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thegreencircleone · 4 years

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A Belated 10/10 Story

The Girl from Out of Town.

((Eloni gets hit on/hits on someone.))

October 10th, 9 pm. Officially 1010’s 6th birthday.

It was between a few big events; but honestly from looking at Eloni, the green Android, one could not tell. October 10th was a big night for 1010, but it was one of Eloni’s favorite nights in general (apart from maybe new-years)... Even now he wandered to-and-fro speaking with guests, introducing himself, even pairing people off with other dancers.

A robot’s job was never truly done, but Eloni lived for this! 1010 loved to party, but Eloni in particular loved THIS party. He loved the formal wear, the excuse to get gussied up, the copious amounts of booze and alcohol, the exorbitant amount of food (though he couldn’t enjoy it). Right now he was waiting primarily for the game of croquembouche jenda- but as he did so he scanned the room for any negative or alarming emotions.

… And that is exactly what he found.

Bar.

Eloni slowly maneuvered his way in between throngs of party-goers toward the bar; his vision of the emotions causing the disturbance to his radar began to ping more completely. Anger was brewing loudly at the bar, though the cause remained a mystery. There was no fight, no arguing that he could detect; it seemed like the barely contained rage was simply stewing there on it’s own…

And then it’s source came into view.

At the bar sat a woman with vibrant yellow skin, brownish hair with streaks of medium blond curled into a loose, low, and messy bun at her neck. Her jewelry was simple and ornate, but hung close to her body aside from her sequined headband and row of pearls that hung in a knot all the way down to her navel, and her dress was an old-fashioned tabard-style dress of white and sequined gold and copper. She looked less like a party-goer, and more like a run-away or jilted bride.

She was stunning, even if you didn’t have a thing for the art-deco look… Or her pretty, pissy face as she slowly sipped whatever drink she had in that martini glass. This mystery woman also did not look like she was a typical party-guest for the 1010 crowd.

Eloni needed to intervene.

And that’s just what he was going to do.

Eloni slid up to the bar-stool right beside her. “You know;” he began with an earnest grin. “I thought the Captain turned off the time-machine before the party.”

The mystery woman stopped, looked up at him and gave him a dubious scowl. For a moment they stared at each other in mutual silence as the heartbeat of the EDM around them did some of the talking for them.

She locked eyes with her as she took a pointed sip from her glass as he started to continue.

“Hey. Name’s Elo-” but the Android stopped his sentence half-way through as he realized something much more interesting to talk about. “Oh wow. Your eyes are pretty.”

The woman continued to sip her drink, this time her brows knit in confusion. Beneath fluttering, heavily eye-lined lashes and golden eye-shadowed lids lay a set of perfectly vibrant emerald eyes- with a ring of ultra-light purple around her pupils.

Finally, she spoke. “That’s it?” she asked. “... I thought y’were some sorta robo-casanova. You pick up most skirts like this?”

Eloni was flabbergasted.

“I mean- I…” he blinked as he tried to unpack what all the heck she just said. “Oh. OH, no. I’m not- I’m not a lady-killer. That’s uh- that’d be my brother. He’s… Uh…” Eloni felt his shoulders ride up in awkward embarrassment as he gestured elsewhere. “I just… Uh. I didn’t greet you as you came in and you seemed really mad, and I thought I’d come over to… You know?”

“Shoot the shit?”

“... Help?” Eloni offered, smiling. “What are you drinking? Where are you from? You don’t sound like you’re from around here.”

From where he sat the woman’s ire retreated noticeably. She was still angry, but now she was more… Uncomfortable than angry. Well… No. Mostly angry… She just wasn’t the rage-filled time-bomb waiting to go off.

She looked back to Eloni, who by now was leaning halfway over the bar, trying his best to be suave. He thought for a moment that her anger retreated entirely-- and then the rage was back.

She let out an audible noise, crossed her legs the opposite direction from him and returned to her drink. “One; if this is your attempt to get me to say by boozin’ me up; don’t bother. It’s lemonade, sugar. Two; you just insulted my dress. Why the heck’d I’d tell ya where I’m from?”

Eloni sat up. “What? Nooo. I didn’t- I didn’t mean to insult your-” he gave her a once-over again. 1010 wasn’t really programmed to oggle fans, at least not discriminate, but Eloni still found her sense of style utterly different and definitely worth looking at. The dress, be it old-fashioned definitely fit her pretty well, and upon closer inspection it wasn’t white; but a very pale yellow. She looked and talked like a gangsters wife from some of those old mob movies.

“My eyes are up here, birthday boy.”

“Sorry!” he said on instinct.

The mystery woman turned around in her seat and finally looked at him again. “Don’t’cha have some fan to flirt with?” she asked. “Doubtless this is comfortable for you.”

Eloni smiled a little more. “Try me! My prime directive is to make sure all our fans have a good time at our birthday party!... Annnnd you seem dead-set on being pissed.”

The woman gave him a disbelieving look and crossed her arms, letting her drink sit on the counter empty. “Butter my scotch n’ call me in the mornin’, you ain’t gunna give up on this, are ya?”

“I’m programmed to make people smile!” Eloni insisted, sitting up straight and giving a little, informal salute. “Noooo frowns on my birthday!”

“Uh-huh…”

Eloni relaxed and leaned a little closer to her. “So, seriously baby. If I’m bothering you; I can always get one of my brothers. I’m not the popular one, but you say the word! All I want is a smile from you, and it’d be the best birthday gift.”

“Ppft,” the woman dismissed, but then she got a little quiet. “... No offense…” she said quietly. “... I’m flattered, but, seriously. You should go try to flirt with one of your fans, okay?” she asked. “It’s sweet you’re trying to make me feel better, but it’s not going to do much for me.”

“SiiiiSTER!” came a bombastic voice from right behind them. “Sister, I have procured the caviar and blinnies! You are correct! They are-” Eloni turned around to see a man with long, straight blond hair with stripes of green, but the strangest thing about this man was not his hair- but the goggles worn on his face.

The moment that Eloni saw the man seemed to be the moment the man saw him in return. There he stood, knees slightly bent with two plates filled with the aforementioned hors d'oeuvres on little plastic plates.

“OH. A 1010!... I will- uhh… I’ll just.”

“Zeebs, it’s fine…” the woman said, turning around and sliding off. “We were just going anyway.”

Eloni spun to follow her with his eyes. He should have just dropped it- everything in his code should have told him to stop his pursuit of this faraway, foul-mouthed, foreigner… But it was his birthday, dang it.

“You know; it’s rude to come to the party and ignore the birthday-boy!”

The pair stopped. The man with the goggles; (Zeebs wasn’t it?) turned around and let out a low and singular laugh. “It’s rude to harass a troubled woman! You don’t see her complaining!”

The woman held up her hand to her companion, then glared back at Eloni. “Well, kill me softly with his song- for an NSR goon ya don’t give up, do ya?”

Oh! That was a musical reference… Actually it was two. The comment on being an NSR goon was a bit befuddling for a moment, but figured it had been because she plainly was not from Vinyl city.

Eloni saw her irritation flare, but all he could do was smile. By now their interaction had proven to become interesting to the people around them. “1010 never surrenders,” he recited.

The two unknown party guests stopped and seemed to survey the situation. Zeebs glanced around a little more frantically than his sister whose interesting gaze settled back onto the green android after a moment. “Oh my goood… What. Do. You. WANT from me? A smile?” she asked, not at all afraid to show she was still mad. “‘Cause I’ll have y’know: I have a reason why I’m absolutely livid!”

“Sister… Ix-nay on the Ad-may…”

“Fuggit. We’re already here,” the woman said back at him. “Go on, birthday boy. What’ll it take for you to let me skip town in peace?”

Eloni stood up, stretching out to his ten foot height. “If you weren’t here for my birthday; you should have made an appointment!” he chided, watching the face of this mystery-woman’s flinch with embarrassment. “Tonight’s my night! A night to pAaRrTty~” he hummed musically. “What sort of party would it be without dancing?”

The woman paused, her face still scrunched in disbelief before she turned to her brother. “... Hold my purse,” she instructed softly, turning back to Eloni with a little stomp. “Alright, soldier-boy,” she said lifting a finger up at his face… From allllll the way down there. At least five feet down. “You get ONE. Dance. After that, and I’m gone. No ifs, ands, or buts.”

Eloni studied her emotions for a moment. She was still… Mad, but she was almost acting comically pissy. To liken it to something easier to explain- if red was anger and yellow was happiness, then her emotions teetered on a pale orange. She was just as happy to be pursued as she was angry it was him.

Eloni leaned down. “Sure, baby. I can make one dance count.”

There came a tart snort from the woman below him. “Oh,” she laughed… Then slowly her anger receded a little more. “Oh. I’m gunna fucking run you into the ground, you sentient lamp-post.”

It was a threat. It was playful. It was a challenge… It tickled him.

Eloni let out an equally incredulous laugh. “Can you even… Dance in that thing?” he asked, taking in the nearly floor-length gown.

But surprisingly the woman forced a smile, grabbed Eloni by his suit jacket and started dragging him off to the dance floor. “Quit talkin’. Move ya gams.”

Eloni let out another chuckle as he watched the woman drag him out to the dance floor. The anger was practically no longer there. Only tracings remained; but emotions didn’t necessarily just stop because you had moved on: they lingered. This stranger had some fight back in her, but it seemed she was enjoying this more than not.

“So aggressive, baby~”

The woman looked back up at him. “Don’t call me ‘baby’, sugar.”

“Don’t call me ‘sugar’, doll.”

“Don’t call me ‘doll’, either.” By the time Eloni was dragged back into the dancing fray the woman had turned around and snapped to, heels he hadn’t had the chance to see snapping to as she readied herself. “You swing, darling?”

Oh. Oh he didn’t entirely know how to respond to that.

“... I’ll take that as a-”

“I’ll match whatever you put out, ma’am,” he finally pushed out.

The woman finally seemed to regard him for a second, before shrugging, not looking at him straight in the face. “Mm. We’ll work on it,” she said, stepping close. “Ever dance with a partner?.... And I don’t suppose you can use your super robot powers to play a good swing number?”

Eloni…Wasn’t entirely sure what happened after that. All he did was look up towards the DJ booth where Subatomic was playing his fair share of music and sent in a request, message hurried and likely missing a few vowels. He didn’t care.

“... So, uh,” Eloni started. “Uh, I’m sorry. I’m not normally this brave…” he said. “Or. Uh this pushy…”

The woman cocked her hips and shimmied a bit closer. “It’s your birthday,” she excused. “... And it was kinda rude of me to stop and not say hi, at least, so. Two-fer-two, darling.”

Eloni blinked again as DJ came through- birthday boy requests were high on the chain of command. Soon the sound of electric-pumped ragtimey-toons pounded through the air… That’s when it was all a blur.

1010 was designed to dance, yeah, but new dances took a lot of concentration and coding on the part of the Droids AI. Eloni and his brothers were great with their dance routines, but sometimes their personal dancing skills were hit-or-miss… Even then Eloni liked to think his long legs would hit those swing-high kicks; but he was nothing on this woman. Sheer fabric and high-heels were competing with him faster than he had ever seen…It wasn’t a quarter into the dance that his lead was entirely taken over by her.

It was a situation he had no idea was coming; a woman half his size beating him at dancing. A HUMAN woman practically running him into the ground… It was a lot, it was an endless barrage of legs and shimmies…

It was pretty great.

Just as soon as the song had started; it had ended, Eloni was practically bent over and the mystery woman was done. Off she trotted in her high-heels to re-join her worried looking brother with a completely enraptured Eloni to follow her.

“W-wait. What’s your-” but before Eloni could finish the question or even grab her attention- he felt his hydraulic knee buckle- and land him square onto a nearby table.

Plasticware and plates flew to the floor and Eloni struggled to keep his holographic head above a pool of spilled rose and champagne. When people rushed him to see what was wrong he gazed around.

The Mystery Woman and her brother were gone.... Well. At least he made her smile!

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idontneednofuckinhug · 5 years

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The post 2017 trap wave has been... pretty boring

Recently Roddy Ricch dropped his official debut album Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial. Although born and raised in Compton, California, the rapper has adopted a very new-wave melodic trap sound, typical for the latter part of the 2010s, rather than the historically successful gangster-inspired sound with lots of storytelling elements from the rappers who came up from that area. In the past few years we've witnessed the rise of melodic, autotune-fueled trap with lots of slurred speech and less of a focus on lyrical complexity.

