The song I have decided to choose for my record club is “Can’t Die” by Juice Wrld. I believe every song he has the lyrics are very powerful and catches anyone’s attention very fast. Juice Wrld was struggling with addiction, anxiety, and depression. The fear of getting judged by the world has created an inner devil for Juice Wrld. The song Can’t Die is a very deep song that speaks directly to the audience about how he “can’t die” because he “never was alive”. That statement for the most part also touches on the depression that he feels due to the death of his loved ones, in addition to sympathizing with others who are going through the same. In the first chorus,
“Sometimes it feels like I can’t die, ’cause I never was alive”
Then in verse two, he sings
“Cross my heart, hope to survive”.
When Juice Wrld is singing you can really hear the acoustic guitar and you can pick up how the beat of the tone is more sincere and genuine like you hear the passion he has for music. As an audience, we can really notice when he raps he is very heartfelt but also when he sings it’s more calming and his vocals create a sense of sadness/pain. Expressing his emotions through his music really allows his audience to connect more with him, soecally about mental health. Many individuals use his music as an escape from reality and transport to somewhere they feel safe.
This song is considered a hip hop/rap genre. The chorus, verses, and the bridge in the song really create a sense of honesty and gives the audience a visual of his life and his mental health through the art of music. The song has a combination of a beat, tempo, chorus, and tone that really makes the music more smooth and creates a balance.
Musical Terms:
Chorus: It is a repeated section in the music, and it is a common song structure, and usually it is repeated at least twice in a song.
Beat: it is a regular pulse in music that allows the dancers/audience to go with the beat and music to run smoothly.
Tempo: the speed at which the music is or should be played.
Tone: is an attitude of a writer toward a subject or an audience. The tone in the music can be anywhere from informal to formal, cheerful, or sad.
I love the song Mahpara brought to record club. This song was already a part of my playlist so this wasn’t my first time hearing it, but it was refreshing to see another person like the same song. Juice Wrld has a way of getting an audience to relate to what he’s saying even if that audience member does not relate in the slightest, which I think is great because he can reach such a large range of people in doing so.
The song this reminds me of is “Hell N Back” by Bakar. I find the similarity between these songs is in the way these artists use their voices. Juice Wrld nor Bakar are actually rapping on the song, but they aren’t exactly singing, it is a wonderful in-between that adds an enjoyable element to the songs. I especially find that the tone and tempo are relatively similar as these are not fast-paced songs, but they move at a moderate rate.
Music Terms:
Tone: The sound of definite pitch
Tempo: The overall speed of a music piece
Focus: A strong, precise sense of image projection
What a great song. It put me in a good mood right away. That slightly reggae beat plus the horns make it sound like ska music–mixed with a little hip hop. Here are a couple of ska songs by The Specials, to show you what I mean.