The Visible Man By. Raquel Cepeda

Raquel Cepeda is a reporter for Hip-Hop magazine, The Village Voice.

Raquel did not realize how excited she would be while she interviewed the notorious underground rapper. “..She is ecstatic to not be stuck in another boring chat with another boring rapper.”

Cepeda was interviewing Immortal Technique. Technique, born Felipe Coronel in a military hospital in Lima, has turned into the perfect combination of activism and hip-hop. He uses his gift and knowledge from both the hip-hop and the political world to spread a message and start a change for the betterment of society. The first step in his agenda is taking down the people on top. Those elite few who own the majority of the riches of the world and the world itself. She made it a point to let him do the talking throughout their meeting in Mi Floridita, a small Cuban eatery in Harlem, New York. She had café con leche and a real rapper before her, what more could she want? Cepeda was supposed to interview Immortal Technique, but Cepeda could not help but bask in his freshness. She comments that when “she recall’s hip-hop’s versatile landscape and soundscape during the 90’s, she sighs.” I bet she was sighing then, too.

Cepeda talks about how passionate, heartfelt and “freaking intense” this rapper is with his music and his purpose. So much that he radiates it to all the people around him. One comment I particularly liked, came from DJ Green Lantern, whom he made a successful collaboration with, “Tech provides that other side of the coin to rappers who just rap about making coins, which helps me keep my sanity.” This quote does not only apply to him, but I think I can say for his fans as well. To me Immortal Technique is a breath of fresh air in a world, neighborhood and home of hypocrisy. I feel Cepeda and her admiration of Immortal Technique. What more can I say, except I heart Immortal Technique.

Key Concepts in Multicultural Music Education By. David J. Elliot

This is a scholarly article from the International Journal of Music Education.

Music is present everywhere that culture is present. Often times it brings people together. Right?

Well according to David J. Elliot in his article “Key Concepts in Multicultural Music Education”, music is not a universal language. He does acknowledge that this statement can shock many because enough people believe it, it is “contrary to popular relief”. The reason for Elliot’s claim is his observation on people’s first reactions or ultimate understanding of the music from other cultures. Nobody, Elliot states, “immediately understands, appreciates, or enjoys the musics of other cultures.” Elliot point out how even within the culture people have “their music” or “our music” concepts about each others music preferences. Often times people go further to identify themselves part of their music, part of that style. This way they separate themselves even further from their general culture. Elliot goes on to say that we have the “tendency to separate ourselves from one another”.

“So”, I think, “People within cultures separate themselves from others? That, actually, sounds reasonable.”

I don’t think there is one music genre that can define a whole culture because we are all different. We all have different likes and dislikes within our culture. Call them subdivisions. Nobody wants to be considered anything less than unique. I think that is why we have this “tendency” Elliot speaks about. I guess that after reading this article I realized that overall, music is not a universal language. I agree with Elliot. There are certain things that we can never understand, not only if we are not part of the culture but also, if we are not part of the fan group of that genre.

Output levels of commercially available portable compact disc players and the potential risk to hearing.

This article just kept on talking about the different hazardous household appliances out there and about how dangerous it is for our ears. I still don’t understand why they did not put it in simpler words. Then it started talking about other everyday appliances that can hurt your too. I think we wont ever be able to protect our ears completely from everything. We don’t all carry around ear protectors or something. There is of course a lot of truth behind this article. I understand there is potential danger to lose one’s hearing through listening to loud music, noises or just sounds over a long period of time. But how often does that happen? They are not talking about this argument without nay proof, but I think they are talking about extremes. Sure I like loud music, that does not mean I am going to be blasting it 24/7. I guess what I am trying to say is that I don’t disagree with the article. I just think that they are exaggerating a tad bit with the household appliances. Are they trying to tell me to watch out with the lawn mower or that I should definitely stay clear of those damn leaf blowers? Alert the neighbors! Alert the children! Cover your ears because the leaf-blowers are coming, the leaf-blowers are coming! Nope. I don’t think it’s that serious. At least not yet.