slowly so she started playing “eat it.” I thought it was really funny. Anyway, he’s a cool guy too like Tom Lehrer, really smart. And guess what, he went to Calpoly. Like what’s the deal with all these comedian-songwriters and their impressive educational backgrounds.

PC: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/Tom_Lehrer_-_Southern_Campus_1960.jpg

Los Angeles Art Show

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https://i0.wp.com/d2jv9003bew7ag.cloudfront.net/uploads/LA-Art-Show.jpgLast night I had the pleasure of attending the opening night of the Los Angeles Art Show to benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

I have been to a few art shows before, but none compare to this one.

There was historic and contemporary art, the historic was romantic and detailed,  while the contemporary was polished and fashionable.

Although I had a rough go-of-it in new shoes that I had not worn previously to this event, I was mesmerized by the thousands of painting, sculptures, and sketches covering the walls.

The set-up was stunning. A labyrinth of walls glowing with spotlights throughout an entire floor of the LA Convention Center was filled with hundreds, if not thousands of people.

After strolling around the maze of artwork for a few hours, my friends and I went home for the night.

I cannot wait to attend next year’s show.

 

A Night to Remember

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Tall, talented, and terribly handsome G-Eazy is hands down one of my favorite artists.

This man is a lyricist like no other.

He reigns from Oakland, California, which is only a mere 7 hours northeast of Ventura County.

He has come to Southern California to perform for the past few years, but the timing has never worked in my favor – until this year.

The arrival of the concert could not have come sooner, because the anticipation was killing me.

It was the last night of the “From the Bay to the Universe” tour, and it was going to go out with a bang.

After waiting in line we finally got to enter the venue. With friends in tow I walk all the way to the pit of the concert hall to prepare for the night of my life.

A DJ appears who plays a potpourri of electric music and classic rap remix’s to get the crowd excited for the opener.

Two hours after we entered and watched three different opening acts, the curtains finally close so they can get the stage ready for G-Eazy.

The whole theater starts chanting his name in bubbling excitement, and then we begin hear a countdown from 60 seconds.

Three, Two, One…

The curtains open and the night has officially begun.

The set list he created was unreal, and every single person was dancing more than they ever had in their entire life.

I wish I could go back and rewind time so I could experience the immense fun I had last night at the show all over again.

I have been to many concerts, but this was like nothing else.

As the last song of his encore ended, confetti and smoke rained down on the sold out crowd.

Walking out of there with a smile, last night will go down in history.
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Rene Magritte.

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“Art evokes the mystery without which the world would not exist. ”
—- Rene Magritte

This summer I had a chance to see Magritte’s real work at MOMA museum in NYC. Magritte has been one of my favorite artists for a long time for his particular impressionistic style.

Rene Magritte was born in Lessines, in the province of Hainaut, in 1898. His earliest oil paintings form 1915 were Impressionistic in style. The oil paintings he produced during the years 1918-1924 were influenced by Futurism and by the offshoot of Cubism practiced by Metzinger. Most of his works of this period are female nudes.


In 1922-1923, he worked as a draughtsman in a wallpaper factory, and was a poster and advertisement designer until 1926. In 1926, Magritte produced his first surreal oil painting, “The Lost Jockey,” and held his first exhibition in Brussels in 1927, in which he got lots of critics on the exhibition.

Later during the German occupation of Belgium in World War II, Magritte remained in Brussels. He briefly adopted a colorful, painterly style in 1943-44, and was known as his “Renoir Period.”

His work was exhibited in the United States in New York in 1936 in Museum of Modern Art and at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Magritte’s paintings mostly embody the combination of realism and impressionism, and he is able to present his particular idea of humanity and dream. One of his representative piece is “The Lovers I (1928),” which identifies the mystery of two lovers who are shrouded in white cloth.

Magritte inspires me a lot, not only in art area, but also life.

“Life obliges me to do something, so I paint. ”
– Rene Magritte

My Current Musical Obsessions

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I think it is amazing what a voice and a guitar can do together.

I am currently obsessed with these two contestants of a Korean television show called KPOP Star. Before I start flooding this blog with videos of them performing, I’d like to mention that they both come from Southern California.
So Cal represent!


This is Woosung Kim. Actually, this is one of his first videos on the show. It includes a little bio about him. He also sings one of my favorite songs: Live High by Jason Mraz.
I LOVE HIS VOICE!!!
And although he can’t dance, he does not say no when the judges ask him if he can dance. He puts himself out there, shuffling at the end of the video to get a few laughs from the audience. Ah, just great!!


In this video, he changes a k-pop song into more of a ballad. Again, it is just his voice and the guitar. It’s pretty great.

This next video is of another contestant that I like as well. He got a little farther in the competition. His name is Jaehyung Park.


This song is a cover of Frank Ocean’s “We All Try.” He changes it up to have more of an R&B feel. To be honest, I like this version so much better!


If you know me, I am a big fan of Maroon 5. And when I heard him sing this song, I nearly melted right then and there.


This is another great video but my favorite one is the next one!


This is a song that I haven’t been able to get out of my head. I think he sings with such genuine emotion.

I hope you all enjoyed this blog and become fans too!!

Death and Art Value

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In the worldly beloved art museum of Louvre, there is an important rule strictly applied to all artists.

Every artist must die for over sixty years to have the masterpiece displayed.

This rule abandons the positive correlation between price and demand and most logics that we could possibly mention.

Then, why is it true that artistic value increases along with death?

The answer may be related to the discovery of veiled works after death like Emily Dickinson‘s findings, people’s preference for old genre, or successful estate planning.

Estate planning essentially ensures the art value for the artists. During this process, they are highly recommended to make a will with a careful selection of their artworks that have been evaluated professionally, to decide the management of these works for 70 years after their death, and to figure out a way to reduce the inheritance taxes.

However, the case with Vincent van Gogh who left the world without such plan divulges a mystery of dramatic increase in his artistic value.

Despite the high appraisal he receives from the world today, his death was lonely with unpopularity. Perhaps, his artworks were overly avant-garde to be appropriately appreciated during his lifetime like Leonardo Da Vinci’s previously infamous but revolutionary creation of wheel transportation.

In the midst of this ambiguity, the Louvre Museum continues oblige its artworks to belong to the dead artists.