Project Baby Two by Kodak Black debuts in 2017

By Tanner

American rapper, Kodak Black, released the album “Project Baby 2” on August 18, 2017 and debuted at No. 1 on Top R&B/Hip-hop albums. Kodak is from Pompano Beach, FL where he first started becoming a rapper. At the age of 18 Kodak Black signed with Atlantic records where he began to blow up as a rapper. Kodak’s album “Project Baby 2” was his most recent albums, and definitely his highest rated album. Within one week of releasing his album it had reached number 2 on the new Billboard 200 chart with almost 50,000 album equivalent units. Kodak’s spot at number 2 just came a couple months after he was released from jail for violating his house arrest. Not all songs in the album helped him get to that spot, there were a select few that helped massively.

His album included “Transportin’” his tenth track on the album which peaked at number 46 on the Billboard top 100 and also was the best song of his album with more than 81,000,000 views on youtube. His next best “Project Baby 2” song is “Roll in Peace” Ft. (XXXtentacion) which peaked just a little bit higher on the Billboard at number 53, This song has almost 60,000,000 views on youtube which would be his second most listened to song in the album. He also had a few songs that weren’t as big, but still good songs such as: “Built my Legacy” Ft. (Offset), “Need a Break”, “Versatile”, and “6th Since”. Some songs on the album weren’t so good at all, they didn’t hardly reach the mark of 500,000 views, these songs include: “Pride”, “Up Late”, “Unexplainable”, and “My Klik” Ft. (John Wicks & Jackboy).

Kodak Black has a very unique way of rapping; he is a different type of rapper than any other rapper i know of. Yes, he does rap about similar stuff as other gangster rappers such as there “gang,” homies, and also females. Not all of his song consist of this stuff he does have songs without cursing and more appropriate. Although Kodak raps about some of the same stuff as other rappers, he was a unique way of saying it in his lyrics and also has a very interesting voice that you can vibe too if you like that kind of music.

Kodak Black is a lyrical master and can rhyme almost anything, his songs are all thought out to the max. He  also is a rare type of rappy that has a new album regularly and is always releasing new Singles. If you like listening to music and it not getting old Kodak is a good person to listen too, you won’t run out of songs because of all his new songs he posts. You also would want to be into R&B or rap to listen to his music because that’s his style.

Moana v. Lion King

By Liana

While comparing, Moana and The Lion King, I noticed a few similarities. One being the cultural aspect of both films as well as the rebellious children and the “set you straight” speeches from both fathers’ from both films. Another similarity I noticed was the connections between the characters from both films. There is the main character, Moana from the film Moana and Simba from The Lion King. Both characters have their “sidekicks” and their families.

Both of these films have a very strong cultural aspect that not many people pick up on. In The Lion King, the movies begins with the ceremonial anointment of Simba, which is introducing a new King. In Moana, there is the scene of the stack of stones placed by the village’s previous Chiefs’. There is also the ceremonial headdress, giving Moana the authority to be Chief of her village on the island of Motunui. Another similarity between the two films are the rebellious children. Simba goes against his father, Mufasa, and goes to the shadow place, which Mufasa strictly forbid. In Moana, her father, Chief Tui, has told her since she was a yougn child, she cannot go out on the ocean. Ever. One day, with her burst of singing and confidence, Moana takes a canoe and goes out on the ocean alone. Yet another similarity, would be how Mufasa gives Simba the speech: “everything the light touches is your kingdom”, in Moana, Chief Tui’s speech to Moana is about how she should know her role and learn to accept it.

So many characters in both Moana and The Lion King tie into each other. For instance, Simba’s “sidekicks” could be considered Timone and Pumba. However, in Moana,her “sidekicks” are recognized as Hei Hei and Pua. Later on in The Lion King, the Hyenas’ come into play. In Moana, the Hyenas’ are portrayed as the Kakamora, pirates visualized as killer coconuts. Personally, I have made a connection between Zazu, Simba’s “protector”, and Gramma Tala, Moana’s grandmother. Although Zazu never dies, when Moana’s grandmother dies, her spirit lives on as a manta ray that follows Moana on her journey across the ocean. Simba lost his father and continued to see him in the clouds, giving him advice. After Gramma Tala passed away, Moana saw her spirit as the manta ray but also as a ghost who appeared on her canoe when was ready to just give up on her journey.

