#Produce 48 Sorry Not Sorry dance cover

[carpkoinobori]

[❣︎] good luck, babe — huh yunjin x reader

[𖤐] 1/3 [next] [please be aware this is all fiction! none of this is real and idols behavior is not accurately represented.]

song(s): good luck babe - chappel roan | runaway runaway - mars argo | casual - chappel roan |

summary: you’re dream was to debut with your best friend. what do you do when she doesn’t want to debut as your “friend” anymore?

pairing: idol!huh yunjin x soloist!fem!reader | slight idol!nakamura kazuha x soloist!fem!reader

tags: angst, eventual happy ending

wc: 2.7k

cw: mentions of dieting, internalized homophobia LITE, period-typical homophobia

ex: not beta read will do it later sorry 😞

jennifer had been your best friend since highschool— or I guess you should say huh yunjin, now. you both met in your freshman year, and bonded over your love of music and dance. she was loud, extroverted, but not in an obnoxious way— she was like the sun, shining brightly, oozing charisma. She lit up a room, and it was all you could do to chase her warmth like a desperate, frost-bitten flower.

you were still extroverted, albeit enjoying time away from people. you weren’t popular, you were a bit more reserved, a bit more closed off, but relatively well liked for your humor and academic prowess. You had one or two close friends, one of them being yunjin.

it was the summer before 2019 when she told you she wanted to be an idol. You were sleeping over at her house, since your parents were fighting, again. you, who had no real plans after highschool, whose parents didn’t really care what became of their daughter— you smiled and held her hand. You’d follow the sun anywhere it went.

you both made it onto produce 48, jumping up and down, screaming and crying for just the pure joy of it. Alone, again, with her, you held her head in your hands, finally kneeling in front of each other on the hardwood floor, your foreheads touching as you both panted, giggling and smiling still. The moment quickly broke away when you heard the door open, breaking apart faster than you could blink. That’s when it all started, you could say. When you realized you might like your best friend.

you were a rising star, praised for your smooth, detailed dance and soft, honey way of singing. You began to rank higher and higher, everyone loved you— everyone but your best friend. Everyone but who you wished would love you.

a part of you thinks if you weren’t going through your angsty teenaged romance, you wouldn’t have tried as hard to debut as you did. All your songs were about her, her hair, her voice, her eyes— everything about her. She was your reason to keep going. Maybe she deserved some credit, after all, you would never had been as popular if everyone wasn’t so curious to know who Korea’s new rising rookie was so in love with.

when yunjin was eliminated, it was the worst day of your life. The cameras caught you, with your hand over your mouth, frozen, tears falling down your face. You struggled to breath, but finally got up and ran to her. You didn’t even care if the cameras caught you, you didn’t care- you just needed her- your best friend- you needed her.

you cried for days. you tried not to bother anyone, muffling it with a pillow. you got so good at crying quietly, but everyday you’d wake up with puffy, red-rimmed eyes, and got told to cover them up. You tried to keep contact, but she “couldn’t handle the reminder,” right now, or so she said. Either way, there was a hundred messages you sent before you got that sharp reminder that you would never be anything more than a friend. maybe less, now. She was never yours. You were on borrowed time. the sun shares its warmth with the whole world, you were just naive enough to believe it was you who allowed it to be shared.

after that, Korea’s rising star fell back to earth. The pretty sunflower wilted, and broke apart. You were eliminated shortly after, and some people put two and two together. There was never enough proof for a scandal, but some people believed that you fell apart because that person you were writing about left, but they still weren’t sure who. God, they’re so dumb.

you continued to be a trainee, lying in wait.

you got called into a meeting. You had the opportunity to debut in a new group. Le Sserafim, they called it, an anagram for im fearless. A part of you laughed. you were never fearless. You were a coward. You couldn’t even tell her how much you loved her. You didn’t try to think about it, though. You hadn’t heard that name in years—

it was three years before you heard the name huh yunjin again. She was coming back, and she was going to debut. In the same group.

and like coming home after years of being lost. obviously, you were ecstatic.

all the starving, all the work, all the tears and pain and suffering— it was all for her. it’d all be worth it to feel her warmth again, to get your sun back, to end this constant winter.

You’d get to be her sunflower, again.

The heat of August in Korea was in full force, and you were wearing nothing too impressive, just a Nirvana shirt you’d had for years and a pair of baggy jeans when you saw her. To be completely transparent, you had heard her before you saw her. You could never forget that laugh. You peeked your head from behind the wall, peering down the corridor. You practically ran to her.

You beamed, barely contained excitement buzzing around you. “JEN! You’re back! Oh my god, how are you? I missed y-” you were cut off. She smiled at you, but it didn’t look.. real. It look practiced. She didn’t smile at you like how she used to.

“I’m good, and yeah, it’s great to be back. Nice to see you again, y/n,” she nodded, before she continued walking with the staff member into a different room, farther down along the corridor.

What just happened? Did she.. not like you, anymore? Did she forget? Did she move on? What were you saying— there was nothing to move on from. Stress relief, she called it. Just a distraction. Casual, easy, quick. What were you thinking? No, really, what were you thinking? She had only dated guys all throughout high school, you were probably just her experiment, just something she tried out.

You decided to find out.

You cornered her in a hallway. Not very classy, you know, but where else could you find her?

“Jen- is there a reason you stopped talking to me? I just- you probably know, we’re gonna debut together now, we need to.. work together. I just- I need to know. Did it mean nothing to you? You were my best friend,”

Yunjin looked vaguely uncomfortable, cringing towards the wall, looking to the side before she spoke. “Listen, y/n, we’re about to debut. I’m about to debut. I’ve been working on this for years, and so have you. Why would we throw it all away? We should focus on our debut, not whatever silly things we did when we were younger,” she shrugged, giving a practiced grin. “Besides, it was never serious, right? You know how I am, we both agreed we were just bored-“

“Bored? Because we were fucking bored? You’ve got to be kidding me, Jen. There’s no way you believe that- I fucking loved you-“

“Yeah, well, it’s over now. We’re debuting. Get it together,” she spat acidly, pushing past you and opening the door to the practice studio before looking over her shoulder. “I mean it, y/n. Just forget about it. It didn’t mean anything to me, and it shouldn’t have meant anything to you either,” she said icily, about to close the door. “Just call me Yunjin, now,” she muttered, door clicking shut behind her, leaving you a bitter, heart broken mess.

you didn’t follow. You figured she needed time alone- she didn’t need you, anymore. you wouldn’t have known how wrong she felt saying it, how it felt like ripping out her heart every time she watched your face break. It was for your own good, she thought. You didn’t need her ruining your chances. You both wanted this, right? To debut? That was the dream— she was doing you a favor.

“I’m sorry, sir, but I don’t think I can debut in a group,” you said seriously, your hands clasped together. “I would rather be a soloist.. I’ve already written a few songs, I’ve planned the concept— you know how popular I was during Produce 48, right? I swear, just give me a shot-“ You pleaded, beginning to ramble before he cut you off.

“Y/n, you’re an excellent singer, and a well-rounded dancer. You’re an asset, to say the least. I never really wanted you in a group to begin with. I think you have a future as a soloist,” he smiled, nodding. “Sure, why not? Tell me your ideas,”

——————————————————————————————————

it all went from there. You were gonna debut. Either way, even if you were in a group- it wouldn’t be with your best friend, Jennifer. It’d be with Huh Yunjin, idol extraordinaire. You didn’t like her, much. You didn’t want to be her flower, or anyones, for that matter. Returning to the ground was a better choice. Sunflowers were always too bright for you anyway. You preferred white carnations, anyway.

You made your debut around the same time as Le Sserafim, and it was a smash hit. You released your debut album, LIMERENCE, with the title track ‘Good Luck, Babe!’ You were widely praised, forums discussing whether or not the song was about the same person you sang about in Produce 48. They were right, of course, but they’d never guess who. You were on a music show, getting your first win. The Le Sserafim members clapped, and you smiled graciously at them, your gaze lingering on Yunjin’s before you turned to the cameras, smiling, waving, holding the trophy before you were handed the mic for an encore. You smiled, readjusting the trophy in your arms before your voice began to ring out on the loud stage.

“I’m fine, it’s cool, you can say that we are nothing but you know the truth,” you began, glancing at Yunjin not-so-subtlely.

“and guess I’m the fool, with her arms out like an angel through the car sun roof,” memories of fooling around, joking, sneaking out your parents house to meet her, to meet Yunjin. “I don’t wanna call it off, but you don’t wanna call it love,” your voice grew in volume, periodically facing and waving at the cameras, before facing Yunjin once again. You really didn’t care if this was posted on forums, saying there was something going on saying you were rude, you didn’t care— you just needed her to know.

“You only wanna be the one that I call baby,” Yunjin tensed under your gaze, averting her eyes. Sakura and Chaewon looked at her knowingly, a bit disappointed. Kazuha and Eunchae looked a bit confused on why, exactly, you were staring at Yunjin like you wanted her to explode.

“You could kiss a hundred boys in bars, shoot another shot, try to stop the feeling. You could say it’s just the way you are, make a new excuse, another stupid reason,” memories of the seen texts, never responded to, flashed through Yunjin’s mind. That stupid argument a few months ago- was this about her? Who was she kidding, of course it was about her, y/n only loved her. She was secure, in that. She hated it though, she didn’t want to ruin your chances, you should move on from her— she wasn’t good for you, she never would be, you deserved better.

“Good luck, babe! Well, good luck, babe! You’d have to stop the world just to stop the feeling. Good luck, babe! Well good luck, babe! You’d have to stop the world just to stop the feeling,” you walked across the stage, staring into the cameras as you said this. You winked, giving a winning smile before continuing. “I’m cliche, who cares? It’s a sexually explicit kind of love affair,” another wink. “And I cry, it’s not fair,” you gave a theatric frown, pouting. “I just need a little lovin, I just need a little air,” You kept your gaze off Yunjin for the next few lyrics, acting as if you were now pleading to the crowd, the cameras, for love. Yunjin continued to watch nervously. Why weren’t you looking at her anymore? It started to sound as if you were really, actually over her.

“Think I’m gonna call it off, even if you call it love. I just wanna love someone who calls me baby-” you began again, gaze lingering on Kazuha, winking at her general direction, waving, and turning back to the cameras. You continued to sing, entertaining the crowd before beginning to look a little more bitter, a little more jaded, a little more angry. “When you wake up next to him in the middle of the night, with your head in your hands, you’re nothing more than his wife. And when you think about me, all of those years ago, you’re standing face to face with ‘I told you so’, you know I hate to say it, ‘I told you so,’ you know I hate to say, but- I told you so!” You cried, clutching the mic as you sang passionately, years of resentment, of confusion, of anger, of regret, pain- everything you had felt for Yunjin, everything you would feel. This is what this was for.

“You could kiss a hundred boys in bars, shoot another shot, try to stop the feeling, you can say it’s just the way you are, make a new excuse, another stupid reason,” you spat, making brief eye contact with Yunjin, hatred flashing in your eyes, a mask for the hurt to wear.

“Good luck, babe, well good luck, babe. You’d have to stop the world just to stop the feeling. Good luck, babe. Well good luck, babe! You’d have to stop the world just to stop the feeling,” you sang, crescendo falling, the song ending as the crowd cheered your name, and you finally walked off stage. You walked the building until you found an isolated part with little to no people. You leaned on the vending machine next to the water fountain, sighing. You told your manager you had to use the bathroom, but it was just an excuse to slip away.

You looked up when you heard footsteps. It was the pretty Le Sserafim member you saw standing near Sakura. Kazuha, you think her name was? You’d have to double check.

“Oh, hello,” You smiled, bowing slightly.

“Ack- oh, hello! Congratulations on your win- I liked your song,” The Japanese girl bowed, clasping her hands together.

“Thank you, I quite liked your song as well,” You praised. “You’re very pretty,” you said, a slight grin on your face as the other girl blushed, spluttering with her words. “What’s your name?” “Kazuha- Nakamura Kazuha,” she responded quickly, stuttering. You figured she was Japanese from her name, and smiled warmly. “it’s nice to meet you, then. I’m Y/n,” You nodded, outstretching your hand, leaning in close to the flustered girl. She took it and you shook her hand, before hearing another set of footsteps.

you looked up to see Yunjin, who looked a tad angry. “Y/n. Congratulations on your win,” she said in a stilted, stiff tone.

“Thank you, Yunjin,” you replied back coolly, carefully practiced facade slipping back into place.

“I’ve got to get going now, Jen- oh, sorry, Yunjin,” You said mockingly, not using honorifics. There were no cameras to catch you here, anyway. You walked off, leaving a dumbfounded Kazuha and even angrier Yunjin.

“…she’s really pretty-,” Kazuha began dreamily, clasping her hands together.

“No,” Yunjin said gruffly, beginning to walk back to the group with Kazuha. “Don’t even think about it, Kazuha! She’s mine,” Yunjin exclaimed childishly, warning Kazuha a bit loudly, causing Chaewon and Sakura to turn to her. “If that song was about you, Yunjin, then I think she might not be yours as much as you think,” Sakura said plainly, tone giving no room for argument as Yunjin averted her eyes, shame and embarrassment burning her face a light red.

‘This was going to be a long comeback period,’ Yunjin thought bitterly, groaning internally as she saw Kazuha begin to scroll though y/n’s Instagram posts as they waited for their manager’s car.

ermmmm hello! I’ve never written for x reader before so I’ve only ever written in third person, bear with me here while I learn how to write this genre ><! this will be three-ish(?) parts. i don’t know who for sure y/n will end up with yet, but.. I will be posting backstories to this, as it was very yn-centric and we don’t get much of yunjins thoughts. Y/n seems delusional but I SWEAAAR she’s not. I’ll post some more works abt how they acted and stories from pd48 days… she’s not insane guys!

also white carnations symbolize pure love and GOOD LUCK. get it?GOOD LUCK. GOOD LUCK, BABE! I’m so funny.

i wrote this in like 3 hours of pure chappel roan good luck babe brain rot pleas forgive me. I’ll beta read it in a few hours after I sleep. thank you jihyoruri for letting me ramble in ur anons for so long 🙏also I love asks plssss send them. byebye now, have a good day! :3

[voodoochili]

My 75 Favorite Albums of 2020

Every year produces excellent music and 2020 was no exception. The exceptional thing about this year, though, is the loss of livelihood so many musicians suffered as a result of the pandemic. To better celebrate all I’ve listened to and loved this year, I’ve expanded my albums list from 50 to 75 albums and included a highlight track from each in the Spotify playlist below. If you like what you hear, why not throw the artist a few dollars on Bandcamp?

Check the Spotify playlist HERE.

Without further ado, my favorite albums of 2020. Happy New Year, and happy listening!

10. Playboi Carti - Whole Lotta Red: Carti’s long-awaited opus has only been out for a week, which is probably not a long enough time to give an album as sprawling and surprising as this one a full critical evaluation. But I do know when I’m hearing something that’s unlike anything I’ve ever heard: this album rearranges hip-hop at the molecular level. 

Whole Lotta Red is overstuffed with invention, the glitchy, expansive production giving Carti ample opportunity to glom onto the contours of the beat and experiment with his voice. That voice is the album’s main attraction: it squeaks, it squeals, it roars, it spits, it shudders, and organizes itself into irresistibly ignorant mantras (my current favorite is “Lamborghini parked outside, it’s purple like lean”). 

Across its 24 tracks (which feels like too many, sure, but only the 5-minute long Kid Cudi-infected droner “Metamorphosis” overstays its welcome), Carti plays with listener expectations, annihilating rap songwriting conventions (why do you need verse-chorus structure if every line is a hook) as he defiantly proclaims his desire to be unlike anybody else. Though it bears some resemblance in sound and subject matter to Future’s Monster (and much of the production owes a debt to the work of Lil Uzi Vert’s favored Working Of Dying collective), Whole Lotta Red firmly establishes Carti as a totemic figure connecting mainstream and underground sounds.

9. BbyMutha - Muthaland: BbyMutha is a natural born spitter, armed with a drawly stutter-stepping flow that routinely annihilates unconventional instrumentals. She glows with supreme confidence and comfort in her own skin, especially when she’s dripping with disdain with those who’d dare refuse her the respect she deserves. A 25-track opus that earns every minute of its runtime, Muthaland is an engrossing immersion into Mutha’s world, balancing a fascination with the occult (“Sorry I don’t fuck with n****s who don’t fuck with Satan”) with grounding interjections from close friends and her four children. Boasting rockstar fantasies like “Heavy Metal,” bad girl anthems like “Nice Guy,” and dancefloor-ready jams like “Cocaine Catwalk,” Muthaland is a tour-de-force by one of rap’s singular voices, and if she’s really finished with music as she’s claimed (rappers never really retire, but Mutha has indicated she wants to focus full time on her Apothecary), the game will greatly miss her incisive punchlines and crudely empowering perspective.

8. Westerman - Your Hero Is Not Dead: In 2020, Mid-’80s sophistipop grew into one of my favorite comfort foods. Westerman’s Your Hero Is Not Dead struck me directly in the sophistipop sweet spot, evoking the attention-to-detail and synth-heavy craftsmanship of that era and pairing it with harmonic complexity and a piercing emotionalism that recalls his idol Neil Young. On songs like “Blue Comanche” and “The Line,” Westerman constructs tales as twisty as his melodies, economically exploring how people relate to each other at the beginning and end of romantic relationships. Westerman complements his tasteful palette of synth sounds with intricate and lyrical guitar playing, most notably on the sighing, gorgeous instrumental “Float Over,” which softly segues into the title track to end the album on a gently-rising high note.

7. WizKid - Made In Lagos: The focal point of the sub-Saharan Afrobeats renaissance, Lagos is having one of the most exciting musical moments of any city since Kingston in the early ‘70s. WizKid is one of the scene’s biggest stars, with an ability to combine the sonic tapestry of his hometown with Caribbean-influenced beats and vocal styles. Made In Lagos is a masterwork of sound design, bringing creamy bass, chicken-scratch speckles of guitar, tasteful interjections of saxophone and brass, and an intoxicating mix of acoustic and electronic percussion, all offered in service to an immaculate vibe that matches the album cover’s shiny, monochromatic color scheme. Made with lockdown in mind, the album eschews uptempo dancefloor workouts in favor of stress-relief and romance. WizKid plays the perfect host, tamping down his melodic flights of fancy and embracing a song-serving smoothness. He’s a warm and inviting presence throughout, laying out the red carpet for a cross-continental cast of collaborators like H.E.R., Skepta, Burna Boy, and Damian Marley. The result is a truly global pop masterpiece, capable of brightening even the dourest day of a miserable year.

6. Ka - Descendants of Cain: Firefighter by day and rapper/producer by night, Ka is a master of allusion. He organizes his thoughts into themed collections of metaphor, illustrating the bleak realities of street life with gnomic symbolism. On Descendants Of Cain, Ka’s strongest work to date, the enigmatic rapper expresses himself through a litany of biblical references, drawing parallels between ancient parables (he goes far deeper than the Cain/’caine double entendre that rappers have been using for decades) and the stark code of morality with which he lives his life. The 48-year-old hermit produced the project himself, creating an immersive sonic realm, crafting expansive, noir-ish backing tracks populated by late-night saxophones, sparkling pianos, and the occasional shot of sweeping strings. Once again, Ka’s music comes almost entirely without drums (certainly without “beats” in the traditional hip-hop sense–every once in a while, he adds an open hi-hat or a subdued shaker), the artist preferring to let his music swirl around his half-whispered words of wisdom. The album ends on a tearful, sentimental note with “I Love (Mimi, Moms, Kev),” in which the artist ditches the biblical lyrical conceit and expresses his love for his wife, his mom, and his best friend atop light percussion and a warm soul sample.

5. SAULT - Untitled (Rise): Rise is the second part of a diptych that SAULT recorded in response to the movement that exploded in the wake of George Floyd’s death. Black Is, the first part, is a great album (you’ll find it in the lower reaches of my 2020 list), but the mysterious UK collective fulfilled their immense potential with Rise, a propulsive, powerful, and danceable album that doubles as a thought-provoking examination of the nature of freedom and liberation. The album tackles weighty topics–police violence, fake-woke “allies,” protest, cultural appropriation–but handles them with an inspiring effervescence and a propulsion meant to usher right-thinking people into the streets. The music itself is an intoxicating marvel, combining elements from every trendy musical movement from the early ‘80s (post-disco, post-punk, house, hip-hop, whatever the hell ESG was) into a percussive and surprisingly cohesive cocktail. The album immediately makes its greatness known with its first four songs, one of the strongest opening runs of any album in recent memory: the swaggering, funky, keep-your-head-up anthem “Strong,” which features a drum solo from SAULT architect Inflo, the soaring, club-ready vamp “Fearless,” concept-establishing, string-heavy interlude “Rise,” and especially “I Just Want to Dance,” the best song ESG never wrote. 

4. Fiona Apple - Fetch The Bolt Cutters: Fetch The Bolt Cutters arrived with the kind of universal acclaim that can make some people suspicious. The Pitchfork review got a lot of attention, not just for its perfect score but for its bold statement that “no music has ever sounded quite like it.” 

That statement might’ve been slightly hyperbolic. Fetch The Bolt Cutters has the kind of propulsive left-hand piano figures, chest-thumping percussion, and impassioned vocal performances that we haven’t heard since...the last Fiona Apple album. But the album deserves its experimental reputation. These songs mess around with song structure and melody in ways that resemble avant-garde singers like Meredith Monk, use overlapping vocals that occasionally evoke the works of post-modern composers like Luciano Berio, and echoing modernist composers like Edgard Varese in the way she wrings pathos out of rhythmic elements.

Though Fetch might be a slight step down from The Idler Wheel, it’s an invigorating listen, packed with the soul-baring confessionals that only Fiona is capable of executing. Combining literary wordplay with plainspoken directness, Fiona forces the listener to confront her trauma and contemplate her diagnoses of patriarchal ills. The songs are uniformly excellent–especially opener “I Want You To Love Me,” the most “traditional” song on the record, and “Shameika,” a burrowing childhood rumination with a happy ending–but Fetch The Bolt Cutters stands out to me as a collection of amazing moments: when the jig-like “For Her” fades into an unforgettably painful cadence (“Good mornin’, good mornin’/You raped me in the same bed your daughter was born in”), Fiona’s ground-shaking vocal intensity at the end of “Newspaper,” her dogs howling over the outro of “Fetch The Bolt Cutters,” the winking repetition of the title phrase on “Ladies.” Her albums display more than enough ambition to forgive the long gestation periods, but hopefully we won’t have to wait another 8 years for Fiona to bare her soul once again.

