#I just know when he released this cover he got it billboarded everywhere

[butteredshrimpnsweets]

Hardlaunch of the century | KosuRai

Yoo Rai-han belongs to @hakkuto

[1ddiscourseoftheday]

Wed 31 March ‘21

The Daily Mail has published a story telling us that last July Niall’s London apartment was broken into by an intoxicated man who followed a neighbor in and then hopped from a nearby balcony to Niall’s. Niall wasn’t home at the time, but his PA found the intruder and “kept him talking” until security arrived. The man was just sent on his way but he returned the next day at which time he was arrested; he will go to trial this July. Niall has been asked by the police not to comment on the case. Some people are speculating about a possible connection between this and Niall ceasing his frequent livestreams from his home around that time; maybe so, maybe not (we don’t even know whether this guy was a stalker targeting him or if it was random, let alone how Niall may have reacted) but it certainly reminds us yet again that there are always going to be factors we do not and can not know about that are influencing the public facing actions we see. The DM illustrated their article with videos and pictures of the interior of the apartment from Niall interviews and social media; also today a lot of pictures of the remodel of Harry’s Erskine House (you know, the place where he was terrorized by a stalker) that were posted by the architectural firm circulated. The hot pink carpeted stairs and disco ball are cool and all- but I guess I’m just glad there are so many things we don’t and can’t know to balance the things they don’t get to keep private.

I promised you an update on the resurgence of the ‘Harry Styles is Starfox in the MCU’ rumors #confirmed this time FOR REALSIES ETC: well, the update is that, despite another round of excitement yesterday stemming from a reddit spoiler post, there is no update. We still have exactly the same amount of info about it as we did before, ie no credible sources saying it’s a thing. The main account pointed to as a “leak” is a troll account and NOT a real Marvel employee, one real Marvel employee said one thing that might or might not be real and was not specific as to what role, that reddit post had nothing about him in it, and that is that. Sometimes smoke does indeed indicate fire, he might well be in the MCU: but there is still as of now nothing to confirm. There is a confirmed movie to be excited about though-- My Policeman content has begun!! A sound producer posted a picture of Harry, Emma Corrin, and David Dawson standing in separate sound booths in a studio recording something! Oh and yes that means he’s publicly in the UK for the first time in a long while.

Brit Awards nominations are out, somewhat anticlimactically for a fandom who had formed some lofty expectations-- Harry got a nom for Watermelon Sugar (British Single of the Year), and that’s it. He got Fine Line noms last year so it isn’t too shocking he didn’t again, and the others were honestly outside chances due to various circumstances, however much they might deserve the recognition.“SNUBBED!” fake complained Niall, but unlike fans added “I’m jokinggg” (suuure you are, but he’s taking it better than fans, who trended Louis’ name and Louis Deserved It, etc, for nearly a full 24 hours; maybe Niall was referring to being snubbed by the FANDOM, lol.) He further showed he was surviving the disappointment by retweeting the nom list for Harry’s category, one assumes to cheer him on.

Anyway the continued chatter about Louis’ promised documentary is a bright spot in a day of mostly negative news! Here’s what we know- Louis has repeatedly talked about how much he liked Charlie Lightening’s Liam Gallagher doc and implied it was why he wanted to work with him; that film does cover some Oasis breakup and personal life stuff, as it relates to the story it tells about LG launching his solo comeback, so while I find it hard to picture Louis choosing to do a ‘Louis Tomlinson This Is My Life year zero to present’ biopic kind of thing yeah, they could plan to include some stuff like that. But also we’ve SEEN them filming loads of stuff so we can have a pretty good idea what at least parts of it might be- Charlie and his camera were everywhere for album release behind the scenes (YES I AM ready to cry at the Times Square billboard moment footage and them watching the #1s pile up, bring it), the lead up to the release (interviews and music video filming and listening parties and stuff), Charlie recorded interviews with fans at all the pre-tour shows (and outside the hotels and soundchecks and stuff), and of course I would guess TOUR SHOWS and the rest of the tour are meant to be the centerpiece of it all, as they are to Louis, even if that’s been delayed. My only question, was Louis’ very public appearance at the LG doc premier when he first connected with Charlie about doing a project, or was that the public sort of introduction of the idea to hint at a partnership they’d already established? Maybe we’ll find out in interviews about the project when it’s done… Oh also I am down with the guess about Faith in the Future being a song title- yeah! That does sound right! Orrrr a documentary :))

[farfromsugafanfic]

Spare Change

Genre: Strangers to Friends to Lovers AU, Trainee! Yoongi, Fluff, maybe a tiny bit of Angst?

Pairing: Yoongi/Reader

Warnings: none

Synopsis: You spared Min Yoongi some change for the bus. Little did you know he’d pay you back one day.

Author’s Note: In making my masterlist, I realize I totally forgot to cross post my first ever Yoongi one shot. It’s a bit short and very old, but still one of my favorites

﹥━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━﹤

You'd noticed the boy with the headphones on the bus. They were the big fancy type that probably cost more than two months of rent. They appeared to be his most prized possession, his clothes appeared to be mostly hand-me-downs and his phone was a model from a few years before. 

He'd caught you staring more than a few times. He normally just gave you a small smile on most days and went back to the trance of whatever was playing through the headphones. Sometimes he would be grumpy, simply looking back at you and immediately back down. 

You weren't staring at him for the reason you knew he assumed. While he was attractive with his messy black hair and soft eyes, you found yourself drawn to his presence. It was as if he didn't know he were on a bus in the middle of Seoul. He was somewhere else, his fingers lightly tapping to the rhythm and sometimes scribbling lightly in a pocket-sized notebook. You, the bus, the city, and the entire rest of the world didn't exist to him for the ten minutes you saw him everyday. Except for the brief moments you locked eyes.

﹥━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━﹤

It'd been an off day. It was starting to get dark as you boarded the bus. You headed for your seat when the bus lurched off the curb. You hadn't expected the bus to leave so quickly and were thrown off your feet into the nearest set of seats, and unfortunately for you, straight into headphone boy's lap.

You blushed as sat up and straightened into the seat next to him. You couldn't believe what just happened, the embarrassment rushing to your face. 

"I'm sorry," you said, bowing politely. "I hadn't expected the bus to move so quickly."

Headphones boy looked at you--a slight mix of annoyance from the interruption and pity at your embarrassment. He nodded and looked back out the window as if nothing had happened. 

But over the next few weeks, whenever he saw you get on the bus, you noticed a slight smirk pass discreetly over his features.

﹥━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━﹤

You stood behind the boy with headphones as the two of you boarded the bus. He fiddled with the coins in his hand. 

"I don't have enough," he said, quietly, a blush overtaking his face. 

The bus driver looked at him sympathetically, but was unapologetic. The driver simply nodded and waited for the boy to disembark. 

The boy turned around, disheartened, and moved past you towards the door. He bumped your shoulder softly reminding of the previous incident in which you'd accidentally touched the boy. Just as he was about to step back onto the sidewalk, you stopped him. 

"Wait!" you said. "Here." You shoved coins into his hand, enough for that day's fare. You placed your coins in and took a seat. 

"You really didn't have to do that," he said. "I'll make it up to you sometime."

"It's fine," you said. "It was just some spare change I had laying around."

﹥━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━﹤

"Working on another song?" you asked, as you approached Yoongi at the bus stop. He still wore the bulky, expensive headphones, but he normally allowed them to fall down around his neck whenever he saw you.

After the day you paid for his fare, you two had begun talking in the short time you spent on the bus together. At first it was awkward, just exchanging pleasantries, but as time went on you began to feel more comfortable with each other. Now, the twenty minutes you spent on the bus together was the highlight of the day.  

"Yeah," he said, closing the small notebook he took everywhere with him. 

"Can I see?" you asked, smirking. 

You playfully reached for the notebook, but Yoongi just smiled and held out if of your reach. You gave him the satisfaction of jumping for it, causing him to chuckle. 

"Yoongi-ah! I don't understand why you won't show me? Don't you want to release this one day?" 

"Of course," he said. "And you'll hear it then."

You crossed your arms in mock annoyance, but couldn't help the smirk that broke out across your face. You'd heard a lot about his idol training and the boys Yoongi lived with. He worked hard and you hoped one day it would pay off for him. But your broke, knowing he would leave you behind as a distant memory.

You saw the bus heading for the stop knowing your time with Yoongi would now be limited to the ten minute bus ride. 

"Say, how about we take a detour tonight? I'll take you out for ramen?" 

"You know, it's a real hit to my pride whenever you buy me things," he said, dramatically placing his hand over his chest. 

"Oh, get over yourself," you said. "When you're a successful idol, you'll have plenty of money to pay me back." You nudged him as the bus pulled into the stop. 

"All right, all right," he said. "Fine."

"Besides, it's just some spare change I have laying around."

﹥━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━﹤

Over the past few years, you'd watched Yoongi succeed. From his debut, to seeing his face on billboards you passed on the bus. You knew he would leave you behind one day, but you didn't know he would continue to haunt you. 

You traveled to downtown Seoul that day. Not something you typically did anymore after losing your job in the city. You'd been forced to move into a smaller apartment on the outskirts of the city. 

You had a job interview at BigHit Entertainment. You hadn't planned to take the interview, knowing that if you got the job, it may create more than a few awkward situations. But the company was offering a wage you couldn't ignore, at least one you'd interview for. 

You felt the interview went well and the butterflies died down in your stomach as you walked out the building without catching sight of Yoongi.

You just made it to the bus stop before the bus pulled away. You got on and counted out the coins from your pocket. It wasn't enough. 

You felt the tears stinging in your eyes and turned around the leave the bus. You felt as your shoulder brushed someone behind you, but you didn't look up fearing if you did that the tears would fall. 

"Wait!" the stranger said, reaching out for your arm. 

You looked up and met eyes with the stranger, your teary eyes suddenly widening in shock. 

His hair was mostly covered by a snapback, but a small tuft of blond hair was visible from underneath and he wore a black mask, disguising most of his identity. But, you knew it was him. Headphones boy. 

You felt him press a few cold coins into your palm. 

"It was just some spare change I had laying around."

[gyllenhaalstories]

SOUTHPAW, PART 1: HEADCANONS.

notes: dear anon: thank you for making me appreciate jake the rapper! also i know nothing about rap, so i’m sorry if this is pure trash! i never finished watching southpaw because it was too dark for me, but i took some very loose inspiration from it. warnings: mentions of dark past, mentions of sexual content... this got really long (2k words). gifs credits: alphalewolf. extras: if you want more informations about rapper!jake, please scroll through my blog. i have edited some older posts with the tag: topic: rapper!jake, so check it out if you’re interested. i have taken some ideas and put them in this list. (at the end of the list i provided some goodies!)

PART TWO WILL BE UPLOADED SOON, KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR IT!

attention, attention! please note i know absolutely nothing about rap. i very rarely enjoy listening to rap music, it’s simply not for me. this might be inaccurate and off compared to the actual world of hip hop and other similar genres. i apologize for my lack of knowledge! this is an au in which jake is not an actor or a producer or anything of the sort. his fame, he built it with his music. you must keep that in mind while reading these headcanons or else it will get confusing. also, i’ve taken some loose inspiration from jake’s actual work, but that’s just for the sake of backstory. are you ready to dive in this twisted fantasy?

Jake Gyllenhaal. Known as Hall. He exploded the charts after being picked up by one of the biggest record companies for his first album: Hall of Fame. He was a rookie, yet he was older than most of the rappers you can think of today. He worked his way up undercover. He started participating in poetry and slam nights at local cafés. He became a songwriter, through connections. He sold some songs that are absolute classics today, but he does not care. He did not feel like they fit him anyway.

Growing up, Jake had it rough. There was a lot of fighting at home. His older sister was the perfect angel and him? The absolute disaster child. It was not like he ran after danger and trouble, he seemed to always be at the wrong place in the wrong time, he hung out with the wrong crowd. He managed to avoid juvie on some miracle. What was the miracle, you might ask? He was caught robbing some local bank with his “friends” and the cops, at first, did not believe he was innocent. While his friends were screaming and threatening the innocent clients of the bank, Jake actually tried to help them out of the building safely. The cops arrived at the same moment and thought he was keeping the strangers hostage. He was arrested on the spot. The other guys played the victims, blamed it all on Jake but it was only when Jake wrote the whole story, from the beginning where his friends manipulated him and made of him their puppet to when he felt this adrenaline rush telling him he needed to save the strangers that night. His writing was too sincere, too raw to be a web of lies. The police released him, but they kept an eye on him.

His escape were writing and music. He impressed all of his teachers at school. Talented, gifted, magical. That was how they described Jake at every parent and teacher meeting. Writing dumb sentences that made very little sense and playing with a guitar after school, that did not make his parents very proud compared to his sister who was on top of all of her classes and working hard for a future of wealth and success.

Music was his entire life. He would come home from school and blast music until he was called out for dinner. Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Black Sabbath, Heart, Pink Floyd, Metallica, name it. He liked it loud. He liked it weird. He liked it with a deeper message, with double meaning.

He worked all types of jobs, some legal and some not so much. He was saving money for college. He applied. He got in. He started his classes. He had big dreams, too, he had ambitions. Maybe he could his talent to good use? He wanted to study philosophy, literature, music, creative writing... Anything that required thought and depth. He made friends, there. He befriended the edgy punk guy, he had tattoos everywhere, he listened to the same bands, he was quiet but his essays spoke volumes.

Jake was disappointed, his illusions were broken. He hated the format of his classes, the feeling like his opinion and his inspiration did not matter, it was always about meeting some stupid requirements to please a rich professor who did not care about passion, about talent, about originality. Jake dropped out, soon followed by his friend. His friend was hired at a tattoo parlor and Jake hung out there all the time. He would stay up until 5 am, 6, 7, all night and all day long. He loved the clients there. He would write and read his writing out loud to the clients when they were tortured by the needle shooting the ink in their skin. Talented and gifted, they all the same thing.

He started to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

He wrote, not just stories and opinion pieces. He started writing songs, melody and lyrics. He started playing them, he started writing his own poetry too. He was introduced to freestyle battles. And as he fought against other talented thinkers, he noticed he spoke with a tempo, with a rhythm. He was rapping and he did not even realize it.

His career sky rocketed from the moment a music producer attended one of the rap battles. He was famous, he got quite the thick wallet and the connections. Jake was introduced to legends of hip hop. They all influenced him as his career grew to become something overwhelming and terrifying, yet thrilling and addictive.

Hall had a style of his own, though. It was romantic, yet absolutely disgusting and dark. It was aggressive, yet vulnerable and philosophical. He spoke of his trauma, of his hatred, of his envy, of his fears... He used his songs as an escape. He was becoming his own escape.

And his own prison. His family did not care about him, he was a shame, even. Aside from his old college friend, he never built strong friendships. They were all after him for fame and cash. He slept around, guys and gals, threesomes, foursomes... He did not care, anything for some genuine connection, even if it lasted for a very lazy and messy fifteen minutes in the trashy bathroom of a concert hall. Rumour had it he was a great lover, but he was so bad at loving.

Now it gets interesting...

Hall rapped alongsides Eminem, Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Travis Scott... The biggest pop stars were fighting just to get him to rap a line in their songs. Rihanna wishes he was the one singing Love the way you lie, does that give you an idea? He appeared on duets. He wrote more solo albums, sold them instantly. He never left the top of the billboard in weeks, months, if not years. It never really got to his head. He was still that sensitive boy writing about knights and princesses in his bedroom with walls covered by band posters. Fans did not care about this side of him, they loved him for his lyrics about snorting coke, drinking his pain away and fucking whoever wore the tiniest skirt around.