Hopefully, you can see the connection between the two Disney films: The Lion King and Moana. After briefly going over the similarities in characters and also the similarities on the visualization of cultural aspects, the two movies really have a lot in common. Both films also go from young, to about ten years old, to teenagers who went off and had an adventure on their own.

Simba is Hamlet?

By Issa Vonglakhone

Yes, you read the title right, Simba is Hamlet. If you are familiar with Disney movies, then you know that they mostly come from old tall tales, fairy tales, or stories. Well, the inspiration for The Lion King came from Shakespeare’s famous play Hamlet. Throughout both the play and the movie, there is plenty of similarities in the characters, scenes, and overall concept. Disney does put it’s twist on stories, but they never stray too far from their original inspiration, and The Lion King does just that.

The Lion King is not a direct copy of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, but they both are very similar. One main thing that they have alike is the characters. There are some characters that are clear they are the same as the characters in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. These characters include: Simba, Mufasa, Scar, Nala, Sarabi, Zazu, and Mufasa’s ghost. Simba, the main character in The Lion King, would be Hamlet, the main character in the play Hamlet. Mufasa, Simba’s father, would be King Hamlet, Hamlet’s father. Scar is Claudius because Scar is Mufasa’s brother and Simba’s uncle. Nala would be the character Ophelia in Hamlet because Ophelia is Hamlet’s lover and Nala in Simba’s lover. Sarabi would be Gertrude because she is Simba’s mother and Mufasa’s wife who gets left behind in the Pride Lands under Scar’s rule. Zazu would be Polonius because he tends to the king’s needs. Mufasa’s Ghost would very obviously be King Hamlet’s Ghost leading Hamlet on a mission. There are still some characters that have similarities in The Lion King to the characters in Hamlet, but these are the characters that their similarities out rule the differences. Now, there are a few more characters that I did not list that do play a big part in the storyline of The Lion King, but their similarities may not be as clear as the others. These characters are: the three hyenas (Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed), Rafiki, Timon, and Pumbaa. The three hyenas play a big role as bad guys working for Scar. In Hamlet, the characters Rosencrantz and Guildenstern help Claudius in his evil plans and try to act as friends to Hamlet. Although the hyenas do not try to act as friends with Simba, they are Scar’s little minions who take part as pawns in his evil plans. Rafiki is a bit tougher than the other’s to figure out. He almost seems like a character just added to help us understand the story a little more, but I think he might be Hamlet’s madness. In The Lion King, Simba never really goes crazy, but Rafiki is all kinds of crazy and his character is never really explained. Rafiki’s painting and actions foreplays what Simba must do and what he is destined to do. Rafiki’s line “It means you’re a baboon and I’m not.” can be taken as Simba’s madness, as Hamlet’s madness was like another character than the real Hamlet. This theory is a little far fetched, but it makes sense. The next character, Timon, possibly could be Laertes. Although he is not Nala’s brother as Laertes is to Ophelia, he is Simba’s friend that didn’t really approve of Nala and Simba’s relationship. In the song “Can You Feel The Love Tonight”, Timon expresses his feelings towards Nala and Simba’s relationship, “I can see what’s happening, and they don’t have a clue, they’ll fall in love and here’s the bottom line, our trio’s down to two. Ze sweet caress of twilight, there’s magic everywhere, and with all this romantic atmosphere disaster’s in the air.” you can tell that Timon does not truly approve of their relationship, and it may not be for the same reasons, but it relates to Laertes in Act. 1 sc. 3, “It fits your wisdom so far to believe it, As he in his particular act and place, May give his saying deed, which is no further, Than the main voice of Denmark goes withal. Then weigh what loss your honor may sustain-” He says that he doesn’t approve of Hamlet and Ophelia’s relationship because Hamlet is supposed to be married to another royal and he is just infatuated with her, not in love. Laertes has a different meaning of why he doesn’t fully approve of Ophelia and Hamlet’s relationship, but they both disagree with the relationship. Now the last character, Pumba, could be in relation to Horatio. Horatio is Hamlet’s college friend not from Denmark and was there at his service only. Pumba is Simba’s friend, not from the Pride Lands and is there to help Simba out. Pumbaa says,“At your service my leisure,” more than once, and could be an example of Horatio who was always at Hamlet’s service. There is many similarities between Shakespeare’s Hamlet and The Lion King ’s characters and some differences, but overall they are the same story. Other than the fact that The Lion King ’s characters are animated animals, and they’ve changed the purpose of some characters for younger viewers, and applied the magic of Disney, The Lion King is very much Shakespeare’s play Hamlet.

