The two basic types of headphones are on-ear and in-ear headphones. Within these categories are more specific types:

On-Ear Headphones

Circumaural (Full Sized Headphones)- These headphones generally have circular ear-pads that completely surround your ear. Since they surround your ear, they block out most outside noise. However, they are bulky and less portable than other headphones and slightly more expensive. If you’re willing to dish out a few extra dollars, then these are the headphones for you. They are generally used in recording studious and my music enthusiasts. Pros: Sealed, good sound isolation; high quality bass. Cons: Large and cumbersome; can over-heat ears; can interfere with glasses/earrings, etc

Supra-aural- These headphones are much lighter-weight than the circumaural headphones. Rather than surrounding your ear, they instead rest on top of them. Depending on the brand, they can either be extremely high quality or pretty bad. Pros:Lighter weight than the circumaural, but still high quality; don’t over-heat; comfortable; portable Cons: Not sealed; not as good bass as in circumaural phones.

Ear-buds- Unlike the above headphones, these headphones are completely portable, and can even fit into your pocket. These headphones rest directly outside your ear canal. They are much cheaper than any other type of headphones, and much more convenient. However, since they cannot isolate sound, the volume of your device has to be turned way up to deliver a good sound, potentially causing ear damage. They also have a very low quality bass. Pros: Small, lightweight, portable; many different colors and styles; cheap. Cons: Not durable; poor bass; no sound isolation; may cause hearing loss.

In-Ear Headphones

Canalphones (in ear canal headphones)- These are the only type of in ear headphones. They look similar in appearance to ear-buds, but instead of resting on your ear, they have foam, rubber, or silicon tips that are inserted directly into your ear canal. This provides excellent sound isolation. They are also very portable and compact, while still delivering an excellent sound. Depending on how much money you are willing to pay, there are two types of canalphones: Universal and Custom. Universal phones generally come with 2-3 different sized tips that will generally fit in your ear pretty well. Custom phones are specially designed to fit your ear perfectly to best deliver the sound to you. They are more expensive than universal phones. Pros: Compact and small; excellent sound isolation; comfortable; okay bass. Cons: expensive; not always durable; may be uncomfortable.

Hopefully with this information you will be able to find a set of headphones that are right for you. Keep in mind that different brands will have slight differences in their products, and that this will affect your listening experience. For brief summaries of brands that make headphones, go here: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/electronics-computers/audio-video/headphones/headphone-buying-advice/headphone-brands/headphones-brands.htm

Why?

I am one of the biggest offenders, and I admit it. I absolutely love music and when I can find freebie downloads of great songs or am able to listen to them streamed I pounce on the chance. It’s a lot easier to get things online, for a lack of cash, and enjoy the musical brilliance. This, however, is bad.

It is important to support the music artists you love. Most of the bands and musicians you listen to have strived and struggled to get to where they are. The newer and less popular artists are probably battling that struggle right now. Every bit of income from the earnings of their CDs will help them buy new equipment, improve sound quality, record more, and eventually tour. But what about the artists that are already rich and rolling in their cash? Some would think they already have enough money that you can find free downloads of their music and it wouldn’t do any harm getting whole pirated CD’s from somewhere or someone. This is probably true. But guess what? It’s unjust.

What exactly do I mean by that? Well I didn’t really care much at first. But even the well-off artists deserve the money for their work. These people, typically, put their hard work, sweat, and hearts into their music. They take time creating powerful, loving, touching, fierce, outrageous lyrics. And then they have to set them to the music and perfect the song, practicing it repeatedly. There is a lot of work and thought put into the songs we love most. Imagine putting all your work and effort into something. Staying up late many nights in a row working on something great to share with the world and make a profit on. …But never making the profit or reaping the benefits. Or maybe you start off with profit and then eventually get nothing from it.

It just isn’t right to take the work of people we idolize and use it as we please without the intent to purchase their CDs. In my opinion finding a few available downloads to see if its worth buying is great. As long as you intend to buy the CD. Or finding streamed sources and saying “Wow, I really like this.” And then when you get the chance, buy a CD.

True Fan

I have a friend that helped me realize, whether she meant to or not, the importance of buying the CDs and being a true fan. She is an absolute Nine Inch Nails fan. I’ve never meet anyone that loved a band more. There is no song by that band that she hates. Some are different to her, or old, but she still likes them. There is a poster of Trent (lead singer) on her wall, and pictures of him strewn about. But most importantly she has a growing collection of NIN CDs. She has a bunch of them. Being a true fan she much rather have the official CDs, a discography of his work, than a collection of downloaded songs she could get for free.

