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Can ‘Wonder Woman’ Offer A Superhero Soundtrack That Sticks?
Clay Enos/Courtesy of Warner Brothers
Born to Do It!!! from the Harte
Born to Do It!!!
What were you born to do? What is your ‘it’?
In order to try to answer this question, you need to ask yourself: “what is it that if I did not do, would cause me to no longer enjoy life but just exist?” Actually, am I enjoying life to the fullest now? Am I doing what I was born to do? One way to answer this is with another question: what makes me feel completely alive? or what brings me joy? For me, it is music. For others, it may be acting, athleticism, parenting, the practice of medicine, philosophy, writing, gardening, volunteering, etc. Is there something in life that you must do? Something you always return to as soon as you tend to the day-to-day necessities of life? We should all know and have joy, passion, in our lives. I use the word passion almost synonymously with destiny because afterall, we all have a destiny to fulfill and it can take an all-consuming passion to meet the daily challenges of life and yet, continue our quest of self actualization.
I would argue that fulfilling our individual and collective destinies is the reason for being human. Destiny does not have to be on a grandiose scale such as becoming the leader of a country, a great musician or one who has fame and fortune. Each individual has to pursue their own destiny; it is up to each and every one of us to discover our own, unique destiny. I say discover because destiny is not always evident and most times people have to fight to actualize who they are which may require some form of deep introspection. Parents, society and many other compelling factors can pull you in directions that are the opposite of your true self. Some people know who they are early in life, childhood even, and persist in manifesting their true selves throughout their lives and may even have the support of friends and family to do so; these are the fortunate few. Others of us know who we are but have to fight to be who we are which may require swimming upstream when others, or the circumstances of life, pressure you to be one way but actually, you are another. Still some, have no idea of who they truly are and even though they have many opportunities to grasp the pursuit of their true passion, they do not and continue living unaware of the joy that could be. The conscious journey of self actualization is sublime in and of itself. Although we do have friends and family whom we love dearly with all our hearts, we are more than how we relate to friends, family, communities or to the world. Each is an individual.
If we are lost, we only have so much time in this lifetime to find ourselves. If we know, we only have so much time in this lifetime to Do It! …Born to Do It!
by: from the Harte
12/14/2015
Photo courtesy of: madeinherimage.wordpress.com/Getty
Janet Jackson Announces State Of The World Tour
It’s official: We have dates for Janet Jackson’s rescheduled tour.
Here’s the backstory: The pop star postponed her sold-out Unbreakable tour, which started in 2015, and then later announced that she gave birth to her first child. On Monday night she announced to her fans, on her website, that she was coming to 56 North American cities just for them. The new name for this musical extravaganza? The State of the World Tour.
In the video clip on her site, Jackson explained the name adjustment.
“I’m continuing my tour as I promised,” she said in the one minute and 26 second video clip. “I decided to change the name of the tour. State of the World Tour. It’s not about politics. It’s about people, the world, relationships and just love… I want to thank you guys for your patience, for all of your support through the years. I am so excited. I cannot wait to see you on stage September 7. See you soon”
And, in a stroke of public relations greatness, she spoke frankly about her child and her marriage. According to a statement furnished by her publicist, after taking a year off to “enjoy pregnancy and motherhood,” she is “now ready to return to the live stage.” There’s no word yet on whether baby boy is traveling with her.
“I thank God for him. He’s so sweet and so loving. He’s such a happy baby,” Jackson said before delving into her marital issues. “I just want to keep it real with you guys for a second. Yes, I separated from my husband. We are in court and the rest is in God’s hands.”
Tickets go on sale May 5. The first show is in Lafayette, LA. The last show is in Atlanta.
Adrienne Gibbs is a Chicago-based journalist. Follow her @adriennewrites on FB and Twitter.
