Music and Me

 Hi, my name is Lauren. I live in Spartanburg, SC with my parents and 2 of my 3 siblings. I grew up in a pretty musical household as my parents always encouraged my siblings and I to creatively express ourselves through dance, music, art, and writing. As I got older, my interest in music began to grow specifically choir music and gospel music. I began singing in church more often and really felt spiritually connected to God through music and decided to peruse a career in it. I am currently a music education student at Converse University with hopes of becoming a high school choir director. 

1. An example of something I like right now is Joy Is Coming 

I really enjoy this song and the artist who sings this song. Todd Galberth is a gospel artist who has recently been taking traditional hymnals and gospel songs and putting a more modern spin on them. His latest album is 100% live which is incredibly hard to do especially with a body of work like 'Encounter'. One of the reasons I really like this song is because it's recorded live so there's an element of intimacy. You can clearly hear the people in the audience cheering and singing along. You can easily feel like you're there in the building with them when this song is turned up loud enough. 

2. A song that has great significance to me is I'm Here 

I always say that if there was a coming of age movie made about me, Im Here would be the song that plays at the climax of the movie. Apart from the fact that Cynthia Erivo is by far one of my favorite vocalist ever in life, the words of this song are extremely important to me. This song is from the musical The Color Purple but this particular song is inspired from a scene in the movie where Celie finally leaves her toxic environment she yells out "IM HERE" as she rides off into the sunset. In this part of the move/musical, it's a pivotal moment in which Celie takes control and ownership of her own life begins learning how to love and care for herself. This song was extremely important to me when I began to find my own voice.

3. A song I don't really feel connected to is I'm getting ready 

This song is a Song by Tasha Cobbs featuring Nicki Minaj. It's supposed to be a gospel song but Nicki Minaj is on it so it's kind of not? I'm not completely sure what it's supposed to be so that's the main reason why I loathhh!!!! this song. Every time it comes on shuffle I ask Alexa kindly, but firmly to skip it. I guess I understand the concept of gospel rapping but not really from Nicki Minaj because she makes music that is usually the complete opposite.