If you really are a music lover, a true fan of music and the artists you have grown to like so well, you will find a way to occasionally buy some of their CDs. Even just one of each to accompany any downloads. I know some CDs are expensive and some people can’t afford that (I know I have trouble buying CDs, especially imported ones), but at least try to support the artists. Use legal sites that sell the music song by song for around $1 if you can’t get whole CDs.

Like I said, I’m the biggest offender of finding online sources such as YouTube and such. But I’m now set on collecting CDs of all the bands I listen to most. Having a Depeche Mode and Billy Joel CD just feels good. It’s as if you have an official collection and can flaunt your love for that band or artist.

Be a true fan, support the artists in their on going struggle and show your fan-side for those that have passed the struggle of being a beginner artist.

1. Pavement: Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain

   Pavement is one of the most revered bands of the 90’s, and rightfully so. Their lazy brand of guitar rock was innovative and ground-breaking while at the same time being very accessible and familiar. Led by frontman Stephen Malkmus, they were active from the late 80s to the late 90s, releasing five albums. Although each of these albums received considerable critical acclaim, their first two albums, “Slanted & Enchanted” and “Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain” are considered to be not only better than the rest, but also two of the most important albums of the decade. Of the two, I prefer Crooked Rain, which is less experimental but more polished and chock full of timeless songs. Even today, almost 15 years after it has released, this album remains the epitome of perfection in its genre and for my money has the best first half of any album I’ve ever heard.

   Best Songs: Cut Your Hair, Gold Soundz

2. Weezer: Pinkerton

   Much like Pavement, Weezer’s first two albums, “Weezer” (also known as The Blue Album) and “Pinkerton”, are considered to be touchstones of early 90’s indie music. The Blue Album is a pop masterpiece and by far the most popular of the two, containing hits like, “Buddy Holly”, “Undone (The Sweater Song)”, and “Say It Ain’t So” which defined the early part of the decade for many people. Pinkerton was much less popular upon its release and contains no huge singles, but in the last decade it has gone on to become somewhat of a classic and for my money is even better than their debut. Where “Weezer” deals mostly in shrewd pop sensibility, “Pinkerton” is permeated with sex and deals with themes like rejection, obsession, and insecurity. Rivers Cuomo would say upon its release that the album was a big mistake, but judging from the trash he has made since it came out, I’d say that is a pretty solid endorsement for “Pinkerton”.

   Best Songs: Tired of Sex, Falling For You

3. Guided By Voices-Bee Thousand

   Cramming 20 songs into under 40 minutes, Guided by Voices’ magnum opus “Bee Thousand” finds singer/songwriter Robert Pollard being both his own McCartney and his own Lennon. Some of the songs are pop gems, bordering on radio friendliness, while others are brief (sometimes under a minute in length) forays into experimentalism. In spite of this, the album feels surprisingly cohesive and is perhaps held together but the lo-fi recording technique for which Pollard is sometimes credit with creating. In any event, “Bee Thousand” is a very efficient album. All the fat has been trimmed and all that remains are some of the best penned and arranged songs of the 90’s – simple but deceptively complex. The album is especially notable for being Pollard’s “big break”, finally allowing him to retire from his day job as a schoolteacher at the age of 36.
   
   Best Songs: I Am a Scientist, Gold Star for Robot Boy, Tractor Rape Chain

4. Neutral Milk Hotel-In The Aeroplane Over The Sea

   Jeff Mangum, the creative voice of Neutral Milk Hotel, is a Brian Wilson-esque frontman whose own idiosyncrasies sometimes overshadow his brilliant music. Yes, he is if not reclusive, at least very reticent to be in the limelight. No, he hasn’t really done anything since the release of “In the Aeroplane Over the Sea” (hereafter known as ITAOTS). Yes, the album deals largely with his obsession with the long-dead Anne Frank. But for the most part, none of these things matter. All that’s important is that, with ITAOTS, Mangum crafted a brilliantly moving record that has in the last ten years become somewhat of an albatross for him (see, Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine, below). Magnum’s wavering, unsteady vocals are pitch-perfect here, dealing with themes of war, death, and religion. However, even though the album is lyrically dark, the music never drifts into melodrama or sentimentality, keeping things moving with an almost ska-like disposition (complete with frequent horn licks) that makes the album as infinitely listenable as it is rewarding.

   Best Songs: Holland 1945, Ghost, Two-Headed Boy

5. My Bloody Valentine-Loveless

   This album is basically impossible to describe to anyone who hasn’t heard it, and the (many) attempts to classify it that I’ve read have usually just plummeted into ridiculous metaphors comparing it to beautiful women, nature, the first crack of light in the morning, et cetera. Basically, to those of you reading this, you’re either familiar with the album or you’re not. If you are and you “get it”, then you feel me on this one. If you are and you don’t like it, then you never will. If you’ve never heard it, I encourage you to listen to it at least once (no, My Bloody Valentine is not an emo band) and figure out for yourself whether it’s your cup of tea. Depending on who you ask, this is either one of the best albums of the 90’s or one of the most overrated records ever released. I’m staunchly in the former camp, but you can judge for yourself.
   
