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armeniaitn · 4 years ago

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Entrepreneur and Activist Saro Derbedrossian at the forefront of HotNewHipHop

New Post has been published on https://armenia.in-the.news/culture/entrepreneur-and-activist-saro-derbedrossian-at-the-forefront-of-hotnewhiphop-73126-07-05-2021/

Entrepreneur and Activist Saro Derbedrossian at the forefront of HotNewHipHop

Saro Derbedrossian, who goes by the name of Saro D

BY LALAI MANJIKIAN Special to Asbarez

For more than 14 years, Saro Derbedrossian, who goes by the name of Saro D, has been diligently building one of the biggest music platforms on the internet today. This digital publication called HotNewHipHop (HNHH) has become an internationally recognized force in the hip-hop world and in the music industry at large.

Saro D was born in Beirut before the start of the Lebanese civil war and grew up against the backdrop of conflict, until he immigrated to Montreal, Canada. After completing an MBA degree in Montreal, he was eager to find opportunities to apply his entrepreneurial skills and relentless drive. With his love of the Internet and music colliding, he was able to take a simple website to new heights, as the growth of HNHH also coincided with hip-hop’s rise as the dominant music genre.

Saro D. in Artsakh

Today, HNHH is the place where millions of people around the world turn to for news, music, and trends, all linked to hip-hop culture. Currently, HNHH averages over 12 million unique visitors a month, with 80 percent of them from the United States & Canada and boasts a social media footprint of over 3.5 million followers across all channels. Though the company is based in Montreal, HNHH has an office in New York City and a creative space in Los Angeles.

Not only is Saro D a successful entrepreneur, but he also manages to stay active in the Armenian community, as a committed advocate for the Armenian Cause (Hay Tad). His Armenian background and his deep involvement in community activism, whether for genocide recognition or Artsakh, has only heightened his sensitivity vis-à-vis racism in general and the Black Lives Matter Movement.

I interviewed Saro D to learn more about how he developed and grew HNHH into the digital publication that it is today, and to find out more about his overlapping entrepreneurial and personal trajectories.

Saro is an example that Armenians are builders, whether that is building an online lifestyle publication from the ground up or (re)building a stronger Armenia.

LALAI MANJIKIAN: Can you take us back to when, and how, this start-up was born? Can you describe what your role has been in HNHH’s development over the years?

SARO DERBEDROSSIAN: It started as a personal thing. My entrepreneurial drive, the fire I had in me, pushed me to do something on my own. When I was thinking of “where” and “what” I wanted to do alone, at the time, I was fascinated by the Internet, we’re talking about 2007. The Internet was going crazy back then. It really didn’t matter what the project was, as long as I was working on a business involving the Internet. I came from a background of operations and manufacturing, which is pretty traditional. I was really looking forward to being in a very exciting venture. Once I knew that I wanted to start something on the Internet, the music aspect came later.

L.M: The start of your website happened to coincide with a time when music was transitioning from physical to digital. The way we consume music has changed drastically over the last decade, and it is precisely during these past ten years that HNHH has emerged and evolved.

S.D: Exactly! In the beginning, HNHH started by being a simple page where we curated music. It was a compilation of daily music that we, ourselves, liked. We said, you know what, instead of you going and looking everywhere for music, you can come here, where we are giving you a highly curated daily list of songs and we were rating them. So, there was an editorial element. We were saying, “this is HOTTTTT”, “this is VERY HOTTTTT” and this ranking system became an iconic thing for HNHH.

L.M: HNHH carved its place then, initially through music curation, but now it has expanded to tackle hip-hop news and other topics adjacent to the culture. How did this transition take place?

Saro D. with the rapper Lil West, one of the artists signed to his label (Nomad Music Group) and to Republic Records (part of Universal Music)

S.D: We decided that HotNewHipHop has to be a publication, as opposed to just a website, or a blog page. I don’t have any background in publication, and I don’t have editorial experience, but because I had worked in operations, I had a lot of experience in how to operate a business. I started realizing that we should have an editorial team. We should have someone writing news, someone who’s writing features. That’s when I started hiring journalists, who know exactly how things are done, people who have writing skills. We started putting these people together, who also have a lot of knowledge in hip hop, referred to as “hip hop heads.” As much as I love music, there are people who really know this stuff, they know it by date, the history, etc. So, that is how we started growing the content type. We realized, instead of focusing on the content let’s focus on the audience.

L.M: Can you address who your target audience is on HNHH?

S.M.: Our audience is made predominantly of millennials, who are 18-34 years old. The majority of people visiting the site are 21, 22, 23-year-olds. These are people who not only love to hear hip hop music, they are also active within the culture. A lot of current aspects of pop culture are influenced by hip hop. We went from being the “underdog” of music genres, to really a worldwide cultural phenomenon. We realized that we should cover other aspects of the culture, besides just the music. If you are coming to listen to the music or coming to know what are the top songs of that day, you also come to see what happened that day in the world of professional basketball, like did something funny happen yesterday during the Laker’s game?

Saro D.’s HotNewHipHop has become an influential force in hip-hop world and the music industry

L.M.: Can you give us a sense of the role HNHH plays in introducing and determining trends in hip hop culture? To some degree you are calling the shots, by telling your audience what’s hot and what’s not.

S.D.: I am not going to call it our forte, our specialty, but I guess the name of the game is creating content. Most of the news that we break is through interviews. That’s the type of news we like to break.

We also focus on finding new talent.

We focus a lot on new artists. We have a team taking care of that, we have music submission systems, and we also go and look for artists.

We try to stay true to our name. The content has to be “hot”, in the sense that, we want to serve it to our audience quickly, but it also has to be culturally relevant and important. We want to be the first ones to break the news, and then also, when something interests us, we report it. We publish anywhere between 100-125 articles, pieces of news, information a day. We have different segments on YouTube weekly. We also have a social media team who creates content specifically for our social media channels, Facebook, and Instagram. The content is not necessarily the same, they don’t intersect. Our audience on Instagram consumes news differently than our audience on the website.

L.M: HNHH has been instrumental particularly in featuring new, as well as established hip hop artists. Can you describe the role HNHH has played and continues to play in launching new artists’ careers?

Saro D. at Dadivank Monastery in Artsakh.

S.D.: I wouldn’t credit ourselves saying we launch artists’ careers. We give them the platform; it is up to them to make the most out of it.

Many artists have gone through HNHH, but one or two that became really big via our exclusive support early on, would be Tory Lanez, Canadian R&B/Hip-Hop artist. Tyga would be another one. Wiz Khalifa would be another one. We’ve launched his first mixtape. The Weeknd also is another one. We have a good relationship with The Weeknd’s management team and have premiered exclusive singles from him.

L.M: I would like to address the #BlackLivesMatter movement and how it too connects to HNHH. How has HNHH addressed anti-Black racism over the years and particularly now, with the rise of racist rhetoric and with systemic racism becoming more exposed?

