https://padlet.com/ndoone777/3chusui7fdfv Made with fortitude en-us 2018-02-07 21:08:32 UTC 2018-02-09 18:29:05 UTC hello@padlet.com ndoone777 https://padlet.com/ndoone777/3chusui7fdfv/wish/229379724 LO1- The third key artist that I will discuss is Prince. The song that I will focus on, is one of the last songs he released, 'Baltimore'. This song is quite an upbeat, happy- sounding pop song, which contrasts to what the song is about. The song is in the key of E major, in a 4/4 time signature yet the lyrics are based on the issue of racism in America in recent times. Prince wrote this song in an attempt to bring more awareness to police brutality against black people in the US, and based it around specific events that had happened in Baltimore, as the name suggests. There were protests going on in Baltimore when this song was written, that started as a result of the death of Freddie Gray. Freddie Gray died as a result of getting neck injuries after being arrested by the Baltimore Police Department. It was events such as these that were making people from all races, stand up and demand change. Prince most likely saw an opportunity to vocalise this through this song. 
This song was clearly influenced by the events that were happening in America, but musically it was influenced by a lot of funk/ pop songs. From an early age, Prince was inspired by the music of the band Sly and the Family Stone. You can hear this influence in the instrumentation of his music and the arrangements. An example of this is the use of a full band, including lead electric guitar, walking bass lines and female backing vocals with use of harmonies. 

LO2- The next thing I will discuss are the characteristics of Prince's music, specifically in this song. As I've said before, this is a pop song, however, Prince's music shows characteristics from lots of different genres such as blues, funk, soul and rock. Some of these characteristics include that he has lyrical soulful melodies, gospel influences in his backing vocals, a strong rhythm section and repetition of a catchy chorus.
The location where this song was written and released had a massive effect on the reception of it. This song was based on true, current events and that made it so much more relevant to people, especially young people from the black community who were very much affected by the trauma and worry that their lives were in danger if they ever came in contact with the police.
The relationship between this song and the audience that it was aimed at (the world), is very significant. Prince wrote in a statement, not long after the events in Baltimore that 'the system is broken. It's going to take the young people to fix it this time.' This shows that through this song, he was trying to reach young people and trying to show them that they have the power to fix a lot of the issues that are happening in the world today. This song was one of the songs that was used in the campaign 'Black Lives Matter' which further shows how the relationship between music and the audience can be very important when trying to have a positive influence and make changes in the world. 

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