#(slowly making my way thru their discography too)

[rickrubinnumber]

What is your process for working this out?

long post ahead

fy00sh (aka aria-of-the-wind-god): so! when we get a new ask requesting a number for an artist, the first step is adding the requested artist to a spreadsheet greenzig and i use to work together on this project. they get added to the submissions list first, and then when we get to where they are on the submission list, one of us starts doing research on leads for what the artist's lowest number might be. usually i start by looking thru their discography on wikipedia (if they have one there) and then i also check on rateyourmusic dot com.

(greenzig: i don’t use wikipedia much if at all most of the time. depending on the kind of artist i will sometimes use rateyourmusic (its especially good for “internet artists” iykwim) but the primary way that i look is on discogs. unless i already have a connection in mind i will usually ignore the releases section and go to the credits tab)

ill first look thru their releases to see who all theyve collabed with, scanning first to see if any names i recognize pop out for artists who might themselves have low numbers or who we've already found connections for. once some connection is found, they get added to the masterlist, which looks like this

the masterlist is really useful because for example if im clicking thru on people credited alongside someone and i see that that person has worked with, say, umru, then i can just move the box for them on the sheet over to its new lowest position and also move anyone else already on the sheet if it affects them too, so theres a more robust reference for later. most of the artists that branch off from umru for example were parts of previous paths for ida deerz that slowly got moved closer to rick rubin as i found new connections (i think the first path i got for her was rubin > skrillex > dylan brady > underscores > 8485 > phixel > cmten > marshall4 > lizzy's personal army > ida, so thats why all those artists are still on there)

once we're reasonably certain that we have the lowest number we can find for someone, we mark them as completed on the submission list, and on the masterlist we mark them as needing to have a graphic made. during the process of finding the artist's number and adding them to the sheet i try to remember to add notes to each cell with a link to the wikipedia/rateyourmusic/discogs/bancamp/etc page of whatever the connection is, but earlier on i was pretty bad at remembering to do that which meant that greenzig or i would have to refind what the connecting track was during both the making of the graphic and the drafting of the tumblr post. 

(greenzig: we were both pretty bad at it tbh, i only really remembered to put the connection when it was through someone very behind the scenes like a mastering engineer that i knew would be difficult to find without knowing the song/project. also though i have made the images for quite a few posts, they are mostly done by fy00sh, it came up with everything and im basically just replicating what it does when i do make the images)

for making graphics, i open up paint.net (my preferred image editing software) and pull up the graphic template file, resave it under the name of whatever artist the graphic is for so i dont accidentally overwrite the template (i would never do that. i would never make that mistake. i definitely haven't made that mistake once already) and first crop the template to the right size and then add in all the text (artist names and connecting tracks/albums). next I'll go looking for images to use for each artist in the chain and save them all to my rickrubinnumber image folder

once the images are added and all the extra stuff around the edges (corners of images outside the bubbles, unnecessary template arrows at the left edge) i first save the file as a psd file and then remove the overlay and resave it as a png. I do it this way so that if a later graphic has a lot of the same connections i can just reopen the previous graphic's psd file and copy paste the image and text layers. that's also why i tend to keep old outdated versions of graphics around, cos they usually have different images in them that ive already done the work of centering and cropping. note the three different revisions of calobi's graphic - we changed that route a few different times before settling on the version we posted.

once the graphic is done, i'll go into the tumblr inbox, find the ask that requested the artist, begin to answer it by adding the graphic, and then i usually just save it as a draft and from there leave the writing of the description to greenzig. sometimes I'll add tags and the "[artist] has a Rick Rubin number of [#]." text but i usually don't.

greenzig: writing the image descriptions is a pretty straightforward process as its just providing some more context to the already found connection. we have actually had a few occasions where we’ll find out at this stage that one of the connections we’ve made breaks the rules we’ve set on the rulelist and have to start again, but that’s not very often. i think to best explain ill walk through an already existing post.

to make the connections as clear as possible, i make sure that the last part of the sentence im working on matches with the first part of the next sentence in a way that is congruous to the image. on this post, the first connections are:

