By Marceline A Bien-Aime
Culture is the complex and elaborate system of meaning and
behavior that defines the way of life for a group or society. It is shared, learned, taken for granted,
symbolic, and emergent and varies from on society to another. Mainstream culture to me is like a trend that
everyone follows. Every day when you
walk outside you see people wearing jeans, sneakers, shoes, shirts along with
accessories. Although it may be altered
by different colors or style either way most people wear the same articles of clothing. Now what most people relate the word “mainstream”
is music.
For years music has been a part of people’s everyday life. It is known to be one of the most popular
ways of entertainment. Music has been
known to touch hearts and even inspire minds.
Today we live in a world where music is always around us. Whether on the radio or even on TV watching
commercials we are surrounded by music.
But how do we define mainstream music? Mainstream music to most people is associated with what is
constantly played on the radio or what is on the Billboard’s top 100. I asked a
few friends what they consider as mainstream music and most said Pop
Music. However when I looked on the
website I found different genres of music as the TOP 10. Amongst the top 10 where Adele, Chris Brown,
Jeremih, Kanye West, Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga.
All artists are associated with different genres of music but are they
all considered mainstream? Click here to see the billboard hot 100
Many artist start off locally by doing talent shows or small gigs within their towns. There are many different music artists that haven't had their big debut but soon enough their time will come. A local rapper in Philadelphia named Aime came out with a mix
tape and decided to make songs on beats from different known artists. However the last song on the mix tape stuck
out to me for the simple fact he did a rap song to Miley Cyrus famous song
Party in the USA. Party in the USA is
one of the biggest pop songs that came out in 2009. There was no rapping on the song for she just
sang on it but what about Aime who put a rap on top of the song? Click here to listen to Aime's version of Party in the USA
Hip-Hop and Rap music are deemed more as sub-cultures then
as mainstream, however while attending a few rap concerts in Philadelphia I
found many different nationalities other than African-Americans who came to
support the artists. A famous DJ/Rapper
duo named DJ Jazzy Jeff and Fresh Prince came from West Philadelphia and was
known for great music. With hit songs
like “Summertime” and “Brand New Funk” they were known in the community. Now there’s a new duo just like them in
Philadelphia named DJ Philly Will and Chris Vance. A DJ/Rap duo from Philadelphia to that re-did
the song “Brand New Funk” to pay tribute to old-school. Many people tend to compare the two duos to
each other however it is always refreshing to relive what was once then a big
song in Hip-Hop Culture.
^DJ Philly Will and Chris Vance^
^DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince^
Whether it is Pop, Hip-Hop, Rap or R&B music, it is all
mainstream in it’s own way. Certain
regions may listen to a particular type of music however being in the USA we
are exposed to many diverse types of music. Music is a part of people's everyday life, it helps define us and what we stand for.
P.S if you would like to hear more from Aime please visit http://perfectaime.com/ and for Chris Vance visit http://phlightschool.wordpress.com/ :)
