Kevin Rudolf Ft. Birdman, Lil Wayne, and Jay Sean, “I Made It,” Rap, 2010.
Kanye West, “Can’t Tell Me Nothing,” Rap, 2007.
Jay Z, “Encoure,” Rap, 2003.
Justin Bieber and Jaden Smith, “Never Say Never,” Pop/Rap, 2010.
Drake and Trey Songz, “Successful,” Rap/R&B, 2009.
Liberation Aim:
Eminem, “Not Afraid,” Rap, 2010.
Mark Wonder, “Liberation Song,” Reggae, 2009.
Outkast, “Liberation,” Rap, 1998.
Nas, “Heaven,” Rap, 2002.
Nelly Furtado, “I’m Like a Bird,” Pop, 2000.
For the success aim I chose the song “I Made It” by Kevin Rudolf and it features Birdman, Lil Wayne, and Jay Sean in it as well. This is the perfect song for the success aim in my opinion because it is all about making it in the music game and going for what you want in life. In class when we talked about success we were never really talked about having fortune and fame but that is considered success so overall I think that this song fits in very well with the third aim of Hinduism. I found this song because it was very popular last year and as soon as we talked about having this assignment in class this song immediately came to my mind. Overall the other songs for this aim were pretty easy to find which was expected because most artists who made it big have made a song about success and most that haven’t have made songs about wanting to be successful.
The song I chose for the final aim which is liberation was a bit of a stretch. I chose “Not Afraid” by Eminem because it is about liberation but it does not mean liberation in the same way as the aim in Hinduism. In the song Marshall Mathers is talking about being liberated from his addictions he had with many different drugs and staying sober therefore being able to see clearly and “liberated.” The aim in Hinduism differs because the aim is talking about liberation from this world and the life cycle which stops you from reincarnating once you have died. For this aim I had to look for a long time to find all of the songs. Until I thought about how this song could be fit into this aim (depending on your interpretation) I had to end up googling about songs about liberation and I got a lot of reggae songs but I could not understand them so had no idea what they were really about.
Overall I thought that these songs were good to compare today’s pop culture to the aims in Hinduism because of the fact that one fit perfectly and the other had to be stretched to relate to the aim.
I really like the Eminem song, I think I thought to hard and thats why I couldnt find any good songs. Your songs fit the aim very well. I feel thawho your inner atman is.t the absence of fear is one of the unlitimate liberation. Even in Hinduism you have to let go of fear and realize your inner atman.
ReplyDeleteI also really like the Eminem song. I also had a tough time finding liberation songs that match up the Hinduism aim. All the songs I found were about running away from an oppressive world. That's why I like your Eminem song so much its more about escaping inner demons that tie you down which I think is the closet match to moksha I can find. Eminem is leaving behind his addictions which is part of his jiva behind and purifying his atman.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the reason it was so difficult to find songs that matched the Hindu definition of liberation is that we see liberation as something completely different in American culture. Most of our songs talk about liberation from a smaller more personal "demon" (drugs, alcohol, relationships) rather than from the cycle of life.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree that the song "I Made It" by Kevin Rudolph is the perfect song to use for the Western view of success. The song perfectly depicts what Americans define as true success; fame and fortune. This song was also the first that came to mind as a great song for success.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't thought before about how well trying to be free from addiction fits in with the Hindu liberation aim. Addiction can be a total cycle and being stuck in the pattern of relapse and recovery is strikingly similar to being stuck in the death and reincarnation of samsura.
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