S.D: It all comes from the internal culture. Every time something big happens, we have covered it. We are not a political website, true. However, anything that happens in the world that affects the culture, we definitely are there, we cover it. Personally, I am very sensitive to these issues. Sometimes, I am the one pushing, because I am an activist as a person, as an Armenian. I feel like anytime a community, a population is going through a crisis, something is activated in me and tells me that we have to do something, we have to talk about it. Obviously, I am not black, but sometimes, I really feel what they go through. For the past 14 years, I have been working day in and day out with people of all races.

L.M: HNHH has plans to open a creative space in Los Angeles, can you talk to us about this project, what the space will encompass and where this project currently stands?

S.D: The whole idea is about creating content. As a digital publication, besides text-based content, we also need to produce video content, visuals, photos and audio. Initially, we were very successful in creating a creative space in NYC. However, while we wanted to go to NYC because of its deep history with hip-hop, we realized many rappers had moved to LA. With all the talent that LA and Hollywood both have, as well as the visual creation industry that is based there, we felt like we would be in a good position to move out there. So we kept our offices in NYC, and we went out and got a space in LA as well. We signed the lease in February, and unfortunately everything was closed down in March, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s a beautiful space in Burbank, it is near other visual creators, musical studios, Disney and all that. The idea is to have many small studios, each one catering to a different video series for our YouTube channel. We also plan to have a recording studio – I also own a record label called Nomad Music. We manage artists, we sign artists for record deals. So, the idea is to have our own artists go there as well, to produce, and record songs in that space.

L.M: Can you tell us a bit about your personal trajectory, both in life and in business? Have you always had entrepreneurial ambitions?

S.D: I was born in Beirut, and I grew up in Beirut. I was born just before the (Lebanese civil) war, and I came to Canada shortly after the war ended. So, I have seen it all in Lebanon. I went to Neshan Palandjian Djereman in Beirut, and I also attended university in Lebanon, Université St-Joseph, majoring in Economics. After graduating, I wanted to come to Canada, but I had a year in between, waiting for immigration acceptance. During that year, I taught Math at Djemaran. After finally arriving in Canada, I did my MBA at Concordia University and then found a job. So, the entrepreneurial thing, I don’t know exactly, is it genetic? Or is it my personality? My father was a businessman, and I always went to his office. I was inspired by my father, he was a very creative businessman, he was a “big ideas” man. “Big ideas” which we have to be able to do, make them concrete. My father inspired me to think big, to dream big. But I think my personality also plays a role. The war, and the fact that we did not have a normal childhood. We grew up around bombardments, military cannons and army bases, it was chaotic. Nonetheless, I had a great childhood, I was born into a great family, but the environment was so rough, so tough, and violent. On top of the war, there was this Armenian education, to remain Armenian, I am not going to say indoctrinated, but we were brought up being “very Armenian.” We are talking a period of time that was post-genocide, pre-Artaskh. As an Armenian, there was a struggle, as a Lebanese, there was a struggle, as a student, as a person, there was always a struggle, to try to make up for what we lost.

L.M: I think it is safe to say that you were in survival mode but wanted to go into “thrive mode.”

S.D: Exactly. So, when I came to Canada, my thinking was that, you know what, I have to prove to myself that I am able to achieve something. Basically, we went through all that, and, now, are we good for something? Can we do something?

L.M: Besides being a successful entrepreneur, you have also been a relentless advocate for the Armenian Cause (Hay Tad) for several years. Can you talk about this aspect and what the Armenian Cause means to you, particularly in light of the recent war that took place in Artsakh?

S.D: Hay Tad is on a personal level. It’s my life. Hay Tad is the most important thing we have outside of Armenia. It is advocating for Armenia in the diaspora. I feel like it’s the most important mission any Armenian should be devoted to, outside of Armenia. Besides educating our kids and keeping the culture, we need to make sure that Armenia, as a country, as a state, becomes stronger. Hay Tad is important, it means activism outside of Armenia.

As for the war, not only did we lose the war, but we are going through turmoil within the country. Armenia should have never gone to war. Armenia should have defended Artsakh, Artsakh is the cornerstone of everything we have, we lost it. I am very worried.

We went to war; the loss of life is tremendous. I don’t know how to put it. It ruins you from the inside. The aftermath is also very ugly. There is no loss without an aftermath of sorrow, of sadness, people not understanding, of political turmoil. However, I also feel that we have the strength as a nation to stand on our feet again.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Read original article here.

#Armenia #Armenians #Artsakh #Covid-19 #Culture

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deadcactuswalking · 4 years ago

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REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 17/04/2021 (Polo G, Dave, Doja Cat & SZA, Taylor Swift)

Okay, so, UK Singles Chart time – all hell broke loose. I knew Taylor Swift and Dave would make an impact but I was also not expecting all of the chaos to come with it. With that said, Lil Nas X is still at #1 for a third week with “MONTERO (Call Me by Your Name)” and let’s just get through with this. This is REVIEWING THE CHARTS.

Rundown

In this starting rundown segment, I’ve got a lot to cover so I’ll make it quick, no nonsense. First of all, I cover the UK Top 75. Why the top 75? I’m difficult – even though it’s actually more convenient. Secondly, the notable drop-outs – songs that peaked in the top 40 or spent more than five weeks on the chart that are gone from the top 75 this week thanks to this avalanche of 14 or so new arrivals. This week, we say goodbye to a bunch of our debuts from last week as well as “telepatía” by Kali Uchis, “Bringing it Back” by Digga D and AJ Tracey, “You’re Mines Still” by Yung Bleu and remixed by Drake, “Midnight Sky” by Miley Cyrus, “Watermelon Sugar” by Harry Styles, “Mr. Brightside” by the Killers and several #1 hits, including “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac, “Sweet Melody” by Little Mix, “Mood” by 24kGoldn featuring iann dior, “Dance Monkey” by Tones and I and finally, “Someone You Loved” by Lewis Capaldi, after spending a whopping 113 weeks in this region... despite being terrible. I mean, it’ll be back next week but celebrate the little victories, like our returns, for example. “X Gon’ Give it to Ya” by the late DMX is back at #72 after the passing of the hip-hop icon last week. This legendary song was actually one of his later hits – not even a hit in the States – and originally peaked at #6 in the UK back in 2003. We sadly don’t see anything else from DMX returning but we do also see Taylor Swift’s re-recorded version of “Love Story” revisiting the charts at #45 off the album boost.