3. Drakeo The Ruler - Thank You For Using GTL: Embroiled in a Kafkaesque legal saga that shines a light on the worst aspects of our horrendous justice system, Drakeo The Ruler spent more than three years wrongly incarcerated for a crime he not only did not commit, but for which he was acquitted (for more info on Drakeo’s ordeal, read Jeff Weiss). He’s now mercifully a free man, mostly due to the work of his lawyer, but at least partially because of publicity generated by Thank You For Using GTL. Recorded over the phone from prison during the height of the pandemic, it’s a miracle that an album created under such sub-optimal conditions sounds as excellent as it does, but credit producer JoogSzn–who not only supplied the creeping, head-nodding backing tracks but recorded Drakeo’s phoned-in vocals–and engineer MixedByNavin for the project’s astonishing fidelity. Drakeo and Joog spent hours on the phone to record the album, in the process paying thousands of dollars to GTL, the predatory telecom company of choice for the L.A. corrections system, whose mechanical interjections serve as a constant reminder of the injustice that made the album necessary. Of course, a good story is a good story, but that alone doesn’t get an album on 2020’s most prestigious Best Albums list (mine). It’s a classic rap album, perhaps the best ever released by an incarcerated rapper, and a thumb directly in the nose of the D.A. and the LAPD. The album is a lyrical marvel, packed with winding wordplay and outlandish flexes, as Mr. Mosley takes aim at 6ix9ine, cackles at sorry-ass Instagram haters, and sneers at American-made cars (“To be honest, a Hellcat isn’t a foreign”). Each song has a carefully considered concept, the rapper’s punchlines building upon one another to make an airtight case for his status as L.A.’s top dog. He contrasts his own whip-crashing lifestyle with flashy wannabes on “GTA VI” and “Backflip or Sumn,” mourns a favorite department store on “RIP Barneys,” and proves he still doesn’t rap beef on “Maestro’s Tension.” The album’s masterstroke comes with “Fictional,” the final track, in which Drakeo exposes the prosecution’s use of his lyrics as evidence in criminal proceedings as the farce it is: “It might sound real, but it’s fictional/I love that my imagination gets to you.” Drakeo’s story was a rare bright spot in 2020, and a rare one with a happy ending. Just last week, the rapper released Because Y’All Asked, a studio-recorded version of Thank You For Using GTL, giving the album’s songs the clarity they deserve. But I think I’ll mostly return to the original, which will live on as an excellent album and a vital document of post-George Floyd America.

2. Pa Salieu - Send Them to Coventry: Hailing from the middle of nowhere–or, more accurately city in the English Midlands only known in the states for its middling Premier League team–Gambian-British artist Pa Salieu served up the most distinctive, visceral, and daring rap debut of the year. His style fuses elements of grime, drill, afro-trap, dancehall, and the darker edges of U.S. hip-hop into a percussive slurry, injected with the urgency of his struggle to survive. The magic of the album comes from the way Pa’s fluid flows interact with the shimmering and foreboding production (Felix Joseph and Aod lead the cast of the project’s sound architects), which is perfectly suited for cold city nights. He slips effortlessly into the pocket, toe-tagging the beats with a combination of aggression and trance-like meditation and uttering casually powerful pronouncements (“I'd make a killa riddim offa any riddim/The grind can never stop 'til I'm wrapped in linen”) that make you believe he’s Britain’s next great rapper. Pa keeps the vibe consistent throughout, but the moments that stand out are the moments when he locks into an unbreakable groove over no-frills production, like on singles “Block Boy,” “Betty,” and “B***K.” The artist’s wry sense of humor and brash confidence keeps the album from feeling bleak, but Send Them To Coventry wisely ends on “Energy,” a warm and bright ode to keeping your creative spark safe from the prying forces of fame and fortune.

1. Kassa Overall - I Think I’m Good: “I think I’m good”–a phrase that’s ran through my head throughout this shitstorm of a year. Sure, I postponed a wedding, cancelled trips, and saw my friends and family much less often than I would like, but I count myself among the lucky ones. Still breathing, still sane. Though it was recorded and released before the pandemic started, Kassa Overall’s I Think I’m Good became a lodestar of sorts for me. It’s a brilliantly introspective and deeply personal album about existing in enclosed spaces–whether a jail cell, an NYC subway car, or the inescapable prison of your own body.

Kassa Overall made his name as a jazz drummer, touring with icons like Geri Allen, but his solo music incorporates elements of hip-hop, classical, and trap to create a wholly original milieu. The album features contributions from over 30 accomplished voices, ranging from luminary Vijay Iyer, to Kassa’s saxophonist brother Carlos Overall, to virtuosic pianist Sullivan Fortner, to venerated activist Angela Davis. But all the disparate elements come together in service of Kassa’s deeply personal and engrossing vision.

Taking partial inspiration from Kassa’s struggle with manic depression, the music fluctuates between meditative calm and unbearable tension, mimicking the patter of an unquiet mind. Album opener “Visible Walls,” is a mesmerizing prayer for salvation soundtracked by fluttering harps, piercing woodwinds, and heartbeat percussion. “Find Me” buries a plea for help within a cacophony of sampled voices and rattling piano notes. Fortner’s piano guides us through the hauntingly devastating “Halfway House” and the Chopin-indebted “Darkness In Mind,” each highlighting a different stage of grief (despair and acceptance, respectively). The arc of I Think I’m Good concludes with the hopeful “Got Me A Plan” and “Was She Happy (For Geri Allen),” a Vijay Iyer-assisted tribute to his late friend and mentor. 

It’s ironic that an album that so deeply explores the feeling of isolation vibrates with such a collaborative spirit. I Think I’m Good feels like an answered prayer–a community coming together to check on a beloved friend who’s gone through a tough time: “You good, man?” “I think so.”

Here’s the rest of my list.

11. Yves Tumor - Heaven To A Tortured Mind 12. Shackleton & Waclaw Zimpel - Primal Forms 13. Bob Dylan - Rough & Rowdy Ways 14. Duval Timothy - Help 15. Lil Uzi Vert - Eternal Atake 16. Moodymann - Taken Away 17. Secret Drum Band - Chuva 18. J Hus - Big Conspiracy 19. Headie One & Fred Again - GANG 20. Tiwa Savage - Celia 21. Andras - Joyful 22. Bill Callahan - Gold Record 23. King Von - Welcome To O’Block 24. Flo Milli - Ho, Why Is You Here? 25. Chubby & The Gang - Speed Kills 26. Madeline Kenney - Sucker’s Lunch 27. Empty Country - Empty Country 28. Smino - She Already Decided 29. Destroyer - Have We Met 30. Yves Jarvis - Sundry Rock Song Stock 31. Ela Minus - Acts Of Rebellion 32. Creeper - Sex, Death & The Infinite Void 33. Alabaster DePlume - To Cy & Lee: Instrumentals, Vol. 1 34. Good Sad Happy Bad - Shades 35. The 1975 - Notes On a Conditional Form 36. Kate NV - Room For The Moon 37. $ilkmoney - Attack of the Future Shocked, Flesh Covered, Meatbags of the 85 38. Eddie Chacon - Pleasure, Joy and Happiness 39. Kenny Segal & Serengeti - Ajai 40. Bad Bunny - YHLQMDLG 41. Kahlil Blu - DOG 42. Califone - Echo Mine 43. Boldy James - The Price of Tea in China/Manger On McNichols/The Versace Tape 44. Bufiman - Albumsi 45. Moses Boyd - Dark Matter 46. Thanya Iyer - KIND 47. Jyoti - Mama You Can Bet! 48. Obongjayar - Which Way Is Forward? 49. Rio Da Yung OG - City On My Back 50. Young Jesus - Welcome To Conceptual Beach 51. Owen Pallett - Island 52. Oceanator - Things I Never Said 53. Shootergang Kony - Red Paint Reverend 54. Shabason, Krgovich & Harris - Philadelphia 55. Six Organs of Admittance - Companion Rises 56. Lido Pimienta - Miss Colombia 57. Kelly Lee Owens - Inner Song 58. Polo G - The GOAT 59. Actress - Karma & Desire 60. Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher 61. Porridge Radio - Every Bad 62. Yg Teck - Eyes Won’t Close 63. Mozzy - Beyond Bulletproof 64. Ratboys - Printer’s Devil 65. R.A.P. Ferreira - Purple Moonlight Pages 66. Ulver - Flowers of Evil 67. Rina Sawayama - SAWAYAMA 68. SAULT - Untitled (Black Is) 69. Ezra Feinberg - Recumbent Speech 70. Davido - A Better Time 71. Hailu Mergia - Yene Mircha 72. HAIM - Women In Music Pt. III 73. Half Waif - The Caretaker 74. Key Glock - Yellow Tape 75. KeiyAa - Forever Your Girl

[aurora-the-kunoichi]

The Aftermath - Part One

Part one of my apocalyptic story.

Raphael and Reader. 

(Don’t worry loves, there will be smut)

It started out as a routine expedition to Antarctica to gather samples of the melting icecaps. When the team of scientists found hair and frozen tissue in several of the core samples they pulled from the ice, they sent them in for analysis. When the samples returned with wooly mammoth DNA an excavation team was dispatched to unearth the specimen for testing and preservation.

One week was all it took before the first scientist fell ill after handling the thawing samples. They thought it was a common cold from the symptoms but knew once the patient started coughing up blood it was far from it. It took only 48 hours for the unknown virus to take hold and run its course before killing patient zero.

It should have been quarantined, but with only one scientist dead and the rest seemingly fine, they were released back home after the expedition was completed.

The second scientist to fall ill reported similar signs of the virus 3 days later and succumbed to the illness within 48 hours. One by one each member of the team showed signs of the same symptoms and perished days later, the last one dying nearly 7 days after patient zero was confirmed dead.

After that it spread like a wild fire in a drought spreading all over the world in less than a year wiping out the world’s population to near world extinction levels. Family members were unable to bury their loved ones for the fear the virus would continue to spread. So each body that was infected was ordered by the CDC to be incinerated.

Over seven billion people lost their lives to the world-wide pandemic devastating the global economy and dwindling the world’s population down to a few thousand apparently immune to the deadly virus. Cities lay barren, families and legacies torn asunder leaving the remaining population wondering what would be next.

That was 10 years ago, the year now 2030. The earth was still reclaiming her territory, buildings and roads overrun with newly grown greenery and the world’s animal population seemingly untouched by the virus’s destructive grasp flourished in the wake of the loss of human life.

Somehow you had been blessed and cursed with surviving the plague. You witnessed each of your family members picked off one by one at the ripe age of 15. Left alone to survive the apocalypse held up in your family’s home as long as you were able.  

Thankfully you were no useless adolescent doomed to wander the abandoned cities witless and helpless. Your family was stock full of bright talent that thankfully trickled down to you, your father an engineer and your mother a marine with a green thumb and a passion for prepping. Your father had rubbed off on you in the early years soaking up his knowledge for solar power and self-sustaining homes. Which was probably one of the reasons you were still alive today, that and the years of hand to hand combat instructed and insisted on by your mother.

“You need to learn how to protect yourself Y/N, be ready for any situation.” She said on a regular basis. She had no idea how right she was…. God you missed her.

The first year after the pandemic crawled by, depression and loneliness eating away at you day after day as your food supplies dwindled to nothing forcing you to make the decision, was it life or death?  The next year took a different direction as you worked your fingers to the bone daily to work up a system to keep yourself alive and prepared. Animals were rounded up and put into pastures on your land, animals that would provide food, whether it be meat or from the food they produced.

As the loneliness began to eat at your sanity once again a new ambitious project took hold of your endless spare time. A large SUV you had found parked in a garage while scrounging for supplies was ripe with potential and you had nothing but time.

Your father’s spirit seemed to follow you around the large workspace day after day, fingers worn and bleeding you worked over the equations and drums of supplies until the days blended into night. After countless of hours of mind numbing trial and error somehow by the grace of whatever cruel god that was up there you figured it out.

The large oversized vehicle was now able to switch from gasoline and the power of the sun with a flip of a switch. Gas stations were still producing, but it was only a matter of time before they dried up. And you needed to travel farther and farther for fuel and supplies, you needed to expand your options for travel.

As the truck clicked to life nearly soundlessly solely fueled by the stored energy in the solar panels you screamed at the top of your lungs resting your weary and tired skull on the metal hood. The farthest you had ventured from your sanctum was two hours in every direction. And as far as you could tell there wasn’t a living soul within that radius, and you had scavenged every home and building for useful items. It was time to look farther out and New York City was a prime location. Plus, with your new project completed a few spare solar panels would be nice and the once overly populated city should produce some.

You hadn’t seen anyone alive in years which in this type of situation was mostly a good thing. The end of the world usually didn’t bring out the best in people, survival of the fittest and all that jazz and you had a sweet set up ripe for the pickin. Which was why you had spent many man hours keeping the entrance to your family property hidden. All the tar from the driveway had been removed 100 feet in and an intricate fence from brush and bushes was maintained to keep the entrance secluded from any unwanted visitors.

It took you two weeks to prepare the homestead, making sure your livestock was well fed and your home locked down tight and protected. You anticipated your trip to take roughly 2 weeks but prepared for over a month. There could always be unseen circumstances that would keep you from your home for a longer period of time, so it was better to be safe than sorry.

It was a warm summer morning and your vehicle was packed, the small camper trailer connected, and panels fully charged, it was time to head out. With one final look at your home you made the 5-minute trek down your driveway exiting from your hidden entrance. Once it hidden from sight again you started out ready for the long solitary road trip.

With no one driving on the roadways they had managed to stay drivable for the most part. A few trees and bushes needed to be dodged but you were still able to utilize them for now.

It took nearly 8 hours of driving before you saw the dilapidated welcome sign for New York City. One side had broken free of its bolts and had sunk into the earth where rust had begun to climb up the forgotten metal eating away at its integrity.

It was late afternoon and you needed to start scouting out a safe place to set up camp and hopefully a few hours of scrounging around before dark. You decided central park would be a good place to hunker down and start your exploration.

With your camper set up and prepared you strapped two guns to your hips with two long blades in your boots and headed out with a line of homes to the east your first target in mind. The empty duffel bag slung over your shoulder was ready for supplies and anything that you would deem a sanity saver, something that would help ease the hours of boredom or something that was fun to look at. For some reason those seemed to help the most. Artwork or small trinkets that would occupy your overactive hands. Records were the most coveted though, music was everything. You had an ipod chalk full of music but with no way to add more to it so new records were a pivotal part of keeping your sanity in check.  

By the time the sun had begun to dip below the horizon your duffel was plum full of goodies. By some luck you had found a few guns with a healthy amount of ammunition, a plethora of canned goods and a few sanity savers, but no records. You had found a box full of brightly colored comics, Batman, Avengers, X-men and so much more, it was definitely a good haul for one day outing.

With your newly acquired treasures packed away safely in your trailer you lit a modest fire and cooked your dinner. The outline of the fire danced on the treetops that swayed gently with the evening breeze which didn’t help much with the summer’s heat. The humidity of the night had grown stifling leaving a thin seen of sweat covering your skin so a swim in the nearest body of water was tempting.

The pond that sat on the edge of the park sparkled in the moonlight, the steady breeze setting soft ripples across the glass like surface. You were hot and sticky and with an eight hour drive a dip sounded wonderful.

Your eyes scanned left and right observing your surroundings. You had been here for hours and no one had come out to meet you or thankfully worse. With the decision made your clothes were stripped free and your gun set underneath the pile of discarded clothes by the water just in case.

The moons silver light hit your naked flesh as your descended slowly into the pond holding your breath as your head was submerged beneath the surface. You stayed below for a minute allowing the coolness of the water to lower your body temp and it felt glorious. You had been roasting most of the day, but you couldn’t convince yourself to use the A/C in the truck. The fresh air was so much better.

Floating to your back you started to swim backstroke across the pond watching the night sky come to life with the stars. Since the lights had gone out at the end of civilization the milky way could be seen on a clear night. Witnessing the waves of bright lights from the cosmos was one of the few perks to surviving the apocalypse. That and the calming sounds of nature no longer drowned out by the city life.

As you reached the far end of the pool you suddenly felt something you hadn’t in a very long time, a feeling that you were no longer alone. It was eerie and unsettling for the feeling had become foreign. Your eyes scanned the tree lines and watched your campsite with the lazy fire that continued to lazily lap at the fresh wood you had laid within the ring. No shadows, no movement just the strange feeling of being watched.

Lowing further into the pool you watched the shadows, looking for anything, even an animal to come into view but nothing appeared. Then as quick as it came, the feeling vanished, the unseen gaze swept away with the warm breeze. It was strange but had no proof you were in danger, so you finished your swim and dressed heading back to your camper.

Moving the burning logs away from each other and smothering the glowing embers with the dirt you headed into your trailer for a few hours of sleep. With one final look into the darkness you closed the door and locked the reinforced doors tight.

As the final embers died out in your campfire, four very large shadows emerged from the tree lines. With no sound they moved closer, two blue, one green and one set of amber eyes set on the camper where your slept.

“Haven’t seen her around before?” the one in blue whispered into the breeze for only his companions to hear.

The one wrapped in orange moved closer to the trailer trying to peer into the windows, “And I would definitely like to see her again, especially without her clothes.”

A soft whack resounded on the back of his green skull as the largest of the four came up behind him yanking him from the perimeter. “You don’t know who she is, she could be one of them. And be quite shell for brains, you’ll wake her up.”

The tallest of the four came up to the truck taking in the solar panels with keen interest, “She’s smart, that is for certain.”

“We’ll keep an eye on her for now, no contact. You hear me?”

“Yeah yeah Fearless, we got it. Don’t touch the pretty lady.”

“Let’s go Raphael.”  

@waterstar2016​ @blossom-skies​ @thelostandforgottenangel​ @hollybunch95​ 

[girls-scenarios]

What Are The Odds?

Idol: Chaeryeong (ITZY)

Prompt: Idol!AU Itzy’s Chaeryeong x Female Reader, the reader has debuted for a while but they’ve been dating before Chaeryeong’s debut, then the reader’s groups goes to Idol Room with Itzy (but the mcs don’t know about them) and it’s all fluff, they get shy, flirt, all the cute stuff, thank u ❤️

Writer: Admin Kiwi

A/N: I’ve written a lot of these types of requests but I tried to make this one unique. Also I (again) used girls from Produce 48 as fem!reader’s group members. I hope you all enjoy!

♡ Tip Jar♡

Although Chaeryeong had been dating you for a while before her debut, and she knew the two of you would be idols together, she had never thought about the fact that the two of you might end up promoting together, much less going on any shows together. But now, only weeks after her own debut, she stood across from you in the waiting area, wondering what the odds were that this would happen.

“Well hello there,” Yeji said, a grin on her face as she looked from your group to Chaeryeong and then back again, unable to hide her glee. “Fancy seeing you all here.” Of course, everyone was in on the joke. The two of you had been to each other’s dorms plenty of times, and both groups were friends anyway, so it was no secret that the two of you were dating.

“What are the odds that we got put together? Did they know that we all know each other?” Miyu wondered aloud, looking around the group. “Or did this really just happen at random?”

“I think since we’re both fairly new groups, they combined our episodes to save run time,” Ryujin said, nodding slightly. “That seems the most likely.”

“Funny that they chose us, though. This is going to be a fun episode for (Y/N) and Chaeryeong,” your leader Kaeun commented with a smile, wrapping an arm around your shoulders as you whined.

“No teasing,” you said, trying to push her off to no avail. “Revealing our relationship is a no, remember?”

“Awe, but it’s just so much fun,” Yuna said, and the other girls nodded in agreement, making Chaeryeong sigh and bury her face in her hands. It was going to be a long shoot.

-

Thankfully, these shows usually flew past. After some makeup touch-ups and a run-down of what was going to happen, both groups were shoved into the bright room and Doni and Coni started the show. Introductions always flew by, memorized and perfected from the hundreds of times everyone had to do them. Once it was revealed that both groups new each other (that was obvious from the posts of everyone together on social media) the show began.

At first, everything was fine. Both groups danced their choreography and answered questions about your comeback and ITZY’s debut, all of the normal things. Other than the occasional giggle or shy glance, the two of you just acted like everyone else, hiding little smiles behind your hands when the cameras focused on other members. Then, the games began.

“Today, we’re going to have a competition between groups! The winning group gets a set of Korean Beef as a prize.”

At the sound of beef, Chaeryeong perked up, as did all the other girls in the studio, cheering and clapping.

“But the worst performing members of each group will have to do a punishment together!”

Of course, all good things came with a bad side, and Chaeryeong groaned, already knowing that she was going to end up getting punished. It would be just her luck.

“Fighting to both groups. Let the games begin!”

The first game was a sack race, and of course, she ended up against you. It was ironic, and the two of you laughed, joining the rest of your members who had started laughing too.

“They’re especially close between all of us,” Kaeun explained, making the mc’s raise their eyebrows.

“Then the stakes are even higher!”

“Sorry, we’re enemies today,” Chaeryeong said with a giggle, bumping her shoulder against yours.

“Fine. You’re on!”

Of course, Chaeryeong lost, but you weren’t much better than her, barely getting to the finish line before you tripped and fell flat onto the padded mat they had to catch you. Of course, laughter erupted from everyone, and Chaeryeong couldn’t help laughing as well, even though she’d lost. You sat up, your hair a mess, looking a little dazed, and she slipped out of her bag to walk over and pat your hair down with a fond smile. Everyone erupted, making teasing sounds and pointing the two of you out, but she ignored them as she helped you up.

“Good job. I’ll get you next time.”

“You can try!”

Fortunately, she never had to go up against you again. Unfortunately, the two of you ended up being the worst performing members together, although Chaeryeong wasn’t really surprised.

“I think your members conspired against the two of you,” one of the mc’s commented with a laugh as the two of you stood up, flushed and embarrassed.

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” you commented, making everyone chuckle. “That’s kind of normal.”

“Is it normal for you too, Chaeryeong?”

With a little smile, she raised her hands. “I can’t really say?”

“so that means yes.”

“No! No, we love our Chaeryeong, we would never” Yeji refuted as everyone laughed, but she was joking along and everyone knew it.

“Is everyone curious about their punishment?” At those words, everyone leaned forward, obviously curious. “It’s to... Do aegyo to each other!”

Chaeryeong buried her face in her hands as everyone cheered once again. She could hear you whining, and she knew her face was red by now. How could she do this on TV for everyone to see?

“Well, get up there,” Lia said, giving her a little push. Reluctantly, she went, meeting you in the middle of the room. You were blushing too, although you were trying to keep a poker face.

“Let’s see the aegyo! Starting with Chaeryeong.”

Taking a deep breath, she gathered herself and prepared mentally. Then, she opened her eyes and put on a sweet smile, tilting her head slightly to the side. “(Y/N), can you buy me a cheeseburger? I cheeseburger, I want a cheeseburger!” She fluttered her eyes in a way that felt right, watching as you let out a squeal and covered your face before throwing her head back in an embarrassed laugh and turning away from the camera, crouching down.

“Wow, do you like her that much, (Y/N)?”

“What is this?”

“More, more, more!”

“Your turn, (Y/N)!”

As you fanned at your face, trying to get your poker face back, Chaeryeong stood back up to face you with a little smile on her lips, trying hard not to burst back into laughter. This was just too much, and she wondered what you’d even do now.