This type of trap gained popularity in the early to mid 2010s when Future and later Young Thug became two of the most popular rappers in the current music industry, with both of them "creating" and developing the sound. Later on Travis Scott adopted the same type of heavily autotuned trap melodies, adding more heavy 808s and aiming to create club bangers which hit harder, rather than be catchy. The huge spike in popularity from this type of sound predictably heavily influenced the next crop of rapping talent to come through and make a name for themselves in the game. In the latter 2010s we saw the rise of acts such as Lil Baby, Gunna, Lil Mosey, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie and lately Don Toliver and Roddy Ricch. Lil Baby and Gunna came through Thugger's label, appearing on a multitude of songs together with him, whilst Don Toliver is a Travis Scott understudy, being a main feature on the recent JACKBOYS record.

Now, it's quite obvious that this new generation of trap music in no way aims to tell a thrilling story or mistify with complex rhyme schemes and witty punchlines, just like its SoundCloud and Three 6 Mafia inspired predecessor. Trap music has in general defined the clubbing scene the past decade and has given some of the hardest hitting party music that we could've imagined fitting the 2010s ideally. It also gave rise to some fantastic rappers and personalities such as Denzel Curry, Lil Uzi Vert, The Underachievers, JID and Ski Mask the Slump God.

The issue with the current crop of trap artists is how generic and lazy the current rap scene is becoming. Although acts such as Future and Young Thug did become popular with this type of sound, Future came through as one of the first rappers to slur his words, whilst Young Thug has a very distinct and playful voice and adds amazing energy to his music. Travis Scott for all of his shortcomings, can actually go really hard and write complicated bars to impress even the most critical of oldheads. The plain and catchy sound of the majority of trap production currently aims to compliment these rapper's talents and make them the focus of the music, as a more complex and harder to produce beat often takes a lot of the listener's attention and unless you're an MF DOOM or Freddie Gibbs, you're better off not rapping on one of those.

The current crop of young artists has adopted similar styles to these rappers who inspired them, but unfortunately for them, they lack the character or lyrical ability to stand out in the crowd. The likes of Gunna and Lil Baby clearly lack the energy Young Thug has, which makes them sound extremely bland and they often end up drowned by the beat, although its often simple production. Don Toliver and Roddy Ricch try to be a bit more creative with their bars, but often sound too simple and sometimes cringy on top of the generic production, making them end up relying on catchy hooks to keep the listener's attention, which although will definitely work for the majority of club music and will impress the mainstream for a while, will likely not give them any longevity.

As it currently stands, the majority of the trap artists which blew up in 2018 and afterwards will have to evolve quite a bit as acts to have a place in the industry, or will face the fate of rappers such as Kodak Black and Lil Yachty from the previous trap wave, where each new project sounds more and more boring for the listeners with them ultimately slowly fading into obscurity when the next temporary hip-hop wave enters the mainstream for a while.

#rap #trap #2020 #new wave #music #Young Thug #Future #opinion #Travis Scott #Roddy Ricch #generic #autotune #Lil Baby #Gunna #melody #Don Toliver

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deadcactuswalking · 4 years

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REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 20/03/2021 (Central Cee, KSI/YUNGBLUD/Polo G)

On the tenth week that a song appears on the UK Singles Chart, it becomes likely that it has a cut to its streaming numbers by the Official Charts Company, particularly if it’s still in the top 10 and especially if it’s #1. So, the streaming and sales do not change, but the Official Charts Company just weighs them differently. This means that it’s often that songs reliant on streaming – read: most of the chart given that the UK doesn’t factor in radio – drop intensely on that particular week. Therefore, we switched out our Pokémon and “drivers license” by Olivia Rodrigo has been replaced at #1 after nine weeks by “Wellerman”, an 1800s sea shanty from New Zealand covered by Nathan Evans and remixed as a pop-house song by 220 KID and Billen Ted. Of course. I don’t know all of the complexities behind this rule but I do know it shakes up the chart at the cost of it being ridiculously inaccurate – I do think “drivers license” is probably still the biggest song in the country. “drivers license” is at #18 now, by the way. Yikes. Welcome back to REVIEWING THE CHARTS.

Rundown

We have a pretty interesting week, to say the least, but before all that, we can get through this brief rundown as always as we cover the UK Top 75 and all of what’s happening over there, since that’s what I cover. First of all, we do have some big drop-outs, like #1 hits “Roses” by SAINt JHN and remixed by Imanbek that seemingly had its second wind pummelled this week, and “positions” by Ariana Grande leaving somewhat prematurely. We also have “Mr. Brightside” by the Killers retreating to the other 25 slots I don’t cover because, well, of course, as well as “Midnight Sky” by Miley Cyrus and sadly, “Be the One” by Rudimental featuring MORGAN, TIKE and Digga D, but that’s all for the notable drops out of the chart. Still falling within the chart other than the aforementioned “drivers license” are... basically all of the Drake songs from last week falling behind the top 10 and even the top 20, and two of them being behind “Leave the Door Open” now – thankfully. “What’s Next” is at #20, “Lemon Pepper Freestyle” featuring Rick Ross is at #25 and “Wants and Needs” featuring Lil Baby is at #28. We also have a handful of other notable fallers like “WITHOUT YOU” by the Kid LAROI at #27, “Hold On” by Justin Bieber off of the debut at #31 (could rebound next week when the album makes its impact), “Paradise” by MEDUZA and Dermot Kennedy at #35, “Anxious” by AJ Tracey off of the debut to #45, “Anyone” by Justin Bieber at #49, “Medicine” by James Arthur at #54, “Bluuwuu” by Digga D at #57, “34+35” by Ariana Grande at #58, “Dance Monkey” by Tones and I at #60, “Toxic” by Digga D at #61, “Good Days” by SZA at #64, “Whoopty” by CJ at #65, “Prisoner” by Miley Cyrus featuring Dua Lipa at #66, “Afterglow” by Ed Sheeran at #68, “Regardless” by RAYE and Rudimental at #69, “you broke me first” by Tate McRae at #71 and finally, “Lemonade” by Internet Money and Gunna featuring Don Toliver and NAV at #75. I hope that next week is the last time I need to say “Lemonade” by Internet Money and Gunna featuring Don Toliver and NAV, not because the song is bad but that is a convoluted credit if I’ve ever seen one. In terms of gains and returning entries, it does get interesting. The only return is for “Watermelon Sugar” by Harry Styles at #67, but our gains include “Didn’t Know” by Tom Zanetti at #56, “Heartbreak Anniversary” by Given at #42 thanks to the video, “Ferrari Horses” by D-Block Europe featuring RAYE at #36 off of the debut, “We’re Good” by Dua Lipa at #32, “All You Ever Wanted” by Rag’n’Bone Man at #29, “Astronaut in the Ocean” by Masked Wolf at #24, “Let’s Go Home Together” by Ella Henderson and Tom Grennan at #21, “Little Bit of Love” also by Grennan at #13, “Streets” by Doja Cat at #12 thanks to the video and three songs making their first entry into the top 10 after picking up the pace on the charts recently: “Commitment Issues” by Central Cee at #9 thanks to his album, “BED” by Joel Corry, RAYE and David Guetta at #8 and finally, to my dismay, “Latest Trends” by A1 x J1 at #2 thanks to a remix featuring Aitch. Sigh, okay, well, we have a... curious selection of new arrivals so let’s start with that.

NEW ARRIVALS

#73 – “You’ve Done Enough” – Gorgon City and DRAMA

Produced by Gorgon City and DRAMA

Gorgon City are a British EDM duo who were particularly big back in 2014 or so when they had their top 10 hits, particularly “Ready for Your Love”, which peaked at #4, but they haven’t really had much success since in the UK or Europe in general. This time, however, they’ve clinched a spot in the top 75 by collaborating with DRAMA, another electronic duo except they’re from Chicago instead of north London and the vocalist here, Via Rosa, is actually from DRAMA and not some uncredited session vocalist or a sample, which surprised me because the vocals here are genuinely great and remind me a lot of these booming diva voices used so commonly in 90s house. In fact, I think this whole song is genuinely great, relying on a house groove that is pretty damn funky and some subtle keys making the foundation for a bouncy four-on-the-floor beat, with the shaky percussion just adding the spice on top of it. It helps that this chorus is pretty ethereal, with Rosa’s vocals booming over this angelic synth blend before a pretty ugly-sounding drop but that is absolutely on purpose, as the content here is about that struggle between trying to find someone and trying to better yourself so you feel like you’d be worthwhile to anyone you end up meeting, which is kind of a depressing cycle in many ways... not that I’ve experienced that, but it sounds like it warrants the DRAMA here. There are tons of intricacies in the productions here too that make the song a lot more complete, particularly in the vocal production and all the intrusive bass wobbles by the second chorus and drop, so, yeah, for once, the generic house tune debuting low on the chart is a pretty great one. I wish it went somewhere further so it sounded like an actual song but as is, without a real bridge, this is still a good, almost anthemic dance track.

#70 – “Rasputin” – Majestic and Boney M.

Produced by Majestic and Frank Farian

Boney M. are a pretty legendary disco group collected by producer Frank Farian of several Caribbean singers to make some of the most fun pop music of the 70s. One of the most interesting things about this band were the fact that they were immensely popular in the Soviet Union back when that existed, and some Soviet films even show their songs playing during high-ranking Soviet government meetings, which sounds like pure comedy. Funnily enough, “Rasputin” was the only song Boney M. were forbidden to play in the USSR, even though it was still a big hit there. The 1978 song, a #2 hit for the band in the UK, basically retells the story that led to infamous and fascinating Tsarist Russian mystic Grigori Rasputin being assassinated, with most claims in the song itself being true or at least as far as we know, although the song does mostly focus on how much of a womaniser he was. The original hit is equally fascinating as the guy himself, with a great typical disco sound, those iconic strings and the use of Russian instrument balalaikas in its mix just furthering that intrigue. Now, in 2021, the song became a hit on TikTok because... of course, and now this remix by a DJ and producer called Majestic, is charting on the UK Singles Chart. Why this remix and not the original song? Well, this is basically a French house remix of the song, using those house patterns not too dissimilar to Daft Punk or Stardust-type stuff, which makes perfect sense to remix a classic disco tune. I do prefer the original track about “Russia’s greatest love machine”, because it’s a lot more natural and the remix is kind of poorly done in some places if I’m being honest, but if this is how kids decide to experience this type of classic disco, I’m not going to complain. It’s a good song; I’m interested to see how this second chart run goes.

#53 – “DAYWALKER!” – Machine Gun Kelly featuring CORPSE

Produced by BaseXX, Machine Gun Kelly and SlimXX

Nope. No, no, no. I refuse. I’m completely fine with bringing pop-punk and post-hardcore stuff back, but if the ringleader is Machine Gun Kelly and he’s bringing out Corpse Husband to help him on this trap-metal garbage, I’m not even going to acknowledge it further than the fact that it exists and it’s probably not in MGK’s best interests to compare himself to Capitol Hill rioters. Otherwise, absolutely not. Nope. Not even going to give this the time of day.

#46 – “Addicted” – Jorja Smith

Produced by Compass

In stark contrast, here we have Jorja Smith’s new single to add to that confusing sophomore album roll-out that I feel has been delaying itself for two years now. This new song is about giving your all to a relationship and not having it reciprocated, but she paints this in a very odd way, painting herself as “too selfless” to leave and that her partner should be “addicted” to her, which seems like the wrong way to go about writing this entirely, especially if this instrumental is going to be the dullest blend of checked-out live percussion and a boring electric guitar loop, and Jorja Smith’s not going to sell this in a different way to how she sells her other songs, going for a subtle croon that just doesn’t make sense for a song where we’re clearly not supposed to think Jorja’s in the right for being this obsessive and somewhat hyperbolic about this relationship not going the way she planned. I could see this being done really well but the song is too weak and flimsy as is to grasp how to handle the content and I’m sorry but it just does not work for me.

#44 – “Day in the Life” – Central Cee

Produced by Frosty Beats

Central Cee released his debut mixtape, Wild West and, listen, there was a point to me not saying much about “DAYWALKER!” so I think Central Cee existing and giving me so little to work with will weaken that point even further. To be fair, I like the choir sample in this beat, even if the drop is going to be really awkwardly staggered by a loose 808 for no reason, and this drill beat never really feels like it keeps up with itself, especially because Central Cee might be the least interesting rapper in a crop of already desperate British rappers. He also says that rappers that use Auto-Tune don’t “really rap” or “really trap”, which is awkward considering some of this guy’s back catalogue, and also incredibly untrue. He also disses D-Block Europe pretty directly which, regardless of who it’s from or how famous DBE continue to get, always feels like punting down, so, yeah, this is worthless.

