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美国国家公共电台 NPR Meet Ray BLK, Britain's Rising Star

时间:2018-08-30 03:01:27

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(单词翻译)

 

LAKSHMI SINGH, HOST:

And finally today, we'll journey into the soulful world of Rita Ekwere, aka Ray BLK.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CHILL OUT")

RAY BLK: (Singing) Oh, yeah, I told you I was trouble when we first met. But I guess you never got the message.

SINGH: She won the BBC's Sound of 2017, making her the first unsigned artist to be recognized by music insiders and critics as the most promising1 new artist, an honor previously2 bestowed3 on Adele, 50 Cent and Sam Smith.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CHILL OUT")

RAY BLK: (Singing) 'Cause I only want you when I'm lonely, on a late night, on a Friday, with some high-grade.

SINGH: After releasing an EP in 2015 and a mini-album in 2016, Ray BLK is getting ready to release her first full-length record as a signed artist. It's called "Empress" and comes out next month.

BLK's latest single is "Run Run," a song that she says is based on experiences she had growing up in south London.

RAY BLK: One being when my house was robbed and the other being at a party at 14 and seeing somebody pull a gun out.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "RUN RUN")

RAY BLK: (Singing) 1 a.m. and the scuffle begins. He sees his friends with some paigon yutes (ph). He steps outside, time to decide if the shots he's about to get you. Run, run for your freedom. Better run, run. You don't want to see the kingdom. Run, run.

I fortunately never experienced youth violence or police brutality4. But I was writing from my view after the experiences that I had had. But I think after making it and listening to it, and then when it came to making the video, it just meant so much to me to discuss these topics even harder in video form. And so for those who haven't seen the video, it follows a young boy who kind of, in a day, he's running away from people who are after him, but he - there's no way out, so he goes to a fire exit. He can't get out. Everywhere he goes, every corner he turns, there's either violence or there's sadness. So he runs into someone burying their child. And there's a guy chasing after him with a knife. I wanted to depict5 what it's like as a young black man being raised in some of the parts of London that these crimes are happening.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "RUN RUN")

RAY BLK: (Singing) Run, run for your freedom. Better run, run. You don't want to see the kingdom. Run, run if you want to see the sun. We don't want to lose another one. Run, run...

SINGH: Tell me about where you grew up. What was your family like?

RAY BLK: I was born in Nigeria, and I came to London at 4 years old. And I have quite a small immediate6 family here, a big family in Nigeria. I grew up in quite a conservative home, I would say. My mom was quite strict, and it was just about, like, you go to school and you come home and study and we'd go to church on Sundays and Fridays. And I think we were brought up that way to not get in any trouble because there was so much trouble where I was from. So if, you know, you're not locked down at home, you're probably making trouble outside on the streets.

And so my mom just kind of sheltered us from all of that, whereas, you know, other people around me where I was from were, you know, like, going to a lot of parties that maybe they shouldn't have been at at quite a young age. And these are the surroundings where people are pulling out guns and where people are taking and selling drugs. So I understood why she didn't want me to go to those places.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MY HOOD7")

RAY BLK: (Singing) You should come to my hood, my hood, my hood. Barely anyone in school after 15. We're chasing paper, then Blue Borough8 should be green. I won't lie, finding a way out is our dream. But you should come to my hood, my hood, my hood.

SINGH: You said that Amy Winehouse's song "Stronger Than Me" made you think differently about lyrics9. How so?

RAY BLK: Just because I had never really heard a woman speak like that in her music. It's so rare to hear a woman be so confident.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "STRONGER THAN ME")

AMY WINEHOUSE: (Singing) Why'd you always put me in control? All I need is for my man to live up to his role. Always want to talk it through. I'm OK. Always have to comfort you every day.

RAY BLK: What I loved about that song, even though I was quite young when I heard it and not experiencing the things she was talking about, is how she owned her sexuality and how she made it about her choice. A lot of songs I had been hearing at that age was about, you know, being the damsel in distress10 and you're waiting for a guy to save you and, you know, looking for love and he's not loving you right.