“Chaeryeong, I’m hungry!” You pouted and leaned in a bit closer, fluttering your eyes just like Chaeryeong had, and she could feel laughter building up in her chest as she flushed. “Can I eat you up?” She couldn’t hold it in, she let out a scream-laugh and turned away, covering her face with her hands as the room went crazy and you sank to the floor in embarrassment. In all honesty, she felt like she might explode, giddy and shy and overwhelmed by everything, but thankfully the mc’s seemed to be satisfied with their punishment. Clapping their hands, they called for the end of the episode, and both of you glanced at each other shyly as you headed back to your seats.

After saying goodbye, the cameras were shut off and everyone was put back into the waiting rooms. As soon as the staff were out of hearing reach, both groups erupted into laughter and chatter once again, teasing the two of you. Whining, Chaeryeong grabbed your hand and hid her red face in your shoulder, happy to be done with it all.

“Do you think we were too obvious out there?” She asked softly, and you shook your head, squeezing her hand.

“No, but I think we’ll have a lot of shippers after it airs.”

With a giggle, she pulled away and tucked her hair behind her ears. “That’s better than the alternative, I guess.”

“It really is.” The way you were looking at her was so fond, and she felt her heart jump, blush returning to her cheeks as you smiled. “I had fun with you today, though.”

Thinking back to everything that had happened that day, Chaeryeong couldn’t help but smile as well, leaning into you. It had been nice to spend time with you while working, too. And she couldn’t say that she would mind doing it again. “Me too. What do you think the odds are that we end up doing this again?”

“I don’t know. But I hope they’re high.”

“Come on, Chaeryeong, we have to get ready for our next schedule.”

“(Y/N), our manager is looking for you!”

The two of you looked at each other for a moment, before you grinned. “See you tonight? After our schedules are done?”

Chaeryeong’s heart soared as she giggled, squeezing your hand one last time before she dropped it. She was really living the best life, being able to see you during and after work like this. And she wasn’t going to waste a moment of this opportunity. “Of course. I can’t wait.”

[orangeeu]

A GUIDE TO TOO’S CHAN

Heya! Here’s my essay about why you should stAN TOO’S CHAN!

SO! I recently stanned TOO because of their legendary Rising Sun cover in Road to Kingdom and because of the man, the myth, the legend… CHO CHANHYUK! Yeah, if you watched the performance already you may know who I’m talking about, but in case you don’t or you just didn’t bother to instigate in some intense kpop boy stalking (but why wouldn’t you?), I’ve made a guide for y’all!!

//Ahem A GUIDE TO TOO’S CHAN / CHANHYUK!

(Oh, and btw, no, I didn’t just copy and paste this from kprofiles.com - I added some extra facts and actual, CONCRETE reasons as to why you should stan him!!!) 

‘KAY, ONTO THE GUIDE!!

[BASIC INFO aka boring (but important) stuff lol]

Stage name: Chan 

Birth Name: Cho Chan Hyuk

Position: Main Dancer, Rapper, Producer

Birthday: December 8th, 1999

Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius

Height: 180 cm (5’11”)

Blood Type: O

Nationality: Korean

Element: Fire

YAY! BORING STUFF OVER!! Now here’s some insight on some Chan only tingz~~ 

[FUN FACTS]

He ranked 2nd place on the survival show that TOO was formed from called, To Be World Klass (DESERVED)

He has an older sister

Introduces himself as being “all-rounded” WHICH IS TOTALLY TRUE! He can rap, dance AND produce!!! 

Motto: “Let’s move smartly”

He is a former SM Entertainment trainee

He dropped out of high school

HE HAS A TATTOO ON HIS LEFT FOREARM AND BACK!! It’s hard to see them but alas! I’ve found a Twitter thread exposing his rad tats!: https://twitter.com/CHANHYUCKlE/status/1264654817261125632 From what I can observe, the one on his forearm is of a whale and flowers, and the one on his back is of flowers?? (He even once said that he hopes to get another tattoo on his waist!! YES PLEASE SIR)

He is left-handed 

He and Chihoon are producers/rappers for the dance group CUROHAKO. They actually have a Youtube channel and Chan is in two of their videos!!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uhq2pJA6oQ  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgTT4bBGI78 

His favorite colour is black 

His favorite emoji is the fox emoji 

His favorite food is sushi

His favorite movie is called ‘About Time’

He can freaking guess pizza by its scent!! This was so cute tho, please watch it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZHi8aNDTuc 

He ripped his pants during a stage but said he was fine with it as long as it’ll get his group views LMAO 

His dancer name is K!ZAROO (but I don’t know if he still goes by it)

His Myers-Briggs personality type is ENTJ (extoverted, intuitive, thinking, judging); natural leaders brimming with confidence and charisma. They’re determined when faced with challenges and thinks strategically in order to achieve their goals. You can read more about his MBTI here!: https://www.16personalities.com/entj-personality 

Part of the self-proclaimed, “sexies” sub-unit consisting of him and Chihoon

He was chosen as the most fashionable member in the group 

He used to have a lip piercing (I don’t know if it’s closed up by now or not)

He hates fluorescent lighting

AYE-- I wish I had more, but that’s all the facts I’ve found about him so far! I’ll update this in the future once TOO ages like fine wine..!

Here are scientific reasons as to why you should stan him!!

[WHY YOU SHOULD STAN]

IDOL TRAITS (why you should stan him as an IDOL):

1. DANCE

His dancing! He’s not the main dancer for nothing! His movements are smooth and natural yet aggressive and passionate..! His strongest point is free styling!  Whenever he free styles, you can tell that he’s simply vibing and embracing his element. It’s obvious that he really loves dancing and that he practices a lot.

People say that he’s similar to NCT’s Taeyong or that he’s “the next Taeyong” but I couldn’t disagree more.. Chan is his own individual with a distinct and unique dancing style. He’s NOT “the next Taeyong”, he’s Cho Chanhyuk! 

Sorry, I just get a bit annoyed when people say things like that.. Anywho, here are some videos of Chan being a dancing legend.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLBYBAT1gGg 

https://youtu.be/TWiyBUBL3A0 

https://twitter.com/chanhyuckie/status/1265174013032034306

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZdxA2kewsg 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8Eg6AuiNxc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TIR0W0YPLc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QrJ3cCBuzA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GFU0f5xKPs 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CdHHqH51gg

https://twitter.com/i/status/1272322590854590465

WATCH THIS ONE ESPECIALLY!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnx8pmtUwWo                                     

2. RAP

Tough tone that’s got its own colour! Also really good at free styling his rap! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o72hX8R28fo 

Chan’s free verse and him bopping with Lil Pump and the bois.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-elXeK0qYf8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lEetiEqvDI

3. PRODUCE

HE.PRODUCES.HIS.OWN.DAMN.SONGS!! It’s actually very difficult to produce music as it takes a lot of patience, knowledge and creativity! Pretty sick beats with more rad raps! Here’s his soundcloud!

https://soundcloud.com/canigetyourchan

Hope he releases the rest of his works!

4. CHARISMA

A born performer! He never fails to give me goosebumps!! Chan is just mesmerizing when performing, he’s like a magnet.. It’s hard to lose sight of him on stage because he stands out so much! He’s an expert with facial expressions and consistently makes sure to fully immerse himself into the performance; it’s his expression of self which makes him shine so brightly on stage. 

PERSONAL TRAITS (why you should stan him as a PERSON:

1. PERFECTIONIST

A visionary and true tireless idealist. For most people, being a perfectionist isn’t an ideal trait, yet I still find myself respecting Chan for being one. He’s critical when it comes to creating the perfect performance and works really hard to achieve results which reaches his (high) standards. I think that’s pretty admirable - the fact that he puts his blood, sweat and tears to put on not only a good show, but one that exceeds standards for our sake, his own sake and the rest of TOO’s sake. 

2. PASSION

I think that the thing that I adore about him the most is his passion. As I mentioned before, he absolutely loves dancing. It’s refreshing to visibly see an idol enjoy themselves on stage. Chan doesn’t just perform, he lives. When he’s performing, he loses himself in the thing that he loves doing the most and relishes the moment like there’s no tomorrow.

3. DETERMINATION

Even if Chan isn’t the official leader of TOO, his leadership qualities are quite prominent. He’s determined to reach his goals and get through challenges no matter what. Taking initiative, he leads the group in dance and assists others when they are struggling. This can be seen by observing World Klass clips of the boys practicing All You Need Is Love - when Chan noticed that Chihoon was having difficulty with the choreography he called him over and helped him with it. Another example is when they ranked last place in Road to Kingdom and Chan, motivated to do better and prove TOO’s capability of rising up the ranks, thoughtfully assisted in planning their performance and concept and rigorously practiced while leading the others. 

4. CREATIVITY

Idea bank! As an artist myself, I marvel at Chan’s creativity. The concepts and choreographies that he comes up with are astounding and prove to have super effective results! He actually came up with the Rising Sun concept in TOO’s Road to King performance. Because they watched the sun set from the rooftop, Chan was inspired to make their concept about them being rookies and rising in the music industry like the sun!! Say it with me: Chan swollen brain, Chan inflamed brain, chAN GINORMOUS BRAIN!!! 

Overall, Chan, despite his appearance of being intimidating, is actually a real sweet guy that smiles and laughs easily. He’s a soft boi (especially for Chihoon) and likes to initiate skin ship. Members actually stated that Chan likes to act cute and even refers to himself as ‘Chanhyukie’!! So please don’t be fooled by his cool guy demeanor, he’s a squish if you take a closer look..! 

Wow, that was a LOT of writing! That aside, here are some random Chan stuff!

[ MISCELLANEOUS] 

Predebut Chan pics: https://twitter.com/c12c8h__177o/status/1265420652011417601

PREDEBUT CHAN IN BOY STORY ASDFGK (if you squint you can find him in the crowd starting from around 2:48. He’s the one with the yellow hair and sunglasses): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klg8niUUjRQ

Cute clip from World Klass of Chan being all cuddly and cute with Kyungho!: https://twitter.com/i/status/1265176511146934273

Absolutely no context: https://twitter.com/CHANPlCS/status/1264522391008481280

E-BOY CHAN: https://www.tiktok.com/@too_offcl/video/6824848435217304837 https://www.tiktok.com/@too_offcl/video/6819342086857313542  https://www.tiktok.com/@too_offcl/video/6817551314097016069  https://www.tiktok.com/@too_offcl/video/6788981280240454918  https://www.tiktok.com/@too_offcl/video/6784186996119145733          https://www.tiktok.com/@too_offcl/video/6769724996559310086              https://www.tiktok.com/@too_offcl/video/6767461954127744262              

Saranghae saranghae saranghae Chan dance tutorial uwu: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9F4kQoaMljI

Chan humoring some fans: https://twitter.com/i/status/1249025324689453056 (scroll down below the first Tweet)

Chan English king: https://twitter.com/i/status/1251600155578494976

A cutie: https://twitter.com/i/status/1248594397056217088

Chan recommended this song! It’s pretty good so give it a listen!: https://open.spotify.com/track/7iooxPmnLY6wZynSplHUah?si=fBa5ppR0Qd-klOLa9tvnbA 

O-kay! I think that’s all the Chan content I have for now! Once again, I’ll update  this occasionally while on my journey with TOO! Don’t forget to stan Chan and TOO! Hope this has convinced you!! If it did, then please reblog this to spread exposure for Chan and TOO!

Before you go, please go watch their debut song Magnolia, thank you! Have a great day! 

(P.S., IF YOU FEEL LIKE THERE’S SOMETHING I SHOULD ADD OR CHANGE THEN DON’T HESITATE TO NOTIFY ME, THANKS!) 💖💖💖

[castlebeyondthegoblincity]

Produce 48 (프로듀스 48)- Sorry Not Sorry dance cover

[softstraykidsimagines]

Dance Teacher

Summary: Hyunjin tries to teach you to dance.

Requested: yes

Pairing: Hyunjin x Reader

Genre: FLUUUFFF

Format: I’m switching things up a bit and doing bulletpoint ooo look at me all creative lmao

Word Count: 958

Warnings: cursing (I mean I curse in every sentence I make so actuality it’s quite normal lol) and description of injury

A/N: I wanted to do this in bulletpoint to make it more fast moving lol I have no idea how that worked out but ye. Also, this is inspired by a past experience of mine which is still a painful memory so I’m letting off some steam.

We all know that Hyunjin is an amazing dancer

Smooth movement, perfect rhythm, the whole lot

It was astonishing to you how someone as brilliant at dance like him

Could fall for such a clutz with two left feet

We’re talking about you btw

You watched him dancing to his favorite songs, or practicing one of the choreos that Stray Kids perform

Or when he even tried to learn new dances from other groups for fun

While you? HA

You’d tried dancing once or twice in the past

But it had always ended up with your ass on the floor

So you avoided the sport like the plague

But that became difficult when you watched Hyunjin practice because

He iS So GooD AT DANciNG?? How can you not watch him???

So you were already expecting it when one day, he took a break from his choreo

And turned to you as you observed patiently

“Come dance with me!” He offered. or more like ordered

“AHAHH NO”, you immediately said. “I can’t dance”.

“I know you’ve said that before, but come on I can teach you!” He was really gonna try to convince you huh?

You sigh. What am I getting myself into now? “Alright, you can try to teach me...”

You both stand next to each other in front of the mirror.

“Okay, so you need to move you foot back like this. Then step onto the left... onto your heel... and... pivot!” He demonstrated very slowly, so that you could see in detail exactly what he was doing.

That is very complicated

“Nah it’s fine”, Hyunjin smiled. “You just need to practice bit by bit”.

I guess I said that out loud

He held onto you gently. “Put your foot here.... then.... to the left.... and you... pivot.” He guides you carefully through the steps until you had done a slow motion version of what he’d first produced. “Got it?”

“Umm... I think so...” you felt weird trying to copy what he’d done so perfectly. You felt a bit like a flailing chicken.

You started the move again, this time feeling a little less off balance.

“There you go, that’s good”, Hyunjin encouraged.

You repeated the steps over and over, and soon found yourself speeding up

“Woah, hang on, not too quickly, or you might—“

CRACK

You felt your shin light up with pain as you poorly placed on of the steps, the pain shooting up your leg like lightning

Your knee gave way and before you could fully process what had happened, you found yourself on the floor, holding your ankle

“Y/n! Are you ok? Hey, answer me!” Hyunjin looked at you with wide and worried eyes.

You gritted your teeth together. What the fuck did I just do? Was all that was going through your mind

“Arrghhhh....” you groan. “Fuck, that hurt”. You held onto your shin tightly, felling it growing warmer. “Fuck, fuck! That really hurt!” You didn’t really want to curse but you were in too much of a shock to care

Hyunjin jumped up and grabbed some ice from the med kit. He ran back and placed the ice, wrapped in fabric, over your throbbing ankle. You winced as the cold sent another shock up your leg

“Im sorry”, Hyunjin said quietly, his voice shaking. “I shouldn’t have tried to teach you something that difficult so quickly”.

“No, it’s my fault”, you responded gently, still clenching your jaw. “I was getting too confident too fast. I shouldn’t have jumped ahead like that”.

Hyunjin avoided your eye as he inspected your ankle, poking it gently and checking the movement

“It’s just a light twist”, he sighs with relief.

“Which means...?”

“It means that you’ll be able to walk normally within the next 24 hours, and you’ll be running as if nothing happened in 48”.

“Oh shit”, you stared at him. You had no idea that he knew about injuries in dance. All the better now, right

You started laughing with relief. “It must be a curse: every time I dance, I fall. It’s just never gotten this bad”

Hyunjin chuckled as well. “I guess I’m not qualified to teach dance yet, am I?”

“I suppose no— WAIT WHY ARE YOU SHIRTLESS?” You weren’t in shock anymore, and you’d only just realized that your boyfriend was sitting in front of you, completely bare-chested!

Hyunjin’s cheeks turned bright pink. “I had to wrap the ice in fabric, there was nothing else”. He looked at you sheepishly.

You giggled. “Well, put your shirt back on, mister”.

“I can’t, it’s all cold from the ice”, he protested

“Too bad for you”, you countered. “You decided to use your shirt as a cover for the ice, now suffer the consequences. Now hurry up! You’re distracting me!”

He cocked his eyebrow. “How am I distracting you”, he asked, smirking

You started blushing even more. Shit, I shouldn’t have said anything! “Umm— just— yo— JUST PUT YOUR SHIRT BACK ON!” You covered your face in your hands, not wanting to show just how embarrassed you were.

Hyunjin threw his shirt back on, shivering from how cold the fabric was. He offered you a hand. “Come on, I think we’re done for today”.

You gladly took it, and leant on him to walk around. He looked at you thoughtfully

“You know, it’s a rather long walk back to the dorms”, he said cheekily

“It’s not that long”. You weren’t taking the hint.

“But with a bad foot, you can’t walk that well”, he continued. “Maybe you should get a piggy back to the dorms?” He asked innocently

You laughed. “Alright, if you want! But don’t complain if you get tired!”

So Hyunjin was your personal taxi back to the dorms that night, and you promised yourself to never try such a complicated move so quickly like that again.

Heheh this was super fun to write. Do be careful while learning new dances, everyone :)

[sayamyu]

#MIYUTUBE livestream 4.9.2018  Takeuchi Miyu announces graduation from AKB48

Translation under the cut (rough live-translation, not 100% accurate)

Good night everyone for joining me on youtube today! and thank you for following me on produce 48 I’m very glad but a bit worried that i have been found by this many people. We talked about that with my mom a bit. Now I’m going to talk about the reason I joined pd48. I wanted to reset my idol career. New young members joined akb48 and I worried about my place in the group, and so I decided to take the chance in pd48. I wanted to change everything with my own effort, so before the show I worked out, dieted and learnt korean for the sake of this project.

I have been in akb for 9 years, but I didn’t have any confidence in myself. I hated myself. But I figured I had do start liking myself if I wanted to join pd48. And I managed to do that. During the first part of the show I really wanted to make an impact, so i arranged the song myself etc. for that sake. And it was possible because of all the time I have poured into arranging and music. I challenged myself to stand on the stage and put my everything into it. And it was very fulfilling.

During the shooting we lived in the dorms and filmed and stuff. That was interesting and I didn’t worry too much … but i was very scared of watching the actual show on tv. I had to have snacks nexr to me or I couldn’t calm down. I was able to watch all 12 episodes like that. I was mostly raised by my grandfather because my mom worked a lot. Even when I was struggling in akb48 group, and couldn’t do much, he always believed in me. My grandfather’s birthday was close to the finals and I wanted to give him a present, and wanted to debut partly because of that He always watched the show excited and cheered on me. But he passed away around the second elimination so he wasn’t able to watch the finale. And the thing that supported me during those difficult times were my fans and I also believe my grandpa supported me from heaven. I’m glad to have recieved so much love, from both my fans and my grandfather in heaven. That’s what let me get this far and I’m very grateful for that. Looking back to those few months.. I had a lot of hard times but.. it was worth it and from now on I will work even harder and turn on a new leaf.

Now it’s my 14th year in entertainment industry and 10th in akb. I love singing and dancing, and I love akb48. but akb48 is the kind of group that many use to step into their bigger dreams and that’s what I always wanted to do. But after entering university i had even less time to work on music. I was a bit lost during those times and I worried about that a lot. But then i found youtube. And so even though I never got into senbatsu, I think youtube gave me a place and I’m glad I took that path and want to continue on it. And in university I have made a lot of friend and am also enjoying more normal life there. One thing i wanted to do for a long time is that I wanted to go overseas.. and I was able to be a bit selfish in akb48 and I am glad that I was given so much freedom. Thank you As I said in the beginning, akb is getting a lot of new young members and they try to rise next to senbatsu members. I’m very glad I was able to challenge myself in korea and it was very exciting to give my all and to truly live on as an idol. I don’t regret anything. I have been thinking, since the very beginning, even back when I joined the group, about graduating akb48 and how I wanted to do it. Since the beginning I had decided that I wanted to graduate after doing something big. And now I feel like this might be the timing where I have given everything.

I’m glad I was given so much freedom in akb48. and I’m very thankful for having been there and that I was able to challenge myself in the harsh enviroment of korea so now I want to announce something I have been taken care in akb for 10 years now and it has opened me a lot of possibilites but i will graduate akb48 this year. and move on to my own path

You aren’t hearing me?? I’m GRADUATING!! aaa I’m sorry. yes, I’ll graduate I feel like I have given this my all, so I feel like now is the right time. After the last stage in korea, me and my mom went to eat korean barbegue and decided together that this is the perfect time. There were a lot of times when I was unsure. But B feel like in the end I don’t have any regrets about my life as an idol I will still resurme doing music, compose and sing.. My dream has always been to me recognized internationally and I’m so glad I have been able to do that. I will continue to work hard akb48 has a lot of unique members so please continue to follow them as well! Oh, and actually, the handshake events until the end of the year, since you have bought the tickets already I will do them all. but this is the last one –> please come to see me! And as for my graduation concert.. it’s not decided yet. I decided that I wanted to graduate just a few days ago so it’s not decided yet, but please look forward to it

aa, I was able to say everything I wanted to say! I will try to read some comments now! “don’t stop!!” thank you for saying that even though I have been doing this for 10 years.. What should I do ahah showroom is a bit out of the loop appareantly I wonder if this is fine. I’m praying that youtube will work properly and yes I’ll continue doing youtube covers and stuff! I was very nervous and had to read from the script… there are a lot of comments aa!! I have only been doing this for 30 mins … hmm “i will be supporting you!” aah thank you!! I will be at All Night Japan tomorrow so watch please! I will read comments now.. If I had been harshly talked about 3 years ago I don’t think I could’ve taken it.. but now I can take them all ahah, just come at me!! “I’ll be having entrance exams, please cheer on me” Entrance exams? Good luck! The most impotant thing is to imagine all the fun you’re going to have in university/high school.. good luck!! Sorry I couldn’t make it in jankenpon.  I was with Suzuran in a team, my friend. I saw fans named Miyukat. I saw stamp ‘Miyukat’ on SNS ww I can’t read the name of one who gave me tower I am sorry. Tower looks great. Thank you very much. First i will read the name of one who gave me tower. …. The first part of the live was very organized but the last bit was a mess.. but I’ll try to have more chances to talk with you like this! So now Miyukats, bye!!

[gaymusicchart]

GAY MUSIC CHART – 2017 week 39

 Welcome to the Gay Music Chart, the LGBTQA related music videos TOP 50 actuality and most request.

