Music Is Life (563)                                             Dalton Brooker

I believe that music has and will always change the world for better or for worse. Whether you grew up in Detroit listening to 90’s boom-bap, or you are straight from the homeland listening to cow tunes with those said cows; I believe that music is a part of everyone’s life, some more than others. But let me bring it way back to our ancestors when music was first played.

 

These poor people did not have the luxury to just whip out their iPhone and play whatever song they wanted, “Hey Siri, can you play Seikilos epitaph from the Hellenistic period?” did not think so. For many years it was all live equipment (Sorry auto-tune-only singers) which made people come together to create it.  Whether it created a way to spread important messages down generation to generation, or just throwing a banger for the King; It changed EVERYTHING. Heck I would go as far as saying I believe it could have saved someone’s life back in the day let us say 60,000 years ago or so when they could not communicate through words. Evolutionary scientists believe they could express emotions through sound, (If you did not like someone you could just bang two rocks together, boom. They know now) or even help the person identify with a group.

 

Now let me jump back into today’s world, 0-100 real quick. I can see that music has a massive impact in our society, especially rap. A lot of artists have been glorifying the use of drugs; which has led to a lot of deaths from celebrities to just your normal people who needed an escape from reality. I also believe there has also been a lot of positive things like Logic’s song 1-800-273-8255 (American National Suicide Prevention Lifeline). In the following night of this song’s performance at the MTV Video Music Awards, it created a 50% increase in the numbers of calls to the hotline. I believe Logic made that Hotline-Bling, good on you RattPack.

 

For me, music has also changed my life for better and for worse. I enjoy creating all types of music but when I need to vent, music is my go-to 100 percent. For me if I can write down whatever it is that I can not stop thinking about, it helps to put my mind at ease. I’ve gotten some amazing feedback on those songs on how it helped someone get through whatever they were dealing with. No better feeling in the world to me than being able to help someone in their darkest times. On that note I have also been on the other side of the spectrum because of my music. At first it was a lot of negative feedback. Tons of people made fun of me because I was doing what no one else was. Especially being in a little hick town, I stuck out like a sore thumb. But I stuck with it and used that negative energy to strive and be the best I can be. Now I’m performing around Ontario and have songs that have hit over a million views on social media platforms.

 

In conclusion, I believe that music will continue to change the world … For me it went from a hobby to a part time job that I get paid for now. But, you get to decide what YOU listen to. Will you let it change you?

(Just an FYI George, I wanted to show how music changed the world before, and how it’s still changing the world now. That’s why I kept the first two paragraphs. I BELIEVE that those are things that have done that, that’s why it’s not just about how it’s changed my life for better or for worse. It’s still what I believe in. And as for the banger part and other vocabulary, that’s how I talk. I wanted to keep it as real as possible.)