   Best Songs: I Only Said, When You Sleep, Blown a Wish

How I started: I’d always enjoyed creative writing, i.e writing poems/short stories while at school. Naturally, I decided why not add a new dimension to my creative output. So around 1996/97, I started merging my poems into rap lyrics and I haven’t looked back since. I participated (and still do) in “open mic” sessions in clubs and just about any other forum that will allow me to open my big mouth and flow over melodic instrumentals ! I was always encouraged by people to keep honing my skills and that I have the potential but I always saw rapping as a hobby and nothing more !

Inspiration: I tend to get inspiration from artists such as Rakim, Tupac and Nas. Although admittedly, as I love rap music there are far too many artists to mention here, who I enjoy listening to. I remember being mesmerized by Rass Kass who never ceased to amaze me with his lyrical prowess. His thought-provoking (and at times hilarious lyrics) laced with metaphor after metaphor blew me away !! I also remember going absolutely mental and seriously acting like a deranged psychopath on the dance floor whenever I heard anything by Onyx ! How on earth I came out of a “Westwood” rave in one piece, I will never know!

Speaking of (Tim) Westwood, please hit me up, any of you that have memories of yesteryear (about a decade ago), when all Westwood raves were just the bomb! As a self-proclaimed dance-nut, I can remember throwing some serious distinctive dance shapes on the floors of: Temple, Caesars, Mermaid Theatre, Moonlighting and more recently Islington Academy to name a few clubs in London ! I will never forget the permanent look of horror etched on the crowds’ faces, (nudge …rolling of eyes)… like ‘er, what the hell did she take…”

I would say that the UK hip hop scene has a number of quality MCs. Some of these MCs certainly have what it takes to stand shoulder to shoulder with some of our contemporaries in the states but will that ever happen? Obviously being a female rapper, you stand out because you’re a female in a male-dominated scene.

However, that is a very weak reason for standing out, and I wanna stand out because of the merits I possess. I wanna bring something new to the table. I wanna bring a flava that hasn’t been tasted before. I wanna reach out to peeps that appreciate a lyrical style that is: a blend of serious issues with a twist of humour ! In my lyrics, I delve into one persona I know so well…

My own !

Remaining true to yourself makes you credible. With credibility you can do no wrong!

For me, it was 1985, and I was just 7 years old at the time. At this time, I was just starting little league and there was one particular day I was on my way to practice when I heard The Show for the first time. It would be at that moment that I would be introduced to what a initially thought was “junk”. I am going to be honest, I did not like it the first time I heard it. However, after hearing it again….and again…..and again, it grew on me. I am not sure why it did, maybe it was just the fact that it was something so different and so unusually creative at the time that maybe we just were not ready for it, or were as prepared to embrace it is we are now.

At that time, maybe it was not the music that did it for me. Perhaps it was these three movies that made me fall for something special at that time. Maybe it was these three movies that made me embrace something to the point that I embrace it now. Maybe it was these three movies that formally introduced me to hip-hop.

I remember sitting with my cousins one day watching Krush Groove, and then watching “Beat Street”, and then watching Breakin’ and thinking that those were the greatest movies ever made, and how we used to go outside and try to do most of the moves we saw in the movies, and it was at that moment that listening to the show finally made sense.

As I grew up and hip-hop grew up along with me, I became more fascinated with the music in the same way I was the first time I saw those three movies. I remember listening to “The Show” and gaining a greater appreciation for it, especially after hearing other hip-hop classics such as Sucka MC’s by Run DMC, and LL Cool J’s Rock the Bells. However, if was one song that I remember hearing and I knew that this would be a part of my life forever, that song would forever be “Microphone Fiend” by Eric B. and Rakim.

I remember snatching a copy of the album cassette from a neighbor and sneaking into my room to listen to it. Keep in mind, for those younger people who only know of CD’s a cassette was a little something we used that had a “side A” and a “side B” which you could rewind and fast forward, however if you did that too many times like I did it would “eat the tape”, and then you would have to pull tape out of the stereo, and try to put it back together. Another option that we had was vinyl, where the term “LP” was a common term. But getting back to Microphone Fiend, the song was on the 1988 album entitled Follow the Leader, an album many people considered as one of the greatest albums ever recorded. I remember listening to everything on the album from “Follow the Leader” up to “Beats for the Listeners”, however it was that one song, “Microphone Fiend” that is what remember most from that album. From that moment, I was like a junkie, hooked on hip-hop.