Vote for your favourite LGBTQA related music videos by leaving a comment for this post on :

YOUTUBE (in the comment section of the video of the week) : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCz7yfp-xq-b08tD6mAWwclA

BLOGGER : http://gaymusicchart.blogspot.fr

FACEBOOK : https://www.facebook.com/GayMusicChart/

TWITTER : https://twitter.com/GayMusicChart with #GayMusicChart  

TUMBLR : http://gaymusicchart.tumblr.com  

 Here is the recap for this week :

 OUT : Benny - Never Apart (LW: 17 / WO: 15 / PEAK: 17)

OUT : PVRIS - What's Wrong (LW: 22 / WO: 13 / PEAK: 01 (x2))

OUT : MRSHLL 마샬 - Circle (visuals) (LW: 25 / WO: 1 / PEAK: 25)

OUT : Tom Bleasby - Where Is The Love (audio) (LW: 27 / WO: 3 / PEAK: 27)

OUT : George Michael feat. Nile Rodgers - Fantasy (Audio) (LW: 31 / WO: 1 / PEAK: 31)

OUT : Bronski Beat - Smalltown Boy (Arnaud Rebotini Remix) (LW: 33 / WO: 1 / PEAK: 33)

OUT : ERASURE - Just A Little Love (Official Lyric Video) (LW: 35 / WO: 1 / PEAK: 35)

OUT : Falko - Undercover (Official Lyric Video) (LW: 37 / WO: 3 / PEAK: 33)

OUT : Mickey Taylor feat. ØMC - In The Night (LW: 38 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 20)

OUT : LP - No Witness (A Night at The McKittrick Hotel) (LW: 40 / WO: 3 / PEAK: 18)

OUT : Detonautas Roque Clube part. Leoni - Dias Assim (LW: 44 / WO: 1 / PEAK: 44)

OUT : Germán Díaz - Dentro de tí (LW: 45 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 42)

OUT : Tuure Boelius - Eikö sua hävetä (LW: 47 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 43)

OUT : Tokio Hotel - Something New (LW: 48 / WO: 1 / PEAK: 48)

OUT : State of Sound - Heaven (LW: 49 / WO: 1 / PEAK: 49)

OUT : Tom Goss - Click (The Interactive Music Video) (LW: 50 / WO: 3 / PEAK: 15)

  01 (+ 2) : Kevin Chomat - Sens Interdit (LW: 03 / WO: 3 / PEAK: 01 (x1))

This new single of the French singer reached the top 10 YouTube trending in France. His first album will be released next September 25, 2017.

 02 (- 1) : Logic feat. Alessia Cara, Khalid - 1-800-273-8255 (LW: 01 / WO: 6 / PEAK: 01 (x1))

This powerful music video, which is also a promotion for the National Suicide Prevention Hotline, follows a gay teen couple and is the incarnation of the "It Gets Better" slogan.

 03 (+ 9) : Kevin Chomat - Un homme à terre (LW: 12 / WO: 33 / PEAK: 01 (x3))

For his third single, the French singer is talking about infidelity, with his boyfriend who cheated on him.

 04 (+ 2) : Alvin Point - Il a dit (LW: 06 / WO: 52 / PEAK: 01 (x4))

The first single of the 24 years old singer is talking about a romantic gay love story. The title means "he said".

 05 (=) : P!nk - What About Us (LW: 05 / WO: 5 / PEAK: 05)

The music video includes audio contents from the tragic events in Charlottesville for denouncing the hate speeches from the supremacist movements, and shows several people dancing under the intimidating eye of the authorities, including two men together.

 06 (- 4) : Leon Else - What I Won't Do (Lyric Video) (LW: 02 / WO: 15 / PEAK: 02)

The British singer has recently came out on Facebook.

 07 (+ 3) : Lizzo - Good As Hell (LW: 10 / WO: 41 / PEAK: 02)

This is taken from the EP "Coconut Oil".

 08 (+ 13) : Harel Skaat - Radio (LW: 21 / WO: 21 / PEAK: 01 (x3))

The Israeli singer has uploaded on his channel a full concert. Go check it!

 09 (+ 20) : Autoheart - My Hallelujah (LW: 29 / WO: 09 / PEAK: 11)

 10 (- 3) : Wrabel - The Village (LW: 07 / WO: 8 / PEAK: 04)

This engaging song was written the day after US President Trump removed new federal protections for trans students in public schools last February. Trans actor August Aiden plays the role of a young transgender who tries to be himself despite the hostility of his father in the music video.

  11 (+ 8) : Michele Bravi - Solo Per Un Po' (LW: 19 / WO: 19 / PEAK: 01 (x1))

The Italian singer has came out earlier this year, just before coming fourth in the San Remo 2017 music festival in the Champion category. This single is the second single of his album  "Anime di carta" which reached #1 in the top album in Italy.

 12 (+ 1) : Zayn feat. Sia - Dusk Till Dawn (LW: 13 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 12)

This is the new collab of Sia.

 13 (+ 26) : Superfruit - Worth it (LW: 39 / WO: 11 / PEAK: 02)

This is the third single of the duo taken from the "Future Friends - Part One" EP. The music video breaks down gender norms with these two young dancers.

 14 (+ 14) : GAREK - Stray (LW: 28 / WO: 50 / PEAK: 01 (x2))

The single taken from the album "Take the King" is a conversation with his 8-year-old self about accepting who he is, the talk he wishes he had as a child, because he "spent so many years hating [himself] because [he] listened to the voices around [him] saying that people like [him] were disgusting".

 15 (NEW) : Maggie Szabo - Don't Give Up (LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 15)

In this Canadian music video, a teen couple is going to prom, but one of them isn't really excited about it, until the other let his transgender lover to dress as a men. Part of the proceeds will be donated to the Ali Forney Center which helps LGBTQ youths.

 16 (- 12) : Alfie Arcuri - If They Only Knew (LW: 04 / WO: 12 / PEAK: 04)

This is the new music video of the winner of The Voice Australia 2016. What must do a gay man when he's in love with his best male friend, who's dating his best female friend?

 17 (- 9) : Eli Lieb - Shangri La (LW: 08 / WO: 9 / PEAK: 03)

Eli Lieb is completely bare in his new music video.

 18 (+ 8) : Beth Ditto - We Could Run (LW: 26 / WO: 6 / PEAK: 10)

This is taken from her first solo album "Fake Sugar."

 19 (NEW) : Mainland - I Found God (LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 19)

This music video shows people running to found their love. Several real LGBT couples are featuring in it.

 20 (- 5) : Martin Garrix & Troye Sivan - There For You (LW: 15 / WO: 17 / PEAK: 01 (x1))

 21 (NEW) : Charlotte Gainsbourg - Deadly Valentine (LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 21)

Charlotte Gainsbourg & Dev Hynes are lifelong lovers for this music video from the French actor and singer.

 22 (- 11) : Sam Smith - Too Good At Goodbyes (LW: 11 / WO: 3 / PEAK: 11)

The British singer is back with a new upcoming album.

 23 (NEW) : Cassandre - Paris la nuit (LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 23)

The French duo sings a love declaration to the city of love. It's perhaps a little cliché, but, as Parisians, we are probably not really objective. Sorry not sorry :)

 24 (+ 22) : Ria Mae - Bend (LW: 46 / WO: 6 / PEAK: 07)

This is the new single of the Canadian singer.

 25 (NEW) : Pierre Lapointe - Sais-tu vraiment qui tu es (LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 25)

This is the new single of the new album "La science du cœur" from the famous Canadian singer.

 26 (- 12) : La Prohibida - Baloncesto (LW: 14 / WO: 10 / PEAK: 03)

 27(- 18) : Myckael SG - Strong or Best (alternate version) (LW: 09 / WO: 5 / PEAK: 04)

 28 (NEW) : Mr John - Neon (LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 28)

Instead of covers, this time, the Brazilian singer delivers an original song.

 29 (NEW) : Jeffery Austin - Bulletproof (Official Audio) (LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 29)

This is the new single of the out former contestant of The Voice 2015 in the USA.

 30 (- 14) : Benny - Boys Will Be Boys (LW: 16 / WO: 38 / PEAK: 02)

It took two years for the 17 years old YouTuber Ben J. Pierce to release a new music video after "Little Game", but the wait was worth it, because it's really good. It talks about toxic masculinity and the effects it can have on a person.

 31 (NEW) : Michele Bravi - Diamanti (LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 31)

This is the third single from the Italian singer taken from the album “Anime Di Carta”.

 32 (+ 4) : Namuel - Yugoslavia (LW: 36 / WO: 4 / PEAK: 16)

The Chilean singer is back, and is playing Adam and Steve in his new music video.

 33 (NEW) : Macklemore feat. Kesha - Good Old Days (LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 33)

An unexpected collab.

 34 (- 10) : Neon Trees - Feel Good (LW: 24 / WO: 6 / PEAK: 17)

After a break for his first solo album "Excommunication", Tyler Glenn goes back with his band for a new song.

 35 (NEW) : Superfruit - Hurry Up (LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 35)

This is the ninth single taken from their first album "Future Friends".

 36 (+ 5) : Chester Lockhart - Save Me from Myself (LW: 41 / WO: 3 / PEAK: 32)

 37 (- 7) : Superfruit - How You Feeling? (LW: 30 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 30)

This is the eighth single taken from their first album "Future Friends".

 38 (NEW) : Bjartmar Thordarson - Hringd´í mig (LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 38)

This is the new track of the Icelandic singer.

 39 (- 7) : MUNA - I Know A Place (LW: 32 / WO: 33 / PEAK: 01 (x2))

The new song of the L.A. queer trio band is an LGBT anthem which imagines a place where none of them would need to be afraid. This is taken from their first album "About U".

 40 (- 17) : Greyson Chance - Back on the Wall (LW: 23 / WO: 9 / PEAK: 01 (x2))

The 19 years old singer has recently came out on Instagram. He was revealed with his cover of Lady Gaga's "Paparazzi" at a school talent show 7 years ago (almost 60 millions views on YouTube) and is produced by Ellen DeGeneres.

 41 (RE-ENTRY) : Rainbow Riots - Freedom (LW: - / WO: 8 / PEAK: 12)

This is the second single of the album "Rainbow Riots", an album composed and produced by Swedish Petter Wallenberg with queer artists from Uganda, South Africa, Malawi and Jamaica, to fight LGBTphobia.

 42 (NEW) : Perfume Genius - Wreath (LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 42)

This is the third single taken from the album "No Shape".

 43 (NEW) : Sia - Rainbow ("My Little Pony: The Movie" OST) (LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 43)

Team Bronies: paws up!

 44 (RE-ENTRY) : Cub Sport - O Lord (LW: - / WO: 4 / PEAK: 17)

This is the debut single of the Australian band from Brisbane, taken from their album "Bats".

 45 (- 25) : Marc Devigne - Çà va (LW: 20 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 20)

From the Canadian TV miniseries "Shadowlands", Marc Devigne and Charlie David play a couple whose time together is cut short. Originaly posted on Vimeo.

 46 (- 28) : Paris Bang Bang - Poseída (LW: 18 / WO: 3 / PEAK: 15)

The drag queen is from Mexico City.

 47 (- 5) : Pabllo Vittar feat. Mateus Carrilho - Corpo Sensual (LW: 42 / WO: 3 / PEAK: 18)

The new song of the famous Brazilian drag queen is with one of the member of Banda Uó. Quente...

 48 (- 14) : Brockhampton - Junky (LW: 34 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 34)

 49 (NEW) : Michael Perry - Perfect Love (LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 49)

After "Underwear Model", this is his new single.

 50 (- 7) : PVRIS - Anyone Else (LW: 43 / WO: 3 / PEAK: 31)

A portion of every ticket sold for their upcoming fall tour will be donated to The Ally Coalition in support of LGBTQ equality.

  ALSO NEW THIS WEEK

 La Pelopony - Desastres De Un Capítulo Final

 Yeyo feat. La Pelopony - Llegará El Día

 Johnny Robinson - Flames Of Love (Matt Pop Mix)

The British drag queen is back with a new track.

 VELO - Oye Papi

From the album "Cruzin".

 Gussy - In Order to Love

This is the new track of the Australian singer.

 CRIMER - Badface

This is the third single of the EP "Preach" from the Swiss singer.

 Girls' Generation - 소녀시대 All Night

There is three drag queens in this South Korean music video from the most famous kpop girlband.

 Ольга Бузова / Olga Buzova - Мало половин / Malo palavin

This Russian music video is full of shirtless dancers hunks.

 Mia LJ - Ambiguous

The young singer shows she's attracted to both men and women in her music video.

 Conchita Wurst feat. Russkaja - Wanted More (live @ "Willkommen Österreich")

A cover of Betsy from the Austrian drag queen.

 Miley Cyrus - Malibu (live @ BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge)

Miley Cyrus performs her track from her own Rainbowland Studios in Malibu.

 Miley Cyrus - Younger Now (live @ BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge)

Miley Cyrus performs her track from her own Rainbowland Studios in Malibu.

 Miley Cyrus - Week Without You (Audio)

Taken from the album "Younger Now".

 Kim Petras - Hillside Boys (Official Audio)

This the second single of the young German transgender singer.

 Subside, Brayton Bowman - The Second I'm Rich

 Eli Lieb - Kissing Your Tattoos (Lyric video)

 J Pee - Jellyfish

After "I'm Not Gay" 4 years ago, this is the new comic song of J Pee, where he thanks a jellyfish to give him the opportunity to realise his dream to pee on his best friend.

 Pablo Hernandez - Toys (Parody)

This is a naughty parody of "Boys" by Charli XCX, with Laith Ashley and Manila Luzon in the music video.

 Mikey Bustos - I Wear Speedos (Parody)

This is a parody of the song "Despacito" by Luis Fonsi ft.Daddy Yankee.

 The Hound - Sissy That Walk (RuPaul Cover)

   See you next week and don’t forget to vote for your best LGBTQA music videos ! Here are the rules :

1 ) You can vote for many videos as you want under the videos on YouTube in the comment section. It could be recent or past music videos, which must provide at least one among the following conditions:

- the music video has LGBTQA related content, in the lyrics or the music video

- the artist is LGBTQA, an LGBTQA icon or eventually ally

- LGBTQA medias talked about it.

2 ) You can’t vote more than 3 songs of a same artist per week.

3 ) In case of an artist who receive votes mostly by a fan base, we will count only one song, in a limited time of 10 weeks of presence in the top.

4 ) You can vote with only one account.

5 ) If you make 5 votes or less, your first vote will represent 5 points, your second vote 4 points, etc… until your last vote and following 1 point. If you make 6 to 10 votes, your first vote will represent 10 points, your second vote 9 points, etc… If you make more than 10 votes, your first vote will represent 20 points, your second vote 19 points, etc…

6 ) People who make 1 to 5 votes form the amateur ranking, those who make 6 to 10 votes form the fan ranking, those who make more than 10 votes form the expert ranking. We form the jury ranking. The Gay Music Chart is the addition of the four charts. In case of equality, the number of votes and the dates of votes will count.

7 ) The votes will close on Thursday, 8 PM, European time.

[senpaiknowsbest666]

New Years // One shot

Summary: Y/N does not believe in soulmates or relationships in general. Namjoon is the opposite, he’s a hopeless romantic who just wants to find his soulmate. What happens if y/n and Namjoon meet on the day they least expect it?

Word Count: 1.7k

According to the universe, your true destiny is to be with your soulmate. When a baby is born there is a time and date written on their wrist, which shows when they will meet their soulmate. Male or female, friends or lovers you are destined to be with that person. Since the moment that they are born they are taught that it is essential that you find your soulmate, that way you are complete. According to Egyptian-Greek mythology, soulmates are people who were once one but were separated and now wander the earth in search of their long lost soulmate so they can reunite their incomplete souls and become one again.

12/31

Except you didn’t believe that crap. See soulmates were cool and all but it was all a load of crap. The moment you were born and your date and time said 12/31 and 1/1 you knew you were screwed. Your parents and friends thought that this was the most special date to meet your soulmate... on New Years. Except you didn’t buy this soulmate crap. Unfortunately you didn’t know the year you were going to meet your soulmate so you decided that every year you would lock yourself in some kind of goddamn confinement so that you could avoid this whole mess.

You were not going to meet your soulmate on New Years and you would prove it.

Not today fate, not fucking today...

You lied on your velvet soft couch in your apartment. Your cat curled at your side silently purring as you scratched her ears, music silently booming inside and outside in the cold. You could see the faint of the lights hit your wall. Annoyed, you walked up and rolled down your blinds.

I can’t believe people actually party outside in this freaking weather, you thought.

For the past twenty three years of your life, you have managed to stay in your house every single new years and to your delight you see no one for almost 48 hours. You’ve always rejected partying and hanging out with friends on this holiday in order to avoid the chances of meeting your soulmate. Actually you’ve avoided every single opportunity in general to meet a potential partner. While your friends are friendly and outgoing, you stay home and binge watch Netflix until you see shame staring back at you from the black screen.

It’s not like you doesn’t want to be in a relationship or anything it’s just that you’ve had so many shitty experiences that it’s better to shield yourself rather than to let someone in when you know that they’re just going to walk out anyways.

----------

Namjoon didn’t want to work on New Years.

He wanted to take the night off and work on his music. He hadn’t had a chance to touch his laptop since last week and he was going crazy. Sometimes he thought of becoming a doctor like his mom had told him too, but he knew that his dream was to make music. It had always been a passion of his that he wanted to turn into a reality.

Unfortunately this decision to become a music producer was a difficult one. Living in a city on his own for the first time at twenty one years old gave him a sense of freedom but responsibility too. Unfortunately he worked as a full time pizza delivery driver. A clumsy one too. Sometimes giving the wrong pizza to the wrong customers or even slipping from the bike and the pizza flying to who knows where.

New Years was always the busiest and despite his protests that he would rather be a server tonight, here he was stuck doing delivering again. The worst part was the he didn’t drive a car, but a scooter. During the winter, Namjoon would risk his life just to delivery a pizza. Honestly he wouldn’t be surprised if he died at twenty one because of this stupid pizza job.

After returning from a job across the city, Namjoon went to the back room and fell into the soft cushions of the burgundy beat up couch. His cheeks and the tips of his ears were a hint of red and a small layer of sweat surrounding his forehead. He closed his eyes of exhaustion.

Finally, just two seconds of-

“Joonie~~~”, someone cooed.

Yup, times up

“Joonie~~~” cooed Jimin again. Jimin rested his hip against the wall. Jimin was his co-worker who was always in a energetic mood and Namjoon hated it. Jimin was wearing all black with his red apron standing out and topping it with his gold name tag. He ran his fingers through his hair which always drove the female customers crazy. He always wondered why so many female customers came in and why Jimin was always the waiter.

“It’s so cold outside I thought I would just drop dead from the cold”, Namjoon said as he rubbed his eyes.

“At least you’re not out there man. It’s so packed and it’s only Taehyung and I”, Jimin said as he ran his fingers through his hair. Again.

“Dude you have got to stop running your fingers through your hair you’re driving me insane!”

“Don’t tell me this turns you on too Joonie”, Jimin responded as he winked at Namjoon. Namjoon groaned and sank more into the couch.

“I actually came out the tell you that we have another order out for delivery. This one random guy but I could barely hear him through the phone with the music blasting in the background”, Jimin said as he handed the directions to Namjoon, “Have fun my love~~~”

“Do that one more time and I will literally kick your ass”, Namjoon shouted as he saw Jimin smirk before disappearing into the the abyss of the full restaurant.

He gave on more sigh before picking up the food and walking outside to his scooter. As he was walking outside he saw multiple people partying out in the cold.

They’re crazy for partying outside like this

His eyes finally settled on a couple who were gazing into each other’s eyes like the whole world was empty and they were the only ones there. He gave the couple one more look before walking away. Namjoon couldn’t wait to find his soulmate, someone who would complete him seemed like the best dream that anyone could ask for.

After all he is supposed to meet his soulmate on New Years.

----------

You couldn’t take it anymore. Your neighbours music was too loud for you to even hear your own TV. You weren’t usually the one to tell your neighbours to shut the hell up, but this was insane. All you wanted was a peaceful New Years where you could finish your crime TV show in peace.

You stood up and slipped on a large hoodie over your body and walked over to the door and opened it wide open. What you didn’t realize is that once your cat saw that the door was open, its was like an opportunity of a lifetime and your cat took it. Then the damn cat bolted out the apartment.

“Shit”, you mumbled under your breath. You took off running towards the cat who went running down the hallway.

Namjoon pressed the twentieth floor button on the elevator carrying a 2 large pizzas, cheesy bread and mozzarella sauce. Namjoon watched as the elevator closed in front of him and saw his reflection looking back at him.

I should really start sleeping earlier, Namjoon thought as he saw his eye bags.

“What time is it?”, Namjoon mumbled under his breath as he lifted his watch to see the time.

11:58 p.m. Great just this last delivery and I can go home, he thought. He waited inside the cramped elevator until the little light glowed 20.

Your slippers were slippery against the hard tiled floor. And to top that your cat was running insanely fast the even you were impressed about how fast the fat cat was going.

I’m gonna kill that cat once I get my hands around her neck

Namjoon walked out of the elevator only to accidentally bump into someone.

“Sorry I-”, Namjoon began as he saw the person he ran into. What he didn’t see was how pretty she was and how a small blush appeared on her face.

“No it’s my fault, I should’ve seen where I was going sorry. Happy New Years!”, she said as she walked into the elevator.

Namjoon was lost of words. That’s right! It must be New Year’s already! Wait… then that means…

As Namjoon turned around he saw the elevator closed he knew that she must be his soulmate. As he turned around to press the elevator button he looked down and saw a cat run by him at full speed.

“What the--”, before Namjoon finished his sentenced there was a full grown women who body slammed into him.

You weren’t expecting to body slam into someone. All you did was turn one corner and next thing you know your on the ground covered in pizza and mozzarella with cheese sticks all over the ground. The hot mozzarella was on your hair as you looked across to the person you ran into.

Namjoon didn’t see it coming, it was so fast and it literally swept him off his feet. He looked up to see what he crashed into. But it wasn’t an object… but a person. He looked wide eyed at the girl who he ran into, her hair covered in cheese and slices of pepperoni. She lifted her head and your eyes met.

No one’s ever looked so beautiful with mozzarella sauce in their hair, he thought.

3...

Is it…

2...

You?

1...

Once their eyes met a loud chant of ‘Happy New Years!’ was heard amongst them. Suddenly fireworks were heard and people shouting and yelling. People crowded the hallways dancing, kissing, and hugging as they celebrated the new years, except for y/n and Namjoon.

The clock struck midnight and infront of Namjoon was his soulmate. It has to be, this isn’t a coincidence she has to be his soulmate. Namjoon was going to say something but once he opened his mouth  the cat that he saw running by pounced on his face eating a pepperoni on his cheek.

Well shit

Authors note: Hello! This is my first fic ever! Sorry if my fic is bad I’m still new to this but I really want to put my ideas for others to read! I would love if you guys gave me feedback, there’s a few other projects that I have in mind so let me know if you guys would be interested in reading them! Thank you guys!