Now for the songs that fell or rose this week, starting with the notable losses, being songs that dropped five spots or more. First, we have “Your Love (9PM)” by ATB, Topic and A7S at #13, followed by “Don’t Play” by Anne-Marie, KSI and Digital Farm Animals at #17, “Hold On” by Justin Bieber at #20, “Save Your Tears” by the Weeknd at #22, “Up” by Cardi B at #23, “Commitment Issues” by Central Cee at #25, “Latest Trends” by AI x JI plummeting at #28, “Patience” by KSI featuring YUNGBLUD and Polo G at #29, “drivers license” by Olivia Rodrigo at #34, “We’re Good” by Dua Lipa at #35, “Anyone” by Justin Bieber at #40, “Black Hole” by Griff at #41, “All You Ever Wanted” by Rag’n’Bone Man at #43, “WITHOUT YOU” by the Kid LAROI at #44, “Binding Lights” by the Weeknd at #46, “Goosebumps” by HVME and Travis Scott at #47, “6 for 6” by Central Cee at #48, “Medicine” by James Arthur at #49, “Head & Heart” by Joel Corry and MNEK at #50, “Met Him Last Night” by Demi Lovato featuring Ariana Grande at #54 off of the debut, “Paradise” by MEDUZA and Dermot Kennedy at #58, Doja Cat’s “Streets” at #60 and “Best Friend” with Saweetie at #61, “Tonight” by Ghost Killer Track featuring D-Block Europe at #62, “Get Out My Head” by Shane Codd at #63, “Beautiful Mistakes” by Maroon 5 featuring Megan Thee Stallion at #66, “Track Star” by Mooski at #67, “Headshot” by Lil Tjay, Fivio Foreign and Polo G at #73, “What Other People Say” by Sam Fischer and Demi Lovato at #74 and finally, whatever’s left of Drake as “What’s Next” is at #68 and “Lemon Pepper Freestyle” with Rick Ross is at #70.

Our gains are arguably more interesting, as it’s impressive to climb five spots or higher or reach the top 40 for the first time in the midst of all this nonsense. Therefore, we do have just a few gains, those being “Runaway” by AURORA at #51 off of the debut, “Nice to Meet Ya” by Wes Nelson featuring Yxng Bane making a surprise attack at the top 40 going to #39 off of the debut, “Good Without” by Mimi Webb at #18 and “Ferrari Horses” by D-Block Europe and RAYE continuing its gains up to #16. That’s pretty much it – still took a while – so let’s get through those 14 new arrivals, huh? God help me.

NEW ARRIVALS

#75 – “Marea (We’ve Lost Dancing)” – Fred again.. and The Blessed Madonna

Produced by Boston Bun and Fred again..

This is one of the songs that really padded out our new arrivals list – to explain, a lot of the time, these songs were released weeks ago and only now gain enough traction to debut within the top 75 and hence be discussed by me. This one just happens to have popped up in a week where everything is going on already so it kind of gets lost in incoherency but regardless, this is a song from Ed Sheeran’s producer Fred Gibson, who I refuse to call by his stage name, from his most recent project featuring vocals from The Blessed Madonna, most commonly known right now as the producer and DJ behind the club mix edition of Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia and hence the “Levitating” remix with Missy Elliott and, well, actual Madonna. The song itself is one I’m surprised is about anything but has these mostly spoken word vocals about how we as a world have “lost dancing” to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as hugs, and, well, that’s all she decides to elaborate about. She also guarantees that once everything is over, “what comes next will be marvellous”. Whilst I appreciate the sentiment, I think it’s almost a dangerous promise, given that we’ll be in this pandemic for longer than anyone expected and it’s pretty evident that we’ll still be keeping to social distancing as the vaccine roll-out continues all throughout this year. At this point, we’re still in lockdown and international travel will still be stunted for years after the fact. This song feels like The Blessed Madonna getting on her pedestal about the arts and their impact on people without going into any detail that warrants the soapbox, bizarrely over some synth-heavy deep house beat that decides to do little more than flutter through the entirety of the five-minute runtime. Yeah, this is pretty insufferable. Next.

#71 – “Slumber Party” – Ashnikko featuring Princess Nokia

Produced by CallMeTheKidd

Okay, so TikTok picks this one up and the label then decides to push this over “Deal with It”, a brilliant pop song that was right there and already had the high-budget video to boot? Regardless, this is taken from Ashnikko’s debut mixtape of sorts, Demidevil, and whilst as a whole the project does little more than act as harmless fun guising as anything more, a couple of the singles are genuinely pretty great, including this one, which seems to be a break-out hit for rapper Princess Nokia. This song relies on the jerkiness of its almost DJ Mustard-esque club beat and that warped might-be-a-flute loop to support Ashnikko’s similarly sloppy delivery, which decides to be as in character in possible – of which I mean that it is obnoxious and frankly ridiculously stupid. This isn’t a “slumber party” at all, and whilst the childish implications are if anything kind of unnerving, there is a lot of fun to be had here if you get past the “kawaii hentai boobies” in the chorus. Nokia’s verse continues the album’s general early 2000s aesthetic with her referencing many hits and singers from that time period in a pretty slick albeit one-and-done verse that should really be extended further than it is. I mean, I would have preferred that to Ashnikko’s second verse comparing her girlfriend to the little girl from The Addams Family, before mentioning how her eyes go black when she orgasms and that her spit tastes like Juicy Fruit gum. Okay, so when it comes to filthy lesbian rap I think I prefer acts like BASSIDE but for what it’s worth, this is surreal and fun enough for me to like. I hope it does well, but know she has better songs even on that same tape.

#69 – “Versus” – SL and M1llionz

Produced by Lucas Dante and Yng Cld

Oh, hey, another drill track by two guys produced by two guys for two guys to rap about how cool it is to be the two guys they are. I guess the gimmick here is that the single actually has an instrumental version as well for whatever reason; I guess they want people to remix the track. That would make sense, as this beat is immediately recognisable from that chipmunk squeak of a glitched vocal sample they use. In fact, I think I prefer the instrumental version because when those booming 808s come in, it hits really hard especially with the scattering drill percussion. SL and M1llionz are trading bars here in what is basically one verse and it’s not like they’re saying nothing of interest here as there is a viable enough amount of detail here in these bars about exactly what you’d expect. But that’s exactly what it is: exactly what you’d expect. By the first verse, you’ve already heard SL talk about watching The Boondocks and that’s about as interesting as it gets. Sure, the interplay between the two guys in this case is pretty smooth, but it goes on for about a minute too long and M1llionz has a lot more charisma than SL so it does feel like half the song is wasted away. The producers know that too, as they decide to fade the song out very quickly after M1llionz stops rapping his final bars. This is fine – on some days, I’d probably call it really good – but it’s nothing I haven’t seen before.