His latest album, Southpaw, was an even bigger hit. Pure filth. Pure gold. Imagine 13 tracks, Cardi’s and Megan’s WAP but reversed. He does not rap about how good he fucks people. He raps about how good they feel. That’s some real depth here, no pun intended.

You met him at one of his concerts. Your friend won VIP passes, so you were standing in the front and got to take a picture with him. You did not understand the hype around taking a photo with this guy, he just stood there and looked absolutely emotionless.

You hated rap, or perhaps you loved it. You did not care much for Jake, that was for sure. You thought he was just another lame rapper who thought he was the real deal because his lyrics were so explicit, even the clean versions made angels cry. The truth was, you did not know much a bout him. You found him too commercial, like he was scared of becoming irrelevant.

You saw right through him already.

But him? He already cared too much about you. You caught his attention as he rapped his songs. He could not take his eyes off you. You weighted heavy on his mind, caused him to stutter and forget lyricvs. Fans laughed, they said he was probably too drunk or too high too focus. Drunk in love, that’s what it was.

There was something about you. Maybe it was the Black Sabbath shirt you wore. Maybe it was the unimpressed look on your face. Maybe it was your plump lips he wanted to kiss. Maybe it was the sight of you laughing with your friend that made his heart skip a beat. Maybe it was the fact you treated him like a normal person even if you had not spoken to him first.

So, you met backstage.

Your friend was beaming from ear to ear, showering Jake in compliments.

“Did you enjoy the show?” Jake asked you.

“For someone who shows no emotion, sound dead inside and look like they wish they were doing anything but making dozens of thousands of dollars by singing a couple of semi mediocre tracks, yeah, it was not that horrible.”

He was up for a challenge.

You two exchanged insults like it was a boxing match. Each round was getting more and more intense. It was no longer insults, it was straight up flirting. You noticed when your bodies were so close you could smell the scent of watermelon chewing gum that escaped from his warm breath. You could hear the way his raced even faster than yours.

You were snapped out of this fantasy by his bodyguard, indicating other fans waited for him.

He remembered the name your friend called out, saying he needed to bring you home before something bad happened.

It was the most beautiful name he had ever heard.

He hung out around that concert hall for the next couple of days. At the bar nearby, at Starbucks, at McDonald’s, anything for the sake of seeing your face again.

And he did.

You were walking out of the record store with a vinyl of Heart squeezed under your arm. You looked so happy. You had paint stains all over your clothes. You were erasing the memories of a terrible relationship by decorating your tiny apartment, and you needed to set the right ambiance. You needed guidance, you found it in the strong minds of the ladies behind Heart, in Joan Jett, in Stevie Nicks. You found your silver lining in music.

Jake ran behind you, he pretended he was out jogging and he mysteriously bumped into you. He grabbed your vinyl before it could fall on the ground.

“Nice pick.”

“We finally agree on something.”

Another round of flirty insults...

... That ended in the two of you fucking like animals on the floor of your apartment.

And fucking on the couch the next day.

On the kitchen counter the morning after.

And finally, on the bed. That was a really special one. Jake was the first person to be on your bed since the departure of your ex. He could feel that you were not in the mood for a rough battle for dominance.

That night, he made love to you.

For, quite possibly, the first time in his life, he expressed his love directly to somebody. “Princess, baby girl, beautiful, gorgeous, amazing”, he showered you in compliments, and praises. The slow movement of his hips, the intense passion in his eyes and love in his heart spoke louder than the music you were playing in the background to set the mood.

You were not just another trophee to hang on the wall. You were special.

He was special too.

He bought you every record that reminded him of you. He bought you collector items of your favourite bands. From the silliest decoration to a new car to replace your crappy one, passing by tickets to exclusive and sold-out shows, Jake had never felt more famous in his life than when he was with you.

His fans noticed the change in his songs, in his lyrics. They were just as explicit, just as rotten and just as corrupted. However, they came from a place of light and love, not of darkness and rage.

He sang about how good your felt when you climaxed around him. How drenched he was whenever he made you squirt. How he loved to taste himnself on your lips. How he was full of love and of lust for you. How he would quit everything if it meant he would live a normal life, for once, and with you.

You inspired so many songs that became massive world-wide hits.

You travelled the world with him on tour. You helped him design his new merch and you wore his t-shirts with pride. You attended concerts in your freetime. You loved staying up all night, painting and drawing while he was writing about this mirage of a goddess, blessing his existence with a smile and a sparkle in her eyes.

He was addicted to you.

He was crazy for you.

And he went crazy on you.

for research purposes and not because i wasted my time hearing eminem talk about stuff i don’t understand so i could stare at jake’s thighs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mP_cKP4OjsA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whV5oQDvVWE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGqC9URTJIQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5imXD1LPnwo

and finally, for good measure :

@gyll-yee-haw​ ily

[randomvarious]

Moby - “Bodyrock” Crossing All Over! Volume 10 1999 Big Beat

You all know who Moby is. He’s one of the most successful, talented, and eclectic electronic music producers of his generation. He’s the American who made big beat and sample-laden dance tracks achieve popularity in the US at the turn of the century. He’s an electronic music chameleon; he’s techno, he’s downtempo, he’s big beat, he’s ambient, and he’s even punk and alternative rock. He’s had a long, storied career, with plenty of hits and questionable decisions that have resulted in some really high highs and equally really low lows. 

By the time Moby released his fifth album, Play, which ended up becoming considered by many critics to be one of the greatest albums ever recorded in the history of music, he thought it was his final album. Just four years prior, he had released the critically acclaimed Everything Is Wrong, which Spin named its album of the year. He ended up selling a respectable 250,000 copies of the record worldwide, but for the amount of praise it received, and for being on a major label (Elektra), it was a mediocre showing. From jump, that appeared to be Moby’s curse, as it was for most electronic talents: good music, but bad sales; a niche market conquered, but little else beyond that.

Whatever likability Moby had accrued since the UK success of his 1991 techno track, “Go,” which sampled music from Twin Peaks, nearly disintegrated into thin air with the release of his fourth album, 1996′s Animal Rights, which saw him ditching dance music for a blend of alternative rock, hardcore punk, and ambient music. Fans and critics both hated this turn and washed their hands of him almost entirely. It appeared that everyone was just about done with Moby, and that Moby was just about done with himself. Animal Rights turned out to be an album that brought him within an inch of career suicide.

But by 1999, he had decided to go back to dance and electronic music and the result was Play. However, no one seemed to want to give Play any play at all. Moby shopped it to a number of big record labels, but at that point he was regarded as a has-been; a guy who’d run out of good fortune because of his uncompromising strong will and his insufferable need to be an artist. But Richard Branson’s V2 label, which was only three years old at the time, decided to take a chance on it.

From a quote in Rolling Stone:

First show that I did on the tour for Play was in the basement of the Virgin Megastore in Union Square. Literally playing music while people were waiting in line buying CDs. Maybe forty people came.

Most of the critics adored Play and saw it as a work of contemporary creative genius; a real mover-of-the-sticks kind of album. No one, at least no American, had ever made an album quite like it before. It was uptempo, it was downtempo, it had blues samples, it had breakbeats, it was more than danceable, and it was also quite emotional and vulnerable. It was an amalgamation of a lot of different things, and it was a beautiful representative mess of the post-modern, recently-formed digital age, which, at the time, appeared to be bringing the world closer together than it had ever been before, at least from a cultural standpoint. It was music that had a little something for just about everyone. But that was what initially appeared to have ben its fatal flaw, too. See, Play didn’t fit into any pre-defined, carefully crafted, easily marketable categories; It wasn’t rock, it wasn’t pop, it wasn’t hip hop, and it wasn’t R&B. So radio and MTV passed on every song. The album certainly had no home in America, and it didn’t sell all that well in the UK either. 

So Moby decided to sell the album out, literally. He licensed every single song off of Play for commercials, TV, movies, and video games, which were all industries that were more receptive to the varied sounds of the album. People would be exposed to Play through other indirect and less conventional means. And with every track licensed and songs appearing in nearly every medium that had audio, except for radio and MTV, Play, almost a year after its release, started to finally gain some commercial traction.

Here’s an illuminating Moby quote from that same Rolling Stone article:

Almost a year after it came out in 2000 I was opening up for Bush on an MTV Campus Invasion Tour. It was degrading for the most part. Their audience had less than no interest in me. February in 2000, I was in Minnesota, I was depressed and my manager called me to tell me that Play was number one in the UK, and had beat out Santana's Supernatural. I was like, :But the record came out 10 months ago.” That's when I knew, all of a sudden, that things were different. Then it was number one in France, in Australia, in Germany—it just kept piling on. [...] The week Play was released, it sold, worldwide around 6,000 copies. Eleven months after Play was released, it was selling 150,000 copies a week. I was on tour constantly, drunk pretty much the entire time and it was just a blur. And then all of a sudden movie stars started coming to my concerts and I started getting invited to fancy parties and suddenly the journalists who wouldn't return my publicist's calls were talking about doing cover stories. It was a really odd phenomenon.

Play only peaked at #38 on the Billboard 200, but it sold two million copies in the States alone. It was on charts across the world for several fucking years. And it finally brought dance music to the American mainstream.

There were two songs that almost didn’t make it onto Play though: “Porcelain,” which Moby hated, and “Bodyrock,” which Moby’s two managers hated. His managers complained that “Bodyrock” was a total ripoff of Fatboy Slim, which...fair..., and that it was tacky. But Moby wanted to keep it on there. He had sampled a classic hip hop song by Spoonie Gee and the Treacherous Three for it called “Love Rap,” which held sentimental value for him, and is the only vocal sample on the song (”Non-stop y’all, to the beat y’all, the body rock y’all...”). 

At the top of this post, I called Moby an electronic music chameleon, and “Bodyrock” is the song that saw him almost seamlessly morphing into a god of the big beat sound, somehow briefly placing himself among the ranks of The Prodigy, The Chemical Brothers, and of course, the aforementioned Fatboy Slim. And he managed to do it with just one fucking song. For “Bodyrock,” Moby basically took all the things that got those three big beat acts constantly lumped into the same category, as well as all the things that made them stand apart from each other, and then he mortared-and-pestled it all to death, reducing it all into a fine powder that he could re-arrange and re-apply into his own stunning creation.

“Bodyrock” is a song that’s layered wonderfully and fuses sounds from many different instruments and genres to make something that’s intense as hell, especially for a mainstream audience, but still highly enjoyable. It’s a perfect fusion of rock, hip hop, and dance music, all packaged together into one, solidly cranking song. 

Moby starts with the drum-and-vocal sample from Spoonie Gee and The Treacherous Three and then adds two layers of guitars, one with an acidified, throttling, crunchy funkiness, a la Fatboy Slim, that’s inspired by Gang of Four’s 1981 track, “What We All Want,” and one with a thin and whining kind of wah that’s also a bit funky, and which later on becomes an integral part of the chorus. Then Moby infuses the track with some hardness, with heavy drums and bass, as well as hand-claps. Rapper Nikki D, who released an album on Def Jam in 1991, then proceeds to appear out of nowhere for the chorus, pretty clearly trying to sound like MC Lyte’s nearly-forgotten 1996 jam, “Cold Rock a Party”. And along with Ms. D comes the most important piece of the recipe, the bow and ribbon that ties the whole song together, the streaming and high-pitched cinematic strings, which replace the Gang of Four-styled guitar, and are underlaid with a rumbling, motoring, thick bassline that also plays along to the string melody itself. 

Two unique and brief pieces then come later on, one that sounds like a combination of clean and dirty aquatics, with a brief, pleasant keyboard melody that sounds submerged in water, but still near the surface, and a swampy and swishy, mud-in-your-galoshes type of rhythm beneath it. Then, before the song’s final push, the other brief piece appears, which sounds like those frequencies you might hear from a hearing test machine, laced with Nikki D’s vocals, the drum break from Spoonie Gee and The Treacherous Three, and some bounding bass.

To close out the masterpiece, Moby lets the chorus ride, and then adds the “Love Rap” vocal back in. You’d think playing two vocals concurrently would clash and make the song unlistenable at that point, but somehow, they don’t. They happen to work really well, and when played together along with everything else, they yield the most intense and enjoyable part of the song.  

Play ended up having a total of twelve music videos and a quarter of them were for “Bodyrock”. The first two have a similar theme of British guys, all of whom except for one are white, dancing terribly, but also passionately:

The second one features a car explosion at the end!:

And the third one, which has a Run-D.M.C. cameo (!), shows Moby donning special sunglasses that allow him to see talented dancers everywhere:

Even almost a year after Play was released, it appeared that it was going to be Moby’s swan song and the death of his career. But the decision to license changed all of that, and if ever there was some kind of universal music award for “comeback artist of the year,” Moby would have absolutely won that thing. But in the immortal words of LL Cool J, “don’t call it a comeback,” because while the original best hope for Play was to return to the similar sales and critical appeal of Everything Is Wrong, it managed to far exceed that wishful and shortsighted forecast. Moby was comeback artist of the year and damn near MVP also. It was a wild, totally unexpected, and fantastic turn of events for his career and wellbeing. He almost stopped making music, but now he can’t stop making music. He released an album just this year.

I wholeheartedly agree with the critics who list Play as one of the greatest albums ever made. Not only is it fucking tremendous on its own, but It marked a much-needed turning point for Moby’s career, which undoubtedly kept him going, and still keeps him going today. And one of the many amazing songs on that album that makes Play what it is, is that consummate, brief bit of big beat greatness, that banger of a cut that almost didn’t make it onto the album, the one and only “Bodyrock”; a song that still manages to bop as hard as it did when it originally came out 20-plus years ago.

[smallerinfinities]

In His Calvins

a/n: Oh, hey. I was mad at Shawn over this photoshoot so I had to punish him. That is all. Enjoy 💜 Thanks to @pattinsonshawn for some key ideas. Love you, babe. 

| Masterlist linked in bio |

warnings: hahaha this is 3.2k of fucking filthy sub!Shawn smut

“Cut! Let’s check that.”

Shawn exhaled in a gust. It was hell flexing and making it look natural, like his muscles weren’t’ screaming for release every time the director said action! He’d been shooting for Calvin Klein all afternoon and into the evening, doing fifteen push-ups between takes. The pictures were going to look incredible, it was just fact. He took pride in his body, you could tell in the casual way he carried himself, and he’d worked his fucking ass off for it. Hitting the gym almost everyday for five years had led him here, to his body on a fifty foot billboard in SoHo for everyone to see. To standing in front of a camera in nothing but a pair of white boxer briefs looking like a modern Greek god.

“Okay, Shawn. I think we have what we need,” the director called from the booth. Shawn jumped down from the platform he’d been walking on and shrugged into a big, fluffy gray robe. The oil clung to the loose fibers, making it a little sticky. He couldn’t wait to get back to the hotel and shower, maybe FaceTime if it wasn’t too late. He knew you liked to go to bed at reasonable hours and there were three time zones between the two of you. It sucked, especially on a day like today when he just wanted to tell you how amazing it all went and how good he looked.

He showered in the makeshift trailer they had on set and decided to go back to the hotel. Niall had called earlier, said something about maybe going out later, but Shawn was wiped. When he was in the big black SUV on the way, he got a text.

You: wanna talk before I go to bed?

Shawn: sure...wanna do more than talk? 😏

You: omg shut up maybe

Shawn: I can tell you all about my shoot...if you’re lucky maybe I’ll give you a sneak peek *wiggles eyebrows*

You: 🙄 call me when you’re back at the hotel

Shawn smiled down at his phone. Honestly, he’d choose facetiming with you over any overcrowded West Hollywood bar Niall could possibly take him to. He shot his friend a message begging out of plans. The car rolled up to his hotel and he quickly snuck into the lobby, narrowly avoiding being seen by the paps constantly haunting the entrance.