#43 – “On the Ground” – ROSÉ

Produced by 24, Jon Bellion, Ojivolta and Jordgen Odegard

This is the debut solo single from ROSÉ, one of the singers from K-pop group BLACKPINK, which explains my initial confusion to why this was so high. The label has enlisted Jon Bellion of all people to produce as they intend to push ROSÉ as a global hit-maker in her own right, given that this is part of a two-track EP so that if one track doesn’t do as well, fans could gravitate to another and that becomes the hit. See “Havana” or, really, how Drake releases his singles nowadays. Looking at some of her television appearances and the language surrounding that, it seems like they’ve been trying to push her as a soloist for a while, and given that she broke PSY’s record for most-viewed solo South Korean video in 24 hours with this song, I think it’s a success. Is the song itself any good? Well, to my surprise, it’s all in English. It now sits at 100 million views and really, there’s no way to distinguish that this is from Korea... which isn’t a bad thing, necessarily, because the song is great, relying on this slick electric guitar pluck and ROSÉ’s vocals which, despite being drenched in reverb, sound really great, before the whole song is abruptly plunged into this distorted, bassy electro-pop void which is just a fascinating and kind of avant-garde choice for a pop song like this. The song doesn’t really develop further than that, pretty much repeating its own structure, but that drop with all the spliced-in backing vocals, is such an interesting catharsis itself that I think it makes up for that. The final drop does a lot different as well, going for a lead synth melody on the top of the mix that again sounds really great when paired with that mix and then the rising strings. I was tempted to write this song’s quirks off as shoddy K-pop songwriting but given the credits, especially Jon Bellion, I’m confident all of this nonsense is absolutely on purpose, and I love it. Check it out, I hope this becomes a hit outside of this debut week, although I really don’t think that’ll happen given it’s (ostensibly) a K-pop song and their western success is largely dominant on sales from fans. Regardless, I’m glad it debuted here in the first place as I wouldn’t have heard it otherwise.

#16 – “6 for 6” – Central Cee

Produced by Okami202, Sevon and Young Chencs

This is Cee’s sixth song to hit the chart, and hence he’s going “six for six”, even though only two of those singles were actually poised to stick around in any shape or form. He does seem to be going somewhere with this, particularly the direction I thought “Loading” would be going, as it uses a choir sample as the background to this janky UK drill beat... but it’s soon drowned-out and Cee himself is such a non-presence that it’s not worth paying attention to the guy’s content, let alone his lyrics which seem to try and be somewhat introspective about his drug-dealing and gang violence, but end up being incredibly shallow and not really saying anything, about as shallow as this instrumental. The outro would be a pretty nice piano interlude if it didn’t stop so abruptly and I’ve only got to hope that leads into a track on the album and isn’t just a mistake, because I’m not listening to that mixtape if my life depended on it. Another snooze from Central Cee, what a surprise.

#3 – “Patience” – KSI featuring YUNGBLUD and Polo G

Produced by Matt Schwartz

Remember when I said we had three songs making their first entry into the top 10? Yeah, turns out that I’m a compulsive liar since we actually have a fourth at #3, and I’m tempted to nope my way out of this one as well. What’s with this week and whiny, wannabe pop-punk singers collaborating with obnoxious YouTubers? I feel like I’m too old to cover this stuff every other week, and that’s saying something considering KSI himself is pushing 30 at this point, but regardless, I have to check out the song and to my surprise, it’s actually kind of decent. It goes for an 80s synth-rock vibe, with massive guitar tones and obviously not live drums that kind of undercut the pretty great bass groove here, but man, Polo G sounds surprisingly good on this production. His verse is pretty infectious, even if it ends up crushed at the end by YUNGBLUD’s hook, which sounds the least insufferable this guy has ever been, probably because of how the vocal production keeps him slightly in check. KSI himself might be the weakest link as he cannot sing at all, and the Auto-Tune in his verse is not helping, but I do like his David Bowie-interpolating ad-libs on the choruses (Yes, seriously). The bridge is a pathetic excuse of a bridge and the song’s mostly chorus – I’m kind of worried about KSI as a hit-maker going forward if he’s going to consistently contribute so little to his own singles, most of which have two other people on. I mean, it works as a short, inoffensive pop-rock song and not much else. I really wish this was Polo G’s song, actually, I think he deserves a second verse here.

Conclusion

Well, that week happened, that’s for sure. I’m going to give Best of the Week to the obvious outlier here, “On the Ground” by ROSÉ, but not without an Honourable Mention to Gorgon City and DRAMA for “You’ve Done Enough”. Worst of the Week is also going to the obvious outlier, “DAYWALKER!” by Machine Gun Kelly featuring Corpse Husband. Can I give a song I literally refused to review Worst of the Week? Yes, yes, I can. For Dishonourable Mention, just pick your Central Cee-flavoured poison. Here’s this week’s top 10:

I’ll see you next week for... Justin Bieber and Lana Del Rey. Damn, maybe I won’t see you next week.

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flightybuttlass · 7 years

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okay, who wants some Ragna-thoughts:

starting with the very end, THEY’RE DOING ASGARD TO EARTH, I DID NOT EVEN CONSIDER THAT POSSIBILITY!!! That was my second favorite Thor run of all time and to see it play out on the big screen was so neat, I just wish we could see Thor summoning the entire kingdom to Oklahoma!

Okay now back to the beginning, I literally wept during that first fight scene bc a) I missed my baby boy so much!!! and b) that shot that followed the hammer in a circle was the sickest shit I’ve ever seen

Thor in his midgard outfit was so fucking precious. He looks so comfy in his jeans and like 4 layers of shirts and jackets

I did not see Doctor Strange, but like... where does his bitch ass get off being the #1 earth defender now, when I’m pretty sure he got his magician gig like... 6 months ago? Wadn’t he a selfish prick up until then? and implying that he could school Loki in magic? I don’t fucking think so. A+ for Thor destroying his house, 10/10, would watch again.

the beginning really did a good job of just how important the hammer is to Thor and all the cool ways he can use it, like in a way better way than all the other movies did. Him just casually throwing it around was really neat, and totally what I would do if I had such a thing.

and another thing this one did better (aside from, like, EVERYTHING, but I digress) is emphasizing Thor and Loki’s brotherhood. Loki wasn’t there to be a villain, he was just a terrible little shit brother, and Thor actually knew all of his tricks, which makes waaay more sense than “Are you ever not going to fall for that one?” bc they are brothers! Thor would know him better than that, and in this one he fucking did.

On that note, I could tell going in that Thor would be goofy and a little immature, but still observant, and they delivered on that. He was so sincere, and sharp, and emotionally mature when they moment required him to be. He just felt like such a well-rounded character and I am eternally grateful for that!

anyway I LOVE MY BEAUTIFUL DRUNK GF

Valkyrie was so cool and relatable! The whole “drinking to forget” angle totally worked, and I’m glad they took the time in the beginning to show she wasn’t such a serious character, which is a trap that so many of these action movies get into with their female leads. She fell off that ship and into my heart!

And her chugging that drink in Hulk’s room was the biggest mood

AND HER BEING BESTIES WITH HULK MADE MY ENTIRE GODDAMN LIFE

like the two of them play fighting and being all chummy?! A fucking delight! A++++!!! And the fact that she and Bruce couldn’t figure out how they knew each other? So cute! That relationship was the big winner in my book

That part with Thor admitting he wanted to be a Valkyrie as a kid? It got so awkward, but I was still totally like “LET HIM BE A VALKYRIE THO”

Speaking of Hulk, when they showed his ass, all I could remember is that post that said “I’m afraid this movie is gunna make me want to fuck the Hulk” and how that is about to be true for.... a handful of you fine folks

humanizing the Hulk is another thing that this movie actually went out of it’s way to do, best hulk appearance by far, AoU and Avengers can suck it

That being said, but did anyone find Bruce kind of... Annoying in this one? I get that he was freaked out for a grip but like, 0/10 for charm, snark, and cuteness, wasn’t generally very useful to the plot either

I was like 10000% sure they were mocking the whole AoU de-Hulking process when Thor gave it a try during their fight, but then the video of Nat was the catylist for his return to Bruce, so like... that ball was dropped after all. I cannot for a second pretend that my heart didn’t skip a beat when Thor tried that tho, like “YES ITS THUNDERHULK TIME!!!”

On that note, I’ve called you all here today to make a very important announcement. I’ve done some soul searching and have come to the conclusion that BruceNat was never good and I am ready to denounce my time stanning for it. I will not be taking questions on the matter.

like seriously, to borrow a phrase from the McElroys, every time they brought it up, my skeleton completely left my body and ran off. This movie in general gets a 5/10 for skeleton evacuations, 6/10 for watching it through your fingers, and a 3/10 for taking your glasses off so you don’t have to see the humiliating jokes

the joke I laughed the hardest at was Korg mentioning his mother’s boyfriend, who he hates. Describing Korg as “scene stealing” is an understatement, he was the fucking treasure of the movie.

The Grandmaster was flawless as well tho, just fucking delightful.

I’m seeing it again on Saturday with a date and I can’t wait to catch all the jokes I missed, bc the crowd tonight was cracking up so dang much that I missed a few punchlines.

Second funniest moment tho was Thor describing how Loki would turn into a snake when they were kids, and then stab him. Just some boyish fun :)

I didn’t miss the Ares and Beta Rey Bill easter eggs on the grandmaster’s tower

Thor loosing an eye? Heart wrenching, and totally surprising too! If he doesn’t still have the eye patch in Infinity War I will be very upset. I also wept during the second fight scene with Immigrant Song bc it was just so rad and my lighting prince is just so strong and stalwart!

Just in general, Thor’s lightning powers were so much cooler here than any other appearance bc it actually seemed like something he had to work to access, not just blast out at will. I guess that was because he didn’t have the hammer to channel it? but at any rate his powers felt both more personal and more fierce, not just like something he has. This one just added so much more depth to Thor in general

Hemsworth was just fucking hilarious and cheeky and really kept the balance in the movie. All of the slapstick (and there was A LOT) didn’t cheapen any of the character’s roles, maybe save for Bruce’s, who was generally the weakest character there by far.

I can’t wrap up without mentioning how they really made an effort to make the people of asgard seem more racially diverse, and while not perfect, it was a noticeable effort that needed to happen

anyway 10/10, exactly what I was hoping for, I owe Taika my life.

Its still second to Winter Soldier in my book, but a fucking close second for sure

feel free to talk to me about the whole thing I am so ready ^^

#thor ragnarok spoilers #xoxoxo

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aahhlliiss-writes · 7 years

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Meet Me in the Hallway

The first of my one shot series inspired by each song on Harry’s album! And also, the first piece of writing I’m ever posting - eeeeh!

Let me know what you think, and if you have any requests for future oneshots, you can ask me HERE.

2165 words.

WARNING - Drug use, sexual assault, workplace assault.

Harry sighed softly, rolling his head from one side of his pillow to the other. His torso was exposed, a lightly tanned arm resting on his stomach, with a sheet covering him from his inked butterfly down. His feet were stuck out the end of the light fabric, a habit Harry had developed when he was little. He hated the feeling of being too tucked in, especially in those hotel beds where the sheets are so tightly secured under the mattress it feels impossible to move.

His eyes half opened and then closed again for a few seconds before properly opening, taking in the bare back and messy hair of the girl next to him. He smiled, reaching his hand out and tracing a strong, lean finger up and down her spine. She shivered, snuggling her head against the pillow and subconsciously reaching down to tug up the sheets for more warmth. Harry let out a soft chuckle, shuffling in behind her and wrapping a strong but gentle arm around her waist, his lips pressing a soft kiss to nape of her neck. He breathed in, taking in her scent. He loved her like this, naked and natural, skin bare and hair undone.

“Hey miss,” he murmured, nuzzling in against her neck. “S’time to wake up I reckon.” She groaned, but her hand found his regardless, smaller fingers lacing in between his.

“C’mon sleepy. Got to geddup. Got work,” he added, leaning forward to kiss her cheek.

“I know,” she grumbled, turning in his arms to face him. “Five minutes?” she looked up hopefully, a hand reaching up to his face and fingers skimming along his cheek and the outline of his jaw. His eyes flickered, enjoying the touch.