#64 – “Starstruck” – Years & Years

Produced by Mark Ralph and Nathaniel Ledwidge

We’re not even out of that bottom third of the chart and we’ve still got a lot ahead of us before we get above that point. Here, we have “Starstruck”, sadly not the Lady Gaga or 3OH!3 song but instead the first officially solo song by Years & Years, which is now just frontman Olly Alexander after his bandmates’ departure, similar to Panic! at the Disco except the members seem to be on good terms, or Ritt Momney, except no one here is a Mormon missionary... yet. Whilst you could see this from a mile away if you had listened to that last album, it would be deceiving to say it’s only Olly this time around as he’s enlisted several outside producers and writers to craft a pretty straightforward love song. Well, is it any good? I’m not entirely sold on it, mostly because it seems to reject all of the lyrical intrigue there was in those past two albums – at least intermittently – for a pretty generic if not pure and lovely content, with the most interesting of lyrics being about sipping his partner up like cosmic juice, which I’ll admit got a laugh out of me. It is fitting for how this janky dance-pop song sounds as sonically it’s kind of a quirky mess with a lot of bassy grooves in the verses only to be replaced by a shiny synth blend that completely shrouds the chorus in video game sound effects and French house-esque filter effects. This sound is very much a late-2000s early-2010s throwback in some ways and throwing it back even further in others, which creates an interesting sound but not enough to not let this become easily stale after just the second chorus, especially if it’s going to purposefully fumble its climax for an awkward build-up that involves basically revealing the drop measures before it should have. Yeah, I want to like this but it just seems kind of confused as it is. I’m still going to listen to that third album whenever it comes, but I’m somewhat disappointed with this lead single thus far.

#57 – “Lingo” – Deno featuring J.I. the Prince of NY and Chunkz

Produced by Da Beatfreakz

Alright, so British rapper Deno has enlisted New York rapper J.I. – who I refuse to call by his full stage name – and Chunkz, who I’m pretty sure is some YouTuber, to hop on a beat from DaBeatfreakz, specifically this watery R&B beat with vocal loops drowned out by bass and some awkward mixing. Deno isn’t much of a presence in the verse or chorus, J.I. talks about some girl not chewing him right and Chunkz, who sounds awful on any beat with the whiny Auto-Tuned mumble, somehow doesn’t say anything of interest despite being the semi-professional comedian of these three guys, or at least not before Deno takes over his verse and they all give up for the last couple measures. Yes, that was one sentence – this song doesn’t deserve much more.

#56 – “Shy Away” – twenty one pilots

Produced by Tyler Joseph

I’ve never been that big a fan of twenty one pilots, but I was actually pretty fond of her most recent album, Trench. What fascinates me about them is how they seemed to have done really well for themselves that one time in the Blurryface era and have coasted off the success of that to fund some of their more out-there and experimental musical aspirations. I don’t think they’re looking for big hits anymore – which is good because this won’t be one – but people will always be looking out for what they do next, and they’ve just announced a new album coming soon with this as the lead single. Thankfully, it’s not that COVID-19 pandemic pandering from last year which got on my nerves a lot more than it should. “Shy Away”, instead, goes for... 1980s dance-punk, because, of course. I do love that jerky synth lead and how well it’s backed by that chugging bass and percussion, which we’ll always know is organic coming from Josh Dun. The song itself is a somewhat vague motivational track but not for no reason, as these lyrics actually originated from when Tyler Joseph was giving advice to his brother, a budding musician, trying to get him to see himself in a new light and find his unique purpose in music and not to “shy away” from continuing with his dreams. I can get behind that, especially if it’s going to have squealing guitar segues, an infectious power-pop chorus that will probably not leave my head for a long time and the excellent swell of guitars in that third verse before the brief breakdown in the post-chorus with all those squibbling synth effects. It’s just a wonderfully constructed song on all accounts, even if it sacrifices some of that unique personality we usually get from Tyler for the sake of making a tighter pop-rock song.

#52 – “You Belong with Me” (Taylor’s Version) – Taylor Swift

Produced by Taylor Swift and Christopher Rowe

I guess the best place to start with these re-recordings is the original song, which I’ve never liked. I’ve never seen a reason to enjoy Taylor’s entitled adolescent whining over some pretty garbage production making what may as well be organic country instrumentation sound like MIDI tracks. She doesn’t deliver a particularly good vocal performance, or at least one good enough to excuse “She wear short skirts, I wear T-shirts, she’s cheer captain and I’m on the bleachers”. There isn’t enough detail to make this seem like a toxic relationship so she ends up just sounding bratty. This new version, from a matured Taylor Swift a decade later, has decided not to change any of these lyrics and it just sounds worse coming from a Taylor who clearly knows a lot better and is in a happy relationship. Okay, the instrumentation sounds a lot more organic and has more of a groove than it used to, with some more intricate production moments that are cool, but that’s really the only change that improves on an already mediocre song. Taylor’s voice has improved a lot since that original recording but so has she, and her selling these lyrics with as much conviction while in her 30s just ends up sounding sad. It only makes sense to “reclaim” these songs if you’re going to try and make them your own again, and not representative of someone I don’t think Taylor is anymore. Alas, it’s listenable, but this could have been one of the more interesting re-recordings and nothing was done with it past the better mixing and a pretty epic guitar solo, even if it does feel unwarranted by the content.

#42 – “Way Too Long” – Nathan Dawe, Anne-Marie and MoStack

Produced by Scribz Riley, Tré Jean-Marie, Nathan Dawe and GRADES

For someone who is solely a producer and DJ, I say that’s two or three too many credited producers, but regardless, before we get to more Taylor Swift, which we will eventually, we’ve got some leftover house track with B-list stars that starts with the words, “Hey, yo, yo, it’s Stack Rack”. With that said, I actually kind of like this song with its strings swelling more than the usual track and its bass-heavy club groove in the verses being more complex in its percussion, especially when the sound design is that interesting in the second half of the verse as all of these effects and different synth patterns occur in the back of the mix, which kind of lets me forgive how anti-climactic the drop is. It’s not really an EDM song as much as it’s a light-hearted pop track and Anne-Marie isn’t taking it as seriously as she could, especially on that vocoder-drop chorus, which makes the song a lot more fun that it should be. MoStack is who really shines on this track though, as his verse is – probably unintentionally – very funny, as he twists the meaning of the song to a phallic joke, happily engages in monogamy, particularly with every British pop-star he can think of and says “forget quality, I want quantity”. He just lists famous singers by the end of this verse that he finds attractive and is completely gone off the deep-end by the time he’s ignored by Anne-Marie’s swell of a chorus. It’s not a great song and definitely falls into the traps that most EDM does but as it is, it’s a fun track with a surprisingly hilarious and sloppy guest verse from MoStack that I was not expecting, as well as just being inoffensive across the board.

#33 – “Mercury” – Dave featuring Kamal.