Just like the characters of each story, the storyline in The Lion King is very much the same as Hamlet’s. One of the biggest similarities is that Scar murders Mufasa secretly and Claudius murders King Hamlet secretly. The two characters Mufasa and King Hamlet may have died different deaths, but the whole purpose of their death is the same. After both kings die, both sons, run off. Simba ran off to the rainforest, and Hamlet runs of to Great Britain. “Scar speaks, “Simba… What have you done?” “There were wildebeests and he tried to save me... it was an accident, I... I didn't mean for it to happen.” says Simba.  Of course, of course you didn't. No one... ever means for these things to happen. ...But the king IS dead. Oh! What will your mother think?”. Simba asks, “What am I gonna do?”. “Run away, Simba. Run... Run away and never return.” Scar commands.” They then pursue their own lives outside of the kingdom. Simba meets Timon and Pumbaa and Hamlet meets Horatio. While they are gone, bad stuff goes down at home. In both stories, the evil Uncle takes over the kingdom. The pride lands get taken over by Scar and the hyenas and in Hamlet, Claudius hooks up with and marries Hamlet’s mom. Hamlet and Ophelia end up fighting and Simba and Nala end up fighting as well. “Get thee to a nunnery,” commanded Hamlet in Act 3. Sc. 1. “Leave it!,” commanded Simba. After the fight in Hamlet, Hamlet gets sent off to England, only to return back home, and after the fight in The Lion King, Simba decides to return home, face Scar, and take back his rightful reign. Another scene, The song “Can You Feel the Love Tonight”, could be taken as the scene where Laertes disapproves of Hamlet and Ophelia’s relationship. As explained in the above paragraph. On Simba’s journey back to the pride lands, he runs into Rafiki, Hamlet’s madness in a character, and he leads him to Mufasa’s ghost. Mufasa’s ghost appears and reminds him who he is and encourages him to take back the Pride Lands. Mufasa’s ghost speaks, “You have forgotten who you are, and so have forgotten me. Look inside yourself, Simba. You are more than what you have become. You must take your place in the Circle of Life.” In Hamlet, when Hamlet kills Polonius and then is going mad to his mother, his father’s ghost appears to remind him not to kill his mother and that his goal is to kill Claudius. “Do not forget. This visitation Is but to whet thy almost blunted purpose. But look, amazement on thy mother sits. O, step between her and her fighting soul. Conceit in weakest bodies strongest works. Speak to her, Hamlet.” Both Hamlet and Simba return home and they both begin to take their revenge. They end up fighting and killing their uncles. Claudius was sliced and poisoned and Scar was eaten by the hyenas. Although The Lion King may seem a little more sane than Hamlet, they are basically the same raw story. Any story that Disney recreates always has its own twist to it. To say The Lion King is not anywhere near the same as Hamlet, is baloney. There are minor differences, like the fact they are animals and it’s a simpler story, but their concepts, characters, and scenes are mostly the same.

To make it more obvious, let’s simplify the similarities a bit more. Both stories have almost exactly the same concepts. In the beginning there is a kingdom; the Pride Lands and Denmark. They both have a glorious king; Mufasa and King Hamlet. Then, the king gets murdered by his brother; Claudius poisoned King Hamlet and Scar pushed Mufasa off a cliff into a stampede of wildebeests. Then the prince of the kingdom runs off to another country/place; Hamlet goes to Great Britain and Simba goes to the rainforest. There, the prince makes some friends; Hamlet meets Horatio and Simba meets Timon and Pumba. Then, we get a tiny complicated, Hamlet comes back for his mother and uncle’s wedding and hooks up with Ophelia. In The Lion King, Nala finds Simba and they fall in love that way, and then Simba goes home. That concept was just reversed. Timon doesn’t quite like Simba and Nala’s relationship and Laertes doesn’t quite like Hamlet and Ophelia’s relationship either. Then, once the prince is back home he challenges his uncle and kills them on behalf of their father and land. Of course, everyone dies at the end of Hamlet and it’s a happy ending at the end of The Lion King, but the concepts can never be more similar.