“Five minutes,” he agreed, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

She grinned, moving with him as he rolled onto his back, her head moving easily to rest on his chest. It was a position they fell into often, and it felt so good. Harry’s large hand rubbed over her bare back, his lips moving to kiss the top of her head every few minutes. She let her hands explore him, one running up and down his side, the other tracing patterns on the arm that lay at his side. They stayed like this for five, maybe ten minutes, ignoring the day they would both soon have to face. Finally, she sat up, gazing down at Harry and kissing him properly for the first time that morning.

“Gunna have a blaze,” she murmured, “and then I’ll get ready.” She shuffled out of their embrace, sliding out of bed.

Harry stiffened immediately at her words, brow furrowing slightly and teeth nibbling his lower lip anxiously. His girlfriend, his woman, his one and only, had been smoking weed since the day he had met her. It had never really bothered him, sometimes he even got in on it himself, but lately she had been smoking more and more. Every night for the last two weeks in fact. This was a first though. She had never smoked in the morning. Harry knew that things at work were stressful, and that their relationship had been splashed across every tabloid imaginable since they attended their first event together officially, but that still didn’t seem reason enough for her to become so consumed by the habit.

He watched her as she pulled her little kit from their bedside table, assembling her pipe and loading the bud into the small metal bowl. He couldn’t speak, and yet he had so much to say. He watched her with wide eyes as she lit up, sucking deeply on the pipe before blowing out a thick, pungent flume of smoke, eyes closing in pleasure as she did so. He noticed that her shoulders dropped and she slumped forward, almost as if she had been waiting for some form of relief and had finally gotten it. He stayed like that, frozen in shock and anxiety, watching her closely as she smoked the whole lot.

“That’s better,” she giggled softly, her eyes now bloodshot and body heavy with the drug.

The sound was alien to Harry, not at all her normal laugh, and he snapped out of the terrified trance he was in, his concern for the woman before him suddenly much more important than the fear he felt from the thought of confronting her.

“Love. Hey… Miss. Look at me,” he murmured, his voice soft but stern. She turned, hazy eyes drinking in the sight before him.

“You… You’re so sexy…” she whispered, dropping to the bed and crawling towards him. “Want you… Want to feel you…” she mumbled, licking and sucking a trail up his chest till she reached his neck and jaw.

He couldn’t help it, she turned him on. But now was not the time. He swallowed, hands finding her upper arms, halting her movements.

“What are you doin’? Why’ve you gone and smoked before work?” he asked softly, eyes concerned and probing as they met her gaze.

She frowned, breaking their gaze as she pulled away from him. “I wanted to. Just a bit of fun,” she stated bluntly, arms folding across her body.

Harry sat up, leaning in towards her, his hand moving to gently squeeze the bare skin just above her knee.

“S’not a bit of fun when it’s first thing in the mornin’ and you’ve got a big day ahead of you,” he paused, watching her closely for any form of reaction, but nothing came. “Love… ‘M worried about you.”

She snapped suddenly, scrambling off the bed. “It’s not your fucking place to worry! I’m fine! I just wanted a little smoke in the morning!” she yelled, exasperated by his words.

She darted around the room, desperate to get dressed as quick as she could. “You’re so fucking sensitive. It’s like�� You’re kept in this fucking bubble of safety. You’ll get drunk, but never wasted. You’ll go out, but you’ll always come home. You’ll get high and fuck me in a bar bathroom, but this?! Oh yeah, this is too fucking much for perfect Harry Styles,” she continued, spitting the words from her mouth like venom. “Well I can’t. I can’t anymore. Okay?! Every time I get stoned you judge me. I just know it. It’s my favourite thing, okay? It’s… It’s…” she paused, her voice softening and eyes filling with angry tears as she finally looked back at him. “It’s the only thing that keeps me from losing my fucking mind.”

And she was gone, bedroom door slamming behind her, soon followed by the front door. A few stray tears trickled down Harry’s cheeks as he sat, frozen, trying to take in all that had been said. No more than a few minutes passed and there was a buzz from the bedside table, his phone screen lighting up with her name.

“I know you’re in the studio today, I’ll get my stuff while you’re gone. Don’t call me.”

Harry shook his head in disbelief, fingers darting across the key board as he typed angrily, and then deleted everything he’d written. He repeated this a couple of times, and then gave up, throwing his phone down on the bed next to him. He couldn’t believe her. Sure it had only been eight months but they had something special. Something neither of them had ever felt before, and Harry knew that was the truth. There was no way she was throwing this all away over a silly fight. Her words rang in his head, and he let himself cry, bracing himself against the familiar mattress he was sat on.

The day had passed quickly, and Harry had been distracted for most of it. He felt guilty for what felt like wasting a day in the studio but he just couldn’t get his mind off what had happened. It was almost like he didn’t believe it could have happened. She never yelled, never lost her cool. Sure, they fought, but they were always able to solve it and he just couldn’t understand why she had gotten so upset. He was just concerned and trying to look out for her.

He pulled himself from the car he had been dropped home in, muttering a weak thanks in the direction of his driver and shutting the car door behind him. Stepping out of the elevator, he turned to walk down the quickly darkening hallway to his apartment door, stopping in his tracks when he saw her. She was weeping, slumped over her knees and pressed against his door, body shaking as each sob moved through her. He moved to her quickly, dropping to his knees in front of her, his hands prying hers from her tear-stained face. Every ounce of anger he had felt bubbling away in him since the fight disappeared, and all he wanted was to make the devastated girl in front of him feel okay.

“Hey… Hey hey hey… Oh love. C’mere… C’mon… What are you doin’ in the hallway sweet thing? C’mon…” he murmured, wrapping her up his arms.

“D-didn’t… C-couldn’t go in…” she forced out, pressing against his familiar frame. “S-said I’d be g-gone…” she whimpered.

Harry sighed, almost in relief that she was even there, lips pressing to the top of her head. “Silly thing. Just a fight… Don’t want you to actually go,” he whispered. “I need you to tell me what’s been goin’ on in that head of yours though my love,” he said, cupping her cheeks and bring her eyes up to meet his.

“I-I… Yeah. I have to tell you something,” she whispered.

“I figured as much…” he answered. “C’mon now. Up you get. Inside we go…” he murmured, gently helping her up through the door and to the couch. He settled her there, grabbing the mink blanket from the arm of the couch and wrapping her up in it, kneeling at her feet to remove her shoes. Once satisfied that she was as comfortable as possible, he sat down heavily opposite her, one arm resting on the back of the couch while his other hand found her thigh, giving it a gentle squeeze. “What’s happened?”

And so the story came, falling out of her mouth in quick, desperate stream. She told him about her boss, and how he had started to ask her stay late, and order in dinner for them both. And then he had asked her out and she had said no, but he wouldn’t take no for an answer. Night after night of him making her stay late and then feeling her up, until finally, he forced her down against a table. If she didn’t sleep with him then and there, she’d lose her job, that’s what he’d said. And then security had walked past, and she’d taken advantage, bolting from his grip and running out of the building. Since that evening it had been day in day out of avoiding him at all costs, leaving work in secret and locking herself in her office.

“And I didn’t want to tell you ‘cause I didn’t want it to get out and I don’t want to lose my job and I don’t know what to do and I just keep smoking and smoking ‘cause it’s the only thing that makes me feel good anymore, it’s the only thing that relaxes me and I just don’t know what to do. And I… I can’t lose you,” she finished, breathless and wide eyed, fixing her gaze on Harry’s face.

Harry swallowed, trembling with rage. “I’m gonna fuckin’ kill him,” he whispered, hand pulling away from her thigh as he clenched his fists.

He took a moment, shaking his head and drawing a deep breath to calm himself. This was fixable, he could deal to the terrible boss. What was more important now was the woman before him.

“Love… Never again will you hide somethin’ like this from me. You hear? You are the most important thing to me. And I won’t have you hidin’ shit like this. I love you. So much,” he said, looking at her earnestly. “No more smokin’. We’ll sort the bastard out. We’ll get you someone to speak to. You know, just so you can get your head straight after all this,” he continued.

“C’mere.” he murmured, opening his arms, waiting patiently as she moved into them, her body warm against him. “There you are. We’ve gotta get you better yeah? Gotta get this all sorted,” he reassured, hands moving slowly over her back. “M’always here. Always got you,” he whispered. “

Thank you,” she murmured weakly, finally relaxing against him, her face nuzzling in against his neck. “I love you. I’m sorry,” she said.

“You just relax now miss. Time for that in the mornin’” he murmured. “Love you too,” he added.

A comfortable silence settled over the pair as they slowly drifted off, warm and safe, and completely wrapped up in each other.

#oneshot #harry styles #harry styles oneshot #one shot #harry styles one shot #harry styles imagine #harry styles writing #writing #creative writing

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sambart93 · 7 years

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2017.06.12 Touken Ranbu Stage: Akatsuki no Dokuganryu [Review]

2017.07.03: Guys I’m going to be honest... I do/did NOT want to write this review. I was so so so so so excited for this stage that my expectations and the story I had in my head were just impossible to reach. 2017.07.23: I still don’t want to post this but it’s done so I will.

SO this review is going to be somewhat different. I’ll split it up: My NON-SPOILER review will be written after I’ve seen it a second time so it’s more fair. Then the spoiler review will be split into: My Expectations, My Experience on June 12th and how it went on July 14th. I hope it’s not too confusing!

***Seriously guys, be prepared for negativity in the June 12th one.

Official Site here Official Twitter here Press Coverage 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 Video Coverage 1 My Honnoji no Hen Saien Review here

CAST and CHARACTERS

Suzuki Hiroki as Mikazuki Munechika Aramaki Yoshihiko as Yamanbagiri Kunihiro Wada Takuma as Kasen Kanesada Naya Takeru as Sayo Samonji Higashi Keisuke as Shokudaigiri Mitsutada Hashimoto Shohei as Taikogane Sadamune Kento as Tsurumaru Kuninaga Ino Hiroki as Ookurikara Tomita Sho as Date Masamune

NON-SPOILER REVIEW Overall: If we take out all the biasness: this stage is a solid good second installment; as usual the staging, the lighting, the projection mapping, the script, the lines, the costumes, the action are all high quality. The story is emotional as expected, and it has more comedy moments than the last one. We get a lot more development on the characters and their relationships. Naturally there’s conflict between the swords too which makes it more interesting. There’s a few shockers here and there too so be prepared with tissues. However, I personally found this stage way too long and rather underwhelming. I read spoilers before the show and had this hugely different story built in my head. Adding that with my impossible expectations; I found this stage just okay. I also wanted it to be super dark which I didn’t get so that’s why my personal review of this is somewhat negative. If you want comedy, you’re gunna love this stage. If you wanted gritty and dark like me, you’re not going to like it as much. I DID enjoyed it more on my second viewing and understood the story a lot more and found more parts that I liked. Also this stage really helped solidify my love for Sayo and ShoSan <3 and, I really do like Ino as KuriChan. BUT I still found it too long, a lot of things (especially involving the projection screen) could’ve easily been cut out to make the story more bearable, and it wasn’t nearly as dark as I wanted, nor did the actual story beat the one I’d made in my head. I am also disappointed by how much of the comedy was actually completely scripted. Non-Bias Rating: 8.5-9/10. Bias Rating: 7/10

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Phew! Now to get to the nitty gritty of this review... psst. It’s freaking LONG. Almost as long as the play itself so you’ve been warned.

SPOILER REVIEW

MY EXPECTATIONS: So I was a bad girl and read some of the spoilers on twitter after the very first showing of this stage. And the two that stuck with me were: Kuro/Black-Tsurumaru and All of Dategumi shiken’d. So in my mind I made this story of: Everyone except Manba and Sayo go into the past and during that trip, Tsurumaru decides to turn bad and betrays all the swords, thus has to fight the rest of Dategumi (along with Kasen) and actually breaks them all and they all essentially die. This leaves Jiji who has to defeat and break/kill Tsurumaru. In the end, Jiji is the only one out of the six of them alive to return to Honmaru.

I had a fucking badass story - did I not?! And sadly... I was very, very wrong and this did not happen at all.

What REALLY happens is: The enemy attacks all 6 of them, and this forces all the dategumi to shiken. THEN one of the enemies takes Tsurumaru, who sacrifices himself so the other swords are safe, and possess him hence how he becomes Black Tsurumaru. So the other five have to fight Enemy-Possessed-Black-Tsurumaru and, for some reason, defeating Tsurumaru only defeats the enemy and does not equal to Tsurumaru being destroyed; in fact he’s absolutely fine and back to normal in the end.

Surely mine’s still the better one, right? I still think so at least. How did I come up with a better and darker story than Sue-freaking-Mitsu?!