Toby Fox was a composer on bo en's Prelude. Prelude features Alto Clarinet performed by Melody English. Melody English provided backing vocals for You Can Never Go Home by The Dare.

notice how the wording changes. when the connection is being made through the song, the wording is “bo en’s Prelude”, but when the connection is being made through the artist, it is “You Can Never Go Home by The Dare”. also note the names that are bolded. since bo en is not part of the connections, his name is left unbolded. then, skipping to the last connection between skrillex and rick rubin, this is how it is worded:

Skrillex was a writer and producer for M.I.A.'s Marigold. Marigold was written and produced by Rick Rubin (among others).

its easy to see the differences here, as rick rubin and skrillex are both credited for the same thing on the song. 

(fy00sh: i think the only exception so far to the rule of having lines begin or end with artists' names is the set of lines i wrote for the connection between jan Misali and Sapaa in the original, now outdated, jan Misali post. this is because the connecting song was a toki pona song and so i thought it would be cute to have the lines written in toki pona. the issue being that i dont have a lot of experience with writing in toki pona so i wasn't gonna try to find a way to rephrase the toki pona sentences to put jan Misali's name at the beginning and Sapaa's at the end. i was just happy i found a phrasing i was satisfied with at all ^_^) 

the only other thing to note is that i will usually try to list the most “noticeable” contribution someone had. being a writer and being a producer are about the same in that they’re very behind-the-scenes positions, but if someone is a featured artist, regardless of what other credits they have on the track, ill simply make the connection as either

Artist One’s Song featured Artist Two

or

Artist Two was featured on Song by Artist One

depending on which one is needed to keep the formatting.

fy00sh: and that's just about it, once the graphics and descriptions and tags are all done we post it, maybe waiting if theres another post coming up where the path is entirely contained within the other post so it isn't completely redundant. (greenzig: for example with the last two posts louis armstrong was actually requested much earlier than ween)

both: thank you for the ask!

[it2017]

I have been in so deep wilco summer what are ur favorite songs... jeff tweedy is too productive I feel like I can't even listen to all of it. some of my favorites are from his weird cover bands loose fur/golden smog

ive basically been in a summerteeth (album) kick since the start of the year. i had a phase where i would listen to A Shot In The Arm like every day to get out of bed. every song on that album is gospel to me.... can't stand it/nothingsevergonnastandinmyway/via chicago... INSANE TRACKLIST. but im making my way soooo slowly thru the rest of their discography it is really intimidating. i don't even think ive listened to any of their music that's from after 2019 yet so no spoilers

[sulkyshot]

I'm lowkey getting scared that I'm slowly losing interest in kpop ..idk it just doesn't hit and I don't get giddy excited for other groups besides svt. Not even bts bro, I mean I've always seen bts as like my besties for the resties not rlly omgosh my kpop idols they're so hot I want them, but for them it's mostly like they're friends like Maia and conan yk. I used to go crazy over literally all of them. It's like what happend with enhypen, I slowly started losing interest in the group and only rlly liked their music , esp after that scandal with heesung. It just rubbed me the wrong way yk. It just slowly been going downhil since their recent album release, I didn't listen to it much , the mv was good but it was like okay now what. Txt is always there, I haven't nesscialy gotten 'tired' of them but I see it a little, they might the one group that keeps me up even tho I'm starting to dislike yeonjun a bit, wtv , soobin still makes me go crazy and beomgyu is still super slay funny, tae and huek are yummy and cute too. Anywho for bts I've always also considered them my favorite and I hope that doesn't also go away. Same with svt they're my ult but sometimes I find myself skipping thru their discography and I recently bought the other 4 versions of face the sun off marlen and idk I went thru them <and maybe it's bc the photo book was a weird angle] but after that I felt like wow I rlly spent so much and for what. I got them all for 10 bucks so I spent 40. But those 40 couldve been more. I also think abt hoe unfair it was for marlen to make me pay 36 dollars for the one she got me when I literally had a price match and she got all of hers for the most part price matched and for cheaper. I think they're selfish, and then I try thinking maybe it's just me who's jealous...idk.