Produced by Manny Manhattan and Kyle Evans

Dave released a double A-side single – or at least whatever the equivalent for that is in the streaming age – and this was the less popular track, “Mercury”, with singer Kamal. If you don’t know Dave is, he’s one of the biggest and most celebrated rappers in the UK and this is his first solo release since 2019. I’ve usually been pretty happy with Dave’s releases – hell, Psychodrama was one of my favourite albums of 2019 – but I’m not entirely sure I can endorse this lazy trap beat relying on some gentle but overbearing pianos and groovier bass knocks. Really, the beat is pretty minimal so we can focus on what Dave’s saying, right? Well, we could, but why would we want to? Sure, there’s some good wordplay weaved into here and I don’t dislike his stories about gang violence and paranoia, even if they’re delivered in the most checked-out almost condescending way possible, but I can’t get behind the misogyny that seems to run a lot deeper than it does in typical rap. Sure, he makes the same googly-eyed observations about attractive women, describes some parts of the sex but interestingly not any part he plays, and also describes her as a “work of art”, but this is all after he dismisses women in general for not “forgiving him for his sins”, in some thinly-veiled Ariana Grande reference that leaves me more pissed off than he is, especially since Dave’s not as self-aware as he thinks he is, particularly because he himself can barely forgive himself for his wrongs in that second verse. Instead, he shrouds it in hedonism like any other rapper – what have the women got to do other than make good decisions for themselves about who they sleep with? He doesn’t go into disgusting detail like Digga D on “Toxic” but it rubs me the wrong way, especially if he’s going to then complain about the myth that is cancel culture. If this comes from a genuine place where he was genuinely attacked for something he didn’t deserve the abuse for, I’d understand, but why even complain about the supposed mob of Twitter users when the only tie you have to it is something reported on your brother by the right-wing press that everyone ignored? Other than missing the point terribly, it’s not like this song is catchy or notable. Even he acknowledges that this five-minute bore wouldn’t make the album, and it’s for good reason.

#32 – “Anywhere Away from Here” – Rag’n’Bone Man and P!nk

Produced by Rag’n’Bone Man, Mike Elizondo and Ben Jackson-Cook

So this is Rag’n’Bone Man’s second single from that upcoming album, or at least the second to chart, and after the surprisingly great post-punk rocker that was “All You Ever Wanted”, I’m excited to hear what a duet with P!nk could sound like. After all, they’re both rougher voices in the pop sphere, even if P!nk’s been doing it for much longer. Sadly, it’s a ballad... not to say they can’t do ballads well but this is a pretty minimal piano-lead track with some really badly mixed vocals from Rag’n’Bone Man as he channels an unintelligible Dave Grohl that’s way too loud in the mix, especially when the strings come in and cloud the mix. I do like the content once again with Rag’n’Bone Man as he continues to discuss the careless days of his youth, but this is more about growing older and eventually growing discontent with that lifestyle and each other, just wanting to be somewhere else. P!nk delivers this in a way that’s a lot more flattering to her voice and the instrumental, but when the borderline choir vocals come in with those terribly-mixed harmonies between the two and that pointless bridge, I give up on this song. It just refuses to go anywhere, I’m sorry, and it had a lot of potential but these voices don’t particularly mesh together especially over some basic piano and strings. This could have been great and as is, is less than mediocre.

#30 – “Mr. Perfectly Fine” (Taylor’s Version) (From the Vault) – Taylor Swift

Produced by Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff

I didn’t listen to the re-recorded version of Fearless; instead I just listened to the six or so bonus “from the vault” tracks because that’s the only new content and I’m not big on any of it. It sounds exactly as you’d expect a 31-year-old woman reciting lyrics she wrote and shelved when she was a teenager, not even thinking they were good enough to release then, decades after the fact, and most of the songs just aren’t interesting at all. I think “Bye Bye Baby” is a great pop song but besides that there’s nothing much to enjoy in these tracks, at least from me. I know that Taylor’s biggest fans will love how she re-recorded leaked and rumoured songs that had been circulating but as someone detached from that, it does nothing for me. This song in particular is about Joe Jonas, because, of course, it was, and it’s a petty, sarcastic break-up song Taylor should be able to deliver confidently but ends up falling flat based on almost that awful verse melody alone, which is just janky, unpleasant and stretched out to the point of annoyance, especially if it’s going to be produced this well. She dug up this track seemingly only to get Antonoff on the record, and, sure, the chorus is catchy and has that one great moment with those crashing guitars, but it enjoys killing its momentum as soon as it gets going... for five minutes. Yeah, I’m sorry but I’m not interested in what was left on the cutting room floor a decade separated from the release of this re-recording, especially if this fully-fleshed instrumentation does little more than distract from how dreadfully boring this song is. Wake me up when she re-records Speak Now or especially reputation, because that will truly be fascinating.

#10 – “Kiss Me More” – Doja Cat featuring SZA

Produced by tizhimself, Carter Lang, Rogét Chahayed and Yeti Beats

I’ve forgotten to mention that three of those 14 new arrivals actually debuted in the top 10 this week, meaning, yes, whilst we’re nearly done, we’ve still got a lot to cover and we start with what seems to be the lead single from Doja Cat’s upcoming album, as she enlists SZA to assist her on this classily unclassy disco-pop song. Those main guitars do sound great, especially with Doja’s signature cooing over them, and that’s before we get to that slick pink disco groove not dissimilar to “Say So” but with a tighter, fun bassline and how quickly Doja strips off the subtlety. I could do without that mess of a post-chorus that is just a blend of too many, not very great vocal takes, but I do love how it leads into Doja’s unsubtle sex bars that actually go into some interesting detail, but not as much SZA being kind of filthy but also delivering a pretty great vocal performance, even if she starts with asking her partner for that “gushy stuff”. I do find it odd that it decides to censor “dick” of all words, but this production is great and I actually particularly like that final chorus and post-chorus once SZA starts harmonising on it. As is, it’s a pretty tight and likeable disco jam from two charismatic performers... co-written by Dr. Luke. Goddamn it, Doja, I don’t know what contract he’s got you in but Jesus, someone do something about that.

#9 – “Titanium” – Dave

Produced by Kyle Evans and P2J

This is our second Dave song and obviously the more successful of the two, at about three minutes shorter – thankfully – debuting in the top 10. It’s much better than “Mercury”, even if the song literally starts with him bragging about not needing vibrators to make his girlfriend orgasm. That said, the lyrics here are actually a lot slicker, flowing much like he did on “Streatham” as he lists so many precious metals you’d think he’s Bender. I do like the intricacies in these lyrics, even if he doesn’t really adapt it into any wordplay. He mentions how awkward that it is that his neighbours are going to vote Conservative as he brags in an almost freestyle-like structure in the single verse he spits, which has a couple flow switches and a lot more empty space than it should for a beat this awkwardly mixed, as whilst I like the trap percussion here, it really does not sound that great over borderline MIDI pianos. The little string inflections and drum fills here are cool though, and those intricacies are what makes Dave’s verse so interesting, as he foreshadows his bar about Tyson Fury with an ad-lib that Fury used himself as a build-up for his boxing matches. His JAY-Z references are also on point and pretty clever, it’s just that there’s still not much to this past that and I’m left pretty underwhelmed with these releases from Dave, even if they’re not from that next album, whenever that’s coming.