“Shawn?”

I know that voice. Whipping around, he stared at you in disbelief.

“What are you doing here?!” he was so surprised he couldn’t move. You took him in, white Calvin Klein tee barely containing his chest, and sighed. Getting up from the chair you’d been waiting in for an hour, you approached him slow so he could fully accept and process the fact that you were in fact real and standing in front of him.

“Not even a ‘happy to see–”

You couldn’t even get your sarcastic comment out before his lips were on yours. They were full and wet and covered in cherry flavored chapstick. God, you’d missed him. His arms came around you and enveloped you in his warmth. You ran your hands up his chest, noticing the way he gasped a little into your mouth when you grazed over his sensitive nipples, and threaded your fingers into his damp curls. He smelled like sandalwood and bergamot and boy. It was intoxicating. His tongue ran along the lower seam of your lips, begging for deeper entry but you stopped him, breathing heavy against his mouth.

“Shawn, we should go upstairs.” His head popped up and swiveled as if he’d completely forgotten that you were in full view of the public and not in the privacy of his room. He blushed hard, pink rising in his cheeks down to his jaw and disappearing into the neck of his t-shirt. You giggled behind your hand, reaching up to ruffle his curls.

“Come on, big boy, tell me about the shoot,” you grabbed his hand and made for the elevator. By the time you reached his suite, he was buzzing with energy, so excited about how the day went.

“God, babe, I wish I had some proofs or something you could see. I just felt so confident all day.” He shut the door behind him, sighing in disappointment at not being able to share it with you. Turning back toward him, you stalked over and slipped your fingers underneath his t-shirt, fingering the sparse hair under his belly button. He tensed beneath your touch, flexing his fingers to claw at his sweatpant-clad thighs, itching to touch you but afraid if he started he wouldn’t be able to stop.

A devilish idea crossed your mind when you saw an instant film camera sitting on the nearby desk, surrounded by Polaroid cartridges. He’d been playing around with cameras a lot lately, taking it as an opportunity to bond with Connor. You caught his eye, smirking, and his own widened.

“What if we have our own photoshoot, baby?” Leaving him panting, you walked over to the camera and picked it up, quickly inserting a fresh film cartridge, “you can show me all your hot moves.” You smiled all toothy at him and shook the camera in one hand, ignoring his jaw hanging somewhere on the floor. He’d been nodding since you’d called him baby.

“Pick your jaw up off the floor, Mendes. Time to strip.”

You’d never seen someone disrobe so fast. His sweats and sneakers were shed in a puddle on the floor, the white tee quickly following. All that was left was a very tall, very fit curly-haired boy in a pair of white Calvin Klein boxer briefs. Fuck, is he really all mine? It was astounding sometimes, the reality of him. All that skin. His abs rippled in the low light of the room. He cleared his throat.

“Uhm, babe, are you gonna use that camera?” the corner of his mouth lifted, “or are you just gonna look at me?” You shook your head to clear the fog, much to his amusement. Putting the camera down for just a moment, you evened the playing field, slipping your black skater dress up and over your head. His breath caught in his throat mid-chuckle when you revealed a matching hot pink lace bra and panty set, the demi bra hiding just enough to make his heart race.

“Now that we’re even,” you picked up the camera again, “get up on the bed and pose for me.”

Shawn blushed, that pink tint in his cheeks sending blood rushing between your legs. The ache almost doubled you over, acute and intense. He crawled up toward the pillows, situating himself in his best underwear model pose. Starting with a casual look to the side, his arms crossed over his bent knees, you snapped the first photo. The camera spit out the white square and you fanned it out like they did in the movies, barely able to rip your eyes away from him.

“Very nice, Mr. Mendes,” it developed quickly, the lower saturation evident in the lighter blue edging of his waistband, “let’s try another one.” Getting up on your knees on the edge of the bed, he looked over and spread his knees a little, widening his arms to hug the backs of the pillows. His skin glowed in the light, naturally or from a slight sheen of nervous sweat you weren’t sure. Honestly, you didn’t care.

“Look at me, baby,” Shawn followed your direction and you snapped the shutter again, barely able to keep your hands from shaking. His eyes looked black, darkened with lust, the usual light brown traded in for a dark molasses. At this point the camera was just a prop, the roleplay a farce in light of what was about to happen. You dropped the developed Polaroid and moved forward, crawling on your hands and knees toward his spread legs. He stretched out his legs to accomodate you, letting you straddle his hips, hovering just over where he wanted you most.

“One more...a smile this time,” you grinned to encourage him, lifting up the eyepiece to your face as he stretched his arms behind his head, his lips splitting into a radiant, heart-stopping smile that took your breath away. Somewhere a shutter snapped. It might have been in your hand, but you weren’t sure because it wasn’t there two seconds later.

Shawn had thrown it down the bed.

He pulled your face into his, immediately groaning into your mouth as he pushed his tongue inside. Licking into you, he played with your tongue, remembering how good you tasted. His hands were in your hair, on your waist, running up your shoulders. They were everywhere. He was everywhere. Your tongue, your nose, he filled your senses. You ran your hands down his chest and this time he gasped when you focused on his nipples. Smiling against his mouth, you trailed a line of kisses down his jaw to his neck, over his developed chest, and down to the tiny pink peaks that screamed at you through his shirts all the goddamn time.

You circled one with your nose, enjoying the feel of goosebumps that rose up in response. His breathing was ragged, a contrast to the silence in the room. He combed his fingers through your hair, an encouragement but not a command to just fucking devour him.

“Tell me what you want, Shawnie,” you whispered against his skin, your breath flowing over his straining nipples. The sound that burst from him, somewhere between a whine and a moan, was glorious. His fingers shook in your hair as he pieced together enough control to form a broken sentence.

“Mouth...on me….”

“Oh?” you pressed a close-mouthed kiss to his hardened bud, “like this?” He whined again, his chest lifting up off the bed to prolong the contact.

“More.” His voice was straining, raised an octave above his normal pitch. You locked eyes with him, a serious set to your brow.

“You’ll take what I give you.” His face fell. Brat. You lifted up and settled back against his thighs, close enough for him to feel the heat radiating from you through the thin cotton of his poster boy underwear. Pushing him back with a spread palm, you leaned down again, flattening your tongue and licking a wet stripe through the center of one defined pectoral.

“Oh, fuck,” he mewled, spurring you on. Taking his pert nipple into your mouth, you flicked and licked and sucked, his hands braiding into your hair to hold you against him. You ground hard into his lap, moaning into his chest when you felt him impossibly hard against you. He squirmed underneath you, bucking, grinding, trying to feel something, anything more than what you were giving him. His hands started to roam, to grab, to try to control. Trailing your tongue in one last loop, you bit down.

His cried out, his body going rigid and stilling immediately.

“Good boy,” you purred, shifting against him, your wet panties leaving a damp spot on the fabric that still contained his straining cock, “now don’t move again until I say.”

He nodded, his curls whipping in and out of his eyes with the vigorous movement. Gripping the expensive hotel comforter, sweat collected on his brow, the heat from his body deepening the gorgeous blush creeping down his chest. He was a vision under you, chest heaving, his mouth hanging open, panting, with the effort of staying still. You could tell that he’d like nothing more than to rip your panties off and fuck you into oblivion, but you weren’t going to let that happen. Not until you said so.

Unhooking the pink lace behind your back, you arched back to give him a show. A little extra torture in his current state. He whipped his head to the side and closed his eyes, overwhelmed and unable to look at you.

“Ah, ah, baby,” you leaned down to whisper in his ear, “I want you to look at me when I take you inside my wet cunt.” Shawn moaned at your filthy words, opening his eyes. They were so fucked out, dark and glassy with lust. You grabbed his chin and pressed a searing kiss to his lips before sliding back down his legs, keeping your eyes locked.

You slipped your hands beneath the waistband of his boxer briefs, fingering the brand name stitched into the elastic. He was so fucking hot like this. You wondered what Calvin Klein would think having their big new ambassador writhing and moaning incoherently in their underwear. What an ad that would be. Grabbing hold, you ripped his Calvins down his legs. He sprung to life before you, resting, weeping against his lower abdomen. You crawled back to his hips and exhaled, wet and hot, along his length. He flinched, a long, low moan cascading from his chest.

“I can’t...I need…” he muttered disjointed phrases. His hips were digging a hole into the mattress, resisting the urge to seek friction where he wanted it. His phrases soon turned to low whimpers. Watching him, you couldn’t be sure he was coherent. In fact, when you settled back above him, panties forgotten, and pressed your dripping wet heat against his cock, you watched a tear travel down his temple and into his hairline.

But before you’d let him fuck you, you wanted to play with him first. Instead of taking him inside, doing exactly what he wanted you to do, you brought your hand down your stomach, lower, through the little thatch of hair, and rubbed soft circles around your swollen clit. He looked down at your hand and groaned, his cock growing harder beneath you. You continued to rub, applying firm pressure, grabbing and pulling at your own nipples, head thrown back. Moaning. Moaning so hard he could feel them through your lips wrapped around him. The fire in your belly stoked, coating his cock with your warm wetness. His mouth hung open like his voice was caught in his throat.

“Tell me what you need, baby,” you shifted, your voice fucked out, pulling a hiss from him before he could answer, “I know you wanna please me.” His whole body was wound up tight, biceps straining against the pillows where he clasped them to keep from moving. You could tell he wanted to move, needed to move, or he was going to lose it before ever feeling inside. He wasn’t going to last long, but the night was so very long.

“Shawn,” you commanded and he blinked, coming out of some place deep inside himself, finally seeing you. “Answer me.”

“I...want you…” he paused to draw a ragged breath, “to ride me.”

“Oh, I’m so glad,” you lifted a few inches off his hips, gripping the base of him and ignoring his gasp, “because that’s exactly what I want, too.” You sank down, all the way down, and felt the pleasure-pain of him stretching you, felt his pulse inside you. Leaning back, almost far enough for your hair to graze his thighs, you braced yourself and slowly shifted your pelvis in a circular motion.

“Jesus, fuck,” you breathed, “Shawn, you feel so good.” His eyes were closed again, savoring the moment. Instead of a command, you used a much more effective tactic. You reached up, thanking the gods for daily stretching, and pinched his still bite-reddened nipple.

His eyes blew open, the pupil almost completely consuming the iris, “ohmygodohmygodohmygod.” You loved it when you rendered him wild and irrational. It was the perfect time to lift up, separating your hips from his, and quickly slam back down, your skin slapping in the wettest, filthiest sound.

You established a rhythm that way, hard and fast and wet and smooth and totally obscene. Shawn’s hands came to rest on top of your thighs, massaging your muscles while your fingers took purchase in his hair. He never tried to take control, not once. Not even when you took his hands and guided them over your abdomen to your breasts, his rough fingertips grazing your fucked sensitive nipples. The veins in his neck stood out from the strain of his complete restraint. He was fighting so hard. You could tell from the sweat pooling in the valley of his chest, the scrunched set of his brow, the fucking sound of his rough and uneven breaths, coming in bursts now.

“Shawn,” you shook your head in pleasure, “Shawn, fucking move with me. Take me now.”

The sound that came out of him. A growl….no, a snarl. It was the sexiest sound you’d ever heard.

He lifted off the bed at the waist and brought his arms around you tight, pressing you firmly against his chest. You kept a firm grasp on his hair, forcing his face up to yours and taking your fill of his mouth as he rutted up into you. Over and over and over again he hit that place inside you that only he ever had.

The noises that filled the hotel room were lewd, vulgar. Wet skin against wet skin, curses that strung together. You were close and you knew he was too. You could feel his body twitching in his shoulders, his abdomen, his thick cock thrusting in and out of you. The ocean threatened on all sides. The wave was coming. There was only one thing you had to do to make it all come crashing.

You moved in close, taking the tiny silver hoop in his ear and tugging a little before whispering, broken and rough but sugary sweet.

“Are you my good boy?”

He couldn’t fight it anymore.

His back arched and he yelled his release, gripping your hips tight to still them against his. The pulsing sensation of his thick come inside you sent you over the edge, a moment of complete white, followed by oversaturation. He collapsed backward onto the pillows, you following on top of him, breathing asynchronously. His chest lifted you up in progressively longer intervals as his breathing evened, fingers tracing patterns on your back.

“Holy fuck, babe,” he let out a chuckle, “I wasn’t expecting that.” You propped your chin up on his chest and smiled, blowing a piece of hair out of your face.

“You never answered my question,” you fingered his chest hair, scratching lightly at the skin with increasing pressure, eventually leaving a set of livid red marks in the center of his chest.

“Are you my good boy?” you asked, like it was the simplest question in the world.

He twitched inside you at the implication, the promise of what was to come no matter what his answer. They had all night. And he recovered quickly. He smiled into her strawberry-scented hair and tried to make his voice as level as possible.

“What if I want to be bad?”

😈

permanent taglist: @justanotherfangurl272  @siennarossi @trustfundshawn @alone-in-madness @rodneywaber @harryandmolly @thatindiannerdygirl @the-claire-bitch-project @mendesromano @fromthicctosticc @esoltis280 @thotfulalena @softmendesss @sinplisticshawn @nedthegay @september-lace @itrocksmysocks @disaster-rose @mendesoft

[shawnmendeslatinamerica]

SHAWN MENDES HAS HAD A MAJOR GLOW-UP IN HIS CAREER- HERE’S THE PROOF

Shawn Mendes may be one of the biggest pop stars in the world these days, but he hasn’t always been the famous guy we know today!

Like many artists who get their start on smaller platforms, Shawn got his start on VINE in 2013 posting covers, and in 2014, he caught the eye of Andrew Gertler and Island Records’ Ziggy Chareton. Thus, leading him to sign with the label and creating the music we know today!

Over the years, Shawn’s image and sound have subtly changed, and that got us wanting to look back over the years at Shawn’s musical glow-up!

2013: VINE Song Covers

From Ed Sheeran and 5 Seconds Of Summer to Adele and Miley Cyrus, Shawn Mendes has covered them all! Not only did he nail every cover, but it also allowed him to showcase his full range of talent. It’s no wonder he caught the attention of some big names!

2014: The Shawn Mendes EP

This 4 song EP was Shawn’s first official extended play release. It featured some amazing songs, such as ‘Life Of The Party’ and ‘The Weight.’ The cherry on top is that it debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard charts! That’s pretty impressive for a newbie in the music industry, and he went on the further dominate the charts with the albums and singles that followed!

2015: Handwritten

Handwritten is Shawn’s first full-length album, and it debuted at No.1 on the Billboard charts. It features the four songs off the EP plus eight other absolute bops that are must-haves to every playlist. We know you remember his iconic singles ‘Stitches’ and ‘ I Know What You Did Last Summer’ that filled radio waves everywhere, well they are staples for this album along with some of our other favorites including ‘Aftertaste,’ ‘Crazy,’ ‘Air,’ and ‘A Little Too Much.’ The revisited edition also has some seriously underrated masterpieces like ‘Running Low,’ ‘Act Like You Love Me,’ and ‘Memories.’ Overall, this album holds a special place in our hearts and probably will for years to come.

2016: Illuminate

This is Shawn’s sophomore album, and yet again, it debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard charts! His sound changed a bit between this album and the first with this one having shown how Shawn matured in his music in just one year. It cuts deeper into our feels from the first second of the album to the last, and we feel Shawn was able to really show off not just his singing talent but also instrumental talent as well! Just check out the ‘Mercy’ music video above, and you’ll see what we mean! This album also features other incredible songs such as ‘Honest,’ ‘Treat You Better,’ ‘Understand,’ ‘Roses,’ and ‘Ruin.’

