In recent months The 1975 has released their first single, “Love Me”, off of their highly anticipated sophomore album- I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It.
With Bowie-esque melodies and cheeky lyrics, the British quartet is shaking up the music industry with a valiant effort to challenge contemporary pop music. The 1975’s new single is a self parodying ode to the narcissism of fame in today’s youth culture.
Matt Healy, the front man for The 1975, begins the music video by singing, “I’m just with my friends online” while he drinks a bottle of champagne donning electric blue eye shadow.
Healy states this lyric derives from our generation’s obsession with social media and the alternate reality it ensues. If that’s not shocking enough he does this while provocatively enticing card board cut outs of pop icons.
He goes on to sing, “You look famous, let’s be friends and portray we possess something important” revealing the rock star’s sarcastic views on entitlement as a celebrity.
This poses the idea that artist and consumers alike falsely believe that celebrities possess qualities and thoughts that make them elite compared to the general population.
The in your face lyrics conclude with, “We’ve just come to represent a decline in the standards of what we accept!”
This is a direct questioning of the current principles of the music industry as we know it.
A scene from the music video for “Love Me.” Photo Credit: 1975/ Youtube (Screengrab)
Healy believes that pop music has become a brand and not about expressing genuine emotion through talent. He has articulated his want for the youth to be more critical about what they consume and what inspires them.
The band hopes to start a conversation what as a society we have let the music industry become.
Before releasing their single, The 1975 made a bold power move by deleting all of their social media accounts leaving fans and critics perplexed on the state of the band.
24 hours later, they reemerged with a new aesthetic, giving music lovers the opportunity to decide if pop artist can survive without a social media presence.
So what does witty one liners background with 80’s synth pop and social media blackouts mean for the The 1975’s music career? As listeners we’ll have to stay tuned but we’ll always be in awe of the band’s blatant disregard to music industry norms.
Cover Photo Credit: The 1975/ Facebook
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The Incredible Story Of How A College Student Singlehandedly Changed The Constitution
By Ana Cedeno
While every experience is different, there are some universal truths when it comes to college.
The food is always expensive for example.
You learn to crave privacy after having a roommate, and term papers are either an easy “A” or the bane of your existence.
Such is life.
But for Gregory Watson, one such term paper would go on to change his life forever.
As a student in 1982 attending the University of Texas, Watson wrote a term paper on the topic of the unratified 27th Amendment to the Constitution.
At the time there were only 26 Amendments to the Constitution, and dozens of other proposals throughout the course of American history were never able to join in their elite number.
For his paper, Watson wanted to impress. So he dug deep through archives where he found the text of a proposed Amendment first proposed in 1787 but was left unratified due to lack of support, as only six states backed it.
This proposed Amendment stated that “No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.”
What this basically means is that a congressman cannot vote themselves a pay raise and have it take effect immediately, but would have to wait until the next election cycle.
This in turn would give them an incentive to be less corrupt, since if they act in any way that makes people think they don’t deserve the raise, they can be voted out.
195 years down the road, Watson found the Amendment while looking for a topic for his paper in the Austin public Library.
According to an article in the Post-Gazette, the Amendment caught Watson’s attention, and upon finding that it was still in play realized it could still be passed.
So he wrote a banging paper about it that only received a C grade because the professor didn’t think his idea of getting the Amendment passed was realistic.
Later in an interview for Unlock Congress, Watson agreed this just episode made him more determined to see the process through.
He did this by going on to contact state legislators all around the country, trying to convince them the Amendment should be ratified.
“I knew that all I had to do was show this to the state legislatures and convince them that it had no deadline,” Watson told the Huffington Post. “And therefore, because it had no deadline, it was technically still pending business. And they could still take it up — even though it was 192 or 193 years later. And sure enough, that’s what happened. The very next year I was able to get Maine to approve it. And once I got a state to approve it, the momentum took off. The year after that, 1984, I got Colorado to pass it. It really took off in 1985; five states passed it. I knew it was just a simple matter of clearly presenting this issue to the state legislatures, and that they would act appropriately. And they did.”
By 1992, Alabama, Missouri and Michigan were the last states to ratify the amendment, finally making it a reality a decade after he was given a “C” on that term paper.
While he’s come a long way from that sophomore in 1982, Watson’s passion for politics hasn’t died down. He is still involved as a Legislative Policy Analyst in the Texas Legislature and encourages others to take an interest in politics.
“You say you’ll change the constitution. Ok.” The Beatles weren’t exactly Constitutional experts. Photo Credit: Alex Harden/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
“If the public does not constantly monitor and communicate with their elected officials, guess what?,” Watson said in the interview with Unlock Congress. “Their elected officials are going to play, and they’re going to engage in sleazy behavior… and the only way to keep them honest is by constantly monitoring them and constantly communicating with them.”