#3 – “RAPSTAR” – Polo G

Produced by Einer Bankz and Synco

Well, Lil Tjay debuted at #2 a couple weeks ago so I guess it’s only fair for his fellow “Pop Out” rapper, and the one I personally immensely prefer, Polo G to have his surprise, kind-of-out-of-nowhere top 5 debut. Much like “MONTERO”, this track was being teased for nearly a year, having first been shown as an acoustic collaboration with professional ukulele player – yes, seriously – Einer Bankz, who’s also credited with production here, in May of 2020. Just shy of a year afterwards, we get “RAPSTAR”, in the same vein of other all-caps trap songs about musical success like “ROCKSTAR” or “POPSTAR”. Maybe next we’ll get “NEOCLASSICAL DARK WAVESTAR”. Regardless, this song is basically just about being epic and Polo G can effectively sell that even in his more basic flexing because of that intermittent detail like when he says the only woman he talks to is Siri, which isn’t even a brag or a flex, more a sad admission of his crippling loneliness which I don’t think was intended. He also does more than empty flexing, discussing his past drug addictions and how he coped with that alongside all of the struggles he had to overcome at the same time. That second verse may start with him saying he’s 2Pac reborn but it goes a lot deeper into his anxieties than I expected. All of this is over a melancholy guitar-based beat with some great bass and better mixing than is expected of these pop-trap singles, even if it’s still far from perfect. Those eerie vocal loops in the background add a lot to this song and I think that chorus has a pretty great build-up, even if the percussion may seem a bit too basic and uncomplicated as an effective drop. I can’t really complain about this at all, though, as it is really good for what it is and I’m glad it’s this high.

Conclusion

And with that, I’m finally, FINALLY finished with scouring through these new arrivals and I’ll admit that it was less of a mixed bag and more of a generally positive week, at least for me, as I found more I liked than anything I disliked, particularly with Best of the Week as that goes to twenty one pilots for “Shy Away”, with the Honourable Mention going to Ashnikko’s “Slumber Party” featuring Princess Nokia, although there’s a lot to praise on the charts this week. In terms of Worst of the Week, it’s probably going to go to Fred again.. and The Blessed Madonna for “Marea (We’ve Lost Dancing)”, with a Dishonourable Mention for, sadly, Dave’s “Mercury” featuring Kamal. I would like to note that Taylor Swift was awfully closer than she should be to getting that this week. Here’s this week’s top 10:

What to expect from this week? Gosh, I don’t know. AJ Tracey? Young Thug? Either way, we’ll see whatever happens to all this – whether it gets flooded out or they all end up sticking around – next week, so I’ll see you then. Thanks for reading.

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taurian-fkbonline · 7 years ago

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Ten years ago, Kanye West and Kid Cudi changed the trajectory of what pop music sounded like with 808’s and Heartbreak.

The album was on the heels of Kanye losing his mom and a break-up with his then fiancé, Alexis Phifer. Cudi was the lonely stoner protégé that had the underground music scene of NYC buzzing with his A Kid Named Cudi mixtape. Together, they have forged a sub-genre that spawned some of music’s biggest names today; Drake, Travis Scott, The Weeknd and Future, just to name a few, all used elements of 808’s to catapult their careers. After years of fans wishing for a full-length project from the two polarizing figures, the moment is here. But is it too late? Are Kanye and Cudi past their musical prime? Cudi, unlike Kanye, has seen his decline happen not due to unwarranted opinions and outbursts, but due to his own personal demons. Kanye, on the other hand, has watched his career turn into the Truman Show, with his erratic behavior and poorly thought out comments on display for the world to see.

Two months ago, Kanye announced G.O.O.D. Music would, over five weeks, release five albums all produced by him. Of the forthcoming albums, the most anticipated was the joint album KIDS SEE GHOSTS by Ye and Kid Cudi. Scott Mescudi’s melodic hums paired with Kanye West’s pop-friendly anthems and chopped up soul samples work harmoniously. Kanye has recently come under fire from both fans and critics for his uninspired lyrics and support of President Donald Trump, which longtime followers of his music may find surprising. There are moments where “the old Kanye” rears his head, lyrically, but for the most part his only shining moments are with the production. Serving as the sequel to “Ghost Town,” the stand out track from Ye, this album sounds like a hazy, psychedelic trip, while walking through the beautiful landscapes of Wyoming.

Cudi’s treasured voice echoes on album-opener “Feel the Love,” accompanied by Pusha T‘s signature luxury coke raps, and hilarious machine gun ad-libs delivered by West. The track’s minimalism works seamlessly with Cudi’s vocals. On the Andre 3000 co-produced track “Fire,” Cudi attempts to channel his Man on Moon glory, but falls short. The title track offers a rare Mos Def aka Yasiin Bey feature, with Kanye delivering his most inspired rapping in years, painting images of flying cars and retro Japanese futurism. The Ty Dolla $ign- assisted “Freee (Ghost Town Pt. 2)” sounds like the well-executed alternative rock song that Cudi has been attempting to make on his own since leaving the G.O.O.D. music imprint. The clear album stand-out is “Cudi Montage” produced by Cudi, Mike Dean and Dot Da Genius. The track contains a guitar riff from Kurt Cobain’s “Burn the Rain,” that slowly builds into a beautiful chorus from Cudi, West, and Mr. Hudson: “Lord shine your light on me, Set Me Free,” Kanye croons. “Stay Strong!” Hudson sings, as Cudi delivers his iconic hums.

“Reborn” finds them putting their recent turmoil in the rearview, sounding more like a duet apologizing to each other. Both have experienced massively embarrassing meltdowns in the public eye over the past two years.

During his DAYTONA press run, Pusha T divulged that Kanye likes to hear him one way and one way only. And from taking that direction, Pusha delivered his best solo project to date. On Kids See Ghosts, Cudi is the lead actor in a space western, with Kanye co-piloting the ship. KSG didn’t live up to 808’s or Man on the Moon’s greatness, but it absolutely gave us some of West’s and Cudi’s most focused work to date. The best example of this is the album cover; a beautiful Takashi Murakami piece that obviously had thought and care put into it. Very much unlike the iPhone photo Ye used for his own project.

KSG, the superior project to Ye, fulfills its purpose of giving two artists that struggle with many demons the freedom to channel them into their art and create their own world. I think during these sessions Cudi and Ye realized what their fans always knew, which is that the two needed each other more than they were likely aware. This album was a group therapy session. Two men that have seen some incredible lows over the years, reconciling with themselves, each other, and even with us. On KSG they were able to further cultivate the concepts that Cudi introduced on Man on The Moon, painting a futuristic picture with other-worldly sounds and chopped up samples. The beauty is they actually made a good super group album. Many artists have tried this feat and failed. The Firm, The Commission (Biggie died, not their fault), C.O.L.O.U.R.S., CRS, Murder INC. Fantastic Four, and the list goes on. Creative differences, schedule conflicts, deaths, or the project just being flat out bad. Hearing the names of these incredible rappers joining forces gave rap fans eargasms, but they just didn’t take off. Kanye West, Kid Cudi, Mike Dean and Dot Da Genius weren’t able to deliver a classic super group album but they were able to restore a feeling a lot of us felt ten years ago hearing 808’s. A lot of people didn’t like 808’s but it is possibly one of the most if not the most influential albums of the past decade so give KSG some time to marinate. Not saying it’s perfect but I am saying don’t be surprised if another ten years from now this is another highly praised collaboration from these two.