Much love, S

[r-o-se]

BASICALLY 101 comments/thoughts/things on Produce 101 S2E2

So we are BACK TOPOFTHEMORNINGTOYALADDIES AND WELCOME BACK TO ANOTHER EPISODE OF p101 live commentary

1.      The kids are watching the last ep

2.      The first vote results, Bae Jinyoung first, Wang Minhyuk last. Poor kid. Stop naming kids Minhyuk theres 6 of them on the field already it’s like Michael in America lol

3.      Back to the evaluations

4.      Woojin goes up, Daniel is like ’He’s rly cute I hugged him already’ tbh everyone call him cute lol

5.      Does JB Baby, what a classic lol. Got a B and praised for his pronunciation

6.      Aaahahahah lmao he asked for water and has to choose between two judges. Chooses Cheetah and she looks blessed af

7.      Kid has problems with opening stickers lol

8.      YGk+ performance, everyone are shook about their legs

9.      Their performance isn’t that good though, poor dudes. One D, other three F

10.   Roll yet ANOTHER compilation of the hottest kids this season

11.   Yongbin aka the dude with a nose bridge straighter and higher than my will to live

12.   Dongsoo and Namhyung from S.How do an AMAZING self composed song, are cute and talented as fuck. Namhyung got an A and Dongsoo got a B. Cheetah loves them ME TOO ME TOO

13.   Compilation of rappers, the overall comment on teachers is ‘Cheetah is cute omg but Dunmill is scary’

14.   Editing: aw cheetah is cute now with longer hair

15.   Cheetah: does the snoop dogg dance yno the smoke weed everyday one

16.   ‘Boys are calmer’ no they are more desperate and scared of failure

17.   Jung Jungji prepared a SHITTON for EXO Growl, a bajillion vids of it. But sadly I guess his nerves got to him, he didn’t do well aaaaaaaaaaaand got an F. Stop fucking laughing at him. Most of the audience is dancing along though such an iconic song

18.   He looks dead inside but says “I’m glad because I made BoA laugh”

19.   HOTSHOT HOTSHOT HOTSHOT SUNGWOON TAEHYUN SUNGWOON TAEHYUN

20.   Do Block B Very Good, MURDER IT IN THE BEST WAY POSSIBLE, AMAZING energy, everyone love it, first and only all company A rank

21.   Who am I fooling I actually watched their performance like 4 times before this on youtube just because of how much I love it the energy is so good

22.   Taehyun’s freestyle krump was on POINT tru kid monster right there. His expressions are soooooo good

23.   Now the kids are writing their future wishes or something like that to a huge whiteboard

24.   Kim Dongbin from kiwi ent looks sooooo nervous save that kid

25.   He’s doing chewing gum and stopped in the middle for some x reason?

26.   He stopped bc one of the judges pulled out his in-ear in a weird way and he thought that meant he needs to stop

27.   HES CRYING OUT OF NERVES RESCUE THAT POOR KID OMG

28.   Everyone are cheering for him  to continue THIS IS SO SWEET AAAHHHHHH EVEN JINWOO MOVED HIS HANDS AND CLAPPED

29.   And he finished his performance w a cute smile and………. got an F

30.   ’My level should be lower than F. I’m grateful for F’

31.   FNC Hwiseung comes out DOES SHINEE REPLAY GOT MY VOTE

32.   JELLY HEESEOK DOES CHAINED UP ALSO GOT MY VOTE

33.   Judges don’t like either and say both feel rushed… Hwiseung got a D and Heeseok got an F… damn

34.   Starship Sewoon and Kwanghyun come in, everyone get hype. One of them hates dancing and individ. trainee Jaehwan went to the same school as Sewoon. They Maroon 5 Sugar, everyone loves it

35.   Sewoon plays guitar and composes, everyone STILL loves it and for a very good reason

36.   BoA: So do u wanna be an idol or a singer?

        Sewoon: CEO

37.   Starship gets a double B

38.   RYTHM TA COVER, amazing vocals, acrobatics, taekwondo (is this the K-Tiger trainee?) basically just a compilation of the coolest kids this season

39.   Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand Jang Moonbok clip again

40.   He’s doing BTS Boy In Luv and…. It isn’t too good poor dude

41.   Seriously Mnet’s son bc his singing isn’t good yet the only reactions they are showing from crowd are the most positive ones

42.   He got an F

43.   Brand New come up, roll clip of the absolute snake team San E and Jint ent company lol kids are cute tho

44.   Do a song composed by Daehwi, choreo made by Woojin that sounds eerily like a GOT7 Hard Carry  

45.   Daehwi's vocals are good but his range isn’t too high rip. One of the kids did a bboy pose thing on one hand. Someone in the crowd dabbed

46.   Daehwi and Woojin got an A, Youngmin and Donghyun got B’s

47.   End of the evaluation, 7 A rank trainees, 17 B rank, 21 C rank, 25 D rank and 31 F rank. Last season there was like….. 20 something A rank holy shit

48.   Revealing the high pitched as hell song and the difficult ass choreo

49.   The best can go to M Countdown with it, A gets center and the ult center gets a solo part

50.   The one who has an A rank is basically a god and the one who gets the center position is literally the definition of ’what’s a god to a non-believer’

51.   They’re moving in now and get their ugly colour coded sweaters lol

52.   F rank trying to cope ’I actually rly like gray clothes… Still want pink tho’

53.   Why is korea so obsessed with ages lol

54.   Sungwoon took like an air humidifier and candles and an electric mat and whatnot lmaoooo

55.   Goblin parody ensue. Some trainee, Yoo Jinwon looks just like male Eun Tak (The female lead of goblin)

56.   Group practice is soooooo unbalanced holy SHIT

57.   The song is so high pitched they are all dying inside

58.   JINWOO IS TALKING my dude…. In F rank…. Depressing

59.   Daehwi is a sad boy bc the entire B team belted out the high notes like no joke

60.   Two dance black holes make slow mo eye contact if im not incorrect its the Cube F rank and one of the YGk+ F ones with a haircut idk how to describe.. like… its black…  sure is black

61.   Within 10 minutes A rank fucking aces the dance as a whole, sure its not perfect but it looks GREAT

62.   F is a… Mess sighs. At least that’s how they’re portrayed. In group shots at least half of the kids can do the dance just GREAT but sure obvs mnet isnt gonna show them

63.   Daehwi has problems with the high notes poor lil kid

64.   Namhyun, Sungwoo and Sungwoon have no problems hitting it though

65.   I fucking hate this system because rappers need to excel in vocals too which is fucking unfair and they just humiliated BNM Woojin who cant reach the notes and the trainer is NO FUCKING HELP and doesn’t guide him or anything just looks at him judgingly just fuck off dude seriously

66.   Sungwoo is just like Sejeong, got everyone shook during first evaluation, sings like an angel and CAN actually dance but has small problems while adapting to the choreo

67.   Now to the D group training KAHI MY MOTHER

68.   Baekho has problems concentrating to the dance and they only show him obviously thanks Mnet for nothing like he is not the type of person for p101 hes literally the furthest away from the p101 type why did pledis force them there Im so fucking angry dude

69.   Another poor black hole cutie is Cube Guanlin ugh im so sad about him DON’T CRY

70.   But others are helping him which makes me happy thank god for that

71.   C group get compared to chicks and vitamin C lol

72.   The C group vocal trainer is pretty af and everyone are in love including me

73.   ‘Age is just a number’ BOI

74.   Bae Jinyoung keeps looking at the ground SHY BOY but he also messed up his singing poor kiddo

75.   B team has the same vocal coach as A and I think D has the same dude

76.   Honestly I fucking hate that dude he’s so rude to rapper kids and doesn’t even help him and Mnet tries to play it off like ‘haha tsundere’ but no he’s just an asshole

77.   One of the rappers does adlibs lol

78.   But everyone else are just in pain I fucking hate this system so much

79.   Woojin is a small baby but sings like gold

80.   AND D TEAM HAS THE SAME ASSHOLE COACH

81.   He picks out NU’EST right away ugh but MY DUDE REN DOES SO WELL

82.   RBW GUNHEE MY B O I HOLY HELL SINGS SO WELL WHYS HE IN D even the coach said he did the best out of the grades he coaches ( A B and D)

83.   That coach is so much nicer in D

84.   I take everything back he just fucking destroyed my baby Hyungseob I’m so fucking done with everything

85.   B team dance class que

86.   Kang Daniel feels a bit full of himself but tbh he is literally perfect at everything and has the dance clean already

87.   Kim Jaehwan has problems with dance this is like with Juna last season lol

88.   JAEHWAN IS PRACTICING ALONE AS THE LAST ONE THERE POOR KID

89.   The dorm clips, everyone are practicing

90.   Aaaaaaaaand now they’re doing the reevaluation filming

91.   B grade Kim Sangbin danced really well and even sang well even though hes a rapper and then dabbed lmao hope lost

92.   MY LIL JUSTIN KIDDO IS UP but holy shit his singing is really bad I’m sad

93.   Everyone are saying they are anticipating Minhyun to move up by a rank but his clip is awful I’m so fucking sad dude I don’t have any words to express my absolute misery he looks so beaten up and other trainees are trying to console him I’m so fucking sad

94.   Now it’s Baekho’s turn, he doesn’t do too well either but it def isn’t THAT bad and mnet is just trying to make NU’EST look bad because they aren’t showing JR’s clip even though he was good enough to move up to B grade

95.   The dude with the best singing voice, Gunhee, his singing voice broke rip

96.   Moonbok’s clip wasn’t good and everyone are sad bc he practiced a lot

97.   Kwon Hyunbin from YGk+ does really shit and I feel soooooooooooo sorry because he isn’t doing good and people aren’t vvoting for him either but it just won’t come out right and im SO SORRY FOR HIM AAAAAAAGHHHHHH and like YGk+ is a modelling company so he wont debut and then theres this kid Ha Minho who I like too and his rank is like what 94 rn hes gonna fucking die. I hate this show why is it so addicting

98.   Calls to family ft. a lot of tears from everyone but Jisung’s sister has the same sense of humor as Jisung does its gr8 why isn’t he in top 11 vote for him jesus fuck

99.   Judges are gonna watch the reevaluation things now time to Get Sad Bois

100.  Daehwi and Samuel get praised and JAEHWAN MY LIL BOY FIXED HIS DANCE IM SO PROUD

101.  Oh no now theyre gonna watch Minhyuns catastrophe clip I want to fucking die

102. Kahi said that Min gets pressured when competing with other people I’m so fucking sad my boy is so stable and talented if anyone wants good NU’EST lives just fucking hit me up he is sooooo high quality stop bullying him @mnet  @pledis

103. Why do they only show bad clips I’m so sad and the trainers all laugh at them this just… it’s so ugly leave the kids alone they are under such immense pressure with such a difficult song and choreo

104. Finally they are showing the good trainees I’m so glad give them that ATTENTION and MY KID HYUNGSEOB IS THERE WITH A PEACE SIGN

105. And to end it now they’re getting the reevaluation grades and a bunch of kids are moving up I’m glad but they aren’t showing anyone’s new grades

And now, also good  screencaps that didn’t make it into the top 9, some funny, some depressing, Also I’m ready to stab anyone who came up with the goddamn food and bathroom break ration they’re doing by rank like what is this u cant dance u cant eat?? well hello there stalin 

[peppurthehotone]

On February 23rd, on what thankfully turned out to be a sunny day in Los Angeles, I walked into the heavily guarded, star-studded gates of what is possibly The Oscars for some in attendance: The Film Independent Spirit Awards.

Thanks to our dear friends and Matt’s co-workers over at Lagralane Group, we were graciously extended the golden invitation to attend. Once I learned I was going, I waited with anticipation for what was sure to be my most sparkling Hollywood moment thus far. Truth be told, I felt like I’d arrived. Sort of. Let me explain.

The Film Independent Spirit Awards (aired in IFC Channel) are for the best and the brightest and the boldest independent filmmakers of the year. So, yeah, for the Indie world, in my opinion, this IS the Oscars. And let me tell you, when we discovered our table was two tables away from Tilda Swinton to the North, one table away from Marcia Gay Harden to the South, one table away from Regina King to the East and right behind Marisa Tomei, I was giddy with Oscar-worthy excitement.

Umm! Hello! Watch the entire show to see more of Matt and Jason & Yvonne (Lagralane) here:

I wasn’t on screen, I hadn’t done any work to be lauded, so why did I feel as though I’d arrived? Because for once, I’d been invited to a table! I wasn’t at the event because I was a PA wrangling talent. I wasn’t an assistant managing “+1s”. I wasn’t a driver parking a celeb’s SUV (like a I did for J-Lo’s set visit when I was a 2nd 2nd AD on the film 48 Hours To Live.) I was there for the purpose intended, to celebrate! And that gave me a fun sense of arrival. Plus, I was able to hug it out with some old sketch comedy friends, Diallo and his wife Brittney, and that truly felt amazing.

The spirit of the Spirit Awards is a lot like senior year graduation. There’s a lotta genuine joy in the room; lots of hugs and laughter and happy tears. It’s a “hello”, a “goodbye”, a “how ya been?”, a “what’s next?” and a “I hope I win!” for many in attendance. For me, having been at Sundance a month prior, where I saw the world-wide premiere of The Farewell by Lulu Wang and attended a panel featuring her, it was awesome to be “reunited” with her again at the Spirit Awards, dressed cute but casual in a pants outfit. It was equally awesome to reunite with Boots Riley and watch him win Best First Screenplay for Sorry to Bother You and watch Barry Jenkins win Best Feature, Director and Supporting Actress for If Beale Street Could Talk when just a week prior I had heard both of them speak on a director’s panel. As an observer, as somebody’s +1, it was all pretty awesome.

I think this experience is no different than those of you who go to sales conferences where you brush elbows with the top regional seller who you may or may not have a photo of on your vision board; or for the dentists who attend continuing education workshop weekends in Vegas and you’re reunited with a rock star dentist whose techniques have inspired you; or for the writers who attend book festivals only to see J.K. Rowling strolling down the hallway coming right at you. It’s all the same and what I learned from going to the Spirit Awards is that in order to be inspired to be the best at your craft, you’ve gotta be in the room. You’ve gotta get there and while there, you’ve gotta show UP!

What does this mean, exactly? Two things.

One:

You all know I’m an entertainer. I’m over twenty years in this industry as a writer/dancer/actor/producer/director. Of COURSE I want to be up there winning something and making a speech. But there’s a time and a place and this one wasn’t mine. Accepting that makes it a lot more fun to simply be in the room rather than wishing you could have somebody else’s ice cream. (It has taken over twenty years to reach this mature, enlightened perspective.) Howeves, friends. I have always learned by watching, doing and following. I’m inspired by it. When I entered Marquette as a freshman, there was a graduating senior there at the university who was from my high school in Kenosha. We ran into each other in the commons and he was super excited because he just found out he was going to be the Senior Speaker. I was like, “What’s that?” And he told me it’s an honor like valedictorian but you’re sort of nominated by and voted on by peers and faculty. I was like, “Cool! I want that too.” And four years later, I got it. He inspired me. I did the work, I showed up during my college career and boom!

Two:

I’m not famous and I didn’t have a film project to talk about while munching shrimp hors d’oeuvres and sipping Moscow mules while mingling outside pre-show with hundreds of people. This sort of “not-having” thing can make you feel less-than, like you haven’t done the work and you haven’t shown up to your own talent. You have to be where you are … where you are. (Feel me?) You may not be the superstar of the moment. But you’ve gotta remember you ARE a superstar. You DO shine just by being present and compassionate and you. I know I’m a great connector. I know I’m fantastic at making people feel comfortable and included. I know my dazzling smile can be a beacon of light in a sea of faces who aren’t. So this is where I show up. Where I stand in my power and in my worth, because it is mine. Where I am right now. I encourage you to do the same. I don’t care if your Spirit Awards is your monthly book club, quarterly parent-teacher’s dinner, Wednesday night yoga class or a +1 to a Black Tie Gala. Show up as you are.

And I’m gonna tell you, I had to remind myself of this even while I was there. I was heading back to my table from a between-awards bathroom run and there in front of me was the fabulous Marisa Tomei, dressed in fab, black full skirt and what seemed like a punk rock t-shirt. My heart started to race, because I love her so much, but I had to act like I was sort of a peer and not a fan, because its the spirit of the Spirit Awards so I stood really tall (taller than her) on my red stilettos and did the polite “Hollywood Look Away”. But I couldn’t help it; when I passed her I sooo wanted to be her senior graduation best friend, that I literally, like hung my head a little and whispered, “Hey Marisa.” I’m certain next time we see each other we’ll be BFFs and sign each other’s cell phone cases.

One more thing, please? I know this is long.

When you do show up, look amazing. Why? Because, looking good really does make you feel good. For this year’s Spirit Awards, I wore this navy blue long gown accompanied with my mom’s vintage jacket she has had since I was a baby. Now, I hadn’t worn that dress since Landi’s 40th birthday ball, which means I hadn’t really worn the dress for five years ago. As I was getting dressed, I remembered how great my curves used to look in the dress, but now I had a speedbump in my stomach area that wasn’t there before. Grrrr. I had to wear the jacket to cover the eight pounds I’m not used to having.

Fortunately and unfortunately, I still see myself as a 40 year old, so really, I’m doing myself a disservice to think I’m the same body from that time. I’m not dancing in my underwear regularly; my life is different, I’ve been through a lot of different stuff, so why wouldn’t my body look different? After that struggle of acceptance, I had to deal with my face. Argh.

Based on my experience in this industry, one subtle difference between a celebrity person, or a person who’s meant to be somewhere is their makeup. Don’t judge me. It’s a truth in this industry. Think of it as a track athlete who shows up to a meet in Keds versus spikes. Or when I showed up for my first Luvabull’s audition in shorts and a tank top. Doesn’t mean the person ain’t worth nothin’, just means they aren’t ready, haven’t gotten the memo, and ain’t gonna be on the red carpet today.

Somehow I expertly sabotaged myself and didn’t give myself enough time to do my own makeup properly. So, I never got my lashes on. I never found my liquid base which magically disappeared and resulted in me turning the bathroom upside down only to accept defeat of not having it and succumbing to using primer and powder (so not dewy!)….and being late. Honestly guys, looking and feeling your best is a form of showing up. This sort of thing is something we can control. I know it is hard to show up well when some of these things cost money; especially when that money is needed to go towards rent and not a cut, color and blow dry. To that end, I urge you to get creative. On Facebook, I’m in a support group for women artists and the like. Lots of times, a makeup artist will barter her brush for services from a videographer or editor to help her make branded tutorial videos. Or a person who knows how to garden will barter her green thumb for pet sitting from a dog walker. The list goes on. Find a way.

My friend Yvonne showed up. She had a makeup person and she looked and I imagine, felt fab. And right when we arrived, she seriously was whisked aside by a photographer for a photo! #winning. This is how you learn from your friends and get inspired.

Our awesome table

Matt smiling because I made him

See Yvonne’s fab makeup?

These three ladies all nominated for Best First Screenplay

And me!

Regina King Winning

Our new friend

Ok, that’s the end of my lesson of “What I learned by showing up at The Spirit Awards”. I hope you’re fulfilled and inspired. Until next time.

  What I learned by showing up at the Spirit Awards On February 23rd, on what thankfully turned out to be a sunny day in Los Angeles, I walked into the heavily guarded, star-studded gates of what is possibly The Oscars for some in attendance: The…

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In Ascending Order: Ranking Every Lady Gaga Song

Since disappearing from the spotlight for a few years after her third full-length album ARTPOP failed to capture the public’s imagination in 2013, Lady Gaga has has returned in a major way recently. A record-setting Super Bowl performance, destroying her Coachella headlining set (yes, she only was offered the position only after Beyoncé dropped out, but IT’S STILL A BIG DEAL OKAY), rocking the Oscars twice (and impressing living legend Julie Andrews), even being nominated for an Oscar...the Mother Monster has had a busy couple years. 

Gaga even released a new album this past fall, Joanne,although it wasn’t a mega-smash like her first three records. However, the pop charts are really grayscale right now, so the very technicolor Gaga getting another hit in 2016 was unlikely anyways. Katy Perry, Lorde and Beyoncé’s new singles underperformed (or in Katy’s case, straight-up flopped...at least Lorde and Beyoncé have massive critical acclaim) on the charts in the past year too, so don’t blame the Mother Monster for not sounding like Lil Uzi Vert (although that would be awesome).

With all this renewed energy in Gaga’s career, I figured now would be a fantastic time to pay tribute to my favorite pop artist of all time. Without this avant-garde diva, I might have continued to ignore mainstream pop music when I was in high school, and given how stellar Top 40 was during the turn of the decade, that would’ve been a massive shame.

This is my personal ranking of every Lady Gaga song, with a few caveats:

1) No bonus tracks, just like the Kanye song ranking. I apologize that I won’t get to share my thoughts on — yes, this song exists — “Black Jesus/Amen Fashion,” but if the Mother Monster didn’t want these songs on the proper album release, they aren’t going on this list.

2) I’m not including her collab album with Tony Bennett, Cheek To Cheek. Partly because they’re covers of standards, but mostly because I’m really, really not a fan of pre-rock n’ roll pop, and it would be boring to have most of those songs clog up the bottom of the list.

3) No songs where Gaga is only a featured artist. Sorry, Beyoncé and...uh, Wale.

Let’s dive in!

#64: “Gypsy” (ARTPOP, 2013)

I normally love Gaga in Springsteen-worship mode, but “Gypsy” was a colossal misfire. There’s no hook to grab onto, and although I normally don’t mind Stefani’s somewhat corny lyrics, this one is just too loaded with clichés for me. The overt sincerity of “Gypsy” is horribly out of place compared to the rest of ARTPOP’s neon-splattered drugged-out vibe, and let’s not forget her (sorry for using this played-out word, but it’s the only one that works here) cringe-y attempt to use her trademark stutter lyrics during the coda: “I’m-I’m-I’m/a gypsy-gypsy-gypsy-gypsy.” Gaga has blander songs, but none that make me as angry as “Gypsy,” which sounds like a cheap knockoff of her Born This Way classics.

#63: “Paper Gangsta” (The Fame, 2008)

Honestly, I don’t even mind the super-dated production here. It’s Gaga’s auto-tune rapping that drives me bonkers. Can you at least stay on beat?

#62: “Boys Boys Boys” (The Fame)

Lady Gaga (to record executives): “Hey guys...thanks for releasing my debut album and all, but why do you insist on throwing in all these filler tracks at the end?”

Record Execs: *while chomping cigars* “You know how it is, Miss Gaga: 14 songs is the norm for pop albums. There’s gonna be some filler to reach that number, it’s just the way it goes.”

Gaga: “Right, okay, but there’s probably only 10 songs that are actually any good. Isn’t that enough? I mean, ‘Boys Boys Boys’ was just something I wrote as a joke and recorded for kicks. I literally rip off a line from that Randy Newman song about LA...”

Execs: “Make more hit songs and then you can make these decisions. For now, ‘Boys Boys Boys’ stays on. It tests well with the tween demographic.”

Gaga: “Ugh. Fine.”

Execs: “Also, how would you be down to work with this hot up-and-comer named Colby O’Donis? He’s going to be the next Justin Timberlake, we guarantee it!”

#61: “Sinner’s Prayer” (Joanne, 2016)

In which Gaga tries to get us to forget that she’s from Manhattan with this boring cowboy lullaby. I already don’t like acoustic guitar ballads, so this was never going to be a favorite of mine.

#60: “Mary Jane Holland” (ARTPOP)

I’m all for Gaga getting weird, but I’m really not sure we needed a Skrillex-biting dubstep anthem about smoking weed in Europe from her. Maybe Miley could’ve pulled this off, but this isn’t Gaga’s lane.

