Kaetrena Davis Kendrick, M.S.L.S.

University of South Carolina Lancaster

Song: “Aurora”

Artist: Jonghyun (Kim Jonghyun)

Album: 좋아 (She Is)

Album Release Date: May 24, 2016

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3WjWXDBlq8

Caption: Press Play to Hear “Aurora” by Jonghyun.

“Aurora” echoes…

Song: “Lady”

Artist: D’Angelo

Album: Brown Sugar

Album Release Date: July 4, 1995

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmdUMwlrezs

Caption: Press Play to hear “Lady” by D’Angelo.

ELEMENTS OF NOTE:

• Clapping and jazz percussion
• Syncopated lyrics
• Lower vocal registers for stanza performance, falsetto for ad-libs and chorus
• Use of two- or three-part harmony
• Background vocals feature artist
• Both songs discuss willingness and confidence of being the best choice for the love interest and in turn, that the love interest represents his ideal (see English interpretation of “Aurora” lyrics)

TRADE OFFS:

• D’Angelo’s strong bass-line vs. Jonghyun’s use of bass drum and modulated guitars and bass.
• D’Angelo’s use of a catch-line (“I can tell they’re lookin’ at us”) to interrupt the traditional song composition vs. Jonghyun’s traditional lyric-chorus-lyric-chorus-bridge-chorus composition
• D’Angelo’s piano chords vs. Jonghyun’s synthesizers

Learn more about D’Angelo.

See also: Dwele, Bilal, Ledisi

Happy Listening!

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