The similarities of the characters, the scenes, and the concepts are very close and show that Hamlet and The Lion King are basically the same story. Disney does put its own twist on things because that’s what makes them unique, but they never stray too far away from the main story and inspiration. They made their version of the story to be a family movie and where little kids could watch it. There’s no doubt that Disney found their inspiration in Hamlet, and the characters, the scenes, and overall concept prove it. Hamlet and The Lion King, are one in the same. So,“Hakuna Matata! Have a wonderful day”.

Curtain Call: The Hits by Eminem

By Jessi Shinn

American rapper, actor, songwriter, and record producer, Marshall Mathers lll, professionally known as Eminem, is the top-selling artist of the 2000’s. Eminem’s LP, “Curtain Call: The Hits,” released in 2005, debuted at number 1 on the Billboard Top 200 Charts just after 2 sale days. The LP stayed at number 1 for 2 weeks, during this time sales were close to 430,000 copies, and went platinum seven times. The LP has know been on Billboard Top 200 Charts for 350 weeks “making it the longest charting rap album in history,” says Trevor Anderson from Billboard.

This LP includes, “Lose Yourself,” his sixth track, which was certified five times platinum on June 29, 2012 and was also Billboard Hot 100 No.1 song for a consecutive 12 weeks. He also had five songs from this LP certified gold: #9 “Without Me” reached No. 1 in 15 countries; #10 “Like Toy Soldiers” tells a story of the violent dispute between rappers; #12 “Mockingbird” is an apology to his daughters for their parents splitting up and how he has failed them, this song also received a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Solo Performance; #15 “Just Lose It” caused a quarrel with other artists as he made jokes about them in this song; #16 “When I’m Gone” is a heartfelt song about his career interfering with his family.

Eminem unlike most rappers nowadays likes to write about things that mean something. Most of the songs on this LP are written about his family or his friends while other rappers are constantly rapping about money and drugs. While Eminem does write some songs that don’t really have deep meaning all of his top charted songs are written about his life. Rappers like Kodak Black and SOB x RBE rap about doing drugs and making money and usually bag on girls. Eminem is different in the sense that he raps about real life stuff and things that have happened in his life that have helped him get to where he is.

While other rappers do make the charts and their music is highly listened to, Eminem’s LP is the kind of music that people can relate to. A lot of people go through the same struggles as he has and the way he write it makes it so heartfelt. You can feel the pain, and struggle, and agony in his songs which is what makes his songs so good. He also has songs that aren’t about his life and yet he still finds a way to put meaning into each song.

Russ: “There’s Really A Wolf”

By Paige

Russ, a new well-known American hip-hop recording artist, singer-songwriter, and record producer, comes from Atlanta where he’s been striving to succeed in the music business. Russ peeked into the music industry when his first song “What They Want” hit no. 33 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs late last year. There’s Really A Wolf  was Russ’ very first album, with a major label, which was released on May 5, 2017. His entire album as a whole reached no. 4 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Charts and no. 7 on the all-genre Billboard 200 tally. Russ wrote, produced, engineered, mixed and mastered this all by himself; he doesn’t have a single song in this album that features another artist. Russ is known as the ‘10-year, 11-album, 87-song overnight success’.

The album’s first song “I’m Here”, lets everybody know if you’ve ever doubted him, take a second look. Following that is his second song “The Stakeout”, where he raps about ‘wanting to make enough money to put his family on his payroll without worrying about the cost’. Russ is primarily rap-based but his fourth song in the album “Cherry Hill”, included a more soulful cut with high hitting notes, being a huge hit. Fans went wild when hearing “Losin Control” which lead him and his new best song to be no. 13 on the charts. There’s Really A Wolf was certified a gold plaque by the Recording Industry Association of America and sold 49,000 equivalent units, a huge deal for an artist still on the mainstream come up. The solo studio album sold 23,745 copies and collected 34 million streams in the first week.