2017: MTV Unplugged– Shawn Mendes

This was the year Shawn released a second live album of an Illuminate World Tour show. It was recorded at The Theatre at Ace Hotel in Los Angeles. We got to hear him perform some of our favorites tracks, and have the concert experience anytime we want (and trust is a Shawn Mendes concert is a definite must-see!) Not only do you get to experience the passion when he sings but you get to feel the energy of the fans as well.

2018: Shawn Mendes

This is Shawn’s third studio album. It’s self-titled, the cover art was created by a fan, and it debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard charts in the US and Canada. Throughout this album, we get to hear the sound of the Shawn Mendes we’re used to, but he also dabbled a bit in R&B, Blues, and pop-rock. It added a unique quality to his sound that we didn’t know we needed until we got it! With some out-of-this-world songs like ‘In My Blood,’ ‘Queen,’ ‘Because I Had You,’ ‘Youth,’ ‘Perfectly Wrong,’ and so many more, we find this to be one of Shawn’s best albums yet! The lyrics are deeper in meaning, giving us a look inside Shawn’s mind, and it sets our feels into overdrive. Also in 2018, Shawn dropped two singles that weren’t on the Shawn Mendes album- ‘If I Can’t Have You’ and ‘Señorita,’ the latter also features pop songstress: Camila Cabello!

There you have it, Mendes Army! A glow-up of Shawn’s musical career, and might we say we loved him then, we love him now, and we know we’ll love him for years to come!

via thehoneypop.com 08/08/20

[haydnfleury]

Flatline

**MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH DISCLAIMER**

Who: William Nylander, Zach Hyman

Type: Dark Fic

Word Count: 2.4K

Addendum: Title is from the song Flatline off the Hotline Miami soundtrack.

~AO3 Version

 The next morning seemed like any other winter morning in Toronto. Frost forming on the windows from the dropping temperatures, the sound of early morning traffic on the streets below, and the alarm blaring its usual tone. Except, something’s different. Wrong.

 “I love you Zachy.”

 “I love you too Willy.”

 They kissed and held each other closely under the covers, beginning to fall asleep.

 The next morning seemed like any other winter morning in Toronto. Frost forming on the windows from the dropping temperatures, the sound of early morning traffic on the streets below, and the alarm blaring its usual tone. Except, something’s different. Wrong. Zach is usually the first one to get out of bed anyway, but Willy doesn’t seem to have woken up like he always has when the alarm went off before practice- in fact he doesn’t seem to have moved at all from where he was the night prior.

 “Honey?” Zach asks trying to shake him awake.

 Nothing. A little louder and harder this time- nothing. Starting to panic, Zach bursts into the closet digging around for their travel suitcases. After having thrown half of the clothes out, he finds them, and grabs a small hand-held mirror from the toiletries bag. Holding it under Willy’s nose the glass starts to fog up. Good, he’s not dead at least.

 Zach hurriedly throws on some clothes and phones up emergency services, as well as the new coach and several teammates. EMT’s arrive within five minutes of him calling, and rush Willy out to the ambulance, constantly monitoring his dangerously low vitals on the way to the emergency room.

 By the time he was stabilized and Zach was let into the room, the entire team had arrived, bleary-eyed from sleep but still quite visibly concerned. The doctor began to explain that he suffered from a stroke sometime in the early hours of the morning, and that he was stuck in a coma. The rest started to become a blur as Zach got lost in his own thoughts, How did he get a stroke? We’re both too young for-- When is he going to wake up-- Is-- is he going to wake up? Please don’t leave me like this. I don’t--

 The thoughts are interrupted by Mitchy’s hand on his shoulder.

 “Hey, are you okay?”

 When he looks up the doctor had already left, and everyone was looking at him, all with the same question on their face.

 “I. I don’t know,” is all he can manage to say, he doesn’t really know the answer to that himself yet.

 “In light of events this morning, we’ll move practice to tomorrow,” Keefe decides and everyone nods in agreement, “Hyman, take the week off if you need it, I won’t think any less of you if you need more time off.”

 Outside in the ward, they start to hear a growing chatter, and the clattering of equipment. The Media.

 “Oh boy, already? I need to go take care of this. John? Do me a favour and call Kyle, have him restrict the media for injury protocol.”

 And with that the coach goes out and closes the door behind him, and Tavey steps into the bathroom to make his phone call. Zach pulls a chair over to the bedside and sits down, grabbing Willy’s hand. At this point he can’t hold back, lowering his head onto his hand and bed underneath it, as the tears start to break through.

 Mo makes his way over and puts his arm around Zach. Mitchy is suddenly reminded of his own boyfriend, Marty, being suddenly taken away from him when his plane crashed on his way back from the off-season, and starts tearing up. Tys pulls him into a hug and lets him cry into his shoulder. Everyone else in the crowded room just looks on solemnly.

 Zach stays at the hospital for three days. Initially Tavey steps up as captain and visits them first, bringing Zach food each day so he’d remember to actually eat. Everyone else visits in their own time.

 After the third day Zach returns to practice, something to hopefully take his mind off of what’s going on. It works well enough, returning to drills and playing on the first line for games. Focus. Focus on something else. The team. The game. Getting that puck into the net. Focus.

 It’s been three weeks since that cold morning. Zach’s thoughts are composed enough now, and they’re in the middle of a game at home. He’s in a face-off when he sees Kyle entering the player bench on the phone, they’ve been discussing different trade opportunities lately- a Marlie or two for a player from one of the other teams- so he doesn’t think much of it. When the play ends though to an off-side, he calls a timeout. Yeah, they’re losing 5-2, but they’re still in the second period, so they shouldn’t need it yet right?

 But when they all come together, there’s no whiteboards, no iPads, no talk of plays or strategies. Keefe seems to have lost his tongue, shuffling in place, so Kyle speaks up.

 “He’s gone. William. He’s gone.”

 It’s dead silent on the bench, aside from the few who had dropped what they were holding, and Zach’s world seemed to be crashing down along with them.

 “It was about four minutes ago, I had just got off the phone with the doctors. We um, we’ve decided to forfeit the game; I don’t think any of you wants to continue playing now.”

 Nobody seems to have the strength to respond. But they all stand up and make their way down the tunnel to the locker room while Kyle radios to the staff to forfeit, and block all media personnel from the Leafs’ sections of the building. When they’ve all dressed and make their way to the parking garage Zach is the first person to even say a word since Kyle told them.

 “Morgan, can you drive me home? I can’t really think straight.”

 He agrees and, and he’s not exactly wrong. At the moment everything is just noise, bright and blurry colours, and the cold air; he wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between 60 km/h or 150 km/h, or a red light on an intersection with a car coming from the other direction. Not to mention the fact he couldn’t bring himself to drive in their car, knowing Willy would never be in the passenger seat again.

 When they get to Zach’s apartment, he fumbles with the keys to get the door open. But seeing their home, *his* home now, makes his stomach churn. He bolts nearly through the bathroom door and pukes his guts out in the toilet. Composing himself, he gets himself back up and washes his mouth out in the sink, as his mind becomes a tempest of emotions: anger, frustration, despair, guilt.

 As he looks in the mirror, the anger takes over and he punches the glass with his hand, cracking it, and drawing blood from his knuckles before he collapses against the wall, bending his legs towards him and crying. The sound of breaking glass had Mo rushing over to see what happened, only to see the shattered reflections, and his teammate in tears on the floor.

 “Hey, hey, it’s going to be okay,” he bends down and then notices the blood, “shit, we better fix that.”

 Having been to their place enough times, Mo knew his way around, and so he dug through the cabinet to find the first aid kit. First examining the hand, then grabbing the tweezers to pull out the remnant shards of glass. Switching to a piece of cloth and wetting it with alcohol, he cleans the wound. It draws a sharp, pained breath from Zach.

 “Sorry, I know this probably hurts like hell,” once it’s cleaned, he wraps it tightly.

 He manages to get Zach ready enough for bed and sits on the couch, figuring he should probably stay and keep an eye on him for a while. Meanwhile Zach tries to sleep, but his thoughts are racing. He’s gone. William. He’s gone. - I love you Zachy. That’s the last thing I ever heard him say… and I can’t ever hear his voice again, or see that smile of his, the deepness of his eyes, his- his- his fucking laugh that could brighten an entire room. - Why wasn’t I there… Why- why him? Why do bad things happen to good people? It- it should’ve been me, not him, never him. I- I can’t- I’ll never be able to feel his touch again, never be able to hold him- I- I-… his thoughts trail off, and he’s whisked away to sleep.

 In the morning the tears are gone. There aren’t any left. Period. In its wake is just emptiness. A void which can’t be filled. Mo had made breakfast for them by the time Zach got out of the bedroom. They eat in near silence, Mo tries several times to say something, but can’t find the right words to say. All he can think of is “I’m sorry,” which the only response he gets is Zach looking up at him before looking back at the food.

 That night, he tries drinking his problems away. Forget. Just forget. It works for a while, but it always comes flooding back in the morning. The time they visited Niagara Falls with the team, when they were on the Ferris wheel together, the first time they kissed literally during a game, moving in together when his lease on the last place ended, all their date nights, the stroke-- he stopped. What was the point if it was only temporary.

 The funeral services had been arranged by Tavey and Kyle, it was an extremely private ceremony, attended by teammates and the bereaved family. Zach was quite visibly a wreck, but no one was really much better. It had shaken up everyone, he was more important to everyone than they had even realized. Zach managed to speak in basic Swedish that he learned from Willy to his family. David [Pastrnak] also showed up to mourn, on the verge of quitting his career in hockey- he just lost one of his oldest friends.

 Within the week, a joint statement was released by Kyle and Keefe about the death, to a shocked nation. Everywhere, from Los Angeles to Halifax, or Vancouver to Miami, almost every major city in Canada was pouring in support and remembrance. Everywhere Zach went, he would see some calibre of remembrance on a poster, billboard, or bus- a constant reminder, He’s gone.

 Cigarettes was the next thing he tried, but to no avail. He had felt the exact same as before after one, and so he threw the rest back into a drawer to be forgotten.

 The team had taken nearly a month away from playing, but had gotten back to it. But it wasn’t the same. You lose a player they’re usually either traded or retired. Their place in the lineup or their stall in the locker room would be changed out, but they’d still be around, just not under the same colours. Not this time. No team would ever have him again. The players just keep moving forward, it’s all they can do, but the thought always lingers in the back of their minds.

 Mo didn’t intend to, but he effectively moved in with Zach until he thought it was fine for him to be alone, besides Gards would keep their place up until then. It never really improved though. Zach would just go through the motions. Get up, eat, practice, sleep. Get up, eat, play, sleep. Repeat. He could definitely still score, and help the team, but the celebrations never had the same feeling. There was always someone missing that would never come back, and be on the ice, be on the lineup. Life had started to lose it’s luster, and nothing changed that. Get up, eat, practice, sleep. Get up, eat, play, sleep. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

 Time didn’t seem to have a meaning anymore either. It could be seconds, days, weeks, or months, Zach couldn’t tell the difference. It was always the same cold, dark world that it was yesterday. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. He’s gone. He’s fucking gone.

 Was there any emotion left? No one knew. Everyone was consoling each other, but Mo, he didn’t know how to help. He’d never lost someone that close to him, Gards was there and waiting for him to come home. He did what he could, but even before starting to talk to a therapist he could see Zach was a husk of what he used to be. Everything was cold. Cold and dark, all of it a blur.

 Mo was already asleep on the couch, and Zach in bed when the city’s power grid failed and plunged the Greater Toronto Area into darkness. Zach walked out of the bedroom and through to the veranda, and sat on the railing. He looked up. Stars. It felt like eons since he last saw them. There’s something. A memory. Faint, but still there. Willy. When they both joined the Leafs in 2016, Zach was lost. It was a new place, new people, new everything. Willy was one of the first people he met. Willy had been to and from Toronto so many times as a kid with his father, he knew the area well. One of the first things they did together was drive out to a spot Willy would always go to. Since he was a kid, there was always this one place outside the city he would go to. It was a secluded little clearing where at night you could see the stars above. They had become friends quickly after that. It felt like centuries ago now though.

 Zach can’t feel anything anymore. He could be falling, but he doesn’t know. He swears he could hear someone calling his name, but it seems so far away and distorted. He doesn’t bother opening his eyes to check, everything is cold and dark, and the world around him is the same, there’s no point to. I love you Zachy. I love you too Willy. He feels like he hears that being said again, but it’s coming from everywhere, and nowhere. Then, nothing. Oddly, it becomes warm, warmth he hasn’t felt in who knows how long it’s been now. He feels something touch him. It’s familiar, yet completely foreign.

 “Zach.”

 Willy. Zach actually has the willpower to open his eyes now. Willy is pulling him up. He feels oddly weightless, and disorientated. He’s on the sidewalk. He tries to look behind to where he was but Willy holds his head with his hand and stops him.

 “Don’t.”

 He stops. By now he notices they’re both hovering off the ground.

 “Are we dead?”

 “Afraid so.”

 Willy moves over to the side of Zach and holds his hand as they both float away.

 “Where are we going?”

 “I don’t know, but I waited for you. Wherever it is, we’ll find out together.”

 “I love you honey.”

 “I love you too, forever and always.”

[sodoyouknowbts]

Taehyung x Reader - One night stand (One, Two)

Part of the ‘Married to You’  Series.

Summary: A one night stand with Kim Taehyung turns into something you never would’ve expected. 

Pairing:  Taehyung x Reader

Genre: Romance, Drama, Arranged Marriage

Author: Moxie

Chapters: 01 & 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 (The Finale)

Chapter One:

Parties were never usually your thing. In the past, during your wild party days, you could spend all night dancing. However nowadays you’d much rather spend your weekends relaxing in and watching Netflix.

Tonight though was a special occasion. You had just gotten a new job and you were in a mood to celebrate. It just so happened that you best friend’s boyfriend, a famous DJ, was throwing a party at his house to celebrate the launch of his new song. You slipped on a black slip dress you had bought some months ago. You had seen the dress on a mannequin in a shop window and had instantly fallen in love with it.

You arrive to the party 20 minutes later and the party was in full force. The house was lit up like a disco ball and there were already a lot of people drinking and dancing. Some faces you didn’t recognise and others you had seen on TV and on billboards. You spot your friend by the bar and make your way over to her.

“You need a drink!” She yells over the music and hands you a shot of tequila before grabbing one for herself. “Let’s do shots!”.

You down the shot, feeling the alcohol burning your throat on its way down. A song you both know starts playing and your friend takes your hand and leads you to the backyard where a dance floor is set up. You squeeze your way past sweaty bodies and end up in the middle of the stage. You close your eyes and start to sway your hips to the beat, letting yourself get lost to the music.

The first thing you see is grey. Grey walls and grey curtains. You slowly rise to view your surroundings but the moment you raise your head you’re met with a sharp dull pain in your temples. You lay your head back on the pillow and groan. You couldn’t remember the last time you had woken up with a hangover.

You also couldn’t remember the last time you were this comfortable, hangover aside. Your muscles felt loose and you were a bit achy in some places but other than that you felt relatively good. The bed was big and soft and the silk sheets felt heavenly against your skin. Wait a minute…skin?!