ALSO! In the last stage, so many times Jiji is like ‘you’ll be fine if I’m never not here.’ and ‘I think everyone’ll be fine so long as you’re here (Manbachan) even if I’m not’. SO - correct me if I’m wrong, does this or does this not, imply: JIJI IS SUPPOSE TO FUCKING DIE/BE BROKEN SOON?! So I also went in with the expectation and hope that Jiji would die this time too. But he doesn’t! So what the fuck was all that in Honnoji no Hen all about?! So yes, another disappointment on my side.

I also had the expectation of this being very, very dark. In the first TouStage we got this very dark, depressing, question life mood. SO I was expecting this one to be dark, if not, darkER than Honnoji no Hen and honestly that’s what I wanted. I wanted ‘heart ripping, cried until you weep’ Messiah/HakuMyu style pain. But I didn’t get it! I was only sad/shocked/emotionally affected in ONE scene and for about only 30 seconds. TouStage 2 is not dark at all. It has WAY too much comedy for what I wanted and expected. So that’s another thing I was disappointed in.

High expectations + thinking of a much better (in my opinion) story + wanting something dark + set ups from the last stage not being fulfilled = ALL led to me being overly disappointed and very blasé and underwhelmed about this stage for a long time. Even now I’m still very in my head and trying to figure out how I feel about this.

And now you know why I’ve held off writing this review for so long.

ANYWAY! Now lets get onto this like scenes that happened, higawaris and stuff.

Warning: Excessive language coming up. Also, if you like Kasen then I highly suggest you skip the two-ish paragraphs where I talk about him; because I hate him and have nothing good to say about him.

PS. On June 12th I had done a full day of work, had been up since 5am and I was tired as fuck. So unfortunately I walked out of that theatre feeling ‘thank god that’s over. I was so bored...’ I had no emotional attachment to this stage at all. Sorry....

June 12th:

Part One

There is a scene towards the beginning of the play with Shokudaigiri and Taikogane (eventually Kasen does turn up). There’s quite a few moments here. The first is when Taiko first, first comes out, I think Shouhei slipped/tripped a little going up the slope. But I can’t really confirm this without a second viewing. Then, Taiko sees Shoku and goes running towards him and TonChan ended up spinning Taiko around a lot and he landed ON his farming tool xD Then towards the end of this scene Taiko like spins a root or herb in Kasen’s face.

Another thing I felt was a mistake is the first scene with Jiji and Tsurumaru where I think Jiji accidentally spoke too fast and cut Tsurumaru off a little bit so Tsurumaru jumped a little when he got cut off -- but this very well feels scripted too. Soon after this scene Manbachan turns up and of course Tsurumaru tried to scare ManbaChan, but he got used to it so Tsurumaru yelled again, but there was no reaction. Tsurumaru’s only idea after that was to lift Manba’s cape up and hug him from underneath. ManbaChan was not pleased xD but it was a good moment.

And then the opening comes and, I shit you not, they DON’T do ‘Hajimeyou’ what the actual fuck!?!?!? What. the. actual. fuck. And the opening and ending songs are not good this time around.... they’re very... underwhelming in comparison to Honnouji no Hen. I don’t like them. Yeah the music overall isn’t as good this time.

We quickly get to the new segment called MITSU’S KITCHEN and here he’s making Zundamochi. ManbaChan had the cutest apron/kappougi on over his Uchiban and cape. He was helping Shokudaigiri -- although to be honest all Shoku did was explain the instructions and ManbaChan had to grab the plates of food which weren’t in the right order so he was frantically searching behind the kitchen counter. And for the final plate, ManbaChan couldn’t find it and mouthed ‘nain da // it’s not here’ to which Jiji stood up and pulled the plate out of his top. Then Shoku and the team were talking about something, I wasn’t pay attention because ManbaChan walked to the right hand of the stage, knelt down and sulked for a bit, before he overheard them talking about Sayo and he pretended that Sayo was in front of him and tried to pat his head. Then he tried to undo his apron. It was a hilarious sight to see. He tried to grab it from the back and that didn’t work so switched his hands over and then part-way through his struggle, Ookurikara walked in and saw ManbaChan. ManbaChan stopped what he was doing and looked at him, Kuri-chan had to cover his mouth and look away a little so he didn’t laugh, and the entire audience cracked up. Then ManbaChan moved to the other side of the room and struggled to undo his apron while stood up. I have no idea what the main discussion was about. I was so focused on laughing (a lot) at ManbaChan and his damn apron.

We jump to another scene where ShoSan and co. have been drinking and they walk through the aisles. ShoSan did his staple, sitting on everyone’s seats and almost on them. He did it with like the 3 or 4 right-side aisle seats at the front. I couldn’t help but die with laughter because that’s so ShoSan xD He also started talking about zundamochi -- apparently it’s Date’s favourite sweet(?). Soon after this fun time though ShoSan gets serious and starts yelling. That was well done acting.

There’s a cute scene where Taiko and Shoku (and Tsurumaru?) watch Kurichan train and Kuri’s like ‘I know you’re there’ xD

NOW, Lets get to the problem child: Kasen. I fucking hate this son of a prick bitch. Oh my fucking god. I never liked him in the game and I got super, super pissed off at him in the stage. Kasen is such a pompous prick! He’s such an arsehole. Especially, OH MY GOD, especially when Kasen is on the roof with Sayo, and Sayo is like ‘why don’t you apologise to Ookurikara?’ and his answer is ‘why should I apologise?’ what a cunt. Oh my god, I cannot. I don’t understand how people like him. He’s a complete prick. Sorry if you like him but fuck me... I was about ready to get out of my seat, go on stage and murder Wada during one scene that happens later (I’ll get to it)! Kasen is just.... I can’t...

Anyway, back to getting my blood pressure down...

***

A comedic thing that didn’t happen on purpose was the freaking set breaking down. It wasn’t as obvious in part one but there was one moment in part one when the sets were changing over and part of it got caught on the edge and they couldn’t pull it properly off stage for ages.

Jiji is once again suspicious as hell in this stage. He has a scene towards the end of part one with Manbachan and he says ‘Manba ha kako janaku mirai. / Manba is not the past, but the future’ which is like ‘hurry up and die already Jiji then!’ He’s been dropping hints for two (technically 3) stages long that he’s gunna up and disappear or get broken/die. If you’re not gunna live up to the expectations writing team then don’t put these things in! I know Suzuki brings in a lot of money for you, and I know Jiji is like one of the most favourited sword in Touken but come on!!! Just kill him off already! At least that’s what I want! xD It’s at the beginning of this scene where ManbaChan is worrying about how he’s going to talk to Sayo, and Jiji opens his arms and is like ‘sunai ni nare! // be more honest and open’ and also says ‘do you want a hug?’ but of course ManbaChan doesn’t take the offer xD he should’ve done though. But then the scene turns scary when Jiji gets super angry and yells at ManbaChan. It was a totally believable moment and was some superb acting on Suzuki’s part. But yes, Jiji is suspicious as fuck still. Speaking of suspicious! Tsurumaru is too! Towards the end of part one he says something like ‘it’s you (Jiji) who I want to surprise the most’ to which I was like ‘ooooh my story/expectation of him choosing to turn into Black-Tsuru is gunna happen!!’ but obviously it didn’t -__-

I also want to touch on how adorable Manba is every time he tries to talking to or imagines talking to Sayo! He’s so adorable and nervous and just doesn’t know what to do! It’s cute as hell! And also when Sayo is there, Sayo is just like trying to get out of the situations and walk away from Manba xD both of them are adorable!

OOOH! And also Tsurumaru suggests they go on a picnic, while on their trip into the past, to help the fix the bonds between them. Trust Tsuru to come up with that idea. So they go on their history travel trip and take a freaking picnic with them. Shikudaigiri brings a blanket but it only fits him and Taiko on! xD and then Taikogane used the rolled up picnic mat as a guitar and pretended to play it, but no one reaction; the guys on stage nor the audience, so he looked to the audience and encouraged us to clap. And so Taiko walked off a little embarrassed xD Actually there’s a lot of breaking the fourth wall and looking towards the audience this time around which usually I’d enjoy but for TouStage; I don’t want it.

So after this scene we see Sayo sneak off and on his own. He finds Oookurikara and here Sayo explains about his (sword’s) past and here the projection screen came down -- in fact the projection screen is used a lot this time around which really pissed me off. Anyone who plays Touken KNOWS what happened to Sayo and KNOWS the history of his sword; we don’t need a 10 minute (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One-style) animation explaining what happened to him! A WASTE OF TIME. He could’ve easily just explained it to him without the screen -- what the fuck... Oh dear I’m getting angry again... AND THEN after Sayo tells his story we see that Kurichan is finally ready to open up and talk about his master but FUCKING KASEN!!!!! (here we go) FUCKING KASEN WALKS IN ON THEM SO FUCKING SHUTS KURICHAN DOWN AND STOPS HIM! FUCK SAKE! HE WAS ABOUT TO FUCKING OPEN UP AND YOU FUCKING WALKED IN!!! OH MY FUCK GOD! FUCK YOU KASEN! You COMPLETE fucking stubborn PRICK! Ugh I hate him so much... Okay I need to go and calm down again.

***

Unfortunately the first half felt like the longest 70 minutes of my life. I was just spending it going ‘come on... come on... get to the fighting! Lets get to Black Tsurumaru already!’ but of course that isn’t going to show up until part two but still, with my brain on ‘impossibly high expectations’ mode, the first half went so slow that I couldn’t really enjoy it. I was thankful when the break came -- this is why I hate breaks because my brain is constantly like ‘okay, break here? No, okay.. break here?! No okay... here?!’ where as, when there’s no break, I can just watch it start to finish and not worry about the story’s half way point or where the break might pop up. My brain is weird...

OOOOO! One more thing that pissed me off about the end to part one; I know he’s the Zachou and I know he’s a super duper famous actor and Jiji is super duper famous but for fucksake, stop putting Jiji/Suzuki at the end! We get it, he’s popular so he has to have the last line and has to be the last on stage -- ugh. Just don’t please. It just made me role my eyes at how predictable they were. He was like ‘ooo I wonder what’ll happen next’ *cue break* just *sigh* bitch please. Don’t get me wrong: I like Suzuki but just the way Japanese stages are OBVIOUSLY structured and have this Japanese hierarchy going on, really does piss me off. God forbid someone relevant to the MAIN story like Shoku or Date closes part one of the stage.

Part Two

Moving on... seeing Date get angry was a very good scene! I thoroughly enjoyed it! Great acting on ShoSan’s part.

So a main part of this story is: because the swords keep failing to stop Date from being killed and such, they keep being sent back in time to relive the same day. Because of this plot point, we see almost the exact same scene about three times before the time loop stops. And I swear to god: I almost lost my shit when they showed the same scene for the third time. I literally slapped my hand against my head and whispered ‘oh my fucking god’ in the middle of the theatre. I was about to walk out. We didn’t need to see the (almost) same scene that many times. You could’ve cut it and saved like 10+ minutes.

Seriously, this stage didn’t NEED to be 3 - 3.5 hours long; SO much could've been cut out. It's SO LONG. They could’ve figured out the time loop quicker - FUCK, Jiji knew the entire time! Why didn’t he just fucking tell them?! They didn’t need to reshow the same scene every fucking, we didn’t need all this Sayo Animation Backstory shit. We didn’t need all these comedy scenes - I don’t even want this much comedy in my TouStage! Just fucking cut Kasen out completely please <--- okay this is me being dramatic and bias, he kinda is needed for the story. This easily could’ve been cut down by a good hour if I’d gotten a hold of the script!!! Just saying TouStage team! Hire Me! xD

Another rant over... now to the shocker of the stage!

***

There was only ONE moment I was shocked and physically gasped at; Sayo getting attacked. I had no idea it was going to happen! He stops one of the enemies from attacking the other swords and takes the hit and seriously, his face when he looks towards the audience as he gets struck down -- my poor heart! I was HEARTBROKEN! This was the only time I cried the entire play. I was so dumbstruck. And because of this shocking moment; I have no idea what happened between this scene and when we get back to Sayo because I was too in my head going ‘is he alive?! is he okay?! hurry up and get back to him!’ so those 10-20minutes we spend away from Sayo, I’ve no idea what happened, I didn’t care; only Sayo mattered at that moment. Seriously, his face when he gets struck is BURNED into my head. It’s the stare you give when you take your final breath or when you realise ‘fuck this is gunna kill me’ type stare. It’s so terrifying. Huge kudos to Naya for this acting.