There’s Really A Wolf compares to the rest of his songs/albums in very similar ways because before Russ even had Soundcloud he released 87 songs and dropped 11 albums all by himself. He wrote, engineered and produced every single one of his songs. He’s 100% original with all his songs and that’s why he has attracted so many fans.

Russ feels as though people don’t want to be helped or saved; they decide on their own free will to take their lives every single day. Russ has recently tweeted expressing how much your own pride can destroy you and that’s what keeps him going and to strive to be better. He wants people to listen to his work and forget about all their destructive thoughts; he wants his music to be a safe place. So, for anyone who feels music heavily and uses it as a weight lifter, Russ is the guy to listen to.

The Lion King v. Hamlet: Is It The Same Story?

By Skylar

After reading Hamlet published by William Shakespeare in 1603, we watched The Lion King by Walt Disney which aired in 1994. Throughout the film, we evaluated similarities and differences, the Lion King may have towards Hamlet. In my opinion, I feel that the Lion King was inspired by Hamlet; only it was altered for family and friends for a comedy film that was friendly to all crowds.

Within a few minutes into the movie, it’s easy to tell which character could represent another in Hamlet. I put the puzzle together and figured out that Scar would be Claudius, Mufasa as King Hamlet, Simba as Prince Hamlet, as well as Nala being Ophelia. Every action or feeling these characters may have had could have instantly been compared to Hamlet. Scar’s un-liking towards Mufasa or Ophelia’s insane mood swings, and even Simba’s lost and anger towards the village (You might even consider it a castle). The main characters weren’t the only similarities I saw, even the background roles were in the movie, only they were altered to fit the film. Timon and Pumba were displayed as Simba’s good friends whom guided Simba through choices he might’ve made. In Hamlet, Horatio did the exact same thing . Now, I know Timbo and Pumba were two characters, and Horatio was only one, I feel an extra character was added to create humor for the film and even to represent second thinking Horatio might have had in Hamlet. Another twist I saw in The Lion King was the group of hyenas. I thought maybe the soldiers in Hamlet would’ve been adjusted to be the evil version so Scar could have his evil sidekicks.  

There were multiple similar themes between The Lion King and Hamlet. Each scene would involve something that occured in Hamlet. When Mufasa passed away, Scar declared himself as a leader. Or when Simba found Nala again and they began to fight until they recognized each other then their moods changed and became “best friends” again. It was almost exactly like Ophelia and Hamlet’s interactions together, when she was super moody and crazy. Another scene that’s in the Lion King was where the crazy monkey guy led Simba to the pond where his father’s reflection was. It’s almost an exact representation of ‘The Ghost of King Hamlet’ when he was appeared in the book.

Though there are many more scenes and characters in both the movie and book, I feel those stood out to me the most in order to prove my opinion of how The Lion King was inspired by Hamlet, only made into a Disnified version.

OMB Peezy's has "Humble Beginnings" in California

By Jarod

OMB Peezy is an American hip-hop artist based in Sacramento, California. He was born to a musical family in Mobile, Alabama and later moved to where he now produces his blaps, Sacramento, California. His name is becoming more and more popular across California. He is important to discover and listen to because it makes us more aware of the world and other people's lives.

The “Humble Beginnings” EP contains 6 songs which include:

Tracklist

1. Talk My Shit Ft. Yhung TO

2. Go Down

3. Love You Back

4. Block Up

5. Fast Life

6. Doin Bad ft. YoungBoy Never Broke Again

All songs released were instant hits, so we can say that they’re all good.

“Humble Beginnings” compares different to other albums on hip-hop. Peezy himself said he plans to bring real hip-hop back after noting that most rappers nowadays spit mumble rap. OMB Peezy wants to hear clear words with a real problem be spoken about in the hip-hop industry from now on. This is Peezys’ first recorded album that he’s published.