But in this song, she was being confident and bold enough to say I'm not sure if you're good enough for me. I'm not waiting around for you. And it just kind of flipped11 the ideals on its head. And I loved that so much, and it empowered me to feel like when I write songs, I can be just as confident and I can be just as brash and I can say how I feel without being worried of being judged for being too confident in my sexuality.

SINGH: And basically, doing me - bad segue. Let's listen.

RAY BLK: (Laughter).

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DOING ME")

RAY BLK: (Singing) Sometimes I wear my hair down to my back or I cut a bob and do it into single plaits. And if it's the summertime, maybe do a weave. Always change my style depending where my head is at. Sometimes I wear my V-neck real low. If I'm feeling sexy, then expect some skin'll show. Maybe wear a turtleneck if I'm feeling cold. My dressing12 is expression, so don't judge me by my clothes.

That song was such a tongue-in-cheek song when I wrote it. But you know what's funny is that a lot of people, when that song came out, felt like it was me purposefully putting out this feminist13 anthem14 and political message.

SINGH: Well, yeah (laughter).

RAY BLK: But when I wrote it, I didn't write it with that intention. I've always felt like I can be myself and I should be myself and I should be confident in that. So if I want to wear something that's risque, I should and I shouldn't be name-called for that and it doesn't excuse any man who is harassing15 me as well because I've decided16 to dress how I want to. And a lot of it also came from experiencing those things as well. So one of the churches I went to when I was younger - we weren't allowed to have colors in our hair.

SINGH: No?

RAY BLK: You had to have, like, black hair, your natural hair color. You couldn't wear earrings17. Ladies weren't allowed to wear trousers. You had to wear long skirts that stopped at the ankles. And my mom, who is a strong believer, she broke all of those rules. She had - she dyed her hair bright blonde, wore big earrings, wore makeup18, wore trousers. And everybody just used to look at her, like, give her the side eye because of it. And I used to do the same things as well (laughter). And she - my mom always empowered me to, like, be yourself. It doesn't mean - it doesn't make you any less of a Christian19 or any less of a woman if you want to wear something that makes you feel good. So that's just how I've been brought up.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DOING ME")

RAY BLK: (Singing) A short skirt doesn't mean that I want it. My appearance doesn't represent my wallet. This is for the ignorant ones with opinions. Keep your two cents inside your pockets. I'm just doing me.

SINGH: You've described your upcoming album as a feminist album. And I'm wondering about the timing20 of all of it. Why do you think now is the time for this message?

RAY BLK: So when I started making this project, I was just in a space where I reached a peak of self-acceptance and self-love. And I wanted to share that with people, I think, in a time where, right now, there's a lot of, you know, media telling women not to love themselves, whether that's with advertisement or whether that's with Instagram. There's a lot pulling women down and making them feel not good enough. And I just wanted to uplift people. And with the #MeToo movement and with a lot of statements that have been said by the president, I think it's more important for women to speak up and to stand together because there's power in numbers. And I think that is - one of the things I've taken from the #MeToo movement is how when people stick together, when people stand together, it's way more powerful than one person because one person can be silenced. But I think it's important for everyone to use their voice to speak up about, you know, feminist issues, racial issues, so that we can make a difference and give people the confidence as well to tell their truths.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BABY GIRLZ")

RAY BLK: (Singing) I knew this girl Keisha back when I was in school - curly hair, fair skin. She was beautiful.

SINGH: I was speaking with Ray BLK. Her debut21 album, "Empress," comes out next month.


