3stars

As time passing by, our society change. Those changes can be seen in politics, economics, even in our cultures like songs we listen to. We are all aware of that the music has power to arouse people's sympathy and make great impacts on societies. Sometimes it can become a social phenomenon. All through the ages, music is something that is absolutely imperative in our human behavior like cultural, spiritual and also social activities. Sadly, most of songs fall behind the time in general. However, in today's rapidly changing world, there are some artists who stay internationally famous. This paper mainly focuses on these three musicians, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Umm Kulthum, and Bob Dylan. The three lived different religion and they do not share same kinds of experiences, nor do they not have same religious or political point of view. By explaining the reasons of their great popularity in these three musicians, this essay clarifies differences and similarities in their music.

Among most hit songs, musical talents of players are one of the important facts to contribute to its millions of CD sales. For instance, Nusrat's vocal technique like his vibrato is outstanding, and also his voice, its own enables audiences to feel the power of words to a maximum extent. That kind of skill is something you cannot inquire by any hardest training. Furthermore, often ritualized songs have a lot of religious significances does not tend to be popular songs. However, because of Nusrat's extraordinary vocal skills contributes to make Qawwali music be pop songs not only in his country in Pakistan, and also western countries. Another talented musician's example is the case of Umm Kulthum. As she is remembered as "the voice and face of Egypt" (Danielson 3), she is the singer who sold most CD albums in Arabic speaking world. What made her popular is the fact that; she is from the commons and her perfect pronunciation of Arabic. Most of her songs are about the universal themes like love, loss, and longing. One of her musical talent is that "She never sang a line same way twice" (Danielson 14). Same phrases are repeated in a song, but she sang them differently by putting inflections and emphasis on them each times. Not only her way of singing made her popular, but also the lyrics of her songs attract many listeners who are in Arabic countries. Umm Kulthum grew up in a country where discrimination against women is relatively remained. While she was having many difficulties, her set of value is quite similar to most of the people. Based on her life experiences enhance her musical talents and boost her popularity. To add, one more example of his abundance of musical talents lead him successful singer is Bob Dylan. He is one of the remarkable protest singers in the US. Bob's career is mostly both singer and writer. His attractive point as a singer is the great flexibility in his music style. When he was a teenager, Bob plays only folk songs only because the folk were the trend at the point. However as he deepen a friendship with the Beatles, he broke his repetition as a topical singer with the sound of electric guitar. Bob Dylan is now considered as a father of folk-rock genre. After the fusion of folk songs and rocks, his popularity climbs up like a shooting star, in the result of that, he has earned a broad range of fans. It is extreme challenge for a successful singer to change his/her music style and exploits new genre.

All the three artists have different talents which made them internationally famous. What the three have in common is the passion of their work that gives listeners pleasure.

The three artists lived in the time of many social and political movements which strongly affected the formation of his/her character and also their music. As we follow their career, it is clear that the music is not the only concern for the three. They are all aware of their social responsibilities and they create attentions to some of crucial matters, like wars, values of life and so on. First instance, Nusrat is the first Qawwali