Artists

I know I'm kind of going backwards with this, but here's something I wrote for the "Cultural Encounters" essay for english. It may spark interest, or it may not. But the music is really, really good.

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Saturday night was my “cultural encounters” night. I went out to eat and came home and watched a foreign film that was actually, really great. On the way to and from Seven Moons, I listened to “Ah Odessa” by Masha Rasputina, a Russian pop singer. I tried to do some background information on this singer but there was not much to be found other than that she is quite popular, even in the U.S. I also listened to “Sunshowers” by M.I.A. or Maya Arulpragasam who is from Sri Lanka. She had a few underground singles such as “Sunshowers” and “Galang”. She finished her debut album for XL Recordings in 2004, showing off her “distinctive vocal style and quirky rapping over dancehall rhythms and instrumental tracks by platinum artists like Missy Elliot and Jay-Z” (XL: M.I.A.). I really enjoyed her style of music and when I read her bio, something she said really stood out to me.

“Because I was doing something that some people that was fresh, new and exciting, there was this idea that I was gonna bring forth a big Ten Commandments type of statement or something…But people don’t realize that I had to come from a village in Sri Lanka to get here. So the journey is about the journey itself, not just about doing music.” (XL: M.I.A.)

Reading this statement made me think about all the other underground artists out there who do not really have all of the chances others might. To become a true artist, you need to reflect on a journey you have taken, like she did, and she worked hard for where she got.

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I don't know if my reflection on it made much sense, but I love what she said.