Jessica Sanchez, A Rising Star, Releases hot, new single, “Call Me”
Jessica Elizabeth Sanchez (born August 4, 1995) is an American singer and songwriter originally from Chula Vista, California. She was the runner-up on the eleventh season of the reality show American Idol. Prior to appearing on American Idol, Jessica competed in the first season of America’s Got Talent at the age of 11.
Jessica Elizabeth Sanchez was born in Chula Vista, California on August 4, 1995 to parents, Edita (born Bugay) and Gilbert Sanchez.[7] She was raised in Eastlake, Chula Vista along with two younger brothers. Her father is a Mexican-American originally from Texas, and is an Aviation Ordnance First Class Petty Officer in the United States Navy Reserves. Her mother is a Filipina whose family is from Samal, Bataan in the Philippines.
She attended Eastlake Middle School in Chula Vista and was homeschooled all four years of high school.
She started singing at the age of 2, and aspires to be a mainstream singer who can “belt but sing upbeat songs”. Eminem and Beyoncé are her favorite male and female artists, while Jennifer Hudson is her favorite American Idol contestant. Other musical influences include Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Etta James,Christina Aguilera, and Michael Jackson.
In early 2016 Sanchez began collaborating with YouTube singing sensation Leroy Sanchez. The pair released covers of Beyonce’s “1+1” and Justin Bieber ft. Halsey’s “The Feeling”. The colaborations has received over one million respective views. On April 7, Sanchez returned with numerous other idol alumni to perform on the penultimate and Grand Finale episode for the fifteenth (farewell) season of American Idol. Sanchez performed her season 11 revival of Andrea Bocelli’s “The Prayer”. Her performance was claimed as the ‘best performance’ and ‘stand out’ of the night gaining her international praise once again. Consequently Sanchez’s 2011 recording of the song re-entered the iTunes Top 200 singles chart peaking at number 166. Sanchez is set to travel to Australia and New Zealand for a total of four shows in May for her first Australian and New Zealand tour. Sanchez has also revealed she is currently in the process of recording her second studio album with the release date to still be decided. She described her second album to be more ‘gritty’ and ‘soulful’ compared to her debut album.
Her hot new single release, “Call Me”, is available for download on CD Baby and ITunes.
courtesy of wikipedia
How Beyoncé Is Redefining The Future Of The Music Industry
P. CLAIRE DODSON 04.30.16 6:06 AM
Beyoncé’s new visual album Lemonade, released last weekend, is a masterpiece of a short film. It’s also the new pinnacle of popular music—a multi-genre epic full of anger, heartbreak, and power. It is a perfect culminating moment for how we make, distribute, and consume popular music.
Beyoncé has long been a pioneer in savvy use of digital platforms to promote her work. Her career picked up speed with Destiny’s Child in 1996 and again in 2003 with the start to her solo career, but she really began to dominate in 2013, the year she announced (via Instagram) the release of a surprise self-titled album with corresponding music videos for every song. Despite having no advance promotion, that album sold more than 800,000 copies worldwide in just three days, thanks in part to excited social chatter to the tune of 1.2 million tweets featuring her name in the first 12 hours. The joint tour with Jay Z to promote that album earned more than $100 million in ticket sales alone. Lemonade, meanwhile, was released on husband Jay Z’s platform Tidal, where it wasavailable exclusively for about a day before becoming available on iTunes.
While digital savvy is one ingredient in Beyonce’s successful business strategy, her artistic and branding decisions are also paving the way for other artists.
TAKING CREATIVE CONTROL
Beyoncé’ founded Parkwood Entertainment in 2008. Parkwood released her last three albums (arguably her best three), as well as a slew of music videos and feature films and her recent athletic-wear line Ivy Park with Topshop. Owning her own company gives her an immense amount of artistic and business freedom; though the albums are released in partnership with Columbia Records, she gets to say who she wants to work with and when she wants to do it.
Online streaming and new channels for distribution have leveled the playing field for everyone, and no one has exploited that better than Beyoncé. The future of this industry belongs to her.
Edited 05.02.2016