Going back to these doors not working! It was hilarious in part two! So after Sayo is okay, ManbaChan is like ‘lets go back in’ and he goes to the door but it won’t open (it’s like mechanically operated?) so MakiChan improvs and says 'Let's go around’, but the door partially opens just as they left the stage. Also at the end of the stage, (I think) KuriChan goes to open the door but again it malfunctions and he’s like ‘what’s with this?!’ and everyone is dying of laughter and ManbaChan was like ‘you gotta go around’ xD

Sayo’s almost being killed was the one thing that very emotionally hit me, but also seeing the Manba x Sayo fight hurt my heart somewhat. However, I really hate that (but I totally understand why) they split the two battles (Date vs DateGumi and Sayo vs Manba) up into sections so we constantly switched between the two, but I was just like ‘I really don’t care about DateGumi, just get back to Manba and Sayo’s fight already!’ So because of that I essentially missed the big fight; so personally it would’ve been better if they just did Manba vs Sayo from start to finish in one go and then go onto the DateGumi fighting; just for concentrations and impatient’s sake. I didn’t enjoy seeing Manba and Sayo fight; it made me sad. I knew neither would get seriously hurt but I love both of them so my poor heart... luckily they figure it all out in the end ^_^

Which reminds me! We have a scene after Sayo’s big attack, of Sayo recovering in bed (again -- call back to the Honnouji stage!) and ManbaChan goes to his room and is still struggling to talk to him. So much so, that Manba ends up talking to himself, very loudly -- Sayo can hear him the entire time -- and it’s very funny. Manba starts off very calm, trying to figure out how to talk to Sayo, but then he starts getting flustered and stands up and ends with ‘I can do it! Because 俺は偽物じゃない！・Ore ha nise mono janai!・I’m not a fake!’ and his does his staple cape flip. Everyone was cracking up laughing and Sayo is in bed looking at him weird like ‘I can hear you’ xD It’s a good moment. I love his cape flip every single time <3

By the way, I found it so fascinating and interesting how Japanese people pronounce Kebiishi compared to us foreigners. I know a lot of foreign people pronounce it (including myself) just like KBC but hearing them pronounce it; I was fascinated. It’s pronounced like ‘Ke (like KEttle)-BEE (as in the animal)-she (as in female)’ which is weird.. right? Just me? Okay!

After DateGumi shinken, I really loved the very loud booms/bangs we have when the Danshi attack. We get these huge blasts of sound and these green light attacks. It very good and you can feel the bangs in your seat; very fun!

Before I talk about the end, little side note: KuriChan completely won me over in this stage! I was always pretty ‘meh’ about KuriChan in the game. In Hanamaru, I really loved his part in the garden (where he missed getting attacked by the three bothers chasing that stupid bird xD) where he smiles to himself, and when they tried to play Host with him that one time. But overall Kuri never really stayed in my mind. But in this! Oh my, I am SO proud of Ino. Maybe it’s because previous to seeing this stage I read an interview where he was very open about not having much confidence and doesn’t think he’s a good actor, so my heart went kinda soft on him and wanted him to do well. Hence why I spent the entirety of the play (when ManbaChan wasn’t on stage) focusing on him and I really do like Ino’s performance and I really like his KuriChan! Also he ran past my side during one of the fight scenes. Although I agree with others: that tan is not the best. And I’m annoyed KuriChan has the most conservative Shinken form ever -- where’s my skin?! xD But yes Ino as Kuri, I could watch all day. I really really like this KuriChan!

Tsurumaru’s Shinken form is soooo good! Kento really suits the one arm sleeve look <3 also I giggled because when he got captured by the enemy, the ensemble guy (in the enemy suit) had his hand over Kento’s nipple xD made me giggle.

So it ends with, all the swords being fine (unfortunately) and Tsurumaru is back to normal, and Shoku brings out this ramen stand. Taiko tries to do the noodle flip and the noodles went everywhere and he’s like ‘...oops?’ And Shoku is just panicking that noodles are all over is counter now xD They gave the noodles to KuriChan which is adorable! And something happens that causes Sayo to smile and it’s the most adorable thing ever! Naya smiling is just the purest and cutest thing in the world anyway <333

And thus it ends with ManbaChan Jiji and Sayo, and Sayo is all dressed up and ready to go on a little journey by himself. He said he’ll be back though.. although I think it means he WON’T be back in TouStage 3 =‘[

Final side note: Shohei/Taiko's shorts xD holy moly they are SHORT and TIGHT. How did they not rip?! I’m fascinated how they didn’t rip! AND! There's like NO room to hide your boy parts yet he managed! What the.... xD

In true TouStage style they ended with an umbrella song Outro but oh my god, I almost died laughing. Just before this scene, it faded to black and two people in the audience started seriously clapping before very quickly realising that no one else was. They must’ve been so embarrassed. I was dying in quiet laughter in my seat. The umbrellas have changed a little this time (black and gold?) but were again very beautiful. But like I said earlier, the song wasn’t so great.

---

So yeah as you can see, I did enjoy a lot of parts but I told you: I wanted DARKNESS. I wanted PAIN and TEARS and ALL BAD THINGS from TouStage but I didn’t get it. While I may have laughed a lot and said a lot of positive things about this stage; this is not what I want from TouStage. I just wasn’t invested or emotionally moved this time around. I left that theatre SO fast and spent the entire train ride home like ‘why am I so full of...nothing’ I had literally no mental or emotional comments to make that night after it finished. But like I said RIGHT at the beginning: my expectations and what I wanted were crazy and none of what I wanted happened so I was left super shocked and on a major down...

I was actually very angry at myself for feeling so meh and underwhelmed and (god forbid) disappointed in this installment. So...

‘Underwhelmed’

is the right word for my experience of TouStage 2.

I’m not excited for the LV, I kind wanna cancel my BR preorder -- but I’m a dedicated MakiChan fan so I can’t cancel it to be honest. All I’m hoping for is that I have a better experience the second time around at the LV. That’s all.

Anyway... you can immediately see how the LV went here:

July 14th:

So I was able to enjoy it this time!!!! It’s still... alright, in my opinion and it’s still VERY long. But thanks to seeing it a second time around I got to see what was different and such from the previous showing. So here are my notes:

*A LOT of what I thought was adlibbed was actually scripted to a tee - a little disappointing. For example Shokudaigiri spinning Taiko around at the beginning, and Taiko spinning the weed in Kasen’s face. Also Mitsu’s Kitchen is completely scripted except for Ookuri’s reaction to Manbachan. Everything was exactly the same in both shows I saw.

*I love how Sayo just walks away from ManbaChan whenever ManbaChan tries to approach him in the beginning xD

*After Tsurumaru grabs ManbaChan under his apron, Jiji asked (maybe not only this time?) if ManbaChan was in a rebellious stage / Hankouki ka? xD

*I picked up this time that Kasen and Sayo had the same owner in the past and that’s why it’s always Sayo and Kasen paired together because they have history together? *reads Touken wiki* ahhh! They were both in the Hosokawa family for a time and that’s why they have the connection.

*Kasen’s owner is Hosokawa Tadaoki, yet he calls him Sanseisan for some reason(?!)

*I got confirmation that Shohei DID trip up during the opening scene on the 12th because he went up the stage fine during the LV

*Jiji IS meant to speak over Tsurumaru during that one scene so that wasn’t a mistake on Hiroki’s end.

*I was able to pick up this time that, during the picnic scene, they talk a lot about Donguri (= Acorns) as part of a comedy joke. Then later Jiji tries to also find Igaguri (= the shell around the acorn xD) and that annoys ManbaChan even more. Also Jiji’s cute little flag when they go on the picnic.

*Taiko sang a slightly different song during the picnic this time but it sounded very similar to the one I heard.

*I really like some lines (sorry if they aren’t 100% but my memory xD): ・Tsurumaru (to Jiji): もっと驚かせるのはあなただ。/ I want to surprise you more. ・Sayo to Kuri: 聴かせてありがとう / Thanks for listening ・ManbaChan to Jiji: 近侍を変わってくれ / Please switch roles with me ・Jiji: 大きいの試練 / This is a big trial ・ManbaChan to Jiji: 普通のじじじゃんあい / You’re not a normal old man ・クソじじ / Kuso Jiji ・Date: てんかになりたかったんだ。/ I wanted to rule Japan.

*One question: Why is it only Jiji who remembers they keep reliving the same day?!

*Ohhhh! During one of the fights, I thought something went flying off stage but I don’t really have any evidence and no one else mentioned it.

*ShoSan didn’t sit on anyone this time during the drunk scene, but this time he put the zundamochi on top of one guys’s drink xD

*Holy moly you guys, I fell for ShoSan even more thanks to this LV. He did such a great job! Also his costumes are freaking gorgeous! I’m so thankful for the amount of ShoSan close ups we got!! Not only did we get good shots when he was being angry and being possessed and crazy but DAMN his final scene where we see him die -- thank you for that close up -- it really hit me in the heart. Just every time he came on, I just got more and more in love with his performance and his clothing. Like jesus serious props to the costume team, his costumes are so beautiful! When you watch the DVD/DMM Stream just look at how beautiful and colourful his outfits are! DAMN!!! But yeah, ShoSan slaying it as usual in acting.

*Did I already mention how gorgeous ShoSan’s costumes are?! xD

*When Sayo starts panicking when they meet Date and they couldn’t think of a good reason as to why there were there is totally adorable!

*I have a note here that just says: “Kento being all sexy”... wasn’t he sexy MOST of the time?! xD

*I am impressed with Jiji/Suzuki’s fighting at the end BUT it annoys me that Kasen and Jiji come RIGHT at the end to save the day -_-

*Cos I’m a perv, I noticed Ino had his armpits shaved. Don’t ask me how I got the shot xD

*Sweaty ShoSan was a great sight to see too <3

*I REEEEAAALLLY like Ino as Kuri. Like REALLLY like! I never gave much attention to Kuri til I saw Ino as him and I love everything that Ino does as Kuri!!! Sorry, not sorry xD

Back to more meaty comments?

*Still hating on Kasen at full speed.

*I burst out into laughter during the LV when Sayo got that killing strike because we hear Kasen go ‘SAYO!!!” and then the camera decided to zoom super fast into Kasen’s shocked face and I found it to be the funniest thing I’d ever seen; it was like a shot from a very bad ‘Who Done It?’ Mystery tv show. I felt bad for everyone around me but it was honest reaction, I found it absolutely hilarious.

*I understood this time around that Tsurumaru essentially sacrifices himself in order to save the other swords from becoming Black/Bad BUT it’s still no where near as cool as what I had in mind. It’s a good enough plot point and I appreciate Tsurumaru doing that but ....

*The end scene is half scripted and half not; the whole giving Ookuri and Manba ramen is scripted and Taiko attempting to dry the noodles is scripted but he did it twice this time and it really caused a ruckus xD There was also an off screen part with Tsuru and Kuri where Tsuru wanted some of the drink and tried to steal Kuri-Chan’s but then you could just hear Tsuru’s mic ‘give me some’ and Kuri refuses. I wish that’d been on camera xD I’m so glad for all the Sayo close ups we got at the LV. When he smiled at the end, EVERYONE in the audience (in my cinema) whispered ‘kawaii’!’. Too right he’s kawaii! I liked him BEFORE it was cool!

*I actually cried this time! I remember crying but I don’t remember when... I think it was when ManbaChan and Sayo are half way through their fight and Sayo is just on the floor broken and yelling “why can’t I be stronger” =‘[ I almost cried at ShoSan’s final scene too.

*The music is just not.... good this time. It’s alright but nothing like actually getting my ear attention. I did notice they used the same battle music as Honnoji no Hen in this one.

*Turns out MY audience (June 12th) clapped at the wrong time. During the LV, the audience started clapping before the umbrellas came out, but we didn’t start until they started bowing DURING the ending umbrella song.

*The curtain calls at the end PISSED me off. I get people had to get the last train so they couldn’t spend a long time talking but DAMN they literally just said ‘Hi I’m ~ thanks for coming’ and that’s all! It was so unemotional too. And because it was so rushed the audience there were confused when it ended and just carried on clapping, (and we too) assuming we’d get a 3rd or 4th curtain call but nah, lights went up and announcements were like ‘thanks for coming! that’s all!’. It was SO weird.

----

And I am done!

How much do you ALL hate me now?!

I seriously want to read everyone else’s review of TouStage 2 so if you have one or know of someone who wrote one: PLEASE LINK ME!