Anyone who is interested in today's rap music would heavily enjoy this argument and would love to see just how his album compares with other, more popular music albums being published by bigger named artists. Peezy is changing the rap culture for the better, so don’t be surprised when you hear his name big soon.

Rappers get creepy Without Warning

By Alvaretta

Without warning is not a band, the album is a collaboration of rappers, the album itself has many people in it who put aside their issues to make this album. Over all reviews on this album, they got a 75% from critics. People care because it has more of the mainstream rappers of this year in the album. The album has many different sounds style to it with having sounds effects like chainsaws, screaming, howling incorporated in the songs. With these types of sounds, it's gives of a creepy yet halloween types of vibes throughout the album.

The album itself has 10 songs by different artists, the full length of the album is about 30 minutes. The album itself doesn't really have structure; it's meant to give off a creepy vibe. And the creepy vibe is like halloween and chainsaws, not pedophile creepy. From best to worst songs, the best in the album would be Ric flair drip,Rap Saved Me,Nightmare, Still Serving etc.

This album is different in its own way, it's not meant to have the same flow its supposed to be unique through the whole album. It's the same as other albums in its genre, yet it has its own flair and sounds. The artist would normally do these types of songs but when the come together they sound different.  

The people who would enjoy this is people who like this genre, also teens and young adults.

California reggae artist J Boog rocks "Rose Petals"

                         

Jerry Afemata, mostly known as J Boog,  is a famous reggae singer born in Long Beach but moved and grew up in Compton, CA. Some of  J Boogs song also have a R&B, hip-hop, and rock feel to them. He is one of the top reggae singer in the U.S. J Boog started in 2007 with his first album Hear ME Roar and hasn’t stopped since. Many of his albums have been on the top billboard including his recent album Wash House Ting with the #1 hit song “Rose Petals” which peaked on the billboard on April 4th 2017.

The album Wash House Ting is all about promoting love and positivity in the world. Growing up in Compton, CA, J Boog witnessed a lot of hate in the world and wanted to tell people to leave all the hate behind and be more positive. His number one song on the album “Rose Petal” is talking about a loving a girl and wanting her to love him back. The major of the song is about being yourself and not worrying about things you can’t change. Most of the song on this album aren’t very popular yet, but all have good meaning behind them.

The Wash House Ting like most of the other albums that J boob sings feel good music that promotes happiness and love. From the album Backyard Boogie in 2011, his songs “ Let’s do it again” and “Sunshine Girl” were major successes hitting billboard charts from 2011 - 2013. These are all very popular songs that talk about being with a girl. Bob Marley, a very famous reggae singer, is very similar to J Boog. They both sing about the hate in the world and how they wish it could change. In some albums they both sing about love in the world and how we should focus more on that then all the hate.

People that listen to reggae would agree that J boog and Bob Marley are similar. Because they both sing about similar topics and both sing the same genre, many people would agree that they are very similar. Bob Marley may be a legend with a better voice but J Boog is an upcoming artist and has many years to come.

Luke Bryan consistently delivers Southern charm and basic country music

By Emily

Luke Bryan broke out as a country music star in 2007 with his album “I’ll Stay Me”, delivering 2 top 10 hits on Billboard Hot Country Song Charts, and country super stardom. Luke continued with 2 more top 10 songs, and 2 number one hits on the Hot Country charts. He released this album, Tailgates and Tanlines, in 2011 producing his first #1 album in the Top Country Album charts.

The album begins with Country Girl Shake It For Me, a fast-paced  song that makes anyone who hears it want to get up and dance. A top hit, this song is not only fun, but also has a very southern vibe. Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye and Drunk On You, both using a romantic factor within them, one an ending relationship and the other a starting summer love. Too Damn Young is a slow-paced song, but also a fan favorite, taking you to a story of young love, that was eventually lost. The first half of the album is better than the second, or at least in my opinion.

Tailgates and Tanlines by includes a variety of types of songs within it, Luke sings about love, heartbreak, and just wanting to have fun while all keeping it within the Southern charm and basic country song format he had created in his last 2 albums.

Each song includes all the tones and topics and can create a image in your head of a story that is being told through the lyrics. All in all, if you like country music and all the aspects that go along in an all around country song, you’ll like this album