Free A Comparison Of Two Different Regions’ Music Report Sample

Music in the world today is mainly categorized into two labels. They are the Western music and the non-Western music. Western music is a term that is attributed to music and in turn, cultures, that originated from Europe, including most of its descendants. Despite categorization, the West certainly imprinted the world of its music, making it more difficult to distinguish one from the other (Gomez, Haro, and Herrera 1).This blurs the identity of people in a particular geographical location. Although the Western influence is evident in music all over the world, geographical and cultural elements enable individuals to integrate them into music, resulting in a more definite identity.
In this study, we would be comparing two individuals from different geographical regions. This is to identify the ways that each of their cultures had led their lives in a certain direction. From here, we would also analyze the representation of the commercial appeal or traditional culture in each of these individuals. The individuals we would know more about are music artists themselves who have had distinguished achievements at least in their local and social networks.
The first individual is Alex Boyé from London. Both of Alex’s parents are Nigerian. However, his mother transferred to London and there she delivered Alex. He went to Nigeria to live with his father in the early years of his life. He also stayed with Caucasian parents in foster homes most of his earlier years.When he was a teenager, his music influences included James Brown, Jackie Wilson, Marvin Gaye, Otis Redding, Stevie Wonder, Kool and the Gang, andMotown. He used to be a pop sensation in the UK, being a member of the boy group Awesome. This group is said to be a soulful counterpart of the Backstreet Boys. In 2014, he rose to global fame through his viral cover production of the Disney movie Frozen’s Let It Go (Baker).
The second individual is Lee Sun-hee from South Korea. She was born in South Korea and raised through her father who is a Buddhist priest near a Buddhist site with family and monks. She revealed her three biggest musical influences in one of her concert tours, celebrating 30 years in the industry. In an intermission clip, she stated that she looked up to Whitney Houston, Barbra Streisand, and Madonna. Apart from being a vocalist, she has also written songs, especially in her later albums, including the hitmasterpiece Fate. The song was used as an original soundtrack for the historical drama movie King and the Clown (Kil).
Certainly, each of these two originated from the opposite sides of the world, yet both of their music inspirations and influences are artists from the West. Other than having this Western commonality, what made them successful is their acknowledgement of their roots. Despite the similarity, analyzing this would consequently give us the distinctions from these two artists. Their music could provide us an idea. We would examine Alex Boyé’s version of Let It Go and Lee Sun-hee’s work Fate, respectively.
For Let It Go, the melody and the lyrics are certainly from the original song. Boyé mainly played on the arrangement. As the clip title suggested, he Africanized it. He made it evident that he used traditional African elements such as the percussions and the tribal singing. The singing was similar to the intro of Lion King’s Circle of Lifewhere the story told us about the animal kingdom in the African wildlife. Nonetheless, he still integrated the piano, with the choir making the rhythm and harmonies (AlexBoyeTV; BBC). Our theory for its status of being viral and proving its commercial appeal was due to its timeliness and most importantly, the familiarity of the song. The cover was made just months after the release of the global box-office film. The familiarity was somehow subconscious. As discussed, it paid homage to one of Disney’s classic, the Lion King, through its African arrangement.
Lee Sun-hee’s Fate, on the other hand, has its own standards. It may not have the same viral status as that of Boyé’s work, yet it still gained respect globally from enthusiasts of the subculture of K-pop. It has an indirect familiarity for being attributed to the film and to many other global K-pop artists covering the song. With this, we infer that its commercial appeal was supported through the Korean Wave. Hallyu or the Korean Wave has also been breaking into the Western market. It has been proven possible since the Korean-Western modernity it carries makes the West relate to it. Upon examining the song, one would be able to confirm Western influences through its accompaniment. However, Sun-hee’s East Asian roots are also evident not only through the lyrics but also through the rhythm. Its lyrics are obviously Korean. Adding a more oriental feel to it are the gayageums in the background. A gayageum is a traditional Korean string instrument. They have almost made another lead through its plucking (Jaysbar4u; Finchum-Sung 56).
In conclusion, Western music is so prevalent in the world that it has become difficult to distinguish identities among origins. Nonetheless, each culture in the world has its own works to offer. It is the Western influence that served as the uniting agent that makes the works from various cultures relatable and appealing on the global scale.

Works Cited

AlexBoyeTV. “Let It Go – Frozen – Alex Boyé (Africanized Tribal Cover) Ft. One Voice Children’s Choir.” Online video clip.Youtube, 13 Feb.2014. Web. 13 Feb. 2015.
Baker, Celia R. “Former British pop sensation Alex Boyé finds his voice in Mormon tabernacle choir.” Salt Lake Tribune: 2009. Web. 13 Feb. 2015. <http://www.sltrib.com/ci_12853789>
BBC. “Music of Africa.” Web. 13 Feb. 2015. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/music/world_music/music_africa1.shtml>
Finchum-Sung, Hilary. “Performing the ‘Traditional’ in the South Korean Music World.” Folklore of East Asia: Folklore Forum: 2008, 38.1, 55-79.
Gomez, Emilia, Martin Haro, and Perfecto Herrera. “Music and Geography: Content Description of Musical Audio from Different Parts of the World.” International Society for Music Information Retrieval: 2009. Web. 12 Feb. 2015. <http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.182.2220&rep=rep1&type=p df>
Jaysbar4u. “Fate – Lee Sun Hee (english lyrics sub).” Online video clip.Youtube, 2 Dec. 2008. Web. 13 Feb. 2015.
Kil, Hye-Sung. “Lee Sun-Hee 30 years strength.” Web. 12 Feb. 2015. <http://star.mt.co.kr/view/stview.php?no=2014032422024139340&type=1&outlink=1>