Changing Times.

 

There are a lot of reflections on the music industry. One major trend in the music industry is the increase in the popularity of country music among younger people. Back in the day, country music has always been popular. Today, it has grown into a different level for many artists merging country with rap, rock, R&B, and other styles of music. One very talented woman in the country is a Sister from Kentucky named Tanner Adell. When I hear her music, I can tell that she cares about her craft and puts a heavy emphasis on rural culture. I'm not a rural person, but many of my uncles, aunts, and cousins live in rural communities. To appreciate rural life is a prerequisite to understanding what country music all is about. Country music is a form of music meant to express pain, to show honesty, to overcome tribulations, and to celebrate life. Many of us know the songs of country music icons like Garth Brooks, Shania Twain, Trisha Yearwood, Hootie and the Blowfish, Dolly Parton, Tim McGraw, Vince Gill, and Keith Urban. Yet, we have to acknowledge the younger generation of country artists who are making their marks in history like once again Tanner Adell, Kane Brown, Luke Combs, Gabby Barrett, Carly Pearce, Drew Parker, Breland, Gabe Lee, Hardy, Reyna Roberts, Willie Jones, and other human beings. With Beyonce showing country music, it is certainly part of the further growth of country music. Let's keep it real and present the elephant in the room. It is apparently clear that more people are acknowledging the gifts and the roles of black women and black men in the culture of country music. The black country music artists have existed in the world since country music's inception. By the early 2000s, the Billboard Hot 100 has been dominated by American country music with diversity like Kacey Musgracves, Jelly Roll, Kane Brown, and other people. 

Another major trend is the increased knowledge and consciousness of contracts and deals in the music industry. More artists reject 360 deals and focus on more independent contracts that are fairer for artists. People want unions, health care, and pensions for hip-hop artists which has been depraved from many hip-hop artists for decades. We have TikTok and other forms of social media being a powerful outlet where musicians in general can express their songs, EPs, and albums. Streaming platforms that show music are more decentralized and commonplace is Spotify, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, and Apple Music. These platforms have increased especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. By this new decade of the 2020s, more comebacks continue to exist like new albums from The Beatles and The Rolling Stones that opened the charts immediately upon release. Many younger Generation Z human beings have nostalgia for old school music from embracing vinyl again to listening to various legendary music from years and decades ago. In our time, we see a lot of retro pop being popular in the 2020's too. Women empowerment is promoted in hip hop with ice as diverse as Coi Leray and BIA. Afrobeats and Regional Mexican music are popular. Rock, nu metal, and hardcore punk saw growth in this decade too. 

My reflection on the current music industry now is that it is about merging genres together as the world is more connected with new inventions, new technologies, globalization, and more access to information than during the past decades of world history. Music is more viewed in business terms at the mainstream level, but there is more awareness among artists and people in general about the necessity for artists to embrace ownership of their property rights, masters, and publishing. Prince was ahead of his time by advocating for musicians of any genre to read contracts carefully, fight for their economic rights, and own their masters. He didn't want people to be too much controlled by record companies. Music is certainly a universal language being embraced by humanity of every color and background. It is certainly our responsibility as human beings to cultivate music to change the world positively, to be inspired to overcome challenges, and to be motivated to live life in a fruitful, positive direction. Music can also promote joy and happiness and we certainly need more joy and happiness in the world indeed. Life is very short, so have fun and stand up for what is right at the same time. 

  

Music has made many legitimate contributions throughout the Universe. There are many studies out now that prove that listening to music can reduce anxiety, blood pressure, and pain. Music is heavily structural, and architectural, and it can be mathematical. It is based on the relationship between one note and the next. It can improve sleep quality, mood, mental alertness, and memory too. There is a study published in the Scientific journal called Brain that showed that adults who had a stroke and listened to music daily experienced greater gains in verbal memory and cognition after two months than stroke survivors who listened to audiobooks and those who didn't listen to either music or books daily. Music can overall increase feelings of well-being which may reduce pain perception. Some scientists believe that music can help the human body, because sound waves are ultimately vibrations. Vibroacoustic therapy uses low-frequency sound to produce vibrations that are applied directly to the body. All life in the Universe is made up of light, electromagnetic waves, atoms, and other components that merge to form consciousness. A sound is a form of a wave. There are at least seven scientific studies that have shown people with improvement in motor function in individuals with cerebral palsy treated with vibroacoustic therapy. Researchers from Johns Hopkins in Baltimore have researched the link between music and improving brain function. These researchers have used dozens of jazz artists and hip-hop artists to improvise music while lying down inside an fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) machine to watch and see which areas of their brains light up. That is why scholars encourage people to listen to a diverse amount of genres of music to challenge the brain in a way to develop creativity. The brain can struggle to understand the new sound. Some findings suggest that learning to play musical instruments strongly influences the organization of the gray matter in multiple brain networks related to sensory processing (like auditory, vision, and somatosensory regions), and higher-order cognitive function. For example, when a human being studies to play an instrument, there are processes like myelination that will develop along with neurogenesis (or the creation of new neurons, and one is synapse function). According to scholar Larry Sherman, music can stimulate new connections in our brains to keep our cognitive abilities sharp and our memories alive. Sherman is professor of neuroscience at Oregon Health and Science University. Music has always brought people together to appreciate orchestra, jazz, rock, hip-hop, gospel, etc. Music can be about telling a story, or it can be abstract imagination being expressed in a distinct fashion. Music is filled with air vibrations filled with molecules flowing in the Universe (the cochlea of the ear collects the sound frequencies, and it responds). Music is made up of rhythm, tone, pitch, timbre, and other facets. There are tons of benefits to the arts and music programs in public schools, private schools, and homeschools. Musical programs for young and older people are certainly paramount in developing our culture and society. 

