To: ASEM Faculty
From: Esther Ki
Date: August 16, 2019
Subject: ASEM (E)Portfolio
Welcome to my writing portfolio for Writing About Music in the 21st Century. My name is Esther Ki, and I am a junior from Gwangju, South Korea. Although I was born in a different country, I have lived most of my life in the United States (across multiple states). Since my childhood was spent in the U.S., it was hard for me to stay connected with my Korean identity. I felt disconnected until I began exposing myself to Korean music, so music has always been something that helped me to realize who I am and who I have become.
Through the course of four weeks, there were three major writing projects assigned that implemented different methods of music writing: from creating an annotated playlist to a live review.
The first writing project (WP) involved creating a track-by-track annotated playlist of our favorite artist. I chose to talk about BTS, a South Korean boy group since they were an inspiration in my life. Despite the disconnect of my identity, I was still raised under Korean ways. From a very young age, I was always told to ignore my dreams and that I should plan to get a stable job where I can make a lot of money. Even if you didn’t agree with the ideas that the older generation was enforcing, we weren’t allowed to express our discontent openly; however, BTS changed it all. Their music was full of criticisms. They expressed their opinions on societal issues and how it is problematic that the older generation is influencing the young on how to live their life. It was entertaining to create a compiled playlist containing all of the songs that send a message to people like me so that they can find their true happiness in life.
The second WP was about one album that we would choose to bring if we were to be stranded on a desert island. I ended up selecting Kanye West’s 808s & Heartbreak because the album is reminiscent of one of the most emotional periods of my life. Although the emotions that I had felt were not necessarily full of happiness, the album holds a special meaning as it helped me to cope with the pain and the struggles during difficult times.
Finally, the last WP was about writing a review of a concert or a live performance that you have chosen to attend. I decided to write about Wiz Khalifa’s “The Decent Exposure Tour” in Denver at the Fillmore Auditorium. Since I knew Wiz Khalifa went all out on his performances, I captured my experience seeing him live, as well as describing the blast of energy from both the audience and the artist himself.
Among the three major writing assignments, I chose to revise the first two writing assignments as these were more personal compared to my live review. For the first writing project (WP #1), Professor Benz suggested incorporating more of the online medium other than the Spotify playlist. I included YouTube videos of the selected songs for the annotated playlist so that readers can listen to the music. I also hyperlinked the Love Myself campaign that BTS had collaborated with UNICEF. On top of using more of the online medium, it was recommended that I should condense the last couple of paragraphs because it was getting redundant. Before the revision, it was two long paragraphs, so I divided it into different paragraphs to make it easier to read and removed a couple of points so that I am not too repetitive. I chose to revise this particular assignment because these are the songs from the artist that helped me to become who I am.
The second writing assignment that I revised was the album that I would bring if I was stranded on a desert island: Kanye West’s 808s & Heartbreak. There was not a lot of revisions that needed to be made, but I resized the photos that I had included within my essay to fix the layout. I did realize that I did not include enough links within the second part of the essay, so I included hyperlinks of quotes that Kanye West had said in the past interviews. Personally, I chose to revise this piece because I felt like this assignment was emotionally powerful as it captured the hardest moments in my life, and the album helps me to keep the memory alive.
Music is used to share our emotions and experiences. Personally, I believe that music can help me to reflect on who I am as a person. I have used music to describe my personal experiences that I have encountered throughout my life and how it has helped me to change. For example, when I talked about Kanye West’s Say You Will, I was able to connect the music to the painful experience that I had encountered in the summer of 2010. Reflecting back to my past, the song (tone, mood, lyrics, and all) it shows how the music has touched me on an emotional level. By writing about music’s technicalities as well as personal significance, it shows how music has influenced me to become vulnerable about myself.
My portfolio contains writing very personal pieces. With the music that I listen to and write about, it has resonated with me because of the emotional connection that I feel towards the artist or the particular song/album. Like Lester Bangs’ review of “Astral Weeks,” Bangs mentions how he was in a state of physical and emotional pain at the time the album was released. The album touched him because he was able to put himself into the song and the lyrics. I think this is very important for music writing as this was something that I continually strive to do. Even though it is challenging to talk about traumatic and emotional experiences, if the writer opens up to their audience, it is easier to deliver the message. The audience will also be able to feel and share these emotions. Music is not just all about the technicalities (beat, melody, or tone), but it is also about delivering messages and emotion. Instead of focusing on music technicalities, I want to focus my writing on these messages and the feelings that the audience/readers can relate to within the music.
I believe that the message that is included within the music determines how people can connect to that particular song, album, or artist. From WP #1, I had talked about BTS and their message about finding true happiness. Through their music, they address how people should chase dreams, not money. They talk about how the younger generation is fed with the idea of materialistic values. They talk about self-love before loving others. These are all thoughts that we have had once in our lives, so the message clearly stands out. Listeners can relate to their messages, and the music makes us think, and it can change our perspective.
Music is compelling. It is influential. No matter how different we may be, music can connect people. Although we may all have different life stories, music can touch our hearts and feelings. Music can make us laugh out loud or make us burst out in tears. Since there is no exact way of interpreting different lyrics of songs, people can connect to music with their individual experiences in life. With music, I was able to reflect on my past experiences, and it helped me to think about who I have become over time. People may not know the power of music. Music has always been a part of people’s lives, and I hope that my portfolio can help people to think about what music means to them. While you may not know music’s influence, it would have witnessed your change-just like I have been able to change.