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 promising BkQzsk     
adj.有希望的,有前途的
参考例句:
  • The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
  • We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。
2 previously bkzzzC     
adv.以前,先前(地)
参考例句:
  • The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
  • Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿,解释原先发生了什么。
3 bestowed 12e1d67c73811aa19bdfe3ae4a8c2c28     
赠给,授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • It was a title bestowed upon him by the king. 那是国王赐给他的头衔。
  • He considered himself unworthy of the honour they had bestowed on him. 他认为自己不配得到大家赋予他的荣誉。
4 brutality MSbyb     
n.野蛮的行为,残忍,野蛮
参考例句:
  • The brutality of the crime has appalled the public. 罪行之残暴使公众大为震惊。
  • a general who was infamous for his brutality 因残忍而恶名昭彰的将军
5 depict Wmdz5     
vt.描画,描绘;描写,描述
参考例句:
  • I don't care to see plays or films that depict murders or violence.我不喜欢看描写谋杀或暴力的戏剧或电影。
  • Children's books often depict farmyard animals as gentle,lovable creatures.儿童图书常常把农场的动物描写得温和而可爱。
6 immediate aapxh     
adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的
参考例句:
  • His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
  • We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。
7 hood ddwzJ     
n.头巾,兜帽,覆盖;v.罩上,以头巾覆盖
参考例句:
  • She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。
  • The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。
8 borough EdRyS     
n.享有自治权的市镇;(英)自治市镇
参考例句:
  • He was slated for borough president.他被提名做自治区主席。
  • That's what happened to Harry Barritt of London's Bromley borough.住在伦敦的布罗姆利自治市的哈里.巴里特就经历了此事。
9 lyrics ko5zoz     
n.歌词
参考例句:
  • music and lyrics by Rodgers and Hart 由罗杰斯和哈特作词作曲
  • The book contains lyrics and guitar tablatures for over 100 songs. 这本书有100多首歌的歌词和吉他奏法谱。
10 distress 3llzX     
n.苦恼,痛苦,不舒适;不幸;vt.使悲痛
参考例句:
  • Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
  • Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。
11 flipped 5bef9da31993fe26a832c7d4b9630147     
轻弹( flip的过去式和过去分词 ); 按(开关); 快速翻转; 急挥
参考例句:
  • The plane flipped and crashed. 飞机猛地翻转,撞毁了。
  • The carter flipped at the horse with his whip. 赶大车的人扬鞭朝着马轻轻地抽打。
12 dressing 1uOzJG     
n.(食物)调料;包扎伤口的用品,敷料
参考例句:
  • Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
  • The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。
13 feminist mliyh     
adj.主张男女平等的,女权主义的
参考例句:
  • She followed the feminist movement.她支持女权运动。
  • From then on,feminist studies on literature boomed.从那时起,男女平等受教育的现象开始迅速兴起。
14 anthem vMRyj     
n.圣歌,赞美诗,颂歌
参考例句:
  • All those present were standing solemnly when the national anthem was played.奏国歌时全场肃立。
  • As he stood on the winner's rostrum,he sang the words of the national anthem.他站在冠军领奖台上,唱起了国歌。
15 harassing 76b352fbc5bcc1190a82edcc9339a9f2     
v.侵扰,骚扰( harass的现在分词 );不断攻击(敌人)
参考例句:
  • The court ordered him to stop harassing his ex-wife. 法庭命令他不得再骚扰前妻。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • It was too close to be merely harassing fire. 打得这么近,不能完全是扰乱射击。 来自辞典例句
16 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
17 earrings 9ukzSs     
n.耳环( earring的名词复数 );耳坠子
参考例句:
  • a pair of earrings 一对耳环
  • These earrings snap on with special fastener. 这付耳环是用特制的按扣扣上去的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
18 makeup 4AXxO     
n.组织;性格;化装品
参考例句:
  • Those who failed the exam take a makeup exam.这次考试不及格的人必须参加补考。
  • Do you think her beauty could makeup for her stupidity?你认为她的美丽能弥补她的愚蠢吗?
19 Christian KVByl     
adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒
参考例句:
  • They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
  • His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。
20 timing rgUzGC     
n.时间安排,时间选择
参考例句:
  • The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
  • The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。
21 debut IxGxy     
n.首次演出,初次露面
参考例句:
  • That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里,他初次在百老汇登台,扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
  • The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

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