Coteau Courier October 2015 by Cassidy Louisa Oberleitner

October 2015

Table of Contents 4 | Kanye for President Get to know more about Teacher of the Month, Mr. Biddy, on page 6.

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On August 30, 2015, the United States, along with the rest of the world, received news that left some shocked, some excited, and some disappointed. On August 30, 2015, MTV held its infamous VMA awards, and you can bet one of the many major events that took place is worth discussing with the presidential election coming up soon.

claimed that Taylor didn’t deserve the award because “Beyoncé had the best video of all time.”

During the award show, Kanye West accepted the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award, which was presented to him by Taylor Swift. In his acceptance speech, West released a statement that will have people talking for the next five years; West announced his plan to run in the 2020 presidential election. While the bombshell decision was an important topic in his acceptance speech, so were the other key points he made about past decisions. It is no coincidence that Taylor Swift presented Kanye West with the award, and West was bound to address the fiasco that took place on stage when Taylor received the award for Female Video of the Year at the 2009 VMAs. During Swift’s acceptance speech, West jumped on stage, grabbed the mic from Swift, and pro-

Six years later, West responded to Swift’s presentation by saying, “Look at that. You know how many times MTV ran that footage again? ’Cause it got them more ratings? You know how many times they announced Taylor was going to give me the award ’cause it got them more ratings? Listen to the kids, bro! I still don’t understand awards shows. I don’t understand how they get five people who worked their entire life … sold records, sold concert tickets to come stand on the carpet and for the first time in they life be judged on the chopping block and have the opportunity to be considered a loser! I don’t understand it, bruh!” It was at this moment that Kanye clarified his feelings about the incident. Since West’s infamous interruption, MTV has painted him as a pop culture villain, and the portrayal has garnered the company more views and ratings; however, MTV has failed to realize the damage they have caused to West’s reputation in the process. West talked about attending a baseball game and being

booed the entire time as a response to the incident in like Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders who are not tra2009. Despite the poor treatment West has received over ditional politicians get ahead in the polls. the years, he has stayed true to himself and what he Some question why West chose not to run in stands for. 2016, and his explanation is that he wants to educate West closed his speech by saying, “It don’t mat- himself about the issues because he appreciates the politter, though, cause it ain’t about me. It’s about ideas, bro. ical responsibility. New ideas. People with ideas. People who believe in As for West’s potential First Lady, his wife, Kim truth. And yes, as you probably could have guessed by Kardashian, disclosed that she was not aware that West this moment, I have decided in 2020 to run for presiwas going to declare his candidacy during his VMA dent.” West owned up to his award show etiquette faux speech. She reports that West is taking his announcepas and further proved that his growth since 2009 has ment to run very seriously. evolved into a colossal confidence. From West’s speech at the VMAs, it is clear that As one can imagine, West’s last statement about he intends to be a president who listens to the people, running for President is what resonated with people after and for West, “people” means all people, not a select he walked off the VMAs stage. Several celebrities comfew. During his VMA speech, West talked about the immented on West’s announcement to offer support or conportance of teaching kids just principles. His concern for cern. Average Americans question what experience, if young people demonstrates his concern for America’s any, West has acquired to run for president; the answer future. is none. Although he does not have any credible political Although West does not yet have an official poexperience, he is still a viable candidate for president, litical website or any publicly stated views on political especially in this 2016 election cycle when candidates issues, the people of America are clearly noticing him.

Q: How long does it take you to pick out your outfit in the morning? A: A couple of minutes - I wake up and shave my head, allotting 15 min for that every morning. Then I choose whether or not I'm going to keep my facial hair that I have or mix it up. Once I've made that decision, I pick out my clothes. I'm usually able to get the outfit on the first go. I don't like to try on clothes after clothes. I choose my shirt first and my pants second, so I can choose what color pants I wear. The tie decision is made based on which pants I choose to go with. It doesn't usually matter what classes I teach that day.

Q: Tell us your favorite place you've been. A: For physical beauty, probably Guatemala. Culturally, I actually really loved Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Q: What is your favorite memory with your band? A: My favorite memory is probably when we were recording our first EP, which we were recording with a famous producer. We came into the studio right after Ann Berlin and right before Under Oath, which were two huge artists at the time. We were sleeping in his studio, and before he left one night, he introduced us to the first season of the British Office. We sat there in this studio where these famous musicians have sat, and we just watched The Office for the first time and forgot that we were Q: What are some of your hobbies? A: I read a lot, pretty much right now I don't have time for hob- making music. bies. I read what I’m going to teach or taught, grading, too. I’m Q: What's the best and worst thing about fame/publicity? a writer, which is a big [hobby] of mine. I got a masters in writA: To me, I actually really liked walking into a place and having, and my intention has always been to teach high school and ing people coming up and saying hi, which happened in both write during the breaks. I wrote all the lyrics and melodies in Chattanooga and Nashville. I really liked the people I got to my band. With music, the way I always approached it was that meet, and if you present yourself in a welcoming way, you some singers have a song book with a bunch of lyrics. I could meet a lot of nice and interesting people. The worst thing is never do that because lyrically, the song and the lyrics had to probably the expectations. You always want to make sure that match up for me. As for other hobbies, I haven't played a sport if someone likes you for one reason, you continue to do that since I've been to Louisiana, but I played soccer for twenty thing so they continue to like you. But you constantly change years. I played select ball and got a college scholarship. It while keeping in mind the people who are with you in your would be the sport I would play, but I'm a broken man. journey. You have to maintain a common thread while experimenting with whatever directions you're wanting to take. NothQ: Where did you go to college? ing was super difficult, though, because I embraced it. A: I went to Bryan College in Dayton, Tennessee. It's a tiny Q: What's the best lesson you've learned from being an Englittle town in the middle of nowhere, but it is the town where lish teacher? the Scopes monkey trial happened. I have been in the exact A: Teaching someone to be a human is more important than same courtroom where it took place. teaching him or her to be a student. Every day we take a look at what writers and thinkers believe it means to be human, but Q: What's the most extreme thing you've done? until we personalize and internalize that information and make A: I used to rock climb but that's not very extreme if you are it real, it is all academic, and honestly, life is not lived academdoing it with protection. One thing is that I was super skinny in ically. I have learned that by showing my humanity, by bringcollege and I lived on the 4th floor of my dorm, and I used to ing my students with me on my journey, I stand a better chance keep my window cracked so I could sneak out and stand out of helping them realize that there is a journey to be made. there on the roof for fun. One time I was trying to climb up the That’s a little writer-y, but it’s all true. window units to get into my window on the floor, only to disQ: Who's your favorite author and why? cover that it was closed and locked. I had to get down, so I had A: Uhhhhhhhh *trills lips* Uhhh. Kurt Vonnegut Jr. He is not to free fall for two or three feet onto the landing on the next afraid to treat humans as they are, which means he's partly a unit. I managed to survive. I was always a daredevil growing science fiction writer. He's not afraid to play with what it means up, like I used to jump from parking garage to parking garage. I to be human because he understands what they are. did that for a while and when I went home one time, my dad Q: Any words of wisdom for the students? looked at me and asked me to promise him that I wouldn’t A: My advice to every person is to realize that you only get to climb on the buildings of my school's campus. So I didn't and that's probably why I'm alive. Another time, I ran a half mara- be once. If you always keep that in mind, that will change the thon without training. (Why?) Eh. Two weeks before the race I way you approach every moment. ran three miles and five miles, and then I showed up to the race and finished in 2 hours and 4 minutes and had stress fractures in both of my feet so I had to buy a cane and walk around with that. It's so pretentious to use a cane.

By: Olivia Chatman, Class of 2015

Music. It is everywhere and has been around since before it ever became an expensive business. Despite how off beat you might find your parents’ generation -or the generations of any of your predecessors who have been around since homo sapiens first started tapping their feet in rhythmic patterns -- one thing you have in common with them is an enjoyment of the form of entertainment we call music. We are constantly surrounded by music; it plays on the radio as we drive around town, the choir at your place of worship performs it, it breaks the silence in an awkward elevator ride, and it sticks in your head as you try to fall sleep. Humans have always loved selfexpression and being entertained by others’ self-expression. Music is a mechanism for both. Just as music might be composed by the individual as self-expression, it is also revamped and reconstructed by each generation, maybe using alternative methods and instruments, but it ultimately all remains music. Music is able to harmoniously link generations together; after all, people don’t completely disregard music from a prior time. Instead, just like its hu-

man audiences and artisans, music evolves with time. Some music remains iconic throughout numerous generations such as classical composer Johann Pachelbel’s “Canon in D” that is played at numerous modern day weddings, or Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” that has peculiarly been sung at every Boston Red Sox baseball game since 1998. Music is a universal, enduring, expressive, and hopefully permanent part of our human culture that has adapted alongside us and continues to endure through every tumultuous generation. There is a constant intermingling among artists and musicians of different generations. Before writing their own music, a majority of artists gain fame by covering songs that were written or made famous by someone else. Song sampling is also a common practice among music artists, and it literally bridges music between generations by taking an excerpt of an older song and putting it into a contemporary one. According to the website 8

whosample.com, James Brown is one of the top sampled artists ever. Released in 1970, his song “Funky Drummer” has been sampled around 1,000 times by artists including Dr. Dre, George Michael, Sublime, and Ice Cube, and it is even used in the opening theme of the Powerpuff Girls. Of course, in our modern day, new ideas are often not truly original, but a recomposed version of something else. This constant reformation is exemplified in our musical culture in which genres such as rock & roll, blues, and jazz have evolved from the rhythmic spirituals brought to America by African slaves, in which a particularly catchy tune can be found in various pop songs, and in which, after 23 years, Snoop Dog reinvents himself as Snoop Lion. From being the youngest one in sight in a crowd of hard Pearl ‘Jammers’ to hearing thousands of moms sing along with their daughters as Taylor Swift strums her bedazzled guitar, my personal experiences at concerts have shown me how wide the range of ages can be among an audience of a single artist. A survey of ASH Upper School students proved this musical bridge between generations is strong in our school community. 95% of the participating students included music from another generation in the music that they listened to. A majority of this percentage said that this music made up at least half of their music libraries, while only 5% of the students said that they listened to absolutely no music from a generation that was not their own. 82% of the students also affirmed that they had been introduced to music they enjoyed by someone from a generation other than their own, and 85% of the students said that they had introduced someone from a generation other than their own to their music. Progressing from generation to generation, music connects people of different ages and backgrounds and is a form of entertainment that has existed in cultures all over the world since time immemorial. Although the average length of a song played on the radio is only three minutes, good music is timeless. Pictures: http://stonesoupbistro.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Taylor-with-her-AWESOME-guitar.jpg; http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02545/Neil-Diamond_2545845b.jpg

Playlists and Music Listening Made Easy with Downloads

By: Kaili Simien

Come up with a creative title, click, and drag several songs. Complete. The perfect playlist is created within ten minutes, tops. Today, creating a playlist is simple; however, that is not how it was just 30 years ago. Most of our parents and grandparents will remember the stress of creating a mixtape on a cassette. The process to create the perfect playlist was one that took time and patience. The creator had to deal with tactile sensations, hissing analog sounds, sound textures, and technological limitations, which in the end, made it difficult to create the perfect mixtape. Because of technological advances, though, 21st century youth have made listening to music a creative art in itself. Prior generations of music lovers only had one option of creating a mixtape, the cassette, which only allowed for a set amount of time of music. The 21st century generation has the option of burning songs to a cd or using one of the many music-sharing databases available through online streaming, such as Spotify. When asked to share her experience using Spotify, Lexi Chesnut responded, “Spotify is a quick and easy place to create fun playlists! All you have to do is drag and drop ANY number/genre of songs. Also, it’s a great place for finding a playlist to fit your mood. Spotify creates different playlists that are really specific for any type of mood. One of the things I love about this feature is that your search can be as specific as ‘Sad bath tub music’ and Spotify has just the thing for you!” While music-sharing databases allow people to create their own playlists, they also open up the option of creating mashups and having a place to share them. Mashups, also known as remixes, take a song and add extra beats, extra music, and sometimes another song. This means that the artist no longer has the rights to the song because technically he or she did not make it. Most artists find this unfair due to the fact that someone else is making music from a song they made just by adding beats or layers of other songs the mashup artist also didn’t create. Artists sometimes take legal action against mashup artists seeking money for the uses being made from their songs. Recently, “Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke was challenged in a lawsuit for sampling without per10

mission or payment a beat from “Got to Give it Up” by Marvin Gaye. Marvin Gaye died in 1984, so it was his descendants who decided to pursue the lawsuit. They had previously tried to take Universal Records to court, but lost. In the end, however, Robin Thicke had to pay the descendants $7.3 million. Ironically, those who knew Marvin Gaye argue that he would have embraced the idea of technology and musicsharing databases. This is just one example of the complexities involved in the new “art” of mashup and remix. Artists have lately begun to protest online music-sharing databases because they feel as though they are not paid the amount they deserve for their music. Pop music icon, Taylor Swift, even pulled her music off Spotify. Many artists stood behind Taylor Swift and her decision because they felt the same way. As an answer to this problem, artist Jay Z recently released his own music-sharing database called Tidal, which artists such as Nicki Minaj, Usher, Rihanna, Madonna, Kanye West, Coldplay, and Beyoncé all support. According to Jay Z, his music sharing site allows listeners to pay the same amount they would for Spotify, but he will pay the artists the amount of money they should be making. Most people are not in favor of Tidal because they have become accustomed to Spotify; however, if Taylor Swift decides to jump on the Tidal bandwagon, then Jay Z may obtain more consumers. The availability of creativity at our generation’s fingertips is something we often take for granted, not thinking about the hassle our parents and grandparents had to go through to create the perfect playlist. While having music available to us for at a reasonable price and for our personal and even creative use is a bonus, we must think of the artists who provide the music to us and make sure they are getting paid a fair amount that allows them to create more of the music we all love. Picture Websites: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lANim6vq__c/TxOKGTpmvAI/AAAAAAAAAaY/gxZYJJw0_68/s1600/iTunes-playlist-purple.png http://phandroid.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/spotify-connect.png http://dehayf5mhw1h7.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/68/2015/03/11082412/0512rthicke2.jpg

Personas are the identities people assume. They can be natural personas like the ones we assume as daughters or students, or invented ones that we mold into a desired perception. Today, many musicians use both, and when a musician invents and performs in persona, it produces an interesting intersection between music and acting. The clearest example of this is shock-rockers. Heavy makeup, costumes, ridiculous and sometimes over the top performances are all part of their personas. Think of KISS and the numerous artists who have imitated their style. These musicians have a life outside of music that they don’t bring into their musical careers; the persona that they invent fits the music and enhances their creative expression. One of the most controversial artists ever, Marilyn Manson, is a modern day shock-rocker. He’s done things such as burning the American flag and ripping pages out of bibles while on stage all to achieve his desired effect of shock, disturbance, and horror. Manson’s shock-rocker persona merges his sinister music with creepy visuals and provocative actions in a way that creates something that is more than music; it’s a kind of performance art. Another example of artists who use a persona to enhance their music is Daft Punk. They’re a popular electronic duo from France who combine house and synth-pop into a new subgenre dubbed “French-house.” However, the duo may be best known for their robotic personas. Daft Punk is adamant about never making public appearances without their robot masks and suits (which have LED capabilities). Their live performances feature seizure-inducing lightshows and other dramatic graphical effects synchronized to their music. The combination of their robotic personas and electronic music meshes into a magnificent show that totally immerses the audience in Daft Punk’s futuristic world. Alter egos are also examples of invented personas. Mainstream examples of this artistry today include Beyoncé’s alter ego, Sasha Fierce, and Eminem’s misogynistic alter ego, Slim Shady.

Sasha Fierce was Beyoncé’s first major alter ego, and her performance of this persona played an essential part in molding her into the artist she is today. Beyoncé created Sasha to escape her ladylike reputation, which was, believe it or not, essential to her early success. As Sasha, she possessed the courage to perform however she pleased. It was both an artistic and a personal outlet for free expression. After several years, Beyoncé claimed that Sasha was dead. She said, “I don’t need Sasha Fierce anymore because I’ve grown and now I’m able to merge the two.” Beyoncé no longer needs to hide behind the mask of Sasha

Fierce, but it’s important to remember that Beyoncé wouldn’t be Beyoncé without Sasha Fierce. Marshall Mathers, better known as Eminem, employs the alter ego Slim Shady frequently in his music. As Slim Shady, Eminem’s raps are violent and disturbing. Often employing a comical, lighthearted tone, Eminem as Slim Shady graphically describes scenes of rape, domestic violence, and suicide. Unsurprisingly, the subject matter of his songs has landed Eminem in quite a bit of controversy over the years, and that is partly why the character of Slim Shady is essential. Marshall Mathers, the real person, has never been involved in an incidence of rape or domestic abuse, and he has also never rapped about those things. Slim Shady has. The songs are sadistic fantasies delivered through the created persona of Slim Shady, and the mask of the alter ego distances Marshall Mathers / Eminem from responsibility for his musical content. Musicians create personas for a variety of reasons. Some personas are created to enhance the music. Some are created to allow an artist to express himself or herself free of judgment. Some artists use personas to explore the darkest corners of their minds. Whatever the purpose, personas play a very important role in a musician’s creativity, making music as much about appearances as about sound. Picture Websites: http://orig04.deviantart.net/38a6/f/2013/189/0/a/beyonce___i_am_sasha_fierce__album__by_juaanr-d6cla3j.png https://consequenceofsound.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/daft-punk-feat.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/69/Eminem_-_The_Real_Slim_Shady_CD_cover.jpg

By: Ana Waskom

America is a melting pot of cultures, but cultural merging often produces conflict. Though we are a remarkably diverse and peaceful society, the way America has absorbed its diverse cultures into mass media has produced cultural trends that, according to some, include unethical behavior. Trends such as Henna, cornrows, and rap music all have their roots in minority cultures, but critics say that the use of these cultural products in mass culture minimizes and “Americanizes” them. Caucasian ladies walk around with Henna on their hands and carry a takeout bag of Taco Bell without ever realizing they’re wearing and eating someone’s culture. The cornrow hairstyle has been a hot topic of celebrity social media commentary with many African American activists speaking out about the popularity the African hairstyle has gained within the Caucasian community. When Kendal Jenner wore the hairstyle, it suddenly became cool for white girls to wear cornrows. Meanwhile, black girls who wear the hairstyle are often attacked in social media as looking too “urban.” For white women, cornrows are a new and exciting look, but black women have been using this hairstyle to hold their hair back for decades. Black activists don’t like what they see as a double standard, but they also resent how mass culture appropriated a style they feel is culturally their own. Although rap is a genre that grew out of the predominantly black urban street culture of the 1970s, it is now popularly associated with white people such as Iggy Azalea and Macklemore. These two white rappers are lauded as the “King and Queen of Rap,” and Black activists resent that their community’s cultural creation is being overtaken by white artists. Rap began as an outlet for African Americans to express disapproval at the social injustices within the urban communities of New York. While popular rap has moved away from its roots in social commentary, the genre is still an expression of African American culture that should not be carelessly white-washed. Cultural appropriation also perpetuates racial stereotypes. Mass culture borrows from minority cultures to create new expressions, but those expressions are often performed by and for people who are not educated or even aware of the cultural traditions repackaged for their appreciation. There is nothing racist about wearing cornrows or eating Mexican food, but when we engage in this cultural sharing without awareness then misunderstandings and cultural stereotypes result. As Americans, we all want to believe that we fully accept every culture, and our national diversity and the relative peace among people are remarkable and rare. However, the reality is that often times most of us forget that, even though Henna may be pretty and yoga might be fun, they are both a real and important part of many people’s lives, not just fashionable trends. In essence, we should appreciate multiple cultures, but we should not distort them in a way that might diminish their cultural significance. http://static.idolator.com/uploads/2014/12/iggy-azalea-tmj.jpg

By: Madison LeBlanc Awards shows like the Grammys, the Emmys, and the MTV Music Video Awards get tens of millions of views, and the Academy Awards peaked at 40.4 million views this year. With an audience this size, it would seem that the selection of nominees and winners would be fair and trustworthy. However, numerous celebrities, including Beyoncé, Nicki Minaj, and Kanyé West, have remarked that awards shows leave out minorities in their nominations, and these artists believe that our culture in general tends to discredit ground-breaking celebrities of color. A few months ago, rap icon, Nicki Minaj, spoke out against MTV’s VMA nominations via Twitter for not nominating her video “Anaconda” for “Video of the Year” when the video has more than half a billion views on YouTube and was insanely popular for weeks after its debut. She also mentioned her “Feeling Myself” video featuring international pop and R&B sensation, Beyoncé, which was also overlooked in the nominations. In a later tweet, Minaj expresses her exhaustion over how black women are discredited for their influence on pop culture when it is comparable to what white women are doing. Although Minaj’s tweets seemed to some to be a bit dramatic, she definitely has a valid complaint. The VMA’s is not the only music awards show to demonstrate a racial imbalance in its nominations. The majority of Grammys that have been awarded to people of color in the past decade have either been awarded in minor categories or to artists who were featured in a song by a white artist. While Beyoncé does hold the record for most Grammy nominations (47 to be exact), the vast majority have been in the category of R&B, a category that carries less weight than the Pop category because it is assumed to have a smaller audience. It does seem odd that an artist like Beyoncé who dominates air waves and has an immense global popularity is not nominated more in the Pop categories. Whether you like her music or not, Beyoncé’s musical empire is hard to ignore, and it seems that she should have more than a very few nominations for the most coveted Grammys like Song and Record of the Year. In light of this, Minaj’s original point seems less melodramatic. In film awards, the racial disparity is worse. In the Academy Awards nominations of 2015, all twenty acting nominees are of European descent, even with films like Selma receiving nominations, including for best motion picture. If we agree that America is a melting pot, then we should agree that all races deserve to be adequately represented in TV and film’s award nominations. If this were the case, however, the Oscars this year would not have been called “whiter then ever” by multiple media platforms. These nominees, who show minimal diversity, are chosen by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which is reported to be 94% white and 77% male with an average age of 62. Maybe, the charges about a racist system that subtly excludes people of color from formal recognition are worth attention. Minaj and many critics before her have opened up a conversation about racism in awards shows that should not be swept under the rug. Mass culture is filled, and in some industries dominated, by people of color. Their numbers should be equitably represented at awards time.

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