 

In life, fair critiques are real. Showing fair critiques is not about bashing all music, but it's part of human nature. No human on this Earth is perfect 100 percent, and showing legitimate critiques is not about judging people unfairly. It is about being a sign that tells us that we can do better, and it is one of our life's goals to be better than the past. There are two extreme views about music that I reject. One extreme view is that all music is evil, and all music must be rejected from society. I don't agree with that premise at all. Throughout human history, positive, inspirational music has grown consciousness, helped people to gain a great education, and achieved so much goodness on this Planet. For example, there are countless school and arts programs that have saved human lives literally in the world. We know of the biological benefits of listening to music and playing instruments too. A child or adult playing Mozart or playing a gospel song from Mahalia Jackson is not the worth thing in human existence. Therefore, you have some wrong people with a paranoia about music so bad that they reject any form of music which is their right. Yet, they are completely wrong in that disturbing opinion. I reject the other extreme saying that it should be no boundaries in allowing kids to listen to adult theme music or music has no influence at all in society. The reality is that music has an influence in society religiously, culturally, inspirationally, and that's proven by academic studies for years and decades. In other words, music should not be blamed for all evil in the world, but artists and the rest of us have the responsibility to put music into context. That context is that more people should realize that music should be judged on the merits of its talent (not made a scapegoat for every problem in the world). Likewise, some music should be glorified, but music that glorified evil and injustice should not be glorified. In other words, I don't agree with music that degrades people, fosters nihilism, and promotes evil in general. Authoritarian censorship makes it worse to combat it. The solution is people making the voluntary decision not to listen to it. People have the right to protest music that they feel is wrong, but I don't believe in suppressing speech in an unfair fashion (even speech I disagree with). I have to mention how many kids and adults have saved their lives by music. 

 

There is also classical music being popular. Classical music uses composers, violins, pianos, and other forms of instruments. Back in the day, classical music was played in churches and royal courts during the Middle Ages in Western Europe. A lot it originated from the religious and vocal music of ancient Greece and Rome. There were extant musical manuscripts that date from the Carolingian Empire (800-888 A.D.). Many abbeys had classical music too. By the Renaissance and Baroque period, classical music used opera, more musical instruments, and more different genres like sonata and concerto. Johann Sebastian Bach used the fugue technique. We know about the Classical period of composers like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Joseph Haydn, and Ludwig van Beethoven. Classical music has spread into the Americas, Africa, Asia, Oceania, and all over the Earth. Opera houses and symphony orchestras exist globally too. One of my favorite forms of classical music exist from instruments made by composers like Miklós Rózsa. Rozsa was a Hungarian American composer who was trained in Germany and other places of the world. He lived from April 18, 1907, to July 27, 1995. He expressed music in tons of film scores that are classic. He made music for the films of Ben Hur, King of Kings, Quo Vadis, Julius Caesar, Ivanhoe, Diane, etc. His score for Ben Hur is a masterpiece being some of the greatest classical music in human history. The songs in it from Overture to Esther represent greatness in musical architecture. John Barry was a great classical music composer from the UK. He composed the scores for eleven of the James Bond films from 1963 to 1987. He created scores for films like Dances with Wolves, The Cotton Club, Chaplin, The Game of Death, and other movies. Other outstanding film composers are Hans Zimmer, Rachel Portman, John Williams, Ennio Morricone, Alfred Newman, Alex North, and Terrence Blanchard. 