#59: “Come To Mama” (Joanne)

Father John Misty wrote this uncanny-valley version of a 70s soul tune, and he might have been able to salvage it himself by adding a bit of irony. When Gaga plays it straight, it just sounds like a song on some PBS Kids show. Not one of the good ones, either.

#58: “Money Honey” (The Fame)

You know how The Killers’ Hot Fuss is loaded with classics in the first-half, and then the second-half is the definition of pure filler? The Fame is the electropop equivalent. You will forget this boring “Just Dance” retread seconds after it ends.

#57: “So Happy I Could Die” (The Fame Monster, 2009)

Now we’ve reached the “just okay” tier. “So Happy I Could Die” isn’t bad enough to halt the groove of the near-perfect Fame Monster EP, but it’s still fairly forgettable.

#56: “Electric Chapel” (Born This Way, 2011)

The opening suggests that Gaga might go full metal here. Instead, it settles for pedestrian electro-pop with a few guitar chords (and an admittedly pretty awesome guitar solo) sprinkled in. Not dire by any means, but compared to Born This Way’s other iconic cuts, it doesn’t stand out.

#55: “Donatella” (ARTPOP)

This skewering of fashion magnate Donatella Versace peaks in the first 20 seconds with a wonderfully campy spoken-word intro: “I’m blonde, I’m skinny, I’m rich, and I’m a little bit of a bitch.” After that, it’s a boilerplate ARTPOP-era in-your-face EDM tune.

#54: “I Like It Rough” (The Fame)

Not a super-memorable song, but it has a few nice touches. The Chromeo-esque talkbox at the beginning is wonderful, and the lead synth riff is pretty catchy. One of the better filler tracks on The Fame’s second half.

#53: “Bloody Mary” (Born This Way)

Remember when Gaga was super into religious metaphors and symbolism? “Bloody Mary” is probably the most prominent example of this era, name-dropping Jesus and making references to being crucified. She even has robot monks chant “GAGA.” Unfortunately, the verses sound like she’s literally puking at the end of each line, but the chorus has a nice melody. She also lets loose a a blood-curdling scream at one point, which is always fun. All in all, it’s a mid-tier Born This Way cut.

#52: “The Fame” (The Fame)

I shouldn’t be surprised about how mediocre most of The Fame’s non-singles are, but it’s still disappointing. At least “The Fame” has a funky guitar groove to balance out the cliché lyrics and hookless chorus.

#51: “Beautiful, Dirty, Rich” (The Fame)

Don’t worry, we’re almost through the endless non-singles on The Fame...wait, hold on. Apparently this was a single. Well, it’s certainly not bad, but it definitely lacks the je ne sais quoi of the other singles. Solid production, I guess, if a bit underwhelming. Gaga herself outperforms the actual song.

#50: “Angel Down” (Joanne)

Ending Joanne, which is definitely Gaga’s comfort-food album, with a memorial tune for slain teen Trayvon Martin certainly was a bold move, and I give major props to Stefani for trying to write a song about the tense racial climate. However...it just feels a bit forced. File this under the “I respect it but don’t listen to it often” category.

#49: “Jewels N’ Drugs” feat. T.I., Too $hort, Twista (ARTPOP)

Hey kids! Did you want to hear Lady Gaga try to make a dubstep-trap fusion with three outdated rappers?! No? Too bad, it already happened. I know, ranking this above the very sincere “Angel Down” makes me a horrible human being, but this is one of the most entertaining garbage fires I’ve heard in my life. 

“Jewels N’ Drugs,” objectively, is Gaga’s worst song. It’s awkward, badly produced, and Gaga feels super out-of-place. But it gains so, so many points for being the most interesting musical roadside car crash of our generation. Also, having Twista do his motor-mouth routine can only make a song better. The worst thing a song can be is boring, and nobody would dare call “Jewels N’ Drugs” boring. Being shockingly misguided should keep “Jewels N’ Drugs” from going any further, unfortunately.

#48: “Americano” (Born This Way)

The Mother Monster takes a trip down south for this Mexican-flavored ode to eloping with another woman. Like “Jewels N’ Drugs,” it’s extremely clunky and awkward (“language” in Spanish definitely isn’t “language-oro,” Gaga), but also like that ARTPOP track, it’s too goofy to really hate. A relentless four-on-the-floor beat and some nice horn flourishes can’t hurt either.

#47: “Joanne” (Joanne)

Certainly the better of Joanne’s two acoustic tracks. This one, an ode to Stefani’s late aunt — named Joanne, of course — is touching and sweet. It almost feels like a dusty Carole King song. Although I don’t love the toned-down sound, it fits Gaga’s storyteller songwriting here.

#46: “ARTPOP” (ARTPOP)

Although most of ARTPOP is hyperactive and gaudy, the title track takes a cold, metallic detour. It’s not an all-time classic or anything, but the melody is sticky and it provides a nice breather from the harsh dubstep production.

#45: “Starstruck” ft. Flo Rida (The Fame)

This belongs in a museum exhibit about the year 2009 (yes, it came out in 2008 technically, but this is a dead ringer for ‘09). The auto-tune, the chirpy synths, a Flo Rida feature for some reason (apparently you can overdose on Starbucks): “Starstruck” symbolizes the best and worst of the end of the aughts. It’s probably not any better than the rest of The Fame’s filler, but I have a soft spot for it due to nostalgia.

#44: “Brown Eyes” (The Fame)

One of Gaga’s specialties is her piano ballads. Although “Brown Eyes” is a solid Queen-meets-Sara Bareilles pastiche, it’s probably still the worst of the series. Still a cute little love song with some nice guitar work, but she’d go on to achieve much greater heights with this style later in her career.

#43: “Bad Kids” (Born This Way)

Solid misfit anthem with a grimy 80s guitar riff sprinkled throughout. If Madonna decided to play dress-up as AC/DC, it would sound like this.

#42: “Alejandro” (The Fame Monster)

My least favorite of Gaga’s big hits. It’s certainly not bad by any means; the Ace of Base rhythm is fun, and the chorus certainly is an earworm. Still, compared to her other peak-era singles, it feels sort of non-essential and forgettable. This is far too normal for Gaga, and there’s a reason why this hasn’t had the shelf life of “Just Dance” or “Bad Romance.”

#41: “The Cure” (solo single, 2017)

Well, it’s been a couple months. What’s the verdict on Gaga’s new single, that flopped like many of her other recent singles? ...eh. It’s okay. Hopping on the whitewashed tropical-pop bandwagon that Bieber and Ed Sheeran have ridden to success might have been a smart financial move (except it didn’t work), but musically, it just doesn’t fit Gaga’s voice or songwriting style. I mean, come on Gaga...if you’re going to copy a current trend, why not try to sound like Lil Yachty? At least he’s fun.

#40: “Til It Happens To You” (solo single, 2015)

Gaga’s big Oscar-nominated anthem! A brave anthem denouncing rape culture! The lyrics are incredibly personal and powerful...it’s a shame that the music couldn’t match. It certainly tries, with drum fills and orchestral strikes galore, but it sometimes drowns out the piano and vocals. Stefani’s vocal performance is absolutely jaw-dropping, and it’s a bummer that the production overpowers her. The live performance at the Academy Awards was much, much more powerful. 

Honestly, it probably should’ve won the Oscar (Sam Smith’s Bond theme was boring as hell), but unfortunately it isn’t in the upper echelon of Gaga ballads. Still, I’m not sure Gaga’s ever written a more important song, lyrically speaking.

#39: “Hey Girl” ft. Florence Welch (Joanne)

Let me get this straight: You get Florence Welch on a song. Florence Welch, AKA the greatest British singer of her generation (sorry, Adele), who can demolish buildings with her voice. Florence Welch, who’s the queen of the apocalyptic power ballad and makes every breakup sound like Satan himself is behind her pain. And you stick her on a “Benny and the Jets” rewrite? I mean, “Benny and the Jets” is a great song (although Elton’s done better in terms of goofy pop), and “Hey Girl” works as an interpolation of that groove to empower women and all, but this feels like a misuse of Florence. She barely gets to belt! Next time, if you’re going to semi-cover a baby boomer classic, can you do one that suits her skill set? “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” perhaps?

#38: “Highway Unicorn (Road To Love)” (Born This Way)

We’ve now reached the part of the countdown where every song is top-notch. “Highway Unicorn” answers the question of what would happen if Bob Seger overdosed on mushrooms and ecstasy and tried to write a normal Bob Seger road trip anthem. It’s ridiculous, horribly overproduced, and somehow still wonderful.

#37: “Dancing in Circles” (Joanne)

Gaga making a winking ode to masterbation is pretty out of place on the rest of the grandma-friendly Joanne, but it’s a nice detour. The slinky Palm Springs vibe courtesy of Beck, who co-wrote the track, is welcome and adds a new style to Gaga’s catalogue.

#36: “Swine” (ARTPOP)

This is the Mother Monster’s most overt foray into EDM, with a mind-melting bass-drop included. However, this is less Swedish House Mafia and more Nine Inch Nails in its transgressive imagery — comparing your lover to a literal pig is a little gross, admittedly — and incredibly aggressive sound. The synths aren’t shiny and clean: they sound like jackhammers, lazer guns, and a rollercoaster going up a hill. Somehow, this works despite the incredibly unpleasant imagery. Probably because it makes for an incredible workout song.

#35: “Heavy Metal Lover” (Born This Way)

Unfortunately, Gaga doesn’t dive deep into actual heavy metal here, but like “Swine,” “Heavy Metal Lover” feels grimy and dirty. It’s arguably the singer’s most sexual song from her early career, and really captures a visceral vibe that’s hard to find in most of Gaga’s brighter, more-polished hits. Back in 2011, it sounded super experimental. Now that most Top 40 has ventured into a darker direction, it just sounds like a portent of hits to come.

#34: “Teeth” (The Fame Monster)

Pitchfork described “Teeth” as Gaga’s version of a Christina Aguilera song, and I’m not going to be able to beat that. I’ll just add this: “Teeth” sounds way, way better than 95% of Aguilera’s tunes, because Stefani was a theater geek in high school. She can do this vaudeville throwback sound in her sleep.

#33: “Aura” (ARTPOP)

There couldn’t be a better opening to the demented funhouse mirror that is ARTPOP than this bonkers track. “Aura” begins with Gaga detailing how she murdered her ex. After that, she laughs manically over Spanish guitar. Then the beat drops, and all chaos breaks loose.

Opening the already-very-weird ARTPOP with arguably its weirdest track was a bold move, and although whether or not you like “Aura” depends completely on how much you can stomach avant-garde, whacked-out Gaga (the same applies to its parent album). Luckily, I prefer my Gaga to be completely insane, so “Aura” is a perfect album opener.

#32: “Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)” (The Fame)

“Eh, Eh” is the audio equivalent of ice cream and puppies. This bubblegum tune is the exact opposite of “Heavy Metal Lover” and “Swine” in the best ways possible, and I’d be willing to bet Carly Rae Jepsen ghostwrote this. Cherry cherry boom boom!

#31: “Fashion!” (ARTPOP)

Doesn’t quite top the Bowie classic of the same name, it still captures the main attribute that any song about fashion should have: a killer strutting grove built for catwalks. Besides, who better than our era’s most unique dresser to write a tune about the power of fancy clothes?

#30: “Government Hooker” (Born This Way)

This serves as the one-song preview for ARTPOP and all its over-the-top ridiculousness. I mean that in the best way possible, of course: Any song that features someone yelling “HOOOOOOOKAAAAAH” on the chorus and contains the platonic ideal of a so-bad-it’s-brilliant line (in this case, “put your hands on me/John F. Kennedy”) is an instant camp classic in my book. The maddeningly catchy hook and sinister production almost make it legitimate.

#29: “MANiCURE” (ARTPOP)

Power pop is one of the most under-appreciated genres. For those who don’t know: This is when you have a super-sticky bubblegum pop anthem, and beef it up with massive, crunchy guitars. You definitely know a few examples. “MANiCURE” is a perfect update of that sound. Cheap Trick are kicking themselves that they didn’t write this.

#28: “Judas” (Born This Way)

Yes, I’m aware that “Judas” has a toxic reputation as being Gaga’s first major flop single, and it certainly does rip off “Bad Romance.” Here’s the thing: I don’t really care. If you’re going to rip yourself off, rip off one of your classics! Bruno Mars stole “21K Magic” from “Uptown Funk,” and it works because the skeleton of the former is built around a modern classic. I feel the same way here. Also, it’s just so silly and overblown, like the best Gaga singles. It’s a guilty pleasure, sorry!

#27: “Million Reasons” (Joanne)

I hate most country, but I love a classic piano ballad. “Million Reasons” combines both, plus lots of religious pleading, into a song that somehow feels both very staged, and yet very touching. Not Gaga’s finest adventure on the keys, but it’s still miles better than most recent attempts to use this formula.

#26: “LoveGame” (The Fame)

“Disco stick” is the greatest penis euphemism ever created. Don’t fight me on this. The rest of the song is a solid late-aughts banger, but disco stick is what will keep “LoveGame” in the public consciousness for years to come.

#25: “A-YO” (Joanne)

If all of Joanne seamlessly blended country motifs and sounds with pop production and melodies like this, I probably would’ve liked the album a whole lot more. Also, remember when she used this song to shade The Chainsmokers? Good times.

#24: “Hair” (Born This Way)

“Hair” is a litmus test to see how much of Born This Way’s bombastic cheese you can handle: Are you not cool with a chorus that proudly proclaims, “I AM MY HAIR?” Does the cliché-yet-classic story of a misfit running away from her disapproving parents make you smirk? Do the bright saxophone flourishes give you flashbacks to the worst of late-80s pop (same with the loud synths and early-10s pop)? If you answered yes to all of those, “Hair” isn’t for you. Go listen to something ~serious~ like J. Cole or whatever. For those of us that actually like fun and wish pop music still sounded as dorky and over-the-top as it did in 1987, “Hair” is perfect.

#23: “Applause” (ARTPOP)

Friendly reminder that this song, which unfortunately has been lost to the sands of time, absolutely bangs and is probably the most accessible song on ARTPOP. This could’ve been another smash hit, but nope. Y’all chose Katy Perry’s worst single instead (yes, worse even than “Bon Appetit”). Only Gaga could write a song about how she loves it when people worship her and not sound absolutely insufferable.

#22: “Dope” (ARTPOP)

After an entire album of hedonism, drug freakouts, and day-glo splashes of sound, Gaga takes things way, way down a notch with “Dope,” an album that reveals that ARTPOP’s wacky chaos sounded out-of-control for a reason: She was suffering from a very real drug addiction at the time. “Dope” is a haunting, extremely powerful song in which Gaga decides to give up the drugs for love. Produced by one of the GOATs, Rick Rubin, it’s both minimalist (in terms of the sound being just piano and a few synth flourishes) and maximalist (Stefani goes full Meatloaf in her bombastic vocal performance). Not going to find many piano ballads better than this in most pop stars’ arsenals. And it’s not even Gaga’s best in the subgenre.

#21: “Dance In The Dark” (The Fame Monster)

The fact that this 80s-pop jam was shafted as the single in favor of the just-okay “Alejandro” is a crime. “Dance In The Dark” is a stuttering, forceful dancefloor anthem that’s all about female empowerment. Yes, that sounds like Gaga bingo (she even name drops a super-famous icon, in this case Princess Diana), but it’s surprisingly touching, and of course, it’s a total jam.

#20: “John Wayne” (Joanne)

See “AY-O” above, but even better. This is what The Fame would’ve sounded like if Gaga was from Austin and not Manhattan.

#19: “Sexxx Dreams” (ARTPOP)

I will defend ARTPOP until the day I die, and a huge reason is the maligned album’s showstopper first half. There’s not a weak track in the first seven songs to be found (okay, “Jewels N’ Drugs” is so-bad-it’s-good, but I’m counting that), and it bounces from one electrifying synthpop banger to the next. In that lineup, the kinky, jittery “Sexxx Dreams” isn’t one of the very best, but it would be an easy single on any other pop album. The transition to the nervous verses to the synth explosion on the chorus is seamless. Probably as close as Gaga came to classic new wave.

#18: “Scheibe” (Born This Way)

Gaga’s other major excursion into another country’s pop music on Born This Way, “Americano,” is fun, but the mix of early-’10s synthpop and Mexican stylings is a bit clunky. However, the Mother Monster slips into sleek German industrial techno like a glove. “Scheibe” (which means “shit” in German, fun fact) sounds like Madonna-goes-to-Berlin, as Stefani’s robotic German chants eventually morph into a four-on-the-floor jam with a soaring chorus. It’s technically about female empowerment, but it’s really about Gaga getting her ‘90s dance groove on.

#17: “Summerboy” (The Fame)

For some reason, Gaga thought recording a Strokes soundalike in 2008, about 6 years after the New York legends’ peak, was a good idea. Thank god she pulls it off. 

The pop-rock groove is slick, timeless, and the Mother Monster is more than willing to vamp it up like Debbie Harry. This was a brief moment where Gaga actually sounded somewhat like a *gasp* normal person, and although it obviously didn’t last, it is an interesting —and catchy — look at what could’ve been if she decided to go down the Gwen Stefani route instead of the Madonna one. There’s something beautifully nostalgic and bittersweet about “Summerboy,” and I’m shocked that one of The Fame’s boilerplate non-singles is lowkey one of Gaga’s best love songs.

#16: “Poker Face” (The Fame)

The only thing holding back “Poker Face” from a top 10 spot is that it’s a bit repetitive, which is a pet peeve of mine. Still, “p-p-p-pokerface” is one of the most maddening earworms of my generation, and Gaga deserves endless props for sneaking a song about bisexuality onto the top of the charts before LGBT support was mainstream (at least, to the point that it is now). It’s a killer electropop jam that let the world know that Gaga wasn’t going to disappear after one hit.

#15: “G.U.Y.” (ARTPOP)

Another first-half ARTPOP club banger for the ages. The buzzsaw synth riff is infectious (produced by Zedd of all people) and Gaga’s winking sexuality perfectly toes the line between ridiculous and excessively ridiculous. “Touch me, touch me, don’t be sweet/Love me, love me, please retweet” might have made some people groan, but it just makes me laugh. Pop songs are supposed to be cheesy, right? “G.U.Y.” fits that bill, complete with Gaga unleashing her metal wail during the outro again. For someone like me who loves pop music with a splash of weirdness, “G.U.Y.” is an underrated gem.

#14: “Bad Romance” (The Fame Monster)

I know, I know, leaving what is arguably Gaga’s signature song out of the Top 10 is blasphemy. Let me make this clear: “Bad Romance” is still a 9/10, classic pop song. No doubt about it. However, I think its reputation has been bolstered by being coupled with the greatest music video of the 21st century (apologies to OK Go, Kendrick Lamar, M.I.A., and Angel Olsen). 

If I’m being honest with myself, “Bad Romance” just doesn’t give me the same thrill as it did back in late 2009. Maybe it’s because it takes a while to truly get going: The bridge going into the final chorus, when Gaga finally unleashes her vocal cannons (“I DON’T WANNA BE FRIIIIIIENDS”) gives me goosebumps, but it feels like the first two-thirds are just solid Gaga single material. Still a classic, but it doesn’t get me hyped anymore.

#13: “Monster” (The Fame Monster)

Songs about dealing with a hot jerk are a pop staple, and “Monster” is a pitch-perfect update of that trope. Well, maybe ‘update’ isn’t a great word, seeing as the turn-of-the-decade production is fairly dated now, but 2009 was a fantastic year for pop, so it’s not an issue. This is during the time when Gaga’s non-singles were just as strong — or even stronger — than the hits, and “Monster” could’ve easily climbed the charts with its evocative imagery and patented stuttering lyrics if Gaga chose to release it. Since she didn’t, it remains a hidden gem for Little Monsters.

#12: “Diamond Heart” (Joanne)

One of Gaga’s favorite musical wells to draw from is Bruce Springsteen, so I was a bit surprised when Joanne, her homage to heartland rock/country, didn’t seem to have much influence from the Jersey legend. However, opener “Diamond Heart” settles for the next best thing to emulate: Tom Petty! Opening with the three descriptors “young, wild, American,” and going on describing Gaga’s rough-scabble upbringing to stardom (ironic, given that she grew up wealthy on the Upper East Side…whatever, the song still works). The chorus is soaring, the guitars squeal, and the dusty rock groove could easily fit in at any dive bar in Indiana. You gotta love a fake origin story.

#11: “Born This Way” (Born This Way)

Arguably the first major hit song to bluntly advocate for LGBT issues in the U.S., “Born This Way” will go down as one of our generation’s most influential civil rights anthems. Yes, I’m still talking about the song with a video where Gaga gives birth to an alien and dances around with a skeleton. The cluttered production has aged badly, but Gaga’s passion for the subject overpowers any shortcomings the sound might have. And yeah, the melody rips off Madonna’s “Express Yourself,” but you could frankly make the argument that Gaga improves upon that 1989 hit with more important lyrics. I guarantee you Madge herself would rush the dancefloor if “Born This Way” came on in the club. Gaga’s last #1 hit has maintained in the public consciousness for a damn good reason: Pair revolutionary lyrics with a (potentially stolen) sticky melody and a danceable beat, and you’ve got an instant classic on your hands.

#10: “Just Dance” ft. Colby O’Donis (The Fame)

First off, does anybody remember Colby O’Donis or remember who he even is? It’s a bit odd that this rando was featured on one of the biggest pop songs of the past decade, and yet I’ve never heard another thing from him. Probably for the best...his warbly verse is fairly non-descript.

Luckily, it doesn’t derail Mother Monster’s introduction to the pop world. It’s impossible to describe how fast Gaga went from being an unknown to the most famous singer on the planet within half a year, and part of that obviously has to do with her electrifying videos and provocative image, which was a breath of fresh air after a ballad-stuffed 2008 pop scene. However, if “Just Dance” wasn’t as catchy, memorable, and disoriented as it was, Gaga might still be some unknown floundering around the bottom half of the Hot 100.

“Just Dance” has aged amazingly well nine years later, and the ode to desperately clinging to the remains of a dying party should last forever as long as people still have parties (or junior high formals).

#9: “Perfect Illusion” (Joanne)

The fact that this song flopped as hard as it did last fall still irritates me. Oh, I’m sorry, do you people not like stone-cold bangers anymore?! Y’all deserve Meghan Trainor and Machine Gun Kelly.

Seriously though, “Perfect Illusion” sounds better with every listen. The psych rock-meets-EDM production is both hypnotic and a pure adrenaline rush. Stefani is using her full hair-metal vocals, screaming the chorus with everything she’s got. She even throws in a weird accent, just for kicks: “IT WASN’T LAHHHHHVE!” I know that there’s a decent amount of Little Monsters who don’t like this, and prefer the quieter, more personal side of Joanne, but as someone who prefers Gaga (and pop in general) at her most bombastic, “Perfect Illusion” is the perfect comeback single that never was.

#8: “Speechless” (The Fame Monster)

The perfect Gaga song for those who don’t like Gaga!