Album Review: Kanye West & Kid Cudi Reunite on KIDS SEE GHOSTS to deliver a "a futuristic sonic painting with other-worldly sounds and chopped up soul-samples" READ HERE: Ten years ago, Kanye West and Kid Cudi changed the trajectory of what pop music sounded like with…

#808&039;s and heartbreak #A KID NAMED CUDI #Andre 3000 #Dot Da Genius #feature #G.O.O.D Music #Kanye West #kid cudi #Kids See Ghosts #Kurt Cobain #Mike Dean #Mos Def #Pusha T #Ty Dolla Sign

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iamcdavis · 7 years ago

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5 Years Since Channel Orange : A Retrospective

Island / Def Jam

Last August, the ever elusive Frank Ocean stepped back into the spotlight, a spotlight that he had been evading for four years to release two new albums to the world. Prior to the release of both the visual album Endless and the LP Blonde, there were no more than two full length projects that the R&B crooner had released and yet, the music world was captivated by the talent of Mr. Ocean, and for good reason. Five years ago this week, Frank Ocean released his most enjoyable project yet, Channel Orange, an album that not only catapulted him to the status of global superstardom, but also influenced an entire generation of millennial singers and songwriters.

At the start of 2012, Frank Ocean accumulated a considerable amount of buzz for a multitude of high-profile reasons. Ocean operated as a member of the LA hip -hop collective Odd Future, a group that was still riding the wave of an extremely successful 2011, and also released his debut mixtape, Nostalgia Ultra. Later in 2011, Ocean was tapped by Jay Z and Kanye West to sing on a few tracks for their collaborative album Watch The Throne, along with also being mentioned in a cover story by The Fader. Nostalgia Ultra, while a strong project in its own right, still fit the mold of other mainstream contemporary R&B acts. The mixtape was braggadocious, shallow at certain points, and only contained a few glimpses of Ocean’s vulnerability. In this early part of the decade, to create an entire album full of solemn and personal tracks almost seemed taboo, that was until a night before Channel Orange.

On the eve of the release of his first album, Ocean made an announcement on his Tumblr page revealing that his first intimate encounter was with another man. The announcement revealed not just a triumphant and celebratory coming out revelation, but it also established a narrative for the album, a narrative that boasted in honesty and vulnerability that not many albums in that decade could be compared too. Songs such as “Thinkin Bout You,” “Bad Religion” and “Forrest Gump” serve as odes to his sexuality during a pre-marriage-equality America. Ocean’s stature within hip -hop, a genre in which homophobia still occurs at times, is what makes his revelations so unique and needed.

Aside from the vulnerable lyrics and themes that the album contains, Channel Orange is a masterpiece that effortlessly fuses together R&B and art pop sensibilities. The summertime aura the album produced along with the fusion of both R&B and Rap can be derived from the hip -hop and neo -soul predecessors of Pharrell, D’Angelo, Lauryn Hill, The Fugees, and Andre 3000. Just like those individuals, Ocean uses introspective lyricism and storytelling to convey extremely passionate emotions through subtle yet passionate vocal ability. Like Ocean’s contemporaries, the production of the album takes it’s cues from some of the most acclaimed indie artists of its time. Hints of Tame Impala mixed with Vampire Weekend are spread all across the album, continuing to bridge the divide between the genres of indie and R&B that artists such as The Weeknd, James Blake, and Janelle Monae, did a year or two prior. The instrumentation of Channel Orange is not just a continuation of Ocean’s previous mixtape, Nostalgia Ultra, but more so an expansion of it. The production is more ambitious with live instrumentation and songs that contain multiple movements. “Pyramids” for example is a 10 - minute track with three movements that move from a synth anthem, to a chill wave groove to a John Mayer outro that while on paper seem to contradict each other, but when combined, blend together to create an R&B epic that is as climactic as it is sultry.

The album also stands to challenge the perception of blackness by pushing a counterculture of black artistry within the mainstream. As a direct causation of Channel Orange’s success, the sounds of avant garde R&B have now crossed over to mainstream pop to influence a wide array of artists such as SZA, Blood Orange, Anderson Paak, Khalid, FKA Twigs, Childish Gambino, and more have been able to build their own worlds and content that branched out from the tree that is Channel Orange.

There are a million things that Channel Orange is not. The album is not as salacious and intoxicating as the debut Weeknd mixtape House of Balloons, the lyrical content is not as deep as it is with Ocean’s second LP Blonde, nor is it as experimental, but what Channel Orange continues to stand as is a pillar of excellence for a debut album. It is a debut album that is built on sincerity, raw emotion and beautiful production. The album established Frank Ocean as a pop powerhouse. The mainstream attention propelled Ocean to where he is today, a Grammy-winning superstar capable of headlining festivals and able to influence an entire generation of artists from multiple genres to expand upon musical genres and acceptance of sexuality. Channel Orange will forever remain a significant project not just for Ocean’s legacy but for an entire generation of artists. By creating an album that serves as a vessel of honesty with captivating music, Frank Ocean established a new standard for debut albums of this decade, a gold standard.

#frank ocean #r&b #hiphop #indie #music #review #pop

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myleswriting · 6 years ago

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My Dear Melancholy Reveiw

My Dear Melancholy, is the first EP by Canadian R&B artist and pop star Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye, following up his 2016 album Starboy. Released March 30th, 2018 the album marks a return to the darker atmosphere of his first three mixtapes and debut album. It is his shortest project to date, at only 6 tracks, a departure from the bloated 18 tracks of Starboy. While this would lead to the assumption that Tesfaye had created a project with none of the filler that plagued his last two albums, what seems to have happened is that he decreased both the amount of filler and quality on this project, leading to a record just as inconsistent as Beauty Behind The Madness and Starboy all while Tesfaye appears to be artistically stagnant.