The truth is that music is a complex form of expression found in the Universe. It is never monolithic. Some people use music to work out in the gym, some people use music to relax or sleep more effectively, and some people are motivated to dance or be entertained by listening to music too. As time has gone on, we know of the medical and intellectual benefits of music. Thousands of years ago, people have used flutes and harps. Today, digital media services like Spotify and TikTok outline distribute music internationally and even in space today. One major heart and soul of music involves black people. We are the origin of all in human history. From our community, John Coltrane presented some of the greatest jazz music of all time like the album Love Supreme. There is Sarah Vaughan who was a jazz vocal genius too from New Jersey. We know about the Motown explosion with The Temptations, The Supremes, and Aretha Franklin describing some of the best, introspective songs about love in human history. Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway, Roberta Flack, and other icons are some of the best songwriters and musicians of all time. Also, great musicians exist in every color and background too. Burt Bacharach was a genius composer and songwriter, Selena had a huge following, and Celine Dion has a great career too. Music deals with form, harmony, melody, chords, rhythm, and other elements. Many schools have been blessed with arts and musical programs that have inspired kids to be adult performers, singers, music journalists, music scholars, music educators, etc. It is important to note that music can be abstract. Some people experiment with 808s and other beats to create their own style. There is nothing wrong with that at all. During the 21st century, there is an increased awareness among the people of the contributions of black people, other people of color, women, and people in the four corners of the Earth involving the essence of music.

 

The Super Tuesday results are in. The results are what most people are expecting. President Joe Biden won every primary on Super Tuesday, except in American Samoa where James Palmer won that primary. Donald Trump won every primary on Super Tuesday except Vermont which Nikki Haley won. The states that people voted on in dealing with Super Tuesday include Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. Donald Trump gave multiple lies in his speech. Trump said that America has the worst economy in the world and Biden is the worst President in American history. The truth is that Biden saw some of the largest job growth in American history with record-low unemployment. The deal is that inflation is high in many areas of our economy, especially involving groceries. Wages are up with unions winning multiple victories recently. Trump demonized migrants who are actually refugees escaping many nations for survival. When Trump was President, he gave a terrible response to the COVID-19 response (when millions of Americans lost their jobs as a product of the disease), and a stimulus plan saved human lives after over 1 million Americans died as a product of the pandemic. The stimulus plan was heavily promoted by the Democratic people. 

America has the largest post-COVID 19 economic growth of any nation on Earth. President Biden warns that another Trump term will mean chaos, division, and darkness. Now, crime rates are going down in American locations from Baltimore, New York City, etc. The Trump MAGA cult is one of the worst cults in world history where brainwashed people desire to support Trump unconditionally despite his racism, his habitual lying, his sexism, and his corrupt actions (which is being charged with multiple felonious charges). President Biden's job creation rate is second only to Bill Clinton. Biden will cap credit card fees, cause drug prices to be re-negotiated, cut many students' student loans, and cause many progressive policies to exist. We have a clear choice in this 2024 Presidential election. Our voting rights matter. If anyone supports Trump, he or she is complicit in Trump's evil agenda. Today, Nikki Haley has decided to end her Presidential campaign. Either we go on the path of revenge, reactionary lies, and corporate exploitation, or the path of progressive solutions, equality, justice for all, and democracy.

President Biden has allowed U.S. airlift of humanitarian aid to Gaza with the cooperation of Jordan and other allies. Of course, more can be done, but this is a very historic moment in world history. America did the Berlin airlift back in 1948. President Biden said that he would create a direct maritime corridor to supply Gaza needs with U.S. sealift. He wants a big increase in aid trucks entering Gaza. Senators King and Reed demanded a U.S. Navy ship for Gaza. This time of massive starvation and deaths of Palestinians has no moral justification at all. There is no excuse for this reality in any circumstance. The WHO estimated that about 25 percent of Gaza residents are at the point of famine and starvation. This means that as many as 500,000 people could face death in weeks along with environmental problems in the region. Starvation is a human crisis and must be taken seriously. As the Trump cult (when Trump is accused of over 90 felony counts and Trump has been made liable of raping a woman) and the Putin regime desire authoritarianism, we desire democracy. The Supreme Court's refusal to allow Trump to be banned from the ballots represents a contradiction of true Natural Law as justice and morality from the Preamble are paramount.

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema will not seek reelection in Arizona, and she calls herself an Independent. This is not shocking news, because that is the legacy of moderates or centrists. The issue with moderates is that moderates never set real trends to truly cause groundbreaking change in human history. Harriet Tubman, Malcolm X, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Sojourner Truth, Ella Baker, and Bob Marley were never moderates. They were revolutionaries who refused to be bound by the status quo. They opposed the agenda of the establishment to seek justice for everyone in building their own legacies as human beings. Many moderates hid behind the sacrifice and contributions of progressives in order to save face. So, Senate Sinema will retire from the Senate. There is a Senate race between Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego of Arizona and former Arizona Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake. This is a very important race. Sinema was a negotiator for the bipartisan border deal recently. Time will tell on what the Senate race will result in.