You glance down and to your horror you find that you’re completely nude. You’re also not alone. Sleeping beside you is a man, but not just any normal man, you recognise his face straight away. Kim Taehyung. The world’s number one model. He was famous worldwide for his piercing gaze and sharp jaw. Girls lined up for days just to get a glimpse of him.  You had seen his pictures in magazines and on billboards all over the city. He was the face of Gucci and held the current record for the most Vogue covers, earning him a spot in the Guinness World Records given his young age.

You’re completely confused and you have no idea what is going on. Why is the world’s top model lying beside you, and why are you both naked? What exactly happened last night?

Your try to remember but your memory is hazy. You remember drinking and dancing with someone and then more drinking. The rest is blank.  You don’t even remember leaving the party and how you got here. Wherever here was. You must’ve drank way more than you should’ve.

You look around and spot your dress at the end of the bed as if it had been thrown haphazardly, right next to a man’s dress shirt and pants. You slowly slide out of bed making sure to be quiet so that you didn’t wake up your companion. You quickly slip on your dress and scan the room for your shoes and bag. You locate them both near the door and with one final glance at the gorgeous man sleeping peacefully, you turn to leave.

It isn’t until you get home that you realise you had left your card holder behind.

Chapter Two:

2.5 months later

It’s official, you were dying. Or at least that’s what it felt like. For the past two weeks you had been down with the flu and it didn’t look like it was going to go away. You suddenly had no energy and all you wanted to do was sleep. What was really strange though was that every now and again you would feel nauseated. You had dragged yourself into work that morning, refusing to take another day off. Your emails were already piling up after two days off and you were already dreading going through them.

As you made you way into the lunchroom with your colleague the smell of coffee overwhelms you and you were hit with a familiar queasy feeling. You place a hand over your mouth and suppressed the urge to vomit.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” your colleague asked you. Her face full of concern as she handed you a napkin.

“Yeah I’m fine, it’s just this damn flu that won’t go away. It’s so annoying. All I want to do is sleep.” You sigh and lay your head against your arms on the table. You pick at your strawberry yoghurt, the only thing that seemed to appease your stomach.

“Sounds like you might be pregnant. I had similar symptoms when I was carrying my second child.”

“What?! Pregnant? B-but that can’t be?” You exclaim shocked.

Can it? You think back to when you had last gotten your period. It was definitely late. Very late. You had originally just brushed it off and thought it was because of stress but could it actually be because you’re pregnant?

Three pregnancy tests later there was no doubt in your mind. You were carrying Kim Taehyung’s child. Suddenly dying didn’t seem like such a bad option.

--

Kim Taehyung was an ass!

You had gotten Taehyung’s number from your friend’s boyfriend and when you told him what had happened he had rudely hung up on you, accusing you of being fan.

When you finally got through to his manager they demanded a paternity test.  Of course the results came back positive, identifying Taehyung as the father.

Through the entire process you hadn’t spoken a word to Taehyung, only his manager and lawyer. You could understand that he was upset but so were you! A child was the last thing you wanted especially at this age. You were still young! You had your whole life ahead of you. You had planned to travel the world but now you couldn’t do any of that. At least you were trying to be civil and mature, unlike mister diva there. It was a week after you had given his lawyer the paternity results when you get a call. You answer it thinking it was either his manager or lawyer again “Hello?”

“Let’s get married. Saturday, 2pm. My manager will send you the address. Dress appropriately.”

Before you could even get a word in they had hung up. It took you a moment to process who had just called and what he had said. Taehyung had finally contacted you and he wanted to get married.

What!?

--

“So, what’s it like being married to the world’s hottest man?”

You were on your phone to your friend as you lazed around in your room. The last two weeks had gone by in a haze. You had agreed to married Taehyung deciding that it was the best thing for your child.  You had both agreed that you would remain married until the child was born and after that go your separate ways. It was more of a business agreement than a marriage. The last thing you wanted was for your unborn child to be labelled as a bastard so it was fine by you.

That Saturday you showed up to his lawyer’s office and met your future husband for the first time since the party. After signing an iron clad pre-nup you were both declared husband and wife. Not once during the entire process did Taehyung so much as glance your way nor did he speak to you. The only time you both made eye contact was when he placed the ring on your finger. A simple princess cut diamond ring. It wasn’t your usual style but you found that it was slowly growing on you.

The next day you packed your things and moved your things into his house. Taehyung of course was not home. He had conveniently flown out of the country for a few days for a photo shoot. You didn’t mind though because it gave you time to settle in and explore your new surroundings in peace. Taehyun’s house was the ultimate bachelor’s pad. He had two bedrooms, a study which was more like a second closet seeing as he had clothes everywhere, a theatre room with a huge built in projector screens, a gym and in the backyard, he had a pool inside a glass dome that kept it warm during winter time.

You were given the room across the hall from Taehyung’s and that first few days you had planned to explore the neighbourhood. However, that soon became impossible as somehow news of your wedding was released to the media. It was all over the news that Kim Taehyung, the world’s hottest bachelor was now off the market married in a secret ceremony. They had even a managed to find a photo of you and they even found out where you worked. You remember leaving for work and being met with a swarm of paparazzi waiting for you at the front.  They shoved their cameras and their microphones in your face and threw questions at you from left, right and centre.

Everyone wanted to know who you were and how you had landed the world’s most wanted man.

--

“Boring.” You reply to your friend as you move to the kitchen to make yourself a sandwich. “I haven’t seen Taehyung much at all. He’s always working”. You two had agreed to be civil for the sake of the baby. However civil didn’t mean friendly to Taehyung it meant ignoring that you existed.

The last time you had seen Taehyung was last night when you bumped into him in the hallway. You had left your bedroom to get a drink and he had just gotten home and was on his way to his. You were focused on your phone and not on where you were going that you walked straight into him. The impact made you lose your balance and caused you to stumble backwards but Taehyung caught you with his arm and pulled you against his chest. Holding you upright.

“Woman, pay more attention to where you’re going. Especially in your state” He had scolded you as he released his arm and moved past you.

“Have you two had sex yet?” Your friend asked.

“Omg no! We’ve hardly had a chance to talk to each other let alone that.” You two had never spoken about what happened that night. You figured that you both must’ve been very drunk and one thing lead to another.  

“How is the little bean?” your friend asks as you pull out two slices of bread and a jar of mayonnaise.

“Hungry, as always but other than that fine” You slather a good amount of mayonnaise on the bread and turn to the kitchen for some ham and pickles. “Shoot!” you say when you realise there are no pickles. You had been craving a ham, pickle and mayonnaise sandwich the entire day and was looking forward to eating one. You glance at the clock in the kitchen and note that it’s half past three in the afternoon. Taehyung said he had a meeting until three, so he should be done by now. You contemplate whether to call him or not. You didn’t want to be a burden but at the same time you really wanted pickles. Screw it you decide. Food is more important.

“Hey I have to go now there’s a sandwich emergency. I’ll message you later okay?” You say goodbye to your friend and immediately after call Taehyung’s number.

His phone rings four times before he picks up. “Yeah?”

“Oh hi Taehyung, it’s me.”

“Yeah I know it’s you I have caller ID.” Those articles that said Kim Taehyung was a gentleman lied. He was anything but.

“So um…are you still at work?”

“I just finished up, why?”

“Would it be possible for you to buy some pickles on your way home?” You cross your fingers.

He lets out a deep sigh as if you had just asked him to fetch the moon and not ham “Pickles? What do you want pickles for?”

“I need pickles for my sandwich. I’ve been craving it all day. Pleeeasssseeee?”

“Fine.” Another sigh and then he hung up.

Fifteen minutes later Taehyung walked through the front door and into the kitchen. He placed a jar of pickles on the island bench where you were sitting, watching Youtube videos on your laptop. Without even saying hi to you or acknowledging you he turned to leave.

“Hey!” You call out getting his attention. You close your laptop and stand up. “Look, I’m trying okay? The least you can do is not ignore me.”

You’ve been here for over two weeks now and you were finally sick of his attitude. Yes, the situation was unexpected and neither of you wanted this but that wasn’t your fault. You were sick of getting all of the blame.

“I’m trying to make the best out of this situation and you’re not helping. You think I wanted this?” You motion your hand at the kitchen.

“Isn’t it? Could’ve fooled me” he crossed his arms against his chest and raised an eyebrow.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means that I think it’s awfully convenient that we sleep together once and you end up pregnant and now here you are the wife of Kim Taehyung”

“You think I wanted to fall pregnant? I don’t even remember that night. All I wanted was to have one night where I could have fun without any responsibilities. Believe it or not Kim Taehyung the whole world isn’t lining up to marry your ass. Get over yourself.” You pick up your laptop and start to walk away.

“What did you expect from this marriage?” His question stops you in your tracks.

“What do I expect?”

“Did you expect that I would fall madly in love with you just because you were pregnant with my child?”

“What, no I-”

“Did you expect that I would drop everything to cater to your every whim? That I would commit myself 100% to making this marriage work? Get real, this marriage is a sham. The only reason I married you was for the sake of the child.”

His words cut like a knife. You knew he was right but it still hurt to hear it said aloud.

“I know that.” You fight back the tears. Your refuse to show weakness in front of him. To show him how much his words hurt. “I didn’t expect anything. I knew this marriage was fake going into it. All I want is for us to not spend the next 7 months ignoring each other and actually try to get to know each other but I guess that’s too much to ask.” You storm off before he can see the tears escape.

You spend the rest of the night locked in your room crying and cursing Kim Taehyung.

The next morning when you go downstairs you find no sign of him anywhere. Later that day you receive a message from his manager informing you that Taehyung would be overseas for three days to film a commercial and that if you needed anything to charge his credit card.

-

To be continued

[whitejeweler]

Welcome to a special holiday edition of Music Monday. Today, a cash-strapped Toby Keith reluctantly agrees to visit his local jeweler in the comical 1995 release, “Christmas Rock.”

In the song, we learn that Keith’s wife has been spending a lot of time looking at jewelry catalogs. She knows what she wants for Christmas, and practical, household items, such as pots and pans or a long nightshirt, are not going to cut it this year. She wants “something shinin’ on her hand” and it had better be a diamond or an emerald.

Keith tries to plead his case: They’re on a strict budget and they have to keep their spending down. Her reaction: She sheds a “big ol’ tear.”

The man who complains that his “billfold doesn’t have a prayer” finds himself en route to his local jeweler.

He sings, “Down to the jewelry store, here I go / Hear the clerk say, “Ho, ho, ho” / She wants a Christmas rock / But Santa’s pockets ain’t got no roll.”

Ironically, 18 years after the song was released, Keith appeared on the cover of Forbes magazine under the headline “Country Music’s $500 Million Man.”

“Christmas Rock” appeared as the third track from his first holiday album, Christmas To Christmas. Over the course of his 26-year music career, Keith has produced 19 studio albums, two Christmas albums and five compilation albums, with worldwide sales of 40 million units. Sixty-one singles have hit the Billboard Hot Country songs list, including 20 chart toppers.

Born in Clinton, Okla, in 1961, Toby Keith Covel became interested in music as a youngster. His grandmother owned a supper club in Fort Smith, Ark., and the young boy would visit during the summers. Keith did odd jobs around the club and got to interact with the band members. He got is first guitar at the age of eight.

After graduating high school, Keith worked as a derrick hand in the oil fields, but also performed for $35 a night at local bars as the frontman for the Easy Money Band. The band played the honky tonk circuit in Oklahoma and Texas, but never made it big.

Nearing 30 years of age, Keith decided to move to Nashville to see if he could land a recording contract and fulfill his dreams of a career in the music business. He distributed demo tapes to record companies in the city, but there was no interest.

Keith’s luck changed when a flight attendant and fan gave one of his demo tapes to Harold Shedd, a Mercury Records executive. Shedd later saw Keith perform live and quickly signed him to a record deal.

Since 2002, the singer, songwriter, actor and record producer has made numerous trips to the Middle East to support and entertain the U.S. men and women serving near the front lines.

Please check out the audio track of Keith performing “Christmas Rock.” The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along…

“Christmas Rock” Written by Lewis Anderson. Performed by Toby Keith.

My billfold doesn’t have a prayer There’s Christmas catalogs everywhere She keeps looking at the jewelry section Cutting pictures out of her selections

I said, “We need to hold it down this year” And in her eye she got a big ol’ tear She wants a Christmas rock But Santa’s pockets ain’t got no roll

She don’t want pots and pans Just something shinin’ on her hand With an emerald or a diamond on it I had a budget but she’s gone and blown it

Down to the jewelry store, here I go Hear the clerk say, “Ho, ho, ho” She wants a Christmas rock But Santa’s pockets ain’t got no roll

She don’t want anything from Sears No tools or garden shears There’s something special on her mind And I can’t even afford the shine

I wish she’d settled for a long nightshirt No, I’ve got to give till it hurts She wants a Christmas rock But Santa’s pockets ain’t got no roll

She don’t want pots and pans Just something shinin’ on her hand With an emerald or a diamond on it I had a budget but she’s gone and blown it

Down to the jewelry store, here I go Hear the clerk say, “Ho, ho, ho” She wants a Christmas rock But Santa’s pockets ain’t got no roll

She wants a Christmas rock But ol’ Santa’s pockets ain’t got no roll

Credit: Photo by Spc. Aaron Rosencrans [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Visit our website at whitejewelers.net

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[aion-rsa]

Why The Jerky Boys Are Back After Two Decades Away

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

The last time Johnny Brennan picked up a phone to make a prank call, Apple was a decade away from releasing the iPhone. Hell, “texting” was virtually nonexistent. After a nearly 25-year hiatus from recording original material, the comedian and co-creator of The Jerky Boys is making a comeback with a new self-titled record featuring his classic characters. 

Brennan’s return was in part inspired by a series of successful live shows over the past few years. The reverence fans showed for the crank call albums, including reciting back even the most obscure details from the recordings, convinced him it was time to dust off voice characters like Frank Rizzo, Sol Rosenberg, and Jack Tors. For years fans showed an appetite for new material. But the 59-year-old Brennan entered the studio again to make one person in particular laugh. 

“You gotta do it for yourself,” Brennan tells Den of Geek about his desire to revive The Jerky Boys. “You can’t force anything. The people are absolutely loving it. They’re saying, ‘Johnny, I can’t believe it. I can’t believe how awesome the characters just flowed right into 2020.’ It’s a good feeling.”

The Jerky Boys started in 1989 with Brennan and his childhood friend Kamal Ahmed. The comedic group released four records from 1993 to 1997, and two additional records (1999’s Stop Staring At Me and 2001’s The Jerky Tapes) from previously recorded material. Ahmed officially left The Jerky Boys in 2000. Though Brennan became the sole steward of the Jerky Boys brand, it sat mostly dormant through the 2010s as he continued his voiceover work as the recurring character Mort Goldman on Family Guy. 

The new record, titled The Jerky Boys, was released on Nov. 27 by Comedy Dynamics, a budding powerhouse in the comedy album business after earning all five Grammy nominations in the comedy category in 2019 (the company has 17 nominations and four wins overall). The landscape for releasing a record has changed in nearly every conceivable way since The Jerky Boys 4, and the release strategy for Brennan’s new set of calls reflects that. The album is available on Spotify and anywhere music can be streamed these days. Within a week of release, it hit No. 1 on the comedy charts on Apple Music and Amazon Music. 

What hasn’t changed is Brennan’s commitment to the bits. Sol Rosenberg is the album’s MVP; standouts include an unfortunate mishap with a stair climber and his side hustle teaching yoga with goats. Jack Tors is in the market for an aggressively large kettle drum to get groovy and out-of-sight with. Bridge-and-tunnel New Yorker Frank Rizzo is a little beat up from base jumping and needs leg braces on the album’s opening track and looking for pipe bombs on another. Surprising no one, Rizzo seems to live his life constantly on the precipice of an expletive-laced tirade. Rizzo is seen orbiting in space on the album’s cover, which was illustrated by artist Sean Taggart, who’s produced artwork for every Jerky Boys record.