Jokes aside, “Speechless” is a masterclass in 70s piano balladry. Surrounded by the rest of the metallic synthpop on The Fame Monster, “Speechless” feels like a random Elton John cover, but nope, it’s a Mother Monster original. One of Gaga’s more underrated traits is her knack for lyrical details, and the way she describes this heartbreaker is so specific, you can probably picture him right now. In a way, it’s like how a great author would make his/her characters come to life simply using descriptors. He’s got “James Dean glossy eyes.” He weaves “cigarette-stained lies.” He “slurred at [her]/with your half-wired broken jaw.” It’s like something out of a Carly Simon song.

“Speechless” is easy to love, which explains why it’s always been a fan favorite despite never being released as a single. Gaga is a great show-woman, and when she eventually gets that Vegas residency, “Speechless” will bring the house down every time. It will likely sound just as timeless 50 years from now as it did back in 2009.

#7: “Venus” (ARTPOP)

In a weird way, “Venus” might be just as timeless as “Speechless,” although you’d never guess that on first listen. There’s a pounding techno beat and Gaga is in full ARTPOP-era weirdness with her space-age lyrics and her usage of at least four or five different goofy voices — hardly the stuff of The Beatles.

Still, listen again: The structure of “Venus” is incredibly simple. The chorus uses the timeless four-chords. The beat and astronomically-themed lyrics are futuristic, but in a retro way, sort of like 80s new wave (which has mostly aged surprisingly well). “Venus” is a classic pop song that could’ve come from 1955, 1985, or 2055. Replace the propulsive synths — which literally sound like a space shuttle launching at points, which adds to the force of the track — with the pop stylings of any other era, and it would fit right in. That’s what makes Gaga so talented: She has a knack for unbelievably sticky pop songwriting, and she’s able to mold that skill set to whatever oddball soundscapes she chooses. “Venus” is simply the most obvious, and possibly the best, example of this. Imagine how much better Elvis would’ve been if he had a sledgehammer of a beat like this to back him up.

Also, she makes a Uranus joke, and the junior high boy in me still finds that hilarious. Sorry.

#6: “Marry The Night” (Born This Way)

In Mother Monster’s best album opener, the diva decides to go full Pat Benatar: Visceral rock choruses! An underdog narrative! Yet it still has a pop sensibility that even the catchiest Springsteen songs lack. This would’ve easily been the biggest song of 1982, and 100% deserves to be on a Rocky soundtrack.

Although there are a few Gaga songs that are better (obviously, we still have five to go), the final 45 seconds of “Marry The Night” is the greatest moment she will likely ever produce. Crunchy guitars clash with buzzsaw synths, all on top of a gargantuan dance beat. Over all of this is Gaga in full-rockstar mode, wailing away at the moon as she climbs to the top of the world. It’s the sort of moment that FORCES you to crank your stereo up to its loudest volume. It might destroy your speakers, but at least you destroyed them in the name of rock n’ roll. Please Gaga, do a metal album. I beg you.

#5: “Paparazzi” (The Fame)

“Paparazzi” is the thesis statement of early Gaga: Fame is deadly, yet it matters more than anything else. Stalkers aren’t creepy, they’re just another aspect of fame to be immortalized and celebrated, like a giant mansion or a yacht.

While some other pop stars might try to play “Paparazzi” straight, legitimately trying to make the tale of a paparazzo forcing herself onto a celebrity somehow romantic, Gaga highlights and revels in the ick-factor of it all. The cold, robotic synths lack any emotion, even lust. The narrator simply knows she wants this man, and she won’t let anything stop her from reaching her goal. Switch out a few words, and it could be about a serial killer.

Yet, somehow, despite the obvious sketchiness, “Paparazzi” is one of the catchiest and most pure pop songs Gaga has ever written, and it’s probably aged the best out of all her early singles. The metallic synth groove, the odd lyrics, the obsession with celebrity culture: There isn’t a better representation of the Mother Monster’s early days.

#4: “The Edge of Glory” (Born This Way)

Remember what I said about the last 45 seconds of “Marry The Night?” What if Gaga turned that into a full song? It’s your lucky day! That song exists, and it’s “The Edge of Glory.”

I’m not sure if “Edge” is considered top-tier Gaga or not, but I was instantly hooked the first time I heard it in May 2011. This song is another one of Born This Way’s timeless-yet-drenched-in-80s-nostalgia cuts, and it’s easily the best example of those. I mean, for God’s sake, she got Clarence freakin’ Clemens on the solo. For those of you who don’t know who Clarence Clemons is, first, call your parents and chastise them for not raising you properly. Secondly, listen to “Jungleland” (yes, all ten minutes, it’s good for you).

I shouldn’t even need to explain why “Edge of Glory” is a classic. What, do I need to explain what makes “Hey Jude” or “Juicy” great, too? Just listen, dance, headbang, sing-along, and lose yourself in Gaga’s best rock-synthpop fusion.

#3: “Yoü and I” (Born This Way)

Goddamn, I love Gaga’s Springsteen’s pastiches. I can’t think of another major pop diva, past or present, who could pull off such rock-star swagger as Gaga does on “Yoü and I.” It even has a bit of country twang; If Florida-Georgia Line accidentally wrote a genius power ballad, it would sound exactly like this.

The “We Will Rock You” thump, the interplaying E Street Band piano and AC/DC guitars, and the John Cougar-esque blue-collar lyrics all combine into a beautiful, weird soup of classic rock clichés that somehow, magically works. Gaga even gets Queen’s guitarist, Brian May, to contribute some guitar licks and a solo for extra credibility.

“Yoü and I” is proof that dad rock isn’t just limited to dads: Meat dress-wearing pop divas can take a crack at the formula, too. You’ll never find a better ode to Nebraska.

#2: “Do What U Want” (ft. R. Kelly) (ARTPOP)

“Do What U Want” is a brilliant bait-and-switch move. At first glance, it’s just a simple club banger about sex. It’d be a damn good one too: Bouncy synths, slamming bass, and both R. Kelly and Gaga giving career-highlight performances. 

However, Gaga isn’t telling a hookup to do what they want with her body. She’s talking about the media. Yes, “Do What U Want” is actually a middle-finger to the press, who she was starting to get sick of by this point. The paparazzi had shifted roles from Gaga’s inspiration to her enemy. Actually listening to Gaga’s lyrics make the message pretty clear: “I get up/and I’m okay/but you print some shit that makes me wanna scream.” 

Stefani is cool with the press oversexualizing her and making jokes about meat dresses; She understands that’s unfortunately part of the popstar game. What she objects to is the media coming after her personal life and her views. “You can’t stop my voice/cause you don’t own my life/but do what you want to my body.”

Of course, the message is muddled when R. Kelly twists the song back to the more blunt meaning: He’s gonna do whatever he wants to your body. Kinda sleazy (I mean, it is R. Kelly), but he SELLS it. There’s just something so visceral about him screaming “WE DON’T GIVE A FUUUUUUUCK” at the end of his verse.

So yeah, “Do What U Want” is a banger with an actual message. It’s both sensual and righteously pissed. In a just world, it would have been just as massive of a smash as the number one song on this list...

#1: “Telephone” feat. Beyoncé (The Fame Monster)

The two most important pop stars of our generation came together and produced a simple dance-pop number that wound up becoming the pinnacle of both artists’ careers. 

“Telephone” is the platonic ideal for electropop. It perfectly straddles the fence between too much tastelessness and just enough. There hasn’t been a better Gaga stutter hook than “Stop telephoning me-eh-eh-eh-eh,” sounding just like a busy line. Beyoncé absolutely KILLS her verse, slowing the beat down for a second, making me wish she made more pop cameos. 

The whole production is a blurry mess of sizzling keyboards, an incessant beat that tells you — no, DEMANDS you — to never stop dancing, a Greek chorus, swirling disco strings, and two all-time greats singing over the hook like it’s no big deal. I’m not sure there’s another pop song out there that feels this propulsive as “Telephone;” It whirrs and pops with energy at every second. It manages to make dealing with the simple inconvenience of a phone going off at the club seem like a struggle of Herculean proportions.

This is the Watch The Throne of pop music. Two icons in their primes. This is like if Michael Jackson and Prince teamed up in 1984. Or if the Bee Gees and Abba collaborated in 1978. Or if Eddie Vedder and Kurt Cobain jammed together in 1993 (we did get Eddie and Chris Cornell together though, which is pretty cool nonetheless). It’s highly unlikely we’ll ever see two giants of pop collaborate like this ever again, or if we do, it’ll probably be lame, like The Chainsmokers feat. Ed Sheeran or something. 

“Telephone” is the best Lady Gaga song. “Telephone” is the best Beyoncé song. And “Telephone” is one of the best pop songs of all time. Don’t believe me? Add it to your next party playlist. See how people react. It’s the early-’10s dancefloor banger to end all dancefloor bangers. And all because Gaga and Bey forgot to put their phones on mute.

Also, the video is a beautiful/ugly work of art that better wind up in the MoMA. Mass murder via sandwiches has never been more fun!

[itwas50yearsagotoday]

6/14/21:  It was 50 years ago today, June 14th, 1971, Emerson, Lake & Palmer released their second album ‘Tarkus’.  Yep... it’s the record with the armadillo-tank.  Honestly... I like a lot of what this group has done, but check out that album cover... that is apparently THE Tarkus.  Truly, I hope there is some sort of alternate reality where Tarkus exists, and it looks just like this, and battles in wars where it is defeated but then comes back as ‘Aquatarkus’ (yes, that is a song part).  So readers of this blog (all 12 of you!) know that I like Prog... I do, especially the old stuff that was very new at the time... I mean, every kind of music IS new and then has it’s peak... so we are smack in the middle of that with Prog, and EL&P release what many (who?) say is their quintessential album... even some say the quintessential Prog album.  I say, hold it right there bucko... there is something revolutionary going on here, but I’m just going to say that much of this record simply does not hold up.  That can be said especially about the 20-minute title track, which of course took up a whole record side... there are a lot of cool parts, and no doubt EL&P are in their absolute maniacal prime here, Emerson especially (of course)... but SO much of this song (and the record in general) is horribly dated.  I’ll say that again... horribly dated.  And that sucks, because for one thing it gives the anti-Prog wing of Rock critics ammo big-time to slam the whole genre... and if this record was the absolute Prog record par-excellence, then yeah the whole genre could be flushed.  Let’s put it this way... my friend is listening with me right now, and he likened the sound to Styx... TO FUCKING STYX!!!!  It’s really too bad because there are some excellent parts of the long title track that could have been their own thing... like maybe minute three through seven... and then it really changes up at 7:48, so much so that it is jarring, but in a good way... see if they could have kept up with the hooks as much as the wanking, it could’ve been another Fragile (we’ll get there).  But alas no... there are parts in Tarkus that could clear a room, not just a dance-floor... and as talented as Keith Emerson is, he could produce some of the ugliest sounds out of his keyboards, so much so as to make one cringe.  Any song that has cringe parts just ain’t mix-worthy, sorry.  So, besides this tune, what else is good?  The huge breather after that mess is the song I’ve linked ‘Jeremy Bender’ which is a wonderful short little tune... it’s a throw-away, and they would do songs like that on other records, like ‘The Sheriff’ and ‘Hoedown’... still great songs, but they can seem like they are purposefully reaching down... I dunno, I’m probably thinking too much of it... I like the song, and it has kind of a twin at the end ‘Are You Ready Eddy’ which is just a rollicking shouting tune... almost too much, I’m afraid.  In the middle of side two are some interesting tunes, all short (under four minutes) that actually would have been better if longer... I know, you can’t satisfy me, and this record leaves me curiously unsatisfied.  ‘A Time and a Place’ is cool and keyboard-y crazy, but Lake’s vocals leave me a little cold.  ‘Infinite Space’ and ‘Bitches Crystal’ are better... it’s so weird though, all of these songs are short... like, if they’d put some of these together, and then... split some off of Tarkus... sorry, I know I can’t let it go.  Recommended for Progressive Rock fans only... you’ll probably like it better than me.

[blackkudos]

Craig David

Craig Ashley David (born 5 May 1981) is a British singer, songwriter, rapper, DJ and record producer who rose to fame in 1999, featuring on the single "Re-Rewind" by Artful Dodger. David's debut studio album, Born to Do It, was released in 2000, after which he has released a further five studio albums and worked with a variety of artists such as Sting, Tinchy Stryder, Big Narstie, Kano and Jay Sean. David has 20 UK Top 40 singles, and seven UK Top 40 albums, selling over 15,000,000 records worldwide as a solo artist.

David has been nominated for fourteen Brit Awards: five times for Best British Male, and twice receiving a Grammy Award nomination for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.

Early life

David was born in Southampton, Hampshire, the son of Tina (née Loftus), a retail assistant at Superdrug, and George David, a carpenter, and grew up in the Holyrood estate. David's father is Afro-Grenadian and David's mother is Anglo-Jewish and related to the founders of the Accurist watch-making company; David's maternal grandfather was an Orthodox Jew and his maternal grandmother a convert to Judaism. David's parents separated when he was eight and he was brought up by his mother. He attended Bellemoor School and Southampton City College.

David was bullied by other students at school. He wrote and released the song "Johnny" in 2005 about his sad memories of being bullied.

David's father played bass in a reggae band called Ebony Rockers. As a teen, David began accompanying his father to local dance clubs, where DJs let him take the microphone.

Career

Early career

David's earliest exposure came when he worked on a B-side to British group Damage's cover of "Wonderful Tonight", on the track "I'm Ready". He then started doing vocals for the English garage duo Artful Dodger, on tracks such as "Something" and "What Ya Gonna Do".

Wildstar Records first became aware of David when the artist's then manager Paul Widger met the label's co-owner Colin Lester and played some of his music. Lester later told HitQuarters that he was particularly impressed by the first song he heard, "Walking Away", saying "That was an absolute stand out ... It struck me that any seventeen year-old that could write a song like this had huge potential." The Wildstar boss was further won over when, on later visiting the artist's home in Southampton, he found David's tiny bedroom stacked from floor to ceiling with 12" vinyl records, commenting: "That convinced me he was the real deal and not just some kid acting out the part." At that point Lester offered him a development deal with his label. When Lester later heard the song "7 Days", he said he immediately heard a number-one record and promoted the contract to an album deal the same day.

2000–03:

Born to Do It

and

Slicker Than Your Average

The song "Re-Rewind (The Crowd Say Bo Selecta)", from the Artful Dodger album It's All About the Stragglers, hit number two on the UK charts in 1999; thus, paving the way for a solo career. David's first single, "Fill Me In", released on Colin Lester's and Ian McAndrew's Wildstar Records, topped the UK chart and was the first of a string of four top 10 singles from his debut album Born to Do It, which eventually sold more than 8 million copies worldwide, earning multi-platinum status in more than 20 countries. The song "Key to My Heart", taken from the US version of the album, was also featured on the award-winning Warner Bros. animated film Osmosis Jones.

The success of David's debut, which was written almost entirely by David and Mark Hill of Artful Dodger, led to the United States release of "Fill Me In" in May 2001. It reached number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Born to Do It was released in the United States on 17 July 2001, peaking at number 11 on the Billboard 200 chart and sold over 1 million copies. The single "7 Days" hit the top 10 in the U.S.; although "Walking Away", which had reached number 3 in the UK and number 5 in Australia, missed the top 40 in the U.S. and was the last of his singles to chart there.

In April 2009, MTV viewers voted Born to Do It as number 2 on their "Greatest Album of All-Time" poll, behind Michael Jackson's Thriller.

The follow-up album, Slicker Than Your Average, was released in 2002. The album's first four singles continued David's streak of top 10 hits in the UK, bringing a total of nine consecutive top 10 hits until "World Filled with Love" peaked at number 15 in 2003. None of the six singles released from the album charted in the U.S.. Although "What's Your Flava?" and "Rise & Fall" (duet with Sting) received airplay on the urban contemporary and soft adult contemporary formats, they did not make the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart or the Adult Contemporary chart. However, "What's Your Flava?" made the Rhythmic Top 40 chart (number 32), Mainstream Top 40 chart (number 24) and the Top 40 Tracks chart (number 37). According to the RIAA, Slicker Than Your Average was certified Gold in the U.S..

David also commented that the album title could be looked at in two different ways: "On the one hand, it's coming across like I'm arrogant. On the other hand, it's saying I have a lot more composure on the album.""

The album was leaked onto the internet prior to its official release but David was not too bothered as he feels it "spreads the word".

2005–08: The Story Goes... and Trust Me

David later signed on with Warner Music and put together his third album, The Story Goes..., which was released worldwide in August 2005 (excluding the U.S. where it was never released). The first single, "All the Way", returned him to the top 3. The second single, "Don't Love You No More (I'm Sorry)", tied with "7 Days" as his longest-running single in the charts since "Re-Rewind", spending 15 weeks inside the UK top 75. The album's third single, "Unbelievable", debuted at number 18 in March 2006.

In 2007, David collaborated with British rapper Kano on his album London Town, for the single "This Is the Girl". The track was released on 27 August 2007 and debuted at number 18 on the UK charts.

The first single from his album Trust Me, "Hot Stuff (Let's Dance)", was released on 5 November 2007. David successfully sought permission from David Bowie to sample his 1983 number-one single "Let's Dance". The single was a top ten hit, whilst the album charted at number 18 on the UK Albums Chart. "6 of 1 Thing", the second single to be taken from Trust Me, charted at number 39 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming his third-lowest-charting single to date.

"Officially Yours" was released on 23 June 2008 and peaked at number 158 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming his lowest-charting single to date and was the final single from Trust Me. In July, a new track titled "Are You Up for This" started receiving airplay on various radio stations as part of a promo with Ice Cream Records, which also featured a remix with Wittyboy called "Nutter Butter". On 17 August 2008, David performed at a birthday tribute concert for songwriter Don Black at the London Palladium. He performed the song "Ben", originally a hit for Michael Jackson.

David took part in Soccer Aid 2008 at Wembley Stadium on 7 September 2008. He picked up the "Man of The Match" award on the night and played in the same England side as ex-internationals such as Alan Shearer, Teddy Sheringham and David Seaman, and played against the likes of Romário, Paolo Di Canio, Jaap Stam, and Luís Figo. David received two 2008 UK Urban Music Award nominations for Best Album with Trust Me and Best R&B Act. On 7 November 2008, David was recognised for his contribution to the music industry by receiving an honorary degree of Doctor of Music, from Southampton Solent University at a graduation ceremony held at Southampton Guildhall.

2008–09: Greatest Hits

David released his first Greatest Hits album on 24 November 2008. In support of the release, David released two singles to promote the album. "Where's Your Love" featuring Tinchy Stryder and Rita Ora, a homage to his UK garage days, was digitally released on 10 November 2008. The second single, "Insomnia", produced by Jim Beanz from Timbaland productions, a dance track with hard bassline beats, was released the following week on 17 November 2008. Toby Gad and Eimear Crombie provided back-up vocals and instrumental stylings. David also started working with guitarist and recording engineer Kwame Yeboah, both live and in the studio.

On 29 December 2008, a new mix of "Insomnia", titled "Up All Night Mix", was made available for digital download. As part of the Greatest Hits compilation, David re-recorded "Walking Away" with four different artists across Europe, Monrose from Germany, Nek from Italy, Lynnsha from France and Álex Ubago from Spain. The album debuted at number 48 on the UK Albums Chart. From February to April 2009, David toured Russia, the Far East and performed one show in Los Angeles as part of a Greatest Hits tour. He met fans at a meet and greet session at Singapore Changi Airport before his show.

In April 2009, Born to Do It came second in a poll by MTV UK for the Greatest Album Ever, which received over 40,000 votes, beaten by Michael Jackson's album Thriller. On 14 May 2009, David participated in the Hillsborough Memorial football match at Anfield. On 26 July 2009, David participated in the Sir Bobby Robson Trophy match at St James' Park, playing alongside boyhood hero Alan Shearer.

2009–10: New label and Signed Sealed Delivered

On 18 September 2009, fans got the first taste of the new album with an exclusive demo posted on his official website, a thirty-second snippet covering Stevie Wonder's "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours". On 2 October 2009, David revealed to his fans via Twitter and his website that he had signed a new record deal with Universal Motown. The UK edition of Jay Sean's new album All or Nothing which was released on 30 November 2009, features David on a track entitled "Stuck in the Middle". David performed a bold new cover of "I Wan'na Be like You" from Walt Disney's 1967 film The Jungle Book on the ITV programme Ultimate Movie Toons, broadcast 28 March 2010.The first single from David's fifth studio album Signed Sealed Delivered was "One More Lie (Standing in the Shadows)" and it was released in the UK on 22 March 2010 where it made number 76 with the album following one week later on 29 March 2010, which entered the UK chart at number 13.

On 17 March 2010, David released a UK garage compilation album titled Rewind Old Skool Classics mixed with DJ Spoony featuring some of their favourite UK garage hits from the last ten years.

Two weeks later on 31 May 2010, the second single to be taken from Signed Sealed Delivered, titled "All Alone Tonight (Stop, Look, Listen)" was released. The chorus of the single samples The Stylistics' hit "Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)" but features completely new verses. In the weeks leading up to the release BBC Radio Two backed the single by naming it their 'Record of the Week' and adding it to their 'A-List'. On 20 May 2010, David appeared as a co-host on The Morning Show in Australia alongside Kylie Gillies, whilst regular male presenter Larry Emdur was on holiday. On 27 August 2010, Swiss DJ Remady released an album titled No Superstar on which David features on the track "Do It on My Own". David was nominated for 'Best Video' at the 2010 Urban Music Awards for the song "One More Lie (Standing in the Shadows)". The 2010 Sunday Times Rich List indicated that Craig David is worth £8 million.

2011–13: Collaborations, new material and TS5 launch

David revealed on Twitter that he has worked with record producer Jim Beanz on material for his new album. He also tweeted about working with August Rigo and more recently Fraser T Smith. Whilst doing a show in Russia, David confirmed he had left Universal Music Group and hopes to release his new album in America as well as the UK. In February 2011, David agreed to do a desert trek for Comic Relief as part of Red Nose Day 2011. A host of celebrities including Dermot O'Leary, Olly Murs and Lorraine Kelly treked 100 kilometres across a Kenyan desert to raise money for preventable blindness across Africa.

In May 2011, David made a guest appearance on NRJ12's French reality TV show Les Anges 2 where he offered advice to contestants trying to make a life in Miami. Released on 1 August 2011, David features on Erick Morillo's new mix CD Subliminal Invasion on a track titled "Fly Away". David performed at the Michael Jackson tribute concert, held in Cardiff at the Millennium Stadium on 8 October 2011.

Further to their earlier collaboration, David and Erick Morillo also canvassed a promotional track to DJs and radio stations titled "Get Drunk Up" and also featured it on YouTube. Morillo revealed David would appear on a project with Harry Romero and José Nunez, featuring a remix of the track. In December, he featured on the Blackout Mode dance track "Freak on the Dancefloor" that appeared on the compilation album R&B Collection 2012.