It is clear what Putin desires. Putin wants the destruction of Ukraine and annexation of it to Russia as Putin has publicly said that he doesn't believe that Ukraine is a real nation. Many fake leftists say that since NATO made mistakes and did war-mongering, therefore, we should allow Putin to conquer Ukraine. That is a bad policy position as the Ukrainian people have every right to use legitimate self-defense in defending their lands. Medvedev became so extreme that he is an ally of Putin. Putin wants Russia to have its 1991 borders. Putin desires lifetime rulership of Russia along with the suppression of democratic rights in Russia. Innocent journalists and dissidents are in Russian prisons now for just speaking up against the Putin regime. Speaking out against the Putin regime (being found to promote disinformation, hacking, and having agents supporting the Trump movement overtly) has nothing to do with hating the Russian people. The vast majority of the Russian people desire freedom and justice. This dissent against Putin's imperialism has nothing to do with worshiping NATO as NATO's actions in Libya and other places of the world are deplorable and nefarious. It has to do with the Ukrainian people having the right to be free from illegal Russian aggression and making sure that Ukraine is an independent nation with its own self-determination. We reject the Trump MAGA cult too.

 

After Nikki Haley and Dean Phillips suspended their Presidential campaigns on March 6, 2024, we have a new era of the 2024 Presidential election. Now, the two major candidates are President Joe Biden and Donald Trump along with many third-party candidates too running for office. After the historic 2024 State of the Union Address made by President Joe Biden on March 7, 2024, it caused Biden to have a new sense of energy to fight for a second term. In his State of the Union address, President Biden told the truth that we must fight for democracy, Ukraine deserves to be free from Russian invasion, and the super wealthy ought to pay their fair share of taxation. He did the right thing to apologize for calling a person illegal when no human is illegal. Undocumented immigrant is a proper term. By March 8, Trump won the American Samoa Republican caucuses.

 

Recently, in March of 2024, I found out about my late 3rd cousin named Paulette Delight Williams Mayfield (1948-2018). Her parents were John Edward Williams (1924-1955) and my 2nd cousin Cecelia Elaine McPherson (1927-2016). Paulette Mayfield was born in Norfolk, Virginia. By the time she was 14 years old, she moved into Portsmouth, Virginia wither her sister Janette White. Cecelia Elaine McPherson later married Joseph Edward Malloy Sr. in 1963. So, Paulette's half-brothers and half-sisters are Barbara, Lillie, Joseph Jr. Eileen David, William, Mark, and Althea Malloy. Paulette attended Portsmouth Public Schools and graduated from I.C. Norcom High School in 1966. She married Oliver Clemon Mayfield (b. 1948) at Norfolk, Virginia on May 8, 1967. Their children are Trina E. Mayfield (b. 1967) and Torey Anton Mayfield (b. 1977). Paulette had children with Mack Vivin Robinson (b. 1949) named Tarel Lashamile Robinson (b. 1979), Torel Kahlil Byrd (b. 1979), Tracy Robinson, and Tasha Robinson (d. 2003). My later fourth cousin Tasha Robinson and Charles B. Jobes Jr. had their late child of Marquis Anton Robinson Jobes (1990-2003). My 4th cousin Torel Kahlil Byrd and Shawnell Denise Talbert Thompson (b. 1980) had a daughter, who is my 5th cousin Kahlia Byrd. How is Paulette Mayfield related to me? Well, her parents were John Edward Williams and Cecelia Elaine McPherson. Cecelia Elaine McPherson's parents were Henry Cecil McPherson Sr. (1903-1982) and Minnie Eva Sykes (1906-1980). My 1st cousin Minnie Eva Sykes's parents were Kenneth Sykes (1865-1949) and my 3rd great grandaunt Josephine T Hurst (1868-1929). Josephine T. Hurst's parents were my 4th great grandparents of Milly Woodson Bozeman (1830-1910) and Morefield Hurst Turner (1827-1918). So, we (Paulette and I) shared the same ancestors as my 4th great grandparents of Milly and Morefield Turner. Paulette loved to cook food from scratch. She baked ziti and macaroni and cheese. She loved to paint and redecorate her home. Paulette enjoyed crabbing and visited the Lynnhaven fishing pier in Virginia Beach constantly. She loves her 16 grandchildren, 5 great-grandchildren, and her other relatives.

By Timothy