We spoke to Brennan about why he decided to make a comeback, how a throwaway track became a fan-favorite and the title of a Radiohead album, and what the Jerky Boys means to fans in 2020.

DEN OF GEEK: What inspired the first new Jerky Boys record in almost 25 years?

Johnny Brennan: The best way I can put it to people is you got to feel it. I know the record company over the last two years probably lost their patience because I announced it at a nightclub. 

I’ve never done live shows before because I’m not a stand-up comedian. I said, “Fuck it.” I’d go out and do some live shows and get two or three hundred people in the room. It’s really nice because I can look at each person. I’ve done shows where there’s 5,000 people out in the audience. Actually, I did Woodstock where there were 500,000 people out there, but it’s nice when you do a small room because you get to make eye contact with pretty much everybody in the audience. 

I would see the people know every single word of every single skit because we’d play six, maybe seven, skits during the show. Then it’s a bunch of back and forth, fucking with each other. And the audience members, they have tons of things that they want to ask me.

I said, “You know what? Let me do it.” I made the announcement on my birthday, it was December 1st at a club called The Kingsland in Brooklyn. I just thought about the fans and I thought about how much they really enjoy it and love it. The truth is, I haven’t done anything new in almost 25 years. I’m talking where you sit down and you actually do brand new calls where there’s nothing in the can. So these are all brand spanking new calls and the response has been absolutely amazing. I couldn’t ask for more, to be honest with you.

We could spend hours talking about how comedy has changed and evolved in the last 25 years, but why do you think the prank phone call format just continues to endure?

It’s odd because I was never really into prank phone calls and the whole idea of doing prank phone calls. I was more into actual live pranks or fucking with people or doing things that are real, in real life. But either way, what happened with my stuff is just an amazing thing that occurred. Let’s put it this way, I don’t listen to my own stuff. I don’t watch or listen to prank phone calling and prank phone callers and who’s doing what. I don’t pay any attention to that. That’s a good question though.

When fans come up to you at shows what are some of their favorite characters and calls? 

Everybody’s got their own favorites. It’s literally thousands. Some people will come up to me and they’ll hit me with a line and I’ll have to be like, “Oh, shit.” It’s a little more obscure. It’s a little bit more like, “Oh, shit. I remember that, of course. Yes.” 

But everybody has their favorites, just something as simple as Jim. The word Jim, the name Jim. They add a B to it, so it’s Jimb. I even have a t-shirt that says Jimb. Just something as simple as one name. The reason is because I spent a lot of time in the studio trying to get that B out of there because he said his last name and I don’t remember what it was but it began with a B, so I couldn’t get rid of the B so I just thought it was funny. I said, “Fuck it. Leave it.” So now, whenever people say, “Is Jim around?” They say, “Is Jimb around?”

You know what the most amazing thing is? I just did the new record and Rolling Stone teased people with a couple skits, and people are hitting me with catch phrases already from a brand new skit. It’s the most fascinating feeling.

What was it like sitting down and doing these calls in the studio all these years later? Did it take a few calls to get it to where you wanted it to be?

I intentionally said, “I’m not going to overthink this whole fucking thing because that’s when you get into trouble.” I’m going to put my mind in a setting, the same setting that it was in many moons ago, before the bootleg even hit the street, where I was just doing this for me. 

If I sit down and do an auto mechanic or if I sit down and talk about selling cars, I’m doing it for me. I’m going to relax. I’m just going to let the phone ring or make the phone calls and just let the characters flow as it happens. That’s how I did it.

The way albums are released and promoted has changed dramatically since the last Jerky Boys record. What are you expecting in terms of how fans will engage with the material this time around? 

I have to be honest, I’ve been out of the loop so long. I don’t even know how they do this today. I heard something about vinyl and Spotify and all this tons of stuff, but like I said, back in the day you used to get CDs and cassette tapes. Now today, I don’t really know how they do it, to be honest with you. It’s all out everywhere you can possibly get it. The more, the merrier, which is so interesting. It’s such a different dynamic.

On the new record, is there a standout track you think people are going to really gravitate toward?

The interviews that I’ve been doing, each of them has said, “Johnny, oh my god, I love this skit.” And they would give me one of the skits. I would say, “That’s so cool,” because it reminds me of many years ago. 

For example, “Pablo Honey.”I didn’t put that on my first record because I didn’t think it had legs. A few people said to me, “John, I’m telling you, you should start off the second record. I’m telling you, ‘Pablo Honey’ is just killer.” I said, “It’s killer?” I said, “I kind of dig it, but…” And how wrong I was. I put it on my second record and it instantly became one of the all-time favorite skits. People to this day go nuts for “Pablo Honey.” All I’m doing is just telling Pablo to come down to Florida and [ask] if he is washing his ass, keeping his ass clean.

I got a call at my mom’s place years and years ago from a group of guys that were at the record label. They were asking, “Hey, Johnny, do you mind? Would it be okay if we used your track ‘Pablo Honey’ to name our debut album in America?” I said, “Absolutely. Have at it. Go ahead.” Little did I know that this was a band called Radiohead. Next thing you know, they charge me up the charts and it’s The Jerky Boys No. 1 in Billboard Magazine and Radiohead No. 2, with Pablo Honey.

That’s incredible. On this new record, which characters aged the best for 2020?

They’re all in perfect shape. It’s so funny. They all just roll right into everything that’s going on. Don’t forget, I’ve been obviously around for the last 20 years on Family Guy and doing little bits of whatnot here and there with my Jerky Boys characters as well, commercials and things like that. That’s why it’s so unique with this whole new album kind of deal. It’s nice to get fired up about it.

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Of the previous CDs, which one do you feel is the pinnacle of The Jerky Boys?

They’re all like children. They’re all like babies. Jerky Boys 1 people were just completely mesmerized, blown away. Jerky Boys 2, same thing. Jerky Boys 2, that was pressure because they say in the record business, “It’s almost impossible to follow up.” But in my case, I was able to pull it off. Jerky Boys 2 is just incredible. Then you look at Jerky Boys 3. Jerky Boys 3 has so much incredible work and the album cover is the whole King Kong theme and I introduce five new characters on Jerky Boys 3. So, I can’t really pick one and say, “Oh, my god.” They’re all literally like your kids.

The post Why The Jerky Boys Are Back After Two Decades Away appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3lX0yom

[epiphany-in-exile]

Billboard Taylor Swift's 2017: The Timeline 12/18/2017 by Allison Stubblebine From the record-breaking 'Reputation' to speaking out against sexual assault, Swift continued to change culture in 2017. Taylor Swift didn't do a lot in 2017... until she did. Following months spent attempting to fly under the radar, and the Instagram blackout of Aug. 2017, Swift took the rest of the year by storm, with a not-so-traditional album rollout for Reputation and a series of larger than life visuals to accompany the first singles. Fans got a sneak preview at what was to come from her personally curated Secret Sessions, but those were hidden away from the lens of the media. Now that Reputation is here to stay, Billboard has taken a look back at Swift's action packed year. Jan. 27 - “I Don’t Want to Live Forever” music video release Swift kicked off the New Year with the release of the visuals to Fifty Shades Darker track “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever.” Swift and former 1D artist Zayn trashed a hotel room for the video, lit by flashing shades of blue and red. The song peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. Feb. 4 2017 - Taylor Swift plays “only show of 2017” Swift broke some disappointing news to fans during her pre-Super Bowl set for DIRECTV Now Super Saturday Night. "I have to be really honest with you about something: As far as I know, I'm doing one show in 2017. And as far as I know, this is that one show," Swift said long before the announcement of Reputation. She added, “You're the crowd in my most recent daydreams, when I'm thinking about being onstage, so I was wondering: If you don't feel like dancing for yourself or screaming for yourself, you don't feel in the mood or whatever, you're like stressed out, would you do it for me tonight?" Feb. 15-16 - TAS Rights Management, LLC filed nine separate trademarks for “Swifties” Swift’s brand nailed down the things most true to her: Swifties. Nine separate trademarks were filed for the word alone, including one involving “a website featuring non-downloadable audio recordings [and] video recordings.” The idea that Swift would launch her own streaming service was debunked. Mar. 2 - Ed Sheeran teases Swift’s upcoming album The singer revealed that his pal would be putting her music out quite late on in the year, saying, “Taylor [Swift] isn’t going to be releasing until probably the end of this year—Christmas is the smartest time to release because that’s when everyone buys records.” Looks like he was right. Mar. 10 - Man arrested for stalking/burglary inside Swift’s apartment building A man was arrested in Swift’s New York City building on charges of burglary, stalking, and trespassing. According to a Page Six report, the man allegedly hoped to meet the singer face-to-face. While the man was initially held on $20,000 bail, he was found unfit to stand trial and reportedly “placed in the custody of the New York State Office of Mental Health” as of late September. April 4 - “Busy working” on new album in Nashville After the singer had been spotted driving around Nashville, a source confirmed to ET that she’d come “to get away from the paparazzi,” and also that she had “been busy working on her upcoming album.” May 15 - She’s really in Nashville! Swift celebrates Mother’s Day at home with her mom TMZ did the heavy digging and proved that Swift really had been in Nashville - though she may have been hopping back and forth, as she was spotted getting onto her private jet after a spending the weekend with mama Swift for Mother’s Day. July 4 - Keeping it low-key for the first time in years on the Fourth of July Paparazzi were very upset that Swift didn’t have an Independence day blowout tailor-made for media, even though she'd been keeping a relatively low profile all year. Aug. 14 - $1 Countersuit Win The long-drawn-out legal battle between DJ David Mueller, who was accused of reaching under the pop star’s skirt to grope her during a photo shoot in 2013, was finally put to rest. After Mueller attempted to countersue for damages that occurred following Swift’s accusation (which was quietly made to the station, who promptly let him go), the singer was awarded a single symbolic dollar in damages. Swift’s attorney Douglas Baldridge explained the value, “It means no means no, and it tells every woman that they will determine what is tolerated with their body." Aug. 18-20 - Bye bye, old Taylor… and old posts In the internet-breaking fashion Swift seems to have perfected, the singer’s social media accounts went into full blackout mode. No old posts were to be found anywhere, signaling that she was gearing up to launch something huge. Aug. 21 - She’s back, but only with some snakes In one of the best social media moments of the year, Swift posted a three-part series of glitch-y snake videos without captions to her Instagram to break her short-lived blackout. The image of the snake had become synonymous with Swift’s internet-meme identity, following the drawn-out beef with Kim Kardashian and Kanye West regarding West’s “Famous” lyrics and video. Aug. 23 - It’s an album! After five days (AKA an eternity in Swiftie time), Swift revealed the project behind the social media madness. Continuing in the three-part posting style, Swift announced “FIRST SINGLE OUT TOMORROW NIGHT,” posted the cover art, and announced the release date for then-upcoming album Reputation. All posts were still caption-less. Aug. 24 - Look what you made her do. Swift released Reputation’s lead single “Look What You Made Me Do” with a clever caption on Instagram: “..ready for it? New single #LookWhatYouMadeMeDo out now.” Of course, the forthcoming track title remained an inside joke to the singer’s team upon posting time. Aug. 27 - Look what you made her do, part two. The singer premiered the visuals for “LWYMMD” at the 2017 MTV VMAs, snagging 43.2 million views in the first 24 hours alone, now standing with over 783 million views. The Joseph Kahn-directed visual is loaded with references to the “old Taylor,” including a tombstone for Nils Sjoberg, her songwriting pseudonym on ex-boyfriend Calvin Harris’ 2016 hit “This Is What You Came For,” nearly all of her most iconic outfits, more snakes, and nearly all her besties’ names scribbled on a new version of her “You Belong With Me” music video costume. Sept. 3 - “…Ready for It?” released Swift released the second track off Reputation after she previewed it on Saturday Night Football the night prior. It followed suit with the darker, much more dramatic new Taylor, yet gave no clearer picture of what was yet to come. Sept. 5 - No. 1, again Taylor Swift's "Look What You Made Me Do" tops the Billboard Hot 100, where it would reign for three weeks. The song was her fifth Hot 100 No. 1 and broke the weekly streaming record for a song by a woman; it also stopped the record-tying 16-week reign of "Despacito." Sept. 7 - TayTay On Demand Ever wanted to know what Swift is up to at any given moment? Well this isn’t exactly that, but the trailer jokes that it will be. Swift announced her new video-on-demand channel in partnership with AT&T and DirectTV called Taylor Swift NOW, accompanied by a hilarious play-by-play of Swift’s day in the studio (complete with Andy Samberg cameo). Oct. 11 - The Swift Life app announced Stans will finally have a one-stop-shop for finding out everything there is to know about their fave singer. It is said to function as a social network of sorts, leaning into Swift’s hobby of “lurking” and replying to fans on social media, and also offering an opportunity to “collect Taymojis, stickers, pics, and more.” Oct. 20 - “Gorgeous” released The predictable yet addicting pop track the world was waiting for finally arrived. Swift sang of a romantic interest that was somehow too gorgeous for even a superstar like her to talk to. James Reynolds, two-year-old daughter of Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively, was later officially credited in album liner notes as the voice at the beginning of the track. Oct. 27 - “…Ready for it?” returns with visuals The fans surely weren’t ready for it, yet with the Joseph Kahn directed video packed with hidden messages, it wasn’t long before Swifties decoded them all. Among the most obvious are Swift’s birth year spray-painted on a wall, the Chinese characters for “Year of the Snake,” as well as a similar lightning strike in the intro to Calvin Harris’ “This is What You Came For” album art. Nov. 2 - “Call It What You Want” lyric video released Fans started to get a fuller picture of what was coming from Reputation in just over a week. Swift seemed to be finding her way to happiness in the first ballad to be released from the album, but she was still attempting to rid herself of the drama she’d endured. The day was special for more than one reason, coinciding with the 13th anniversary (Swift’s lucky number) of meeting Scott Borchetta, the Big Machine Records executive who signed her and gave her the fateful big break. Nov. 7 - Track list revealed on Swift’s Instagram Account Three days prior to the Reputation release date, Swift posted the back cover to the album, featuring the track listing. Nov. 8 - CMA Win Even though she's left country in the dust on her own albums, Swift's song for Little Big Town, "Better Man," nabbed song of the year at the 2017 CMAs. Nov. 9 - The album was leaked, and this is why we can’t have nice things In this day and age, so many albums leak prior to release date, but not quite in this fashion: missing from the leaked files was track no. 13, “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things.” Whether it was at the hands of Swift’s team, Swift herself, or a sneaky fan, it was quite the clever move. On the same day, an intimate recording “New Years Day” from what looks like a secret session was premiered on ABC during an episode of Scandal. Nov. 10 - Reputation is out everywhere, except for streaming services Reputation hit shelves and online retailers; a Target exclusive version included a magazine with poems and photos from Swift. She announced 20 days later that Reputation would be available to stream at midnight on Dec. 1. Nov. 11 - SNL Swift plays Saturday Night Live, busting out "...Ready for It?" and an acoustic "Call It What You Want." Nov. 13 - Tonight Show Following the death of Jimmy Fallon's mother, Taylor Swift agreed to appear on The Tonight Show to play a moving version of "New Year's Day." Nov. 20 - Reputation Is No. 1 Swift's Reputation becomes her fifth No. 1 album on the Billboard 200. Reputation notched 2017’s biggest week for an album, as the set earned 1.238 million equivalent album units in the week ending Nov. 16, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 1.216 million were in traditional album sales -- the largest sales frame for an album since 2015. It would hold the No. 1 spot for three weeks. Nov. 28 - Grammy Time The Taylor Swift-penned "Better Man" from Little Big Town is nominated for best country song -- which is a songwriter(s) award, so Swift will get a trophy if it wins. She's also nominated for best song written for visual media for her Zayn collab "I Don't Want to Live Forever." Dec. 1 - Taylors In the Stream Reputation appears on the major streaming services. Dec. 4 2017 - Reputation, but make it fashion (UK Vogue cover) Vogue UK revealed its first cover of the new year would feature Swift. Newly appointed Editor in Chief Edward Enninful styled the singer during his second cover after taking the reigns from Alexandra Shulman. Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, also photographers for all Reputation visuals, shot the twelve-page spread. Two days later, the high fashion mag revealed a poem Swift wrote exclusively to run with the feature, titled, "The Trick to Holding On." Dec. 6 2017 - Swift is one of Time’s “Silence Breakers” Her summer court case was not meant to be a media spectacle, but it was meant to prove a point with the symbolic $1 request. As Time gave the platform to “The Silence Breakers,” women who helped bring sexual assault and harassment to the forefront of the national conversation, as its 2017 Person of the Year, Swift was among the individuals highlighted. The Time interview is the first time Swift has done press about the court case, and in it she detailed reaching out to Kesha for support, as well as her feelings as she sat in the courtroom. "I was angry. In that moment, I decided to forego any courtroom formalities and just answer the questions the way it happened,” Swift said. “This man hadn’t considered any formalities when he assaulted me, and his lawyer didn’t hold back on my mom -- why should I be polite? I’m told it was the most amount of times the word 'ass' has ever been said in Colorado Federal Court." Dec. 8 2017 - Swift Plays iHeartRadio’s Z100 Jingle Ball in NYC The pre-Super Bowl performance wasn’t her only concert of 2017, after all. Camila Cabello and Lindsay Lohan were Swift’s biggest fans at the show, posting videos dancing the night away to various social media platforms. Dec. 11 - Reputation Continues to Be Big Swift earned her 55th Hot 100 hit with Reputation album track "End Game," featuring rapping from Future, Ed Sheeran and herself. Dec. 13 - B'Day & Tix While some fans were able to buy tickets in advance, the general public tickets for Swift's Reputation Tour went on sale Dec. 13, 2017 -- not coincidentally her 28th birthday. She released a tour trailer to celebrate. Dec. 14 - Still Getting 'Ready' Swift dropped a lyric video for BloodPop's bouncy remix of "...Ready for It?"