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vibrantlifeboringdeath · 3 years

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@neonstatic has tagged me to list the last 13 songs I listened to; I'm uh,,,, gunna cheat a little bc I'm literally just watching a Pink Floyd live DVD right now and that would be boring, so! I'm gunna list 13 songs I'm really, really vibing with rn. I will TRY and limit this to one song for each artist but we'll see what happens.

1: Pink Floyd - Shine On You Crazy Diamond

Every day I tune my silly little guitar and play the silly little solo from the start of this song <3 it's ambient, it's melancholy, and almost single-handedly the reason I even play guitar at all

2: The Daysleepers - Dream Within a Dream World

A HUGELY underappreciated ambient rock band, their album creation being their best effort, but this is their first single which only recently got added to bandcamp; very clear Cure influences, but a really good song. More people should check out this band, every song is a whole universe tbh

3: Vangelis - Blade Runner Blues

DROWN ME IN THAT SWEET, SWEET MELANCHOLY SYNTH BABYYYYYYYYYYYYY

4: Julien Baker - Heatwave

Little Oblivions is the album of the year so far and I am *living* for my tickets to see her in London next year. Can't wait for a moshpit where we're all actually just crying and holding each other <3 also I am far too warm and it's been real sadgirl hours this week

5: Timecop1983 - Holding on to the Memories

Synthwave good, actually - 80s teen movie vibes & big swooshy gated drums & cheesy synth pads; i wish my life was just smokey eyes & neon lights tbh <3

6: Paul Gilbert - Werewolves of Portland

I was going to put a Rush song here but rather than remind you of The Most Annoying Stoner At Your Highschool I'm putting this on here which I just clicked on here which has an honestly similar prog-y vibe, but shreddier, with a funny music video and - holy fuck Paul Gilbert has some serious Jeff Goldblum vibes all of a sudden and I can't put my finger on exactly why. Anyway this rules & I might try and get *good* at guitar again. Literally hearing this for the first time as I'm writing this <3

7: David Bowie - Modern Love

Specifically the live version from the Serious Moonlight tour/album from 1983, which i DID NOT REALISE WAS ON SPOTIFY UNTIL THIS WEEK! The height of Bowie's commanding stage presence and the aesthetic & setlist of this tour went unmatched right up until when he played Glastonbury in 2003.

8: We Are the Union - Boys Will Be Girls

QUEER LEFTIST SKA PUNK! THE LEAD SINGER IS TRANS! HAPPY PRIDE <3

9: Caspian - Wildblood

More saxophones in my ambient post-rock please. A year late to this album but it rules

10: CATBEAR - Girl Crush

Spotify's Women of Synthpop playlist my beloved <3

11: Mogwai - Wildblood

Just a great rock tune that builds to a killer climax

12: Manchester Orchestra - Keel Timing

Again, it just fucking rocks. Play it loud and run with the wolves or something

13: Hello Meteor - At Last Night

An undisputed master of 1) moody analog photography and 2) chillwave for rainy days. This is just a moody solo piece on a perfect-sounding electric piano synth. A great closer for a romantic playlist, I think

A SPECIAL SHOUTOUT TO an album that I couldn't pick a single song from: Toshiki Kadomatsu's Sea Is A Lady.

Probably the best citypop album I've ever heard, it's got the ambience that would go on to inspire a lot of vaporwave, the tight grooves that define a lot of future funk, it feels like it *should* be video game music, AND it has some INCREDIBLE guitar work. 10/10

Anyway thank you for tagging me <3 I would like to invite @raymondshieldsofficial @pleasedontlookatmeokay @brucecampbell and anyone else who might feel like it to share 13 songs they find groovy rn (but don't feel like u have to)

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mrwilliamcharley · 6 years

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Run The Trap’s Top 25 Hip-Hop Songs Of 2018

It’s no easy task to rank the top songs of a genre for a full year, and it’s especially difficult when that genre is as all-encompassing as hip-hop. And it was an amazing year as hip-hop dominated the charts and massive albums like Scorpion, Astroworld, and Kamikaze exploded. Without further ado, our top 25 hip-hop songs of 2018.

Run the Trap’s Top 25 Hip-Hop Songs Of 2018 | SoundCloud Playlist

25. Mac Miller – Self Care

This is a good example of a song that absolutely had to make the cut. You don’t know what you have until it’s gone, and Mac Miller was an example of an underrated puzzle piece in the American hip-hop culture. His song “Self Care” rocketed through the charts following his passing from a drug overdose, as many connected with the message in a year that brought mental health to the forefront of American conversations, especially within the music community.

24. The Carters – APESHIT

Beyoncé and Jay-Z have always been a super team, but when they teamed up to release one of the year’s biggest hits in “APESHIT”, everyone lost it. The beat is simple, but the rappers’ lines and flow are flawless. The track references their come up through the game to their current life of luxury, a theme found throughout much of The Carter’s rap discography. Also, “APESHIT” was one of Barack Obama’s favorite songs in 2018, so there’s that.

23. A$AP Rocky – Praise The Lord

Popular within meme culture as well as the radio, A$AP Rocky‘s “Praise The Lord” was one of this year’s top hits. This song also was part of a growing movement within the UK Rap Scene, as it featured the prominent UK rapper Skepta. As part of his album Testing, A$AP Rocky discusses his religious and spiritual beliefs, landing him at number twenty-three on the list.

22. Eminem – Killshot

Aim. Fire. “Killshot.” That’s exactly what Eminem did to poor Machine Gun Kelly, in a diss track firing back at Kelly’s “Rap Devil” diss track. As most diss tracks are, this track is entirely focused on the lyrical elements, including Eminem’s typical amazing word play and heavy burns.

21. SR3MM – Powerglide

Contrary to the Eminem track, this song is mainly driven by Mally Mall, Jean Hovart and Mike Will Made It’s incredible production – no disrespect to SR3MM. A catchy and pop-styled hip-hop song, “Powerglide” was probably on your Spotify’s repeat earlier this summer.

21. Lil Baby – Drip Too Hard

The lead single from Lil Baby and Gunna’s debut collaborative album, Drip Harder, “Drip Too Hard” is part of Lil Baby’s explosion into the rap scene. Both the song and album title are homages to Lil Baby and Gunna’s respective “Hard” and “Drip” series of mixtapes and albums. Keep an eye on Lil Baby as he continues his progression in the rap scene, with his lead single landing him at twenty-one on the list.

19. Lil Peep & XXXTENTACION – Falling Down

An alternative version of the song “Sunlight On Your Skin” which features iLoveMakonnen, “Falling Down” instead features XXXTENTACION and was made after Lil Peep’s death. There was some alleged controversy, as Lil Peep’s team claims that Peep had no intention of releasing that version of the song due to XXXTENTACION’s history. iLoveMakonnen, who was featured on the original version of the song, said on his Instagram that he was “honored to have co-written this song that X was inspired to be a part of, shortly before he died”.

18. Post Malone – Better Now

Post Malone might be hip-hop’s favorite nice guy. Known for his hilarious internet antics, Posty has risen to the top as a fan favorite. In “Better Now”, Post Malone reminisces about a past relationship, claiming both he and his ex miss each other though both are trying to mask their feelings. Both feel that they let each other down in some way but it was never their intention. Post suggests if they met up with each other again there is a possibility they could hook up again. In a top sad boy rap song of 2018, “Better Now” lands at number eighteen

17. Travis Scott – STARGAZING

As you have heard across rap this year and will see as this list continues, 2018 found many popular songs to have choppy arrangement, with some combining seemingly different songs into one unique track. “STARGAZING” continues the trend, opening up with an atmospheric feel as Travis Scott describes the experience of an unpredictable psychedelic trip. Switching between his regular cadence and an auto-tuned falsetto, Scott alludes to his drug use and relationship with Kylie Jenner and their daughter Stormi. The song then switches into a much tighter, more aggressive mix, where Scott goes absolutely in. The song title could be a reference to Houston’s iconic ties to astrological exploration, with NASA’s Mission Control Center being located in Travis’s hometown. It wouldn’t be surprising, as Scott makes references to Houston multiple times throughout the album.

16. Drake – Nonstop

Quickly stepping out of the nameless/faceless/objective writer persona, I have to say “Nonstop” is my personal favorite rap song in 2018. TayKieth, who has produced tons of songs on this list, absolutely murdered this song…like MURDERED it. The song opens up with that incredulously large sub-loop, paired with a perfectly mixed kick and beautifully crisp, high-end drums. The production on this song is A1, and there simply isn’t enough to be said about it.

Drake’s vocals enter stage left, introduced by the definitive statement that he “just flipped a switch,” setting the tone for the incoming tirade about his nonstop success in the rap scene. Many of Drake’s lyrics also allude to the conflict he faced with Pusha-T and Kanye West over the summer, and Drake confirmed on HBO’s “The Shop” that he channeled much of his frustration from that into tracks like “Nonstop”.

15. Kanye West – All Mine

The top song on his 2018 album Ye, Kanye talks about the topic of infidelity. Happily married to Kim Kardashian, West goes on to talk about controlling his desires while in a committed relationship. With his line “letting the genie out the bottle,” West alludes to an action that cannot be reversed, such as cheating. Kanye goes as far to call out many celebrities for their infidelity, including Tristian Thompson, who was exposed for cheating on his then-pregnant partner Khloe Kardashian, Kanye’s sister-in-law.

14. Lil Wayne – Uproar (feat. Swizz Beatz)

In an album that was supposed to be released in 2014, but was delayed for multiple years due to conflict with Cash Money Records label-boss Birdman, Lil Wayne warns his enemies to stop playing with him before he causes an “Uproar”. Ecstatic to see the New Orleans native back in action, fans across the globe clambered to get a listen to Wayne’s newest release, and they were not disappointed.

13. Travis Scott – Butterfly Effect

Produced by Murda Beatz, “Butterfly Effect” builds on the quintessential Travis Scott spacey ad libs and builds an environment to match, with a beautiful repeating melody and soft percussion. The ‘butterfly effect’ is the concept that small causes can have large effects. Travis Scott is also using a double-entendre with “butterfly” wherein as he refers to the doors on his Lamborghini car. First released as a single off his ASTROWORLD album, “Butterfly Effect” is one of the top songs off Scott’s album, landing number thirteen on the list overall.

12. Jay Rock, Kendrick Lamar, Future & James Blake – King’s Dead

We��ve already discussed how great the music video for “King’s Dead” was, and almost a year later it seems that this song is deserving of a top honor. Our original article for the music video, which was released the same day the Black Panther was released in theaters, could not have predicted the quality of the epic soundtrack.

11. Migos – Walk It Talk It

So many more songs from Culture II could be included on this list, but as mentioned in the article’s preface, we can only pick 25. “Walk It Talk It” was clearly the most popular song off of Culture II, with over 300,000 streams on Spotify alone. In “Walk It Talk It,” Migos and Drake take jabs at fake people around them who can’t walk the life that they talk about. As some of the top artists in the game right now, Migos and Drake are clearly walking it like they talk it, landing them at number eleven on the list.

10. Kanye West & Lil Pump – I Love It

Weird music video, great song. Kanye West teamed up with Lil Pump to create one of this year’s top songs in “I Love It.” Sure, Kanye may be struggling with some issues in the public eye, but his production skills haven’t lost their touch.

The video debuted at the inaugural Pornhub Awards in Los Angeles, California. Kanye linked with PornHub following an interview in which Jimmy Kimmel asked Kanye if having daughters had changed Kanye’s attitude toward women, to which he replied, “Nah, I still look at Pornhub.”

9. BlocBoy JB – Look Alive (feat. Drake)

An homage to his hometown of Memphis, BlocBoy JB‘s “Look Alive” was a standout of the year. Featuring Drake, the track was released via OVO Sound and is easily his most successful track to date surpassing over 505 million streams on Spotify. This track lands up-and-comer Blocboy JB at number nine.

8. Drake – Nice For What

Drake’s “Nice For What” takes the cake as the female empowerment song of 2018. With relatable lyrics supported by a New Orleans styled bounce beat, Drake and Murda Beatz aim to create something women can “cut up to.” With female driven lyrics littered throughout the song, the message is further supported by NOLA’s Big Freedia, a figure of empowerment within the rap scene.

From a sonic perspective, “Nice For What” is known for its choppy arrangement. At one point, BlaqNmilD abruptly cuts the beat, leaving just the kick and female vocals before the listener is suddenly warned to “watch the breakdown,” transitioning the song back into its high energy, percussive bounce beat. Drake and his team absolutely destroyed this song, leaving “Nice For What” at number nine on the list.