In 2012, David featured on a number of tracks whilst recording his own album, including releases with Stereo Palma titled "Our Love" and a collaboration with Mohombi and DJ Asaad titled "Addicted".

In July 2012, it was revealed David was writing with Backstreet Boys on their 20th-anniversary album, the follow-up to their 2009 album "This Is Us" and the first they released since the return of Kevin Richardson who departed from the band in 2005.

In January 2013, David announced on Twitter that he had signed a publishing deal with Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG). The deal saw David's publishing company, formally known as Bootyman Music Publishing merge to become JEM Music.

Starting in March 2013, David embarked on a world tour starting with three shows across Australia, followed by four in Europe (France, Belgium, Germany and The Netherlands) and finally finishing in May with four shows in England (Birmingham, Manchester, Southampton and London). In September 2013, Capital FM announced that David's DJ show 'TS5' would moveto Capital Xtra every Friday evening from 10:00 pm.

2014–17: Following My Intuition and return to fame

On 2 July 2014, David previewed a teaser track titled "Cold" on his official SoundCloud page. Premiering it on his TS5 radio show the week before, he wanted to preview some of the new music he has been working on in anticipation of his long-awaited sixth studio album. A further teaser track titled "Seduction" was uploaded to the same SoundCloud page in September 2014.

On 5 September 2015, David featured on BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge with Sigala where they covered Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth's "See You Again" mixed with the Little Mix track "Black Magic". The following week, on 10 September 2015, David appeared on Kurupt FM's 'Sixty Minute Takeover' on BBC Radio 1Xtra with MistaJam. He performed "Fill Me In" over the track "Where Are Ü Now" and it became a viral internet hit. Two snippets of potential new album tracks were also played on the night and this 1Xtra appearance led to David making surprise performances of the "Fill Me In" / "Where Are Ü Now" remix at Fabric with Kurupt FM and Alexandra Palace with Major Lazer and Diplo.

It was later revealed that the Radio 1Xtra appearance led to a collaboration between David and Big Narstie who also featured on the show and the track they recorded titled "When the Bassline Drops" was played on MistaJam's BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1Xtra show on 7 November 2015, it was later revealed the track is to be released under SpeakerBox/JEM on 27 November 2015. David made a surprise appearance on The X Factor on 13 December 2015, where he performed his breakthrough single "Re-Rewind" during a medley with Reggie 'n' Bollie and Fuse ODG. "When the Bassline Drops" debuted at number 50 in the UK and peaked at number 10 on 5 February 2016, becoming David's highest-charting single since 2007.

On 25 January 2016, it was announced that Craig David had signed a recording contract with Insanity Records (a joint venture between Sony Music UK and Insanity Management) and independent company Speakerbox Media.

On 19 March 2016, at the second day of the Ultra Music Festival 2016, during the set of the Dutch DJ and record producer Hardwell, he appeared for present their new track "No Holding Back", which was released on 19 August 2016.

In 2016, David appeared on Kaytranada's album 99.9%, on the track "Got It Good", which he also co-wrote. This song also appeared on his sixth studio album. On 19 August 2016, Craig announced on social networks that his sixth studio album, Following My Intuition, would finally be released on 30 September 2016. It debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, giving David his first number-one album since his debut, Born to Do It, reached the top spot in 2000.

2017–present: The Time Is Now

On 15 September 2017, David announced the release of the seventh studio album, The Time Is Now, which was released in January 2018, along with the single "Heartline".

On 23 November, David released his second single from The Time Is Now, "I Know You" featuring Bastille. David and Dan Smith from Bastille performed the song live a day later on Sounds Like Friday Night. The single peaked at number 5 in 2018, making it David's highest charting single since "Don't Love You No More (I'm Sorry)" in 2005.

The Time Is Now debuted at number 2 on the UK Albums Chart, kept off the top spot by The Greatest Showman: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.

On 31 May 2019, David released a new single "When You Know What Love Is" from his upcoming eighth album. In July, David made a cameo appearance in Love Island, performing the single as a DJ at a Ministry of Sound pool party.

His next UK garage single "Do You Miss Me Much" was released on 23 August 2019.

On 31 December 2019 and 1 January 2020, David performed on BBC One's New Year Live concert at Westminster Central Hall with his full band and TS5 DJ Set.

Personal life and activism

David is Jewish.

David is also an avid supporter of Southampton FC, his hometown football team.

On 24 March 2010 (World Tuberculosis Day), the World Health Organization appointed Craig David as a Goodwill Ambassador against tuberculosis. His first activity in this role was to travel to South Africa to learn more about tuberculosis, where he met people suffering from the disease or having recovered from it, and scientists who have dedicated their lives to fighting tuberculosis. David stated that his mission is to help overcome the social stigma of TB in order to beat the disease.

Caricaturisation on Bo' Selecta!

David was frequently caricatured by comedian Leigh Francis on the British TV comedy show Bo' Selecta!; the show's title itself being a reference to his song "Re-Rewind (The Crowd Say Bo Selecta)". Although many other celebrities lampooned in the series appreciated the jokes and even appeared in the series themselves, David—the series' most prominently mocked target—did not enjoy the attention, remarking that the public were no longer taking him seriously. Speaking to The Sunday Times in 2007, David confessed that "The whole Bo' Selecta! thing was killing me for a while because this idiot had a cult following and I was the main caricature. ... Inside it was absolutely pissing me off and hurtful beyond belief. There were times when I thought I just want to knock this guy out".

Although he made an appearance himself on the programme (as the pseudo-fictional tribute act "Craig Davis"), he regretted it. However, he has also denied that his career had been ruined as a result of the show, and has said that he was satisfied with his musical output over the years.

In a 2015 interview with the Daily Mirror, David stated that he had no hard feelings towards Francis, explaining how he had seen him at a wedding and given him a hug, assuring him they were "cool". He further explained in the interview that it was his PR team who suggested that he "play hurt" by the caricature. He reiterated this stance on The Jonathan Ross Show in 2016 and explained that, contrary to popular belief, he had not fled the UK to escape negative attention brought about from the show.

Discography

Born to Do It (2000)

Slicker Than Your Average (2002)

The Story Goes... (2005)

Trust Me (2007)

Signed Sealed Delivered (2010)

Following My Intuition (2016)

The Time Is Now (2018)

[gaymusicchart]

GAY MUSIC CHART - 2018 week 28

 Sorry to be so late this week, but there are too many votes now : more than 100 ! It takes hours… Litteraly. So, we want to recruit 2 or 3 people who will accept to help us by counting the votes. One will count the votes of the people who list 1 to 5 songs, another will count the votes of the people who list 6 to 10 songs, and another will count the votes of the people who list 11 to 20 songs. If you are interested, leave a comment on YouTube or Facebook : see you soon !

 Welcome to the Gay Music Chart, the LGBTQA related music videos TOP 50 actuality and most request.

Vote for your favourite LGBTQA related music videos by leaving a comment for this post on :

YOUTUBE (in the comment section of the video of the week) : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCz7yfp-xq-b08tD6mAWwclA

BLOGGER : http://gaymusicchart.blogspot.fr

FACEBOOK : https://www.facebook.com/GayMusicChart/

TWITTER : https://twitter.com/GayMusicChart with #GayMusicChart  

TUMBLR : http://gaymusicchart.tumblr.com  

 Here is the recap for this week :

 OUT : Ryan O'Shaughnessy - Together (LW: 18 / WO: 17 / PEAK: 01 (x5))

OUT : Calum Scott - What I Miss Most (LW: 27 / WO: 17 / PEAK: 01 (x1))

OUT : Namuel - Poder (LW: 33 / WO: 19 / PEAK: 03)

OUT : Trevor Moran - Sinner (LW: 41 / WO: 29 / PEAK: 01 (x2))

OUT : Be Steadwell - Sometimes (LW: 42 / WO: 5 / PEAK: 35)

OUT : Elodie, Michele Bravi, Guè Pequeno - Nero Bali (LW: 44 / WO: 4 / PEAK: 31)

OUT : Asbjørn - Nothing 2 Lose (LW: 45 / WO: 7 / PEAK: 25)

OUT : Rita Ora feat. Cardi B, Bebe Rexha & Charli XCX - Girls (LW: 47 / WO: 3 / PEAK: 41)

OUT : Matilda - You (LW: 48 / WO: 1 / PEAK: 48)

OUT : 東京ゲゲゲイTokyo Gegegay - 「Yes or No」(LW: 50 / WO: 1 / PEAK: 50)

  01 (+ 18) : Lizzo - Boys (LW: 19 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 01 (x1))

USA - 2018

 02 (-1) : Troye Sivan - Bloom (LW: 01 / WO: 10 / PEAK: 01 (x5))

Australia - 2018

The Australian singer deleted a tweet where he said that the song was talking about bottoming. Now, he answer that it only talks about flowers. If the first explanation is real, the brilliant metaphore makes this song an enjoyable gay sex anthem.

 03 (- 1) : Years & Years - If You're Over Me (LW: 02 / WO: 8 / PEAK: 02)

UK - 2018 / from the album "Palo Santo"

 04 (+ 2) : Blair St. Clair - Now or Never (LW: 06 / WO: 10 / PEAK: 01 (x1))

USA - 2018

This is the first music video of the drag queen who was a contestant on the tenth season of RuPaul's Drag Race.

 05 (- 1) : Troye Sivan feat. Ariana Grande - Dance To This (Official Audio) (LW: 04 / WO: 3 / PEAK: 04)

Australia / USA - 2018

 06 (- 1) : Not.Your.Regular.Boy. - Crazyland (LW: 05 / WO: 11 / PEAK: 03)

The Netherlands - 2018

Revealed on X-Factor and the Voice, this is his debut single.

 07 (NEW) : Adore Delano - 27 Club (LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 07)

USA - 2018 / from the album "Whatever"

 08 (+ 5) : Kim Petras - Heart to Break (LW: 13 / WO: 14 / PEAK: 04)

Germany - 2018

She will be on first part of Troye Sivan's Bloom Tour.

 09 (NEW) : MNEK feat. Hailee Steinfeld - Colour (LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 09)

UK - 2018

 10 (- 7) : Alex Aris - Wrong Love (LW: 03 / WO: 9 / PEAK: 03)

Sweden - 2018

This is the first single in solo of the 29 years old Swedish singer. His song is talking "about someone who constantly falls in love with the wrong people. And it does not matter if it's a man or a woman", he said.

 11 (- 2) : Ryan Amador - Loverboy (LW: 09 / WO: 8 / PEAK: 09)

USA - 2018

Such a romantic love song...

 12 (+ 34) : Monét X Change feat. Bob The Drag Queen - Soak It Up (LW: 46 / WO: 5 / PEAK: 12)

USA - 2018

The drag queen was voted Miss Congeniality of the 2018 edition of RuPaul's Drag Race.

 13 (+ 36) : SAKIMA - Daddy (LW: 49 / WO: 30 / PEAK: 05)

UK - 2017

His new single "Show Me" has been released. Don't hesitate to vote for it!

 14 (+ 14) : FRANKIE x Scott Hoying feat. One Night - Ghost (LW: 28 / WO: 3 / PEAK: 14)

USA - 2018

The music video is an interesting queer remake of Grease.

 15 (- 3) : Sandro Cavazza, P3GI-13 - High With Somebody (LW: 12 / WO: 3 / PEAK: 12)

Sweden - 2018

A sweet song and a music video which shows bisexuality.

 16 (- 9) : Don Diablo feat. Calum Scott - Give Me Love (LW: 07 / WO: 10 / PEAK: 03)

The Netherlands / UK - 2018 / from the album "FUTURE"

 17 (- 9) : Eli Lieb - The Nights We Lived (LW: 08 / WO: 9 / PEAK: 07)

USA - 2018 / from the album "The Nights We Lived"

The music video is composed with his own home footage taken over the past 15 years.

 18 (NEW) : Mylène Farmer, LP - N'oublie pas (LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 18)

France / USA - 2018

An unexpected collaboration, already number 1 in France..

 19 (- 5) : Maksim Reimer - Original Self (Enough Is Enough) - Pride Hymne 2018 (LW: 14 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 14)

Germany - 2018

 20 (- 5) : Céline Dion - Ashes (LW: 15 / WO: 9 / PEAK: 05)

Canada - 2018 / from the album "Deadpool 2 OST"

This is Yanis Marshall (and not Ryan Reynolds) who plays Deadpool dancing in high heels in this music video.

 21 (+ 10) : Reigen - Smoke Drink Party (Swipe Right Remix) (LW: 31 / WO: 3 / PEAK: 21)

USA - 2018

A really good remix.

 22 (NEW) : Blair St. Clair - Call My Life (LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 22)

USA - 2018 / from the album "Call My Life"

 23 (+ 2) : Saara Aalto - Monsters (LW: 25 / WO: 22 / PEAK: 02)

Finland - 2018

Finland came 25th in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2018.

 24 (- 3) : Tiago Braga - Ilusão (LW: 21 / WO: 7 / PEAK: 15)

Portugal - 2018

A story of infidelity.

 25 (- 15) : Jake Shears - Creep City (LW: 10 / WO: 7 / PEAK: 06)

USA - 2018 / from the album "Jake Shears"

This is the debut single in solo of the lead singer of the band Scissor Sisters.

 26 (+ 11) : Halsey feat. Lauren Jauregui - Strangers (LW: 37 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 26)

USA - 2018

The song is an anthem about lesbian and bisexual women. In response to a fan who thought that the music video wasn't gay enough, Halsey has responded that it is a metaphor for a toxic relationship.

 27 (- 16) : Michael Medrano feat. Steve Grand - Heal (LW: 11 / WO: 7 / PEAK: 11)

USA - 2018

 28 (- 5) : Openside - No Going Back (LW: 23 / WO: 11 / PEAK: 10)

New Zealand - 2018

 29 (- 5) : Tuure Boelius - Lätkäjätkä-Ville (LW: 24 / WO: 10 / PEAK: 14)

Finland - 2018

The 17 years old Finnish YouTuber decided to release this music video just before the debut of the Ice Hockey World Championship 2018, hoping changing mentalities for more acceptance and diversity in this sport. It caused a mediatic storm in Finland.

 30 (- 1) : Chester Lockhart - In Loving Memory (LW: 29 / WO: 7 / PEAK: 19)

USA - 2018

 31 (+ 12) : BeBe Zahara Benet - Jungle Kitty (LW: 43 / WO: 5 / PEAK: 31)

USA - 2018

 32 (NEW) : Keiynan Lonsdale - Preach (LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 32)

Australia - 2018

The singer and actor took on stage the award for Best Kiss at the MTV Movies and TV Awards 2018, for the movie "Love, Simon". Meanwhile, the movie is censored in India.

 33 (- 7) : Francisco Victoria - Marinos (LW: 26 / WO: 28 / PEAK: 03)

Chile - 2017 / from the EP "Prenda"

This is the first single of the Chilean singer, produced by Alex Anwandter. A revelation.

 34 (- 18) : U2 - Love Is Bigger Than Anything In Its Way (Offer Nissim Remix) (LW: 16 / WO: 4 / PEAK: 16)

Ireland / Israel - 2018

 35 (- 1) : Years & Years - Palo Santo (Live - Vevo x Years & Years) (LW: 34 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 35)

UK - 2018 - from the album "Palo Santo"

 36 (- 4) : St. Vincent - Fast Slow Disco (LW: 32 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 36)

USA - 2018

This track is a remix of "Slow Disco" from the album "Masseduction". Annie Clark dances in a gay leather club in the music video.

 37 (- 15) : Not.Your.Regular.Boy. - Get Down Make Love (LW: 22 / WO: 3 / PEAK: 22)

The Netherlands - 2018

 38 (- 18) : Francisco Victoria - Todo lo que tengo (LW: 20 / WO: 13 / PEAK: 03)

Chile – 2018 / from the EP "Prenda"

The Chilean singer has released his first EP "Prenda".

 39 (- 22) : Kodaline - Follow Your Fire (LW: 17 / WO: 13 / PEAK: 01 (x1))

Ireland - 2018

There is a gay couple in this music video.

 40 (- 10) : Big Dipper - Lookin (LW: 30 / WO: 3 / PEAK: 15)

USA - 2018

Those who loves bears will like this music video.

 41 (- 3) : Keiynan Lonsdale - Kiss The Boy (Official Lyric Video) (LW: 38 / WO: 14 / PEAK: 15)

Australia - 2018

 42 (- 6) : Bobby Newberry feat. Aleff - Lit (LW: 36 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 36)

USA - 2018

 43 (NEW) : Betty Who - Taste (LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 43)

Australia - 2018

 44 (- 4) : Filipe Catto - Canção de Engate (LW: 40 / WO: 3 / PEAK: 29)

Brazil - 2018 / from the album "Catto"

A vampire love story.

 45 (NEW) : The Final Four Perform 'American' (RuPaul's Drag Race Season 10) (LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 45)

USA - 2018

A cover with drag queens Aquaria, Eureka, Asia O'Hara and Kameron Michaels.

 46 (NEW) : KAYU Feat. Mila Jam - Better Days (LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 46)

USA - 2018

Revealed with her single "Faces" last year, she comes back with a featuring made for the clubs.

 47 (NEW) : Bruno Gadiol, Gabriel Nandes - Seu Costume (LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 47)

Brazil - 2018

The 20 years old singer has been revealed in The Voice Brasil in 2016. He comes out as gay with this music video.

 48 (- 9) : Broadway Bares: Strip U - Psych Class (LW: 39 / WO: 4 / PEAK: 37)

USA - 2018

An integral striptease.

 49 (- 14) : Sam Smith feat. Logic - Pray (LW: 35 / WO: 10 / PEAK: 16)

UK / USA - 2018

Finally, a music video is available for this awesome collaboration.

 50 (NEW) : Burçak - Divas on the Dance Floor! (LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 50)

The Netherlands / Turkey - 2018

The Turkish singer comes out with this music video.

     ALSO NEW THIS WEEK

 HOLLAND - I'm Not Afraid

South Korea - 2018

Revealed by his first music video "Neverland", the out gay South Korean singer continues to represent LGBTQ issues in his new music video to change mentalities in his country. He hasn't be contacted by the big record label compagnies yet in the kpop industry, which means that the fight isn't over.

 Tenny (테니) - 159 cm

South Korea - 2018

In this music video, a lesbian couple must face the familial intolerance. This kind of realistic representation of lesbians is something totally new in South Korea.

 디아 (DIA) - 비행 소녀 (Flying Girl)

South Korea - 2018 / from the album "Stardust"

The singer prefers to kiss another woman than a man in this music video.

 =LOVE（イコールラブ Equal Love) -「手遅れcaution」Late Caution

Japan - 2018

This is the third single of this new girlband, with a lesbian plot in their music video.

 Đào Bá Lộc - Gửi thời niên thiếu (Childhood)

Vietnam - 2018

Dao try to change the past to live again his love story in this music video.

 Chris(tine and the Queens) - Doesn't Matter

France - 2018 / from the album "Chris"

It's official, you can beginning to call the French artist Chris and not Christine and the Queen, as the title of the upcoming album.

 Chris(tine and the Queens) - Doesn't Matter (Voleur de soleil)

France - 2018 / from the album "Chris"

This is the French cover of this song. The chorus is still in english.

 Friends of Linger - Head Held High

India - 2018

Revealed in our chart with their engaged music video "Miss You" which was censored in their country for a while because it defends homosexuality, the band is back with a remake of their first single.

 אני לא לבד (Efrat Kolberg) - אפרת קולברג (I'm Not Alone)

Israel - 2018

An engaged music video to celebrate Pride Month.

 Kodaline - Shed a Tear

Ireland - 2018 / from the album "Politics of Living"

 St. Bishop - Porcelain (Live at Eir Other Voices)

Ireland - 2018

Hope a music video will be released for their new single "Good Intentions".

 Conchita Wurst, Wiener Symphoniker - The Sound of Music (live @ Life Ball 2018)

Austria - 2018 / from the album "From Vienna with Love"

 HEIDRIK - Black For The Occasion

Faroe Islands (Denmark) - 2018 / from the album "Funeral"

 Kamilia - Samen zijn

The Netherlands - 2018

The out lesbian singer has came out as lesbian two years ago. The beginning of the video shows three different reactions of parents after the coming out of their child. Then, it shows Kamilia whith her partner.

 Eli Lieb - When You Need a Friend

USA - 2018

This song is dedicated to a young transgender boy who commited suicide in his former highschool. Touched by this tragedy, Eli went back to his former highschool with The Trevor Project to offer support to the kids. The footage of this video shows his visit.

 TWINKIDS - I'm Sorry

USA - 2018

 Merlot - Bad for You

USA - 2018

This is the debut single of the singer from New York. A revelation.

 Panic! At The Disco - Hey Look Ma, I Made It

USA - 2018

Brendon Urie comes out as pansexual. The funny music and his puppet illustrates that fact.

 Taylor Bennett feat. Zxxk - Rock 'N' Roll

USA - 2018 / from the album "Be Yourself"

An interesting music video showing a hold-up full of flashbacks.

 Brockhampton - 1999 Wildfire

USA - 2018

 CupcakKe - Hot Pockets

USA - 2018

 Aquaria - Burn Rubber (Lyric Video)

USA - 2018

This is the debut single of the drag queen who won RuPaul's Drag Race season 10.

 Eureka O'Hara - The Big Girl

USA - 2018

This is the first single of the drag queen who was runner up in RuPaul's Drag Race season 10.

 Emily Thomas - Taste Of You

USA - 2018

 Kyle Motsinger - Getting Closer

USA - 2018

 Years & Years - All For You (PSEN Televisual Exclusive)

UK - 2018 / from the album "Palo Santo"

 Ibiza Pareo - Tuya

Argentina - 2018

   See you next week and don’t forget to vote for your best LGBTQA music videos ! Here are the rules :

1 ) You can vote for many videos as you want under the videos on YouTube in the comment section. It could be recent or past music videos, which must provide at least one among the following conditions:

- the music video has LGBTQA related content, in the lyrics or the music video

- the artist is LGBTQA, an LGBTQA icon or eventually ally

- LGBTQA medias talked about it.

2 ) You can’t vote more than 3 songs of a same artist per week.

3 ) In case of an artist who receive votes mostly by a fan base, we will count only one song, in a limited time of 4 weeks of presence in the top.

4 ) You can vote with only one account.

5 ) If you make 5 votes or less, your first vote will represent 5 points, your second vote 4 points, etc… until your last vote and following 1 point. If you make 6 to 10 votes, your first vote will represent 10 points, your second vote 9 points, etc… If you make more than 10 votes, your first vote will represent 20 points, your second vote 19 points, etc…

6 ) People who make 1 to 5 votes form the amateur ranking, those who make 6 to 10 votes form the fan ranking, those who make more than 10 votes form the expert ranking. We form the jury ranking (but this one is for the moment suspended as experimentation). And we count now the ranking of minutes of views of our weekly playlist of the previous week. The Gay Music Chart is the addition of the five charts. In case of equality, the number of votes and the dates of votes will count.

7 ) The votes will close on Thursday, 8 PM, European time.