[bangtan]

[170523] BTS on What It Means Winning Billboard's Top Social Artist Award...and What's Next

At the Billboard Music Awards Sunday night, South Korea's seven-piece boy band BTS (Bangtan Boys, or "Bulletproof Boy Scouts" in English) made history when they become the first k-pop band to win the Top Social Artist award—beating Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, and Ariana Grande to do it.

On Monday, their name was everywhere on U.S. outlets, with Rolling Stone, E! Online, Mashable, People, and more all posting explainers on who BTS is. This is BTS's biggest U.S. mainstream breakout moment yet, but not their first. BTS's global A.R.M.Y fan base has steadily been building since the band got together in 2013. Their love of the band and social media power have helped propel the boys to a level of global recognition few other k-pop bands have achieved.

BTS's members—Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Rap Monster, Jimin, V, and Jungkook—have released nine albums and are wrapping up Episode III of their worldwide Live Trilogy Tour. They write their own songs that cover many genres (everything from hip-hop and rap to power ballads) and have received accolades for their perfectly-synced, elaborate choreography on stage and in their music videos. Twitter gave them a special emoji; the band's U.S. shows sold out in hours.

ELLE.com interviewed BTS ahead of the award show about what winning Billboard's Top Social Artist award would mean to them, how they came together at company Big Hit Entertainment (in South Korea, music companies recruit and put together bands of artists called idols) and what to expect next.

U.S. news outlets say you're on the cusp of "blowing up" in the U.S. How has it felt for you guys taking in all this?

Rap Monster: I think so many miracles have happened, from Twitter emoji to the Billboard Music Awards. But at the same time, we're just getting started and there are still more amazing things to accomplish for BTS and we cant wait for that to happen.

J-Hope: It's such an honor for BTS, and I'd have to say it's only a beginning. We want to and will go further and higher. It's all possible with the support of our fans around the world.

Jungkook: It's sometimes just unbelievable; partially maybe it was a bit of luck. But we do our best and keep working no matter what. The fans supported us so much, they love us. We'd like to go higher from here.

What would it mean to you guys to win the Top Social Artist award at the BBMAs?

Rap Monster: It's just an awesome thing to happen for BTS—first, being invited to the BBMAs where all these top-notch artists gather in the same place. If we win Top Social Artists Award, it is made possible by A.R.M.Ys (our fans) around the world, and our honor and gratitude goes directly to them.

What impact would you like to make on the U.S. music scene?

Suga: I want to be on the Billboard Hot 100 with a single that has Korean lyrics.

Jimin: I wish BTS could set up a model for k-pop with the best music and content so we have a positive impact on the U.S. music scene.

Can you tell me a bit about your backstory? You are all incredible lyricists, singers, and dancers. How did you build those skills and know music was your calling?

Rap Monster: I loved writing lyrics for rap when I was in junior high. I loved studying, but somehow I wanted to be a rapper who can write and rap.

Suga: I have [been] writing rhymes and lyrics, a habit since I was a kid. They are all the little minor feelings and thoughts that go through my mind. I shuffle them a year or so later, and they sometimes become great lyrics for songs.

J-Hope: When I was a little kid, I simply loved music and enjoyed expressing myself with my body. Everyone liked me when I went up on the stage at a talent search in elementary school, and that's when I decided to become a music artist.

How did all seven of you come together to join your company Big Hit Entertainment—and ultimately, the final line up of BTS?

Rap Monster: I was introduced to our executive producer, "hitman" Bang, and auditioned in front of him. He told me later that he felt his destiny was to create a "hip-hop idol band" when he first met me. SUGA joined the team after me and j-hope was the third member (he was quite popular for his dancing in his hometown). With the rest of the four members joining the band, BTS was born in 2013.

You guys are going to the Billboard Music Awards ceremony. What are you most looking forward to?

Jin: Everything!! It's my first time in Las Vegas and at the BBMAs. Looking forward to everything about it.

Jimin: Being invited to the awards itself is a thrill and a chill.

V: Performances of all the legends!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You've also been playing across the U.S. What's been your favorite memory from the U.S. stretch of your tour?

Jin: On the tour, I noticed that quite a number of people spoke Korean to communicate with us. It was so great, and they were special moments.

V: Every one of the shows on the U.S.—the tour was unforgettable. Personally, it was my favorite moments when I went to MoMA [Museum of Modern Art] in NY and the Chicago Art Museum.

What sets you apart from other k-pop groups is the fact you are so personal in your lyrics and willing to speak out about mental health. How have the songs you've written—and expressing those feelings through music—helped you grow as young men?

Rap Monster: My songs have made me someone who constantly observes society and wants to be a person who can have [a] better, positive impact on other people.

J-Hope: The music helped me sympathize with our young generation and also empathize with them. I'd like to create and write more music that represents them.

What message do you hope people take from your music?

Suga: I want people to get positive energy from our music. Life is tough, and things don't always work out well, but we should be brave and go on with our lives.

J-Hope: We deliver many different messages to people of our generation. I want them to get good energy by listening to BTS music.

Jimin: It would be really great if our music continues to touch people. Once your heart is moved, it will develop to something better and positive.

"ONCE YOUR HEART IS MOVED, IT WILL DEVELOP TO SOMETHING BETTER AND POSITIVE." -JIMIN

If you together had to make a seven song playlist for a BTS new listener, what songs do you recommend they listen to?

J-Hope: "No More Dream", "Boy In Luv", "DOPE", "FIRE", "Save Me", "Blood Sweat & Tears", "Not Today".

Your dancing is incredible. For someone who isn't as familiar with your music, what music video do you believe shows off your best choreography as a group?

"DOPE" & "Save ME".

What was the hardest routine to pick up?

"Spring Day": Very modern dance-kind of choreography.

You guys are about to wrap Episode III of your BTS Live Trilogy tour. What can fans look forward to seeing explored next in your music?

Jin: We're still working on it, but as you have seen it on last tours, whatever comes next is going to be exciting and special.

Jimin: New storyline going to be new and something we can all enjoy. I look forward to your support!

How has your song-writing evolved as you've worked together? Has your success in the U.S. and internationally changed the way you write your music at all, knowing it's for a global audience?

Suga: It has not changed my style. I try not to be influenced by success or popularity.

Jungkook: It's made me want to create more fresh and better music and that's why we all try to listen and study more music.

What song has meant the most to you that you've written and why?

Rap Monster: Probably "Spring Day." I wrote the melody and lyrics for the song .

Suga: All the songs I've written. They made me a better person and helped me grow up.

J-Hope: "Mama". It was my first solo track, and it means much to me because it's about my mother.

Rap Monster, this one is for you: I heard you taught yourself English by watching 'Friends,' which is impressive! What character do you think you're most like? And what Friends character do you think each of your bandmates is most like?

Rap Monster: Chandler! I've always admired his sense of humor. But I can't choose a bandmate like him….

Joey: Jungkook

Ross: Jin

Phoebe: V

Monica: RM [Rap Monster]

Rachel: Cannot decide

© elle

[char27martin]

20 Best Songs for Writers and About Writing: The Ultimate Writing Mixtape

Recently, I had iTunes on random and a couple songs played back-to-back that had lines about writing. It didn’t take long for me to wonder, “What are the best songs for writers and about writing?” So I started making my own list, and I put out a call on Facebook and Twitter (find my handles below if you love being part of such conversations).

Anyway, this post puts together my ultimate writing mixtape of the best 20 songs for and about writers and the process of writing. Sure, there are many other great songs about the subject, and please share them in the comments below. But this is the mix I’m going to start rocking on my way to and from writer conferences, open mics, and writing retreats.

Just click the links below to listen to the songs on YouTube.

*****

Get published with Writer’s Market Deluxe Edition!

Since 1921, Writer’s Market has been helping freelance writers get published and get paid for their writing, whether by finding magazines, book publishers, literary agents, contests, and more markets. In 2000, the team launched WritersMarket.com, and now freelancers can access more listings that are updated throughout the year.

The great thing about Writer’s Market Deluxe Edition is that writers get the same printed version of Writer’s Market they love along with an activation code for a one-year subscription to WritersMarket.com. And the 2018 edition is now available for pre-order.

Click to continue.

*****

20 Best Songs for Writers and About Writing Mixtape

Track 1: “I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter,” by Fats Waller

This is the perfect intro track with a bit of an instrumental opening before getting into the lyrics, which include, “I’m gonna sit right down and write myself a letter and make believe it came from you.” The song was composed by Fred E. Ahlert and Joe Young in 1935 and made popular by Waller. But it’s been covered by a range of artists, including Billy Williams, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Nat “King” Cole, Willie Nelson, Anne Murray, Linda Scott, and Paul McCartney–just to name a few.

Track 2: “I Could Write a Book,” by Dinah Washington

There are two ways to make a transition on a mixtape: smooth or jarring. Both are effective, but I prefer smooth early on in a mix. Enter this wonderful version of “I Could Write a Book,” which was a tune in the Rodgers & Hart 1940 musical Pal Joey. I first heard Harry Connick’s version from When Harry Met Sally…, but a range of artists have performed this song as well, including Ella Fitzgerald, Rosemary Clooney, and Miles Davis.

Track 3: “Dancing in the Dark,” by Bruce Springsteen

According to the Boss, “you can’t start a fire without a spark.” So here we go. The biggest hit off the bestselling album (Born in the U.S.A.) of Bruce Springsteen’s career, “Dancing in the Dark” includes the line that he’s “sick of sitting around here trying to write this book.” Musically, this song jump starts the mix with synths, quick beats, and that fade out sax.

Track 4: “Write About Love,” by Belle and Sebastian

Anyone who has participated in either my April or November poem-a-day challenges knows how I feel about love poems. So of course, Belle and Sebastian’s song “Write About Love” from the album titled Write About Love had to make the cut. In addition to the writing theme, it keeps the upbeat momentum of the early mixtape.

Track 5: “The Engine Driver,” by the Decemberists

Track five slows things down a little, and it plays with the theme of love while taking it’s time getting to the writing reference in the song. But the chorus slams home with, “I am a writer, writer of fictions … and I’ve written pages upon pages trying to rid you from my bones.” Once you hear this song, it stays. Click here for a pretty cool analysis of the song.

Track 6: “Poetry Man,” by Phoebe Snow

Transition time: From slower and lonely to mellow and hopeful. A kind of summer afternoon song by Phoebe Snow about the poetry man, who “makes things alright.” The song actually hit number one on the Billboard‘s Easy Listening chart in 1975. In 2007, Queen Latifah covered the song for her Trav’lin’ Light album.

Track 7: “I Am a Rock,” by Simon and Garfunkel

As Paul Simon mentions in the opening of this performance, “This according to Arty is my most neurotic song.” This folk song plays off the previous song’s focus on poetry with the line, “I have my books and my poetry to protect me.” I’m sure more than a few poets and readers can relate to that sense of protection from loneliness and isolation. Released as a single in 1966, “I Am a Rock” rose to number three on the Billboard Top 100 list.

Track 8: “Wuthering Heights,” by Kate Bush

Kate Bush hit it big on her debut single, which she wrote at 18 and was based on the novel of the same name. “Wuthering Heights” was released in January 1978 and spent 4 weeks at the number one position of the UK Singles Chart. One interesting part of this song is that Bush lifted lines from Wuthering Heights character Catherine Earnshaw, including “Let me in! I’m so cold!” from the chorus. The song had two music videos; the other one can be viewed by clicking here.

Track 9: “Paperback Writer,” by the Beatles

After some slower (and more somber) songs, we switch up the mood and beat a little with the Beatles. “Paperback Writer” was written by Paul McCartney as a response to a challenge by an aunt, according to disc jockey Jimmy Savile, who asked him to write a single that didn’t have to do with love. Regardless of the inspiration, the song is written as a letter from an author to a publisher, making it relatable to writers everywhere.

Track 10: “Autobiography,” by Sloan

This song starts, “I’m bright and young and gifted in my autobiography; I figured who would know better than me?” I’ve always considered this song a little gem for writers, especially writers who have a life story to tell. This song comes off Sloan’s One Chord to Another album, which recently celebrated its 20th anniversary.

Track 11: “Hey Jack Kerouac,” by 10,000 Maniacs

In this performance, Natalie Merchant starts off by reading a brief biography of Jack Kerouac. Then, they jump into this song, which reads like a letter to Kerouac from the opening lines, “Hey Jack Kerouac, I think of your mother and the tears she cried, she cried for none other…” A song about a literary figure and the life of an artist.

Track 12: “Everyday I Write the Book,” by Elvis Costello and the Attractions

For mixtape purposes, I consider this a response track to the previous song. This song was the first hit for Costello and the Attractions in the U.S. It uses the process of writing a book as a metaphor for love and a relationship. One part sings, “Chapter One, we didn’t really get along; Chapter Two, I think I fell in love with you…” Costello himself referred to it as a “bad Smokey Robinson song.”

Track 13: “Unwritten,” by Natasha Bedingfield

I have to admit; I didn’t think this song would be a good fit. But hey, sometimes that’s the magic of a mixtape: Each song raises the others. But I love lyrics like, “Staring at the blank page before you” and “Today is when your book begins.” It hit number five on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2006; so there are at least a few others out there who dig it too.

