Category Archives: Just Music

Feminism, Just Music

Relatablilty

“Not Afraid Anymore.”

By Halsey. After listening to the song, despite all the goosebumps, I even have the urge to book Halsey’s next show. I’m not exactly a fan of “Fifty Shades” series. But this song, this. I was blown. I found it powerful. I’ve noticed the trend in music these days grows darker and darker, ever since the days of Lorde and the Weeknd a few years back (shout out to SONGS, love that company). The sound is thicker. The emotion is so much more intense. It’s a thunderstorm.

But there is more than just the sound. There’s an intense emotion going on in this song that is so precious, added so much color. To be fair, for a very long time, popular music has lost this element. Specifically, true emotion which people can relate to.

But music without emotion is just noise.

And almost no one resinates to lying on piles of hundred dollar bills and feel like they are the king of the world, or “throwing money and f**king bi**hes.” There was a time when this type of music dominates our charts and radios. But it’s not a relatable experience or feeling. It’s called showing off. Luckily, no one appreciate it anymore.

I’m glad that the relatable stories are coming back, bit by bit, slowly, finally. Though some people say it’s artificial, it’s at last relatable once more. The dark days are finally coming to an end.

 

“I am not afraid anymore

Standing in the eye of the storm”

Sure, this song is an erotic piece. It is meant to accompany the movie, Fifty Shades Darker. And yes, it is talking about sex. But I see it in broader terms: to admit fear, to be true to yourself, to overcome your fear. Admit that you have needs and wants, some may be dark, some may even be crazy.  Admit that you have fear and insecurity.

Sometimes just to admit them is hard. Sometimes you can’t even look at yourself this way. Because we are all taught and brought up in a way that’s telling us to be ashamed of part of ourselves. Institutions, authorities, society expectation all told us that something intrinsic of us is wrong, shameful, impure. We all are the product of this world. But we have to admit it. At one point or another, we all have to get over our psychological obstacle and explore deeply about ourselves. It’s the only way we can embrace our true selves, who we really are, what we are meant to be. It’s the only way that we can finally find our inner peace and happiness. The colorful, complex emotion is what make us humanly. That includes anger, fear, insecurity, disappointment.  Don’t resist it.

The power I hear in this piece is enormous. What kind of patriarchal world do we live in that make this kind of piece so relatable? Since when admitting that you have feelings, wants, needs become so shameful? How come this world implements so many rules that we have to pretend to be someone else just to live? What does it take to make up your mind to be yourself? How much courage do you need to take the lead and speak it out loud to the entire world?

If this is not female empowerment, if this is not empowerment for us all, male and female, I don’t know what is.

 

 

“Not Afraid Anymore” by Halsey

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g14Kw8sgxxo

International Music, Just Music, Music Industry

Eddie. Eddie. Eddie.

Eddie Beatz, aka Eddie Chen. Not my brother, in case you wonder.

You may not have heard of him, not yet. He’s one of the most talented independent musicians I’ve met. He’s young and energetic. His understanding of music is mind-blowing. He always thinks outside of the box. More importantly, he’s my friend, my homie.

I’m not exactly a fan of electronic music, especially when I’ve been listening to Taylor Swift all these years (haha!). But ever since I’ve heard Eddie’s music, it’s really hard to resist it. Eddie always has got this super fresh vibe and just the right amount of boom boom kicks to keep you grooving. The texture is so thick yet so fresh. The right timing of drops keeps your ears excited, and the layers of different sounds are planned in such a detailed way. When you hear it, you know everything happens for a reason. Then you want to listen again. It’s truly a work of art. Here’s a classic example.

“Eight Zero Eight”

 

If you think that’s all Eddie can do, you would be so wrong. Some of his songs are melodically dramatic and simply, romantic. Eddie loves blending the vintage stuff with futuristic sound, one of the most compelling reasons why I’m into his music. When the music goes on, you feel like you’re floating in the air. When you close your eyes and imagine, you almost can see yourself in a dream from the 1980s, swirling on the dance floor of 2050s.

“Pieces of Memory”

 

His personal favorite is this one called “Curing Method.” More experimental than most of his other stuff. It’s like a poetry which blends time together. Or rather, it’s time traveling with the sound of music. It’s quite magical.

Funny enough, he calls himself “Space Man,” and isn’t there a recent movie, in which time traveling is one of those things they do with the space women and men?

“Curing Method”

 

My personal favorite from Eddie’s SoundCloud page is this track named “All-night Spirits.” Maybe the translation isn’t exact for this one, because there is no corresponding English word to express the true meaning of Chinese Spirits. This one reminds me of home and childhood. It reminds me of the traditional Chinese house I used to live in when I was a child. The night, clear dark blue sky, moonlight falls down on the courtyard. Wind blows by, gently brushing through my hair. All I can see is the memory of a long gone era. All I can hear is this music playing in my head.

“All-night Spirits”

 

You’ll be doing yourself a favor by checking out Eddie’s music. People who know me know that I’m quite picky about music, but I can see him becoming great with this amazing talent. Eddie is very active on Douban, a Chinese user-based website. But he’s also on SoundCloud with a selected few tracks.

 

Eddie’s SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/eddie-beatz      Douban Site: http://site.douban.com/eddie/                                            Weibo (Chinese Twitter): http://weibo.com/eddiebeatz