7. Juice WRLD – Lucid Dreams

Juice WRLD‘s “Lucid Dreams” explores the pain of a breakup through the metaphor of a Lucid Dream, a state of awareness during one’s dream that allows the dreamer to control the reality they are perceiving. As Juice goes through the stages of his breakup, he aims to control his mental reality by simply forgetting his ex, pushing aside the universal stress and heartache that comes after any breakup. Nick Mira’s beat puts the listener in the mind of Juice’s dreams, as soft, atmospheric bells dance around while Juice delivers his promise to control his reality and emotions.

6. Cardi B– I Like It

Complete with horns, Latin Grooves, and an infectious trap beat, Cardi B flaunts her Latin heritage in “I Like It.” Released as a part of her album Invasion Of Privacy at the top of the year, Cardi B won over thousands of new fans, and established herself as one of the top artists in today’s age. The song samples Pete Rodriguez’s 1967 boogaloo song “I Like It Like That”, and guest features Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny and Colombian reggaetón star J Balvin.

5. Drake – In My Feelings

The “In My Feelings” challenge was one of the most viral video challenges of 2018, as thousands of American’s found themselves dancing to the beat, their moves synchronized to the famous catchy chorus. As the song shifts from Drake’s emotional rant, the City Girls come in and crush a hook layered over a sample of Magnolia Shorty’s “Smoking Gun,” a New Orleans styled bounce track originally produced by BlaqNmilD. This is the second bounce track on the top 25, both of which were produced as part of Drake’s Scorpion.

4. Childish Gambino – This Is America

This Is America. Don’t catch you slipping up. Childish Gambino‘s internet sensation was easily the most woke song of 2018, with its famous music video decrypting the hype song as much more than just a summer banger. Gambino’s commentary spoke to the day to day internet nonsense that is distracting the American people from addressing today’s important social issues. On top of the important message “This Is America” brought to the forefront of conversation, the beat, play-on-words, and cinematography of the music video were grade A works of art, landing “This Is America” at number 4 on 2018’s list.

3. XXTENTACION – SAD!

With over 780 Million streams on Spotify, XXXTENTACION‘s “SAD!” is clearly a top 5 song of 2018. A somber song about love, “SAD!” has resonated with millions of rap fans this year.

2. Travis Scott – Sicko Mode

Nothing is more hype than sitting in a club, and all of the sudden you hear those infamous, horn-like chords that open up the song. Travis Scott‘s “Sicko Mode” was an instant hit upon its release. With a dynamic and tight mix that features lines from Scott and Drake, listeners found themselves on an ASTROWORLD roller coaster, with twists and turns as the song progressed across its three sections. As one of the ultimate turn up songs of 2018, “Sicko Mode” lands at number two on the list.

1. Drake – God’s Plan

“God’s Plan” is by far the most popular hip-hop song of 2018. With 1.1 BILLION streams on Spotify alone and another 900 million on his epic music video, Drake cemented himself as the top hip-hop artist of 2018. There isn’t much more that needs to be said about the number one song on this list, as it has been on repeat the entire year across clubs, radio stations, and Spotify playlists.

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deadcactuswalking · 6 years

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REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 28th October 2018

Top 10

This will be the last episode on a Thursday for a while as it returns to weekends, in fact, there’s going to be a new episode tomorrow, most likely. Let’s get this week over first though, and we start with a bang as we have a new number-one – yep, “Shallow” by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper takes the top spot on its fourth week after a three-space increase. This becomes Lady Gaga’s fifth and Bradley Cooper’s first #1 on the UK Singles Chart.

This also means that “Promises” by Calvin Harris and Sam Smith is down a spot to number-two.

As is “Funky Friday” by Dave and Fredo pushed back to number-three.

Oh, as well as “Happier” by Marshmello and Bastille, also down a spot to number-four.

“Let You Love Me” by Rita Ora has entered the top five at number-five after a one-spot boost.

Little Mix’s “Woman Like Me” featuring Nicki Minaj fell a spot this week to number-six but the video will definitely keep it in the top 5 next week.

We actually have a debut at number-seven, as Post Malone and Swae Lee’s “Sunflower”, the lead single from the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse soundtrack. This is Post’s fifth top 10 hit and Swae Lee’s third (second as a solo artist).

“ZEZE” by Kodak Black, Travis Scott and Offset is up three spots to number-eight, to my surprise and dismay.

“Electricity” by Silk City and Dua Lipa is steady at number-nine.

Finally, “In My Mind” by Dynoro and Gigi D’Agostino is starting to fall out, down two spots to number-ten this week.

Climbers

We don’t have too many at all this week, in fact, it’s pretty much just a handful. Thanks to the release of the Suncity EP (#20 debut on the albums chart if you’re wondering), Khalid’s lead single “Better” is up four spots to #18, entering the top 20 and becoming Khalid’s sixth top 20 hit in the UK. Otherwise, however, there are just a few boosts for A Star is Born songs, with “Always Remember Us This Way” by Lady Gaga up six positions to #25, whilst “I’ll Never Love Again” with Bradley Cooper is up seven spaces to #27.

Fallers

There are only a few of these as well, actually, with “MIA” by Bad Bunny and Drake falling off eight spots to #21, “Venom” by Eminem dropping five spaces to #28, “Thunderclouds” by LSD (Labrinth, Sia and Diplo) making its way out, falling five positions to #34, and thankfully, “Falling Down” by the late Lil Peep and XXXTENTACION is down seven to #40, and hopefully will be going soon.

Dropouts

My website that I use to easily get drop-out info is finally updated, and while I won’t correct myself on the weeks where I didn’t have it, this two-week hiatus has made me wonder about this source’s reliability, to be honest. Anyways, we actually have quite a lot of dropouts here, as “breathin” by Ariana Grande is out from #26, “Best Life” by Hardy Caprio and One Acen is out from #35, “Drip Too Hard” by Lil Baby and Gunna is out from #36, “Lucky You” by Eminem featuring Joyner Lucas is out from #37, and, finally, “Taste” by Tyga and Offset is out from #38. A lot of good songs here, most of which had quite a bit of longevity, so, yeah, big drop-out week.

No returning entries this week so it’s straight to the new arrivals.

NEW ARRIVALS

#39 – “I Want You to Freak” – Rak-Su

Rak-Su are an English R&B act and boy band who won the 14th series of The X Factor last year, and had a massive hit with “Dimelo” that featured Wyclef Jean and Naughty Boy. All of the original songs they played throughout the run of their series were actually pretty damn good, with a lot of fun groove and songwriting chops present, so how do Rak-Su follow this up in their second top 40 hit? Well, it’s just one of the original songs in a studio version, and honestly, yeah, this was the worst one they sang, with the exhausted drum pattern present in reggaeton being drowned out by really ugly, disgusting buzzing synths, like, they just sound so freaking awful, how did this get past the executive producers? Anyways, the vocals are pretty fitting for this track, but no-one really shines, and the blatant interpolation of “Freak Like Me” by Adina Howard in the hook is just too much of a soulless hook grab for me to ignore its cheap inclusion – there’s not really any repurposing here at all. Yeah, sorry, boys, but that cluttered instrumental is borderline unlistenable, hence making this song pretty awful. Ditch your producers, guys, because Simon Cowell and Banx & Ranx clearly aren’t using your potential the way they should be.

#36 – “Kiss and Make Up” – Dua Lipa featuring BLACKPINK

Dua Lipa released a second deluxe edition (titled “Complete Edition”) to her self-titled debut album last week, and it included this new song that kind of blew up due to how big the featured artist, the K-pop girl group, BLACKPINK, are right now, and you know that when K-pop fans have new material they try and make it as big as possible, I mean, just look at BTS’s success. This is BLACKPINK’s first ever charting song in the UK, yet alone top 40 hit, which Dua Lipa now has 11 of, by the way, but does it live up to the hype? Well, sort of, yeah, actually, but can we just discuss the little intro vocal fragment because the manipulation makes it sound like the vocalists are saying “Beyblades”... which actually segues into the content of being in a constant spinning cycle of saying sorry, making up, and then breaking up again, maybe too perfectly. Oh, and I I love Dua Lipa’s performance here (as always), with the tropical vocal fragments throughout the verses popping up pretty sporadically being a nice little addition, whilst the skittering hi-hats may not have been as they just kind of don’t add to the energy of the song at all, which elevates with the pretty decent drop, may I add. I don’t know the names of the BLACKPINK girls and I’ve quite literally heard nothing from them before, but their performance here works with the beat effortlessly, so maybe I should check more out from them in the future. Good song.

#35 – “nASSty” – D-Block Europe (Young Adz and Dirtbike Lb) featuring Lil Pino

I have no bloody clue who any of these people are, so what I can say is that this is definitely the first top 40 hit for everyone involved. D-Block Europe is a collective lead by someone who’s way too enthusiastic about commercials and one of the strangest “riding” metaphors this side of “Body Like a Back Road”, and this particular song, featuring a dude who I’m sure named himself after those little novelty pine tree air fresheners you stick to a car, is their first to blow up, and I’m already having Vietnam flashbacks to Big Sean’s verse on “Mercy” based off the title alone, but is the song itself good? Well, I’ve been getting into more British trap and hip-hop recently, and while I haven’t heard that much, I can confirm this is probably not the best out there at all. The synths sound like stock loops, while the “nasty” vocalist that starts off the song loses any chance at being intimidating with the high-pitched, nasal autotuned voice, and cartoonish ad-libs. If you sound like kids, which they might as well be, you’re not going to exactly going to be very effective when you threaten to shoot me and take my girl. I love the ad-libs actually, they’re so energetic and easily the best part of this song, it reminds me of Desiigner’s hype man vibe actually. I would not be able to tell the difference between each one if Lil Pino didn’t state who he was in his incredibly short verse (seriously, it’s only a pathetic two bars). This is trash, but at least it’s amateur trash and not made by a major label, and instead just a couple kids having fun. I can forgive that.

#31 – “Ruin My Life” – Zara Larsson

Not this, though, and not because it’s all that bad, but become I feel like I’ve heard it before. Zara Larsson is a Swedish singer-songwriter who has made it pretty big for herself in Europe in recent years (with only some US crossover success). This is her eighth top 40 hit in the UK, and it is just as bland and cookie-cutter as everything else she’s ever released. Larsson sounds okay (especially in the hook, where the janky rapping flow actually works with the trap drums), but the airy synths are like clouds that never rain, as it’s not like what sound like incredibly fake handclaps are making anything interesting here. The chorus doesn’t have any pay-off until after the second chorus, where in the bridge, we actually see a pretty damn nice guitar riff return from the promising intro and immediately get abandoned in favour of the nothingness that the rest of the song consists of. What a snore.

#7 – “Sunflower” (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse) – Post Malone and Swae Lee

Post Malone and Swae Lee – the more versatile half of rap duo Rae Sremmurd – have got big enough to start making soundtrack hits for big budget films, and I couldn’t be happier for the both of them, Post is an immensely talented songwriter and Swae’s a great vocalist, however they clearly don’t share the same traits, because Post’s unlistenable warbling is way too present, and his whining voice is something I just can’t dig, whilst Swae makes his songs way too long and often doesn’t have any worthwhile content. I feel like they’re polar opposites in a way, so this collaboration actually got me excited, especially with how much I’ve liked Swae’s input this year (not so much Post). I’m just as excited after listening because this is a fantastic freaking song. The record scratching over those snares, making it sound like static, just makes for such an interesting contrast when compared to the plinking and beeping synths, Swae’s smooth vocals and the dark, deep horn line – seriously, that instrumental is actually beautiful, with the vocal contributions from Swae adding a fun, catchy, melody in both the hook and verse, with his childlike naivety in his dynamics being incredibly charming. Then we have Post’s grittier, more mature voice that probably works even better on this production, especially when the beat cuts and we have that ticking in the background, and it’s pretty much just that and Post. Oh, God, that part’s amazing, and it ends on such a sweet guitar line. I’m not going to mince words, this is eligible for my best list and would easily be top 3 but since I think and hope this is going to stick around, I’m saving this for 2019 when I have more to say. One of the best pop songs to break into the top 40 this year, easily.

Conclusion

Well, what do you think? Of course, Post Malone and Swae Lee get Best of the Week for “Sunflower”, with Honourable Mention going to Dua Lipa and BLACKPINK for “Kiss and Make Up”. Worst of the Week should be obvious as well, Rak-Su get it for the awful “I Want You to Freak”, and Dishonourable Mention is going to D-Block Europe and Lil Pino for “nASSty”. See ya tomorrow, I guess.

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