While this story of sophomore-assignment-turned-Amendment seems borderline incredible, it goes to show just how alive the Constitution truly is.
It also sets an example for those who want to make a difference in the country.
If this one man was able to bring about a change to the Constitution-something that many people more powerful then himself have failed at, then imagine what we all could do if we worked together towards collective change.
All you have to do is be willing to fight for that change, even if you get a C.
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in public affairs. You can write for us.
Cover Photo Credit: Daniel R. Blume/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
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My First Time At A Gay Bar
“I’m giving it my all, but I’m not the girl you’re taking home, ooh. I keep dancing on my own (I keep dancing on my own)…”
I remember my first time at a gay bar in DC.
Robyn’s “Dancing On My Own” was, unsurprisingly, blaring on the DJ’s speakers.
Other popular go-to gay anthems included “No Scrubs” by TLC and, of course, “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” by the late, great Whitney Houston (“How Will I Know” is the superior Whitney song, however. Fight me!).
Hearing these songs play in the background of my first gay bar was not only a great change of pace, but also a breath of fresh air.
My bar/club experience in the DC scene was limited to the predominantly straight spaces where songs foreign to my young, queer heart reigned supreme.
So, when the chance came for me to finally go to a party space made by and for gay people, I was utterly giddy.
I was excited to move how I wanted, talk how I wanted, and wear what I wanted without fear of judgement or harassment from others.
Prior to entering the gay spaces of DC, my knowledge of gay culture was limited to what I watched on RuPaul’s Drag Race and Jennie Livingston’s Paris is Burning.
These pieces of media showcased queer, trans, and gay folk who challenged societal and gender norms, wore outlandish, yet awe-inspiring, costumes, vogued the house down, threw shade, lip-synced for their lives, and wore their identities as badges of honor.
Photo Credit: Hotlanta Voyeur/ Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
Most importantly, these individuals showed me the resilience of the queer and trans community, a community whose people have been and still are vulnerable and oppressed today, especially those of color.
Bearing all of this mind, I was ready to enter my first gay bar itching to (try to) death drop like Shangela (a former contestant on RuPaul’s Drag Race), walk like Pepper LaBeija (the late house mother of the “House of LaBeija”), and serve “Pretty Girl, 1986” realness.
When I finally arrived at my first gay bar, I was disheartened by what I found.
Some people reading this may think that I was being completely naive to expect so much out of these places.
In hindsight, I understand that I was.
But, at the time, I could not help but hope that these bars and clubs would be like the “balls” I had seen in Paris is Burning or the exuberant people I had watched on Drag Race.
For many queer people, representation is so slim that the moment I got to have a first taste, I was excited to take a huge bite out of gay culture after years of imagining, hoping, and wishing.
Upon entering the bar, after the initial songs of excitement had waned, I slowly realized that what I expected paled in comparison to what was actually around me, and I mean literally paled.
Almost everyone at my first gay bar was white with the folks of color added in sparsely like sprinkles put on a vanilla cone by a stingy Baskin-Robbins worker.
Also, practically everyone was wearing the same thing.
It was either a snapback with a muscle-tank, shorts, and high-tops, or an unbuttoned button-up that revealed a chiseled body formed by countless hours at the gym.
I saw little to no displays of gender interrogation, scarce embracements of femininity, and little of the “diversity” that the mainstream LGBT community ostensibly champions.
Photo Credit: Hotlanta Voyeur/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
At straight clubs, I felt like I stuck out, and now at gay ones, I felt invisible.
Nobody looked like me nor at me.
Many argue that a large proportion of gay men do not find Asian men attractive due to racialized “preferences,” and that is true.
But, it would not have made a difference if the people there were interested in me.
At the end of the day, my feminine, gender non-conforming Asian self did not fit in with the white, snapback-wearing, masculine gay people of my first gay bar.
Though we did have similar interests, RuPaul’s Drag Race being one of them, it seemed as if their “feminine” inclinations were okay so long as their bodies were muscular and mannerisms of the macho persuasion.
Although my first taste of the gay scene in DC left my palette wholly unsatisfied, I did not allow myself to settle or conform.
Much like the fierce queens on Drag Race who worked for the crown, or the resilient people in Paris is Burning who reached for the stars, I, too, knew that my search for queer spaces was far from over.
I know that there is more to queer life than the ones readily accessible to me, but until then, I will stay true to Robyn’s words and dance on my own until I find the people I want to dance and feel the heat with.
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in the world. You can write for us.
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Cover Photo Credit: Hotlanta Voyeur/ Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
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