Track 14: “Word Crimes,” by Weird Al Yankovic

As long as we’re getting into weird territory, it’s time to slip in Weird Al and maybe the best grammar-related song ever. A parody of Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines,” “Word Crimes” has too many lines to do it justice in a short blurb. But it breaks down the proper use of “it’s” and “its,” in addition to talking about the best time to use the world “literally.”

Track 15: “Oxford Comma,” by Vampire Weekend

From a song about grammar to a song that focuses on one of the more contentious grammar issues of all-time: the Oxford comma. Use it? Don’t use it? In this song, Vampire Weekend seems to be saying, “who cares?” Writers, that’s who! Am I right?

Track 16: “Writers Retreat,” by Lloyd Cole

This is when you know we’re getting real on this mixtape: grammar, Oxford commas, and writing retreats? Heck yeah! This is the writing life. In this song, Cole laments how he won’t be there when his lover returns from the writers retreat. From the chorus: “You can write a book while falling apart.”

Track 17: “I’ll Be Your Sylvia Plath,” by Laurel Brauns

This is a sweet, little connector song between the few rollicking romps before it and the final three of this writing music mix. I wish I could share more about this song and the artist, but it was really unknown to me before being recommended on Facebook. The power of social media!

Track 18: “Romeo and Juliet,” by Dire Straits

Considered a classic song by many, “Romeo and Juliet” riffs off the Shakespearean play of the same name. The Dire Straits version is amazing, but I also love the one by the Indigo Girls (listen here). This song is for the literary minded, the broken hearted, and people who just like great music.

Track 19: “BMFA,” by Martha Wainwright

The actual title for this song is a little censored, but multiple folks recommended the song on social media. And I like it. So I’m including it. The song’s opening line is, “Poetry’s no place for a heart that’s a whore.” And eventually there is quite a bit of swearing. If that’s too much, skip this track so the kids can’t hear it. If it’s not, turn up the volume and sing along.

Track 20: “Box Full of Letters,” by Wilco

This is what I call a framing song. The first and final track are both about letter writing. Ha! But seriously, this is a great track that begins, “Got a box full of letters, I think you might like to read…but they’re all addressed to me.” Also, “I just can’t find the time to write my mind the way I want it to read.” And honestly, that about sums up how I often feel as a writer.

*****

Robert Lee Brewer

Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Content Editor of the Writer’s Digest Writing Community and author of the poetry collection, Solving the World’s Problems (Press 53). He edits Poet’s Market and Writer’s Market, in addition to writing a free weekly WritersMarket.com newsletter and a poetry column for Writer’s Digest magazine.

He loves writing and music; so this is like his favorite blog post ever.

Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer. Or follow him on Facebook here.

*****

Find more great posts here:

How to Build Your Own E-mail List.

Improve Your Writing Platform in 30 Days.

5 Writing Rules Everyone Should Know.

The post 20 Best Songs for Writers and About Writing: The Ultimate Writing Mixtape appeared first on WritersDigest.com.

from Writing Editor Blogs – WritersDigest.com http://www.writersdigest.com/whats-new/20-best-songs-writers-writing-ultimate-writing-mixtape

[thesinglesjukebox]

KEITH URBAN - FEMALE [2.22] Now it's time to hear from a man!

Eleanor Graham: Tag yourself, ladies. I'm "broken halo mother." To be fair, if I was married to Nicole Kidman, this chorus would probably be my internal monologue at all times too. [3]

Katherine St Asaph: If you respect women so much, could you give them more than some suspiciously breathy and wordless backing vocals. The future is feeble. [2]

Anthony Easton: That a song so patronizing, so absurdly dumb, and so loathsomely contemptuous of women seeks to be performed by a man who wants everyone to know his virtue is bad enough. That it was written by CMA/ACA award winning Nicolle Galyon just adds lazy complacency onto the whole disaster.  [0]

Will Adams: I suppose we were overdue for another entry in the "Accidental Oppressor" series. To Keith's credit, his song isn't six minutes long and is at least modeled on an interesting albeit questionable concept: "What if 'Bitch' were written by a man?" It's got the clumsy handwringing you'd expect as well as some bizarre notions of sexism -- is "Adam came first" an actual argument, or is it only there to earn the "hey girl" punchline of "is he saving the best for last?" But the worst feature of "Female" is the anonymous woman's voice, played by Nicole Kidman and co-writer Nicolle Galyon, threaded throughout. She's pretty, nondescript, unquestioning; she's just there to reassure Keith and his male listeners that their surface-level understanding of misogyny is fine and that they're the good guys. [2]

Katie Gill: That chorus is the world's weirdest game of word association imaginable. Is there something that I'm missing? How are "technicolor" and "holy water" even associated with women in the first place? Still, I've got to give Urban credit for at least calling out the "she asked for it" bullshit, even if he manages to do it in the weirdest way possible, and ends his chorus in a remarkably out-of-touch way. Tip for ya, Keith: nobody calls women "females" unless they're a certain type of MRA red pill m'lady Reddit-dwelling neckbeard. [5]

Alfred Soto: The arrangement has a tick-tock simplicity, and Keith Urban doesn't cover the words with syrup -- but what words! No matter his sincerity, "Female" comes from another era of country songwriting, an era when "female" remained a louche noun and men thanked god Almighty for Ma and the missus.  [4]

Stephen Eisermann: I've always believed that the best way to be an ally to a marginalized community is to listen intently to the community and speak up for them when they are being victimized; however, you are to never speak over. This feels very "speak over." It sounds like a man who wants to fix everything for women everywhere, but doesn't want to know what they want because he knows "the best" way to fix their problems -- and that's just plain unhelpful. Also, lol at "Technicolor." [0]

Josh Langhoff: Mexican banda singer Edwin Luna is overzealous in re: female modesty, but here are five ways "Un Aplauso," his banda's recent ode to The Female Gender, is superior to this shite. 1. Luna's song has horns. 2. Not sure how both songs fare in the Willis test, but at least "Un Aplauso" is upfront about its desires. Like, literally; Luna shouts out himself and his banda at the beginning of the song, which unexpectedly makes the whole thing less icky than whatever Urban's trying to do here. 3. Luna sings like he's thinking of a couple actual women he's met, and not like he's emceeing the poetry slam at the Gethenian sex museum. 4. WTF does "holy water" have to do with any of this? 5. Luna's video features a live birth. If Urban coulda pulled that off on the CMA stage, I might up him a notch. But the more expedient option might be for both of them to shut up. [1]

Jonathan Bradley: I first heard about "Female" when its release was reported by the kinds of websites and television comedians that don't have much of anything to say about country music unless someone's done something stupid. After reading these outlets' transcription of "Female," I had to check in with a credible lyrics site to confirm I hadn't been duped by an elaborate practical joke. Keith Urban's new song isn't a lumpen but well-intentioned attempt at Male Feminism -- that's "Shattered Glass" -- it's a stocktake of signifiers snapped in the soft-hues of a homewares brochure and catalogued by a befuddled onlooker who tallies his observations with a biologist's remove. Oddly, the writers include a woman (Nicolle Galyon) and a man who has written a number of nuanced and resonant songs for women performers (Shane McAnally -- though he did also write "Different for Girls"). A few years back, I suggested that "God Made Girls," another country song with a reductive view of femininity, plausibly insisted some people could find power and value in its conservative interpretation of gender roles. Urban's song is liberal in intent, but is there room within its ephemeral free-association for anyone to find anything? Apparently yes, but they deserve better: in this week's Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, the highest spot held by a woman is number fifteen. [3]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox ]

[strawberry-boogie]

THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY OF MARY J. BLIGE 

Brooklyn White

If someone would’ve asked me earlier this year if I was a Mary J. Blige fan, I would’ve said yes. No doubt. I’ll be 23 years old this fall, so although I wasn’t exactly allowed to jam secular music, I snuck around and I liked what I heard. Therefore, it’s safe to say that I grew up to her sounds. From peeping performances of “Real Love” on video channels, to having vivid memories of Mary expressing the depth of human emotion in a closet, to hearing “Be Without You” EVERYWHERE in middle school, I definitely have had my fair share of Blige and I’ve enjoyed it in full. Or so I thought. 

Truthfully, I didn’t understand much about Mary or the messages she’s shared until a few months ago. I knew that she’d been in a tumultuous relationship with K-Ci Hailey of Jodeci in the early 1990s and I also knew that love, specifically the dark side of it, was a central theme in her work. But, it wasn’t real to me yet. Sure, I liked the sound (Mary hits those notes and the beats are bops), I enjoyed the various looks she’s given over the years, and I was into her narrative on a surface level, but it took me going through my own personal hell and being reborn and researching her life to truly feel the agony and the ecstasy of Mary J. Blige.

(Bare Mary)

Blige was born in the Bronx, New York in early 1971 to a musically gifted mother, Cora, and a physically abusive father. Music was always important to the family though - Blige’s Vietnam-vet father, Thomas, was a funk musician. Thomas left the family when Mary was 4, but she has shared that he would pop back into the picture periodically. My findings revealed that the Blige women moved to Savannah, Georgia for a time, but I am unsure of the exact time period. Cora and her two young daughters then relocated to Yonkers, but unfortunately, they were constantly faced with the mistreatment of others, as well as various other forms of violence. Blige has described how while living in the projects, she would hear women yelling and running from their partners and her family would be chased by people wielding weapons. Mary also began being sexually abused by a caretaker at age 5.

As most artists and dreamers do, Mary soon found a beautiful escape from the horrors of her reality. She began singing in a Pentecostal church (a denomination known for it’s high energy services and heavenly music) and was inspired by the soulful voices of Chaka Khan, Anita Baker, and Milira. Although the music remained in her heart, Blige stopped frequenting church, dropped out of school, and began drinking and using drugs. She was a talented hairdresser, so she also spent her time doing her friends’s hair in her mother’s home. Blige soon caught wind of an opportunity to do karaoke at a nearby mall and went in to drop her rendition of Anita Baker’s smash hit, “Caught Up In The Rapture”. The performance was recorded and eventually found it’s way in the hands of Andre Harrell, the CEO of Uptown Records. Just like that, music had once again saved Mary J’s life.

(Shots of a young Mary)

Now affiliated with Uptown Records, Mary was given the opportunity to sing background vocals for popular acts until she began focusing solely on her debut body of work. In 1991, she was assigned to rising producer Sean “Puffy” Combs and they began crafting a sound that would define Blige and change R&B forever. ‘What’s the 411?’, a reference to Blige’s time as a 4-1-1 operator, combined her smooth, strong mezzo-soprano vocals with hip-hop inspired, new jack swing beats and experimented with the look and sound of what a female R&B vocalist was supposed to be like. 

(Combs and Blige, exact date unknown) 

Produced primarily by Combs, ‘What’s the 411?’ was released in the summer of 1992 to great reviews from Entertainment Weekly, All Music, and The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Critics praised the blending of genres, Blige’s voice, and her fly, no bullshit attitude, and the project was certified 3x platinum after selling 3 million copies. Singles included: “You Remind Me”, “Real Love”, “Reminisce”, “Sweet Thing” (a cover of Blige’s childhood inspiration, Chaka Khan’s, 1975 cut) and “Love No Limit”. The stunning debut hit the top of Billboard’s Hip Hop/R&B chart, rose to #6 on the Top 200 list, and certainly solidified Blige as a starlet to watch. A remix version of the project was released, but was not as successful, even though the “Reminisce” remix with C.L. Smooth is my jam.

(Blige performing the “Reminisce” remix for Uptown Unplugged in 1993; Dave Hollister stood in for C.L.)

Around this time, Mary also began a romance with Cedric “KCi” Hailey, a singer who also has roots in the Pentecostal church and was signed to Uptown Records in 1991 (as a member of Jodeci). He was featured on Mary’s debut, sharing vocals on the emotional ballad, “I Don’t Want To Do Anything” and stories of the duo’s fiery affair has allegedly been content for a few of Blige’s recordings. Mary remained relatively quiet about the situation in interviews, but she has discussed the final straw. Apparently, Hailey gave her a ring, and then denied their engagement on a television show in London. Blige was shown the footage of his denial on air and reveals how hurt she was by his behavior. (FOUL!!!!) She kept the creativity alive through it all though and began recording her sophomore effort, ‘My Life’ in the winter of 1993.

‘My Life’, with it’s raw feeling, use of old school soul samples, and serious subject matter, was a “call for help” according to Blige.  Shockingly, she didn’t think people would be receptive of it initially. But as fate would have it, the LP, released in late 1994, was not only understood, but well received. Scarred by the events of life, the R&B diva had turned to drugs and drinking again, but was inspired by the support of her fans to begin healing. As someone who has dealt with drugs, experienced sexual abuse, and chosen cruel partners out of self-hate, I comprehend the rockiness of the healing process. It takes time, and sometimes, it’s an ongoing process. You do good, you fuck up, you clean up, you do good, you fuck up...it goes on and on until you become who you want to be. I say this because Blige did not sober up immediately - it took her years to find her strength and love herself the way she needed to be loved. Even after winning her first Grammy for “I’ll Be There For You/You’re All I Need”, Blige continued to stumble. But she never gave up.  

(Blige on the cover on cover of EBONY in January 1998)

Project after project, including 97′s ‘Share My World’, 99′s ‘Mary’, and 2001′s super successful release, ‘No More Drama’, chronicled this process and gave listeners a look into the soul of a superstar. No hateration in this dancery, bitch. Blige’s life began to get better when she started a romance in 2000, with her now soon-to-be-ex, Kendu Isaacs. In the beginning, the couple seemed to be a match made in heaven and Mary has spoken on how she strongly she felt for her first husband. After 16 years though, Blige filed for divorce, stating irreconcilable differences. I now know that cheating is at the heart of the split and I can’t help but wonder what the hell Isaacs is thinking. Spousal support? What? How do you dog MARY JANE BLIGE and then get to HER bag? Mind blowing. 

On the more positive side, during their union, Blige gave up drugs and alcohol for good, modified her diet, and gave the world ‘Love & Life’, ‘The Breakthrough’, ‘Growing Pains’, ‘Stronger With Each Tear’, ‘My Life II’, ‘A Mary Christmas, and ‘The London Sessions’. She also co-headlined a tour with Jay-Z in 2008 to support their respective 2007 releases. It remains the best selling male/female hip-hop/r&b tour of all time, grossing over 30 million dollars. Blige also won 8 of her 9 Grammy awards during this time period. 

(Blige at the 2017 BET Awards)

In 2017, the media has focused heavily on her divorce from Isaacs (I scrolled through pages trying to find older news that spoke on the good points of their relationship), but that’s how it be. I got a few cosmic clues that Mary J Blige’s story was worth looking into and sharing, the first coming from my mom. When all of the news started to break about Mary’s split, my mom told me to (in so many words) to humanize Blige. “She’s our sister”, my mom said. Facts, Pastor Lewis. She is our sister, and we gotta love her and lift her up. My friend Don, who is kiiiiinda responsible for my most recent MJB spin, also helped me realize a few things about Blige. He showed me “U + Me”, a single from her latest offering, ‘Strength of a Woman’ and a light bulb went off. The stories of violence, the broken relationship with self, the deep desire for real love...I finally understood it and could enjoy it as someone with a past and bright future. I can say that I’m now a true fan because I know that we are reflections of one another. Our agony and ecstasy has become one.

Congratulations to Mary J. Blige for releasing her debut project on this day in 1992. Keep going Mary, I’m behind you. 

Peace.