As time went on and I got older, hip hop got older along with me. It was like as I went through a different phase in my life, hip hop went through a different phase in its growth, and its global influence. I remember listening to listening to NWA, and Public Enemy, as well as many other groups that came out in the late 80’s and the early 90’s. However if someone would ask what I would be listening to outside of Eric B. and Rakim, it would be A Tribe Called Quest, and on occasion EPMD thrown in as well. I remember at the same time listening to classic tracks such Scenario, and Bonita Applebum and thinking to myself how hip hop was fun, and I had a lot of fun listening to it.

My junior and senior years in high school was spent listening to 2Pac, Snoop Dogg, and Dr. Dre’s The Chronic so many times that it became almost to the point that it became a second language. I knew at that moment that hip hop was not just nationwide, but it had also became a global phenomenon. However during this time, I would be the year that I would listen not just for the beats, which I still do from time to time, but also I am listening for content more. Along that time, I was introduced to the album that I now have a habit for rating all albums against this one particular album. I remember the first time I heard Nas’s Illmatic, and I was one of the few people in my hometown that immediately thought of it as a classic. Whereas most of my classmates at the time were listening to 2Pac on a regular basis, this album to me was so groundbreaking and so influential that I still play it today on a regular basis, and in most cases when I mention a particular person’s best album, it refer to it as their “Illmatic”

While listening to that ab lum, there was one other artist that I took a liking to as well. I of course was listening to Nas and listening to OutKast, but I almost felt like the first time I listened to Juicy by the Notorious B.I.G. like it was a national holiday. I don’t know why it seemed that way to me, but it is almost like a feeling you get that can’t be explained, like when you meet the girl of your dreams for the first time, and you are rendered speechless by the thought of her. I actually felt that way when I heard I used to Love H.E.R. by Common. I began to think about how Common gives a history lecture of hip hop, and at the same time voicing his concern and displeasure about the direction that hip hop was heading into. At the time, I thought that everything was going good about hip-hop, however maybe that song was a sign of things to come.

If there is anything I love as much as hip hop, if not more, is boxing. Unfortunately, for many of us, these two will be forever linked for one fateful night in September 1996. I was like many people watching Mike Tyson knock out Bruce Sheldon in the first round on September 7, and later on that night we heard news that 2Pac was involved in a shooting which he was shot multiple times. It would be on September 13 that we all learned of his death. I remember sitting outside on the campus of Southern University and all of us playing his albums and talking about his music, and about hip hop in general. We were all hoping that would be the last time we had to go through with this. Was I ever wrong.

March 9, 1997 was a night that we had went out and were talking about music when we heard the news that the Notorious B.I.G. was killed. I think we were all in shock and complete disbelief because we had already went through this in September, and were not prepared to go through this again. At that point, hip hop was not fun anymore. It was not the hip hop I knew and loved. I was like hip hop became something we did not want anymore.

It has been 10 years since that moment, since then, Jay-Z managed to release an album a year from 1996-2003, Nas released numerous albums, although none of which in my opinion came close to Illmatic, until he released Stillmatic in 2002. Artists like OutKast have pushed the envelope of creativity to new levels, and Kanye West has brought back a side of hip hop that reminds us still that it is still fun. However, 2002 brought another dark shadow in hip hop that I wish never happened as well. I sometimes go back and listen to Run DMC, and it just is not the same since the death of Jam Master Jay.

Hip hop has made great strides, in the music as well as the cultural aspects of hip hop. Trends have come and gone. Artists have come and artist have gone, but the music has been the one constant that is always here, and is not going anywhere. As hip hop grew, alot has changed. It has changed so much that I am not sure if I know this hip hop that is around now. Come to think of it, there may be a reason for that.

Now, it seems like that I spend more time defending hip hop than I do loving it. It seems like everything out now is still the same. I seems like if I am watching Rap City when I do watch, it seems like it is a dance-instructional video. It seems like there are not too many people who dare to be creative anymore, or dare to have an opinion and speak what is on their minds, instead of speaking on behalf of a label and seems the be almost like puppetmasters pulling strings just to keep money in their pockets.

I had a discussion with some friends who don’t understand the concept of Nas when he say’s “Hip hop is dead”. They always ask me do I feel the same way as it pretains to hip hop. For me to fully answer that question, you have to understand where hip hop came from, and the direction is going, as well as the difference between hip hop and rap music. From a cultural standpoint, hip hop is alive and well, and it is not going anywhere. from a standpoint of the music, I think that hip hop is on life support. It is not dead yet, but it is dying slowly, because of the lack of creative, and the fact that most artists don’t embrace those that have come before them. But as KRS-One has said on numerours occassions as it pretains to the differnece between rap and hip hop, “Rap is something you do. Hip hop is what we live.” Hopefully we don’t prove him wrong.