Christopher Spraul

 A Musical Trip Through African Music African music is very popular due to its unique aspects such as storytelling, social rituals, and how it’s intertwined with daily life. African music has fallen under many categories such as jazz, blues, and even hip hop. The origins can be traced back all the way to ancient civilizations such as Egypt. Below are two songs that can show the difference and how African music has changed over the years.  “ Zombie ” - Fela Kuti (June 1st, 1976) Origin: Nigeria  This song was one I wanted to include because it is older, but also because it has a powerful meaning behind it as well which may be hard for people to understand if they don't listen to this kind of music. Zombie was created and is about the Nigerian military and its methods that they use. The "zombies" symbolize the soldier's lack of will and purpose, highlighting the conflicts in the country during the time.  Instruments: This song includes many different types of instrumen...

 The Evolution of Rap Music  Like everything in the world, thing's change over time based on what people enjoy or are interested in. Every year there's a new artist making music that is unique and sets them apart from others. We always notice those people because they make things that are not only different, but they connect to music we currently or used to like in some way. Rap has changed so much over the later 1970's to 2026 from the way the lyrics are said, to the way the drums are played over the artist rapping.  Rap is original poetry recited in rhythm and rhyme over prerecorded instrumental tracks. Rap had a humble beginning in the Bronx, NY back in the 1970's. A lot of modern rap songs are referred to as hip hop as well.   Hip-hop music culture is a product of African American, Afro-Caribbean and Latino inner-city communities plagued by poverty, the proliferation of drugs, and gang violence in the 1960s and early 1970s. Below are two songs that show the ...

 Dramatic Girl (February 20th, 2026) - By Baby Keem Baby Keem - Dramatic Girl (ft. Che Ecru) (Official Audio) - YouTube After listening to Baby Keem's new album "Ca$ino", one of the songs that stood out to me was "Dramatic Girl". This song has a flow that is addicting to listen to and has me coming back to listen to it more and more. The lyrics are simple but also still have deep meaning behind them which makes it easy to listen to while doing other things.  Artist - Baby Keem, whose real name is Hykeem, Jamaal Carter Jr, was born in October of the year 2000. Baby Keem is originally from Las Vegas, Nevada, and is known for making music with a melodic sound along with introspective lyrics. Baby Keem has multiple big hits including another artist such as Kendrick Lamar.  Instruments - The song starts with a retro guitar tone with high pitched vocals then switches to a more upbeat tempo with a bright piano playing along with other things such as bells, and a synth ...

"Opaline" (November 6, 2020)- By Novo Amor Sometimes you come across a song that gives you a feeling that you can't really describe to someone, and you can't even explain to yourself. This song gives me one of those feelings that makes me just want to gaze off into nothing or just stare at my ceiling in the dark. Novo Amor - Opaline (official video)  (Link) Artist: Novo Amor is an indie folk artist who was born in Wales, United Kingdom, and started making music in the early 2010's. A lot of people compare Novo Amor to Bon Iver due to the soft and fragile lyrics he sings, as well as the amount of reverb his music includes. Novo Amor means "new love" in Portuguese which can help understand his music a little bit more.  Instruments: The song starts with a piano that sounds like it would be filled with happy lyrics due to the chords and pace that it is being played at. This song layers the piano with pads as well as percussion as the emotions of the song s...

 Chris's First Blog Hey everyone, I'm Chris if you haven't gotten the chance to know a little bit about me then here are some facts about me. I'm originally from Texas, about 30 minutes east of Dallas. I'm 21 years old and I'm in the U.S military for my career currently. I enjoy doing things in my free time like fishing, snowboarding, working out, and all sorts of new things when they become available. I learned a lot about how to train dogs over my career and how to really get inside of how they think and act behavior wise. I almost always have music playing when I'm doing stuff and I enjoy diving into new genres constantly and discovering new thing's about song's that I've heard a lot before. I'm currently learning more about my truck and how to work on it mechanically so one day I can teach my kid's or other people how to do things to save them time and money.  I find the picture above appealing because it was one of the first even foo...