[kyunsies]

I'm FINALLY here!! Thank you for being patient with me 💖

I'm sorry your day was less than spectacular yesterday :( but hopefully this week can be better!!!

I wanted to clarify something about the whole US vs English album thing ! It doesn't bother me that they refer to it that way at all! I could definitely be reading into it way too much (I tend to do that!) but it feels intentional: they might be trying to appeal to a US audience specifically rather than an audience of any English speakers/listeners - of course all the things you said about their team and the label (maybe) being from the US could also be the explanation. I just think it's really interesting that there is a distinction at all! I'm also from the US, so I don't know that I can really say much about it either.

I will definitely consider making posts on my blog about music more seriously hahaha.. I'm slowly but surely working my way through mx's discography, I just want to find time to dedicate to listening. I did listen to Blue Moon! It surprised me a little bit, with the really thin texture under the opening rap (and when the rap returns), but with a little more stuff going on under the melodic lines texturally. Definitely got lofi vibes with the... directionless harmony. Which is not a bad thing! Just a certain style. AND THE LIL AD LIBS AT THE END IN THE BACKGROUND? My sister and I were listening to it in the car last night and when that bit came on we both just like... swooned?? It's so incredibly clear and smooth and lovely and just goes straight to the heart!

cravity is so so cute 😭💖 and honestly took me and my sister by storm. We didn't have time to gradually get into them, we just... were suddenly big fans?? We watched like one video, and it was game over.

Anyway yesterday a friend of mine that I hadn't talked to in a while asked me what I've been up to and I mentioned that I've been getting into kpop lately and she goes "yeah kpop is amazing haha, who do you listen to?" And I've been so shook since she sent me that and I asked if she listens to kpop and she hasn't replied yet!!! Like, this friend and kpop are two completely separate worlds in my brain, and they just collided! I might have another kpop friend and I'm so excited !!! 💖 dkbtho

hi angel !!!!! im so sorry i'm getting to this only now ;_____; i had an exam today and then i went to the gym and i've just been trying to get ahead on assignments lol :') i hope u have been having a good day love <3

about the english album stuff LOL i'm glad u weren't upset about my words ;______; i was just trying to be conscious of the situation bc you really never know someone's true feelings about things, so just trying to explain everything best i could felt like the right thing to do !! and now i know we are both from the US and we probably can share similar perspectives on things <3 so thank YOU for clarifying too !!!!

also sldfkjsdlkfj i know blue moon isn't for everything (esp with the la la's) but to me there is just something so impressive about it idk ;_____; boo's opening rap is incredible he always has such a way of displaying his confidence AGAIN ON A DEBUT ALBUM ,,,,,, god and it's not aggressive too just ,,,,, so strong and powerful and u can tell he means every word just like changkyun too !!!!! not to be me and i know changkyun was just a lil babe but i think he sounds so s*xy in this too LSDFKJLSKJF i'm so cringe i'm sorry :')))))) it's just such a cool song, one of many many cool songs by them !!!! and i'm so excited to hear from you about other songs you love from them as u dig thru their discography :D

and like i said i really don't follow gravity at all but they seem like really sweet kiddos !!!! that ep i saw them on for midnight idol really melted my heart lol i think their chemistry with mx is cute <3 ALSO THAT IS SO INCREDIBLE THAT UR FRIEND LIKES KPOP AND IS INTERESTED IN WHO U LIKE AHHH !!!!! it's the best feeling isn't it?? i remember my sophomore year of uni i was listening to 'thanks' by seventeen in my room with my speakers and my next door neighbor knocked on my door and said "are you playing seventeen?" LKDSFJS and to this day she is one of my besties <3 it's always so fun to share this experience with in real life friends !!!! that's so cool <3 anyways angel thank u again for being patient with me !!!!!!!! :( i know i was late to this :( and as i said before i hope u are doing well this week, it's always nice to hear from you <3