My Dear Melancholy, is best described as a breakup album, and its lead single and opening track “Call Out My Name” makes that clear from the start. It is one of the few tracks on the album that has Tesfaye exploring new lyrical themes, where he is having his heart broken, rather than the other way around as has been the status quo for him. His vocal performance is rich, and conveys perfectly that he isn’t over this girl, while lyrics like “I almost cut a piece of myself for your life” take on deeper meaning in the context of his failed relationship with Selena Gomez and her recent kidney transplant. Other lines like “Girl, why can’t you wait till I fall out of love” show a major change from The Weeknd that said he “Left my girl at home, I don’t love her no more” in 2011. While the lyrics are new ground for Tesfaye, the actual music is familiar, with the wails of agony over a bombastic instrumental feeling very reminiscent of 2015’s “Earned It” and the distorted vocals in the middle bearing a striking resemblance to “The Hills.” “Call Out My Name” is one of the standout tracks on this album, and while it does feel similar to music he put out on Beauty Behind the Madness it still stands as a highlight amongst The Weeknd’s already strong discography.

The second song on the album is “Try Me”. One of The Weeknds least memorable songs, it features no new themes or instrumentation, instead being content to cover ground already thoroughly tread by House of Balloons and Echoes of Silence while being less lyrically and musically interesting than any of the songs from those mixtapes. Lyrically, “Try Me” comes very close to being a blatant rip off of “What You Need” from House of Balloons. In both songs, Tesfaye attempts to convince a girl to cheat on her man. While “What You Need” featured clever word play like “Baby leave them high heel shoes/ cause I love it when you’re looking down at me, I’m looking up at you/ and I don’t give a damn shorty watch me knock your boots off.” “Try Me” ditches that in in favour of risk averse, lazy lyrics. For example, the line “You’re looking grown since the last time I looked at you/ It might have been, been about a couple months.” while not bad or poorly conceived, is uninspired. Musically, the song is also a step down from “What You Need”. Tesfaye’s vocals don’t match the song thematically. “Try Me” is a song about cheating, something that should be kept low key, yet the vocals feature The Weeknd’s signature attention grabbing falsetto as well as constant “Heys” and “Try Me’s” at the end of lines during the chorus. In comparison, “What You Need” has The Weeknd singing in a significantly lower tone, with much more breathy vocals, giving the impression that he’s whispering the track. The instrumental of “Try Me” also seems to be going against the theme, with a warbling synth line accentuated by trap base and hi-hats being loud and excessive. Taken on its own “Try Me” is an inoffensive filler track, however in the context of The Weeknd’s past work it’s clear that he didn’t attempt to push himself and chose the settle for average instead.

The third song off “My Dear Melancholy,” is “Wasted Time” which takes its cues from Kiss Land rather than any of his mixtapes. The instrumental on this track is much more lowkey than the previous two songs, featuring a washed-out soundscape punctuated by a clockwork percussion courtesy of Skrillex. The vocals on this track start out strong and get stronger about 2/3rds of the way through when Tesfaye’s voice is distorted, leading to a haunting melody. Lyrically, the song is about Tesfaye wishing for a past lover after breaking up with her. While the lyrics are for the most part good, there are some particularly cringe-inducing lines such as “I hope you know this dick is still an option.” Or “I took the time to learn the way your body functions/ you were equestrian so ride it like a champion.” Which is not only needlessly sleazy, but a very poor half-rhyme as well.

The fourth track on the album is “I Was Never There” with a feature by French producer and DJ Gesaffelstein. The song starts off with a loud, high pitched air horn sound effect which continues for about 30 seconds, and almost completely ruins the song from the onset. Once the intro is done, the first verse is nothing special with Tesfaye singing about how he is coping with his sadness by taking drugs and having sex. This goes into the repetitive, melodramatic chorus here he bemoans the fact that his ex acts like he was never with her to begin with. The song starts to turn itself around halfway through with a beat switch reminiscent of a song off House of Balloons or Kiss Land. This second half of the song is significantly better than the first half, but not quite good enough to save the song from being the worst on the album, if not one of the worst songs in Tesfaye’s discography.

Next on the track list is “Hurt You” and again features Gesaffelstein as the lead producer. While the song is a step up from “I Was Never There” it still is not great. While the previous songs on the album were darker and seemed to be trying to emulate what can be found in Tesfaye’s early works, “Hurt You” feels like a reject from 2016’s Starboy most likely due to the presence of Daft Punk member Guy-Manuel de Homme-Christo as a producer. The song feels even more like a leftover from past projects due to the fact that Tesfaye’s vocals share the same rhythm and vocal progression as his verse on “Pray For Me” with Kendrick Lamar. This reuse of instrumental and vocal styles leads to “Hurt You” be an ultimately average track on Tesfaye’s least memorable album.

The final track on the album is “Privilege”. It is my personal favorite track on the album and is the most faithful recreation of the sound found on Tesfaye’s first three mixtapes. Aside from its short length the song wouldn’t feel out of place on Echoes of Silence or House of Balloons in terms of both lyrics and production. Instead of the instrumental being over the top and melodramatic it is spacey and distorted, making Tesfaye’s voice the centerpiece of the song. His vocals are expressive without being excessive, and in the last half of the song he uses it as an instrument much like how he did for the back half of “Loft Music”. The chorus is incredibly effective and clever, with “Two red pills too take the blues away” making reference to The Matrix to show that Tesfaye is waking up from the dreamworld that was his relationship and returning reality, while also illustrating his use of drugs to cope with his sadness. This is ultimately the most clever piece of songwriting on the album.

Despite having incredibly strong opening and closing tracks, My Dear Melancholy, feels like someone trying to recreate The Weeknd’s early projects without grasping what made them great in the first place. The production is over the top and bombastic when it should be atmospheric and low-key and the lyrics lack the cleverness and edginess that made The Weeknd exciting in the first place. What was supposed to be a return to form for Tesfaye ultimately feels stagnant and like its been done before. While there are some good moments on the album, such as “Call Out My Name” and “Privilege”, the rest is boring and uninspired if not outright bad. I would rate this album a 5/10.

#music #reveiw #music review #my dear melancholy #the weeknd #r&b #pop

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thesinglesjukebox · 6 years ago

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6LACK - NONCHALANT

[5.78]

6lack! 6ack on the Juke6ox!

Crystal Leww: 6LACK has been around since 2014 and released his album in 2016, but got a big industry push, via what feels like mostly streaming platform playlists, in 2017. His career choices since then are like perfectly curated by ~the industry~ from collaborators (e.g., Khalid, Future) to tours (e.g., he opened for The Weeknd) to songwriters. For example, Stwo produced "Nonchalant" -- the same Stwo who produced Drake's "Weston Road Flows" and who is signed to 40's publishing company. The music is like aggressively fine. If I imagined what ~the industry~ produced R&B music aimed at the market of trap R&B sounded like, it would sound exactly like "Nonchalant," and indeed, most of the rest of East Atlanta Love Letter. None of this is bad, but it's also devoid of any identifying features as well. [4]

Julian Axelrod: 6LACK has quietly become one of the most infuriating beneficiaries of the post-Drake fuckboy boom, and "Nonchalant" is his bargain bin "Marvin's Room": a faux-introspective bloodletting that's twice as petty as its predecessor with half the hooks. "Somehow I still find the time to care a little more about my rhymes," he drawls, before rattling off fifteen clunