Is music really just a “distraction” or is there more to this lifelong custom that has only grown and developed through the centuries? Music has been around for centuries and has been used for several purposes, including religion, battle songs, and poetic justice. Music has been known for the entertaining concerts and its uses for self-expression, but recent studies have shown that it may improve your health as well. Music is not just huge illuminated concerts and hanging out with friends on a saturday night. Several of studies have found that music can benefit your health as well.
Music activates certain parts of the brain such as the motor cortex and corpus callosum along with stimulating the production of alpha and theta waves in the brain. “Big bursts of alpha brain waves induce creativity. Similarly, theta brainwaves are associated with the process of dreaming, states of enhanced creativity, learning, and relaxation. ” as confirmed by Robert Zatorre and his fellow colleagues. They have also came to the conclusion that, “imagining music can activate the auditory cortex almost as strongly as listening to it. This means people can hear music without music even playing. Some people even experience a musical synesthesia, which enables people to see a color, feel a change in temperature, smell, or taste something.
Music can be used as a therapeutic method as well. Music is nonverbal in nature, which triggers the right hemisphere of the brain, but when the verbalization of words are used it activates the left hemisphere too. This allows communication between the left and right hemisphere to act coherently. “Music can help rain development of young children”, stated by Vanesa, Dabul, the writer of “How Music Affects the Human Brain”“. The sounds of music to children can increase the flow of brain waves and also increase listening skills. Music can serve a greater purpose than just late night joy riding. Similar to life, music has seen the highs and lows.
However, one of its most controversial moments ended up sparking a new genre of music that spread like a wildfire and caused a whole new era to begin in the music industry. This genre of music is called rap. The term rap means to speak in a rhythmic, poetic style”, as described by Kanye West, who is a popular modern day rapper. Rap music is by far one of the most controversial genres due to its vulgar and explicit lyrics. Rap groups like N. W. A are at the peak of this list, especially during the inner city riots in Compton, California after the big hit “Fuck Tha Police”. The group received many warnings and letters from the Los Angeles Police Department and even the FBI about the group’s violent lyrics promoting the beating of Los Angeles policemen.
After N. W. A went public with the letters, free speech activists joined sides with the rap group. One of N. W. A’s more popular rappers, Ice Cube responds in a press conference to the allegations from the FBI that “Our art is a reflection to our reality”. Many rappers use their music to talk about the struggles of real life, such as discrimination and living in poverty. With the help of the free speech activists and the media, N. W. A was more than well-known. This memorable and unforgotten movement led to the production of a movie called Straight Outta Compton.
The film Straight Outta Compton is a good reminder that gangsta rap may seem scary, but it is and always has been-protected by the first amendment. ” Stated by Paul Detrick, writer for Reason Magazine. They used their popularity to explode out of the west coast and travel across the plains and mountains to the east coast, where rappers like Jay-Z and Kanye West picked up on the trend. Music has tons of benefits, but the one it is most modernly known for is its name in the entertainment business. Music production has grown to a multi-million dollar industry.
When a famous musician releases a new album, millions of young fans storm itunes and the much more up to date ways of buying music. People love music for a variety of reasons. Like most rappers,” Kanye West uses his music, lyrics, and beats to speak about the hard truths of the world. ” Some people use it for a stress-relieving activity. The more tickets sold, then the more revenue collected. Sold out crowds are feeding grounds for the media and young teens looking for a little fun.
Media looks to feed on the excitement of the concerts, waiting for an artist to slip up and get the evidence to prove it. Kanye always puts on a dazzling show, complete with special lighting effects. ” stated by Kayla Morgan. She also says “when Kanye steps on stage the crowd goes wild. Thousands of young fans surge to their feet, wave their arms in the air, and begin dancing along with the music”, describing the scene of a concert held in Briley 6 Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. With young adults flooding these concerts weekly, It is safe to say that music still serves among the top dogs as an entertainment. This world would not be the same without music.
Music helps people express their feelings and it helps relieve stress. The positives outway the negatives, if any negatives in the first place. People want to use music as a distraction so they can ban headphones in schools and even some workplaces. If music is such a big distraction, then why does almost every car being manufactured come installed with the newest radio technologies? I also wrote this whole essay while listening to music. To many people, music is a freedom of expression and to take that away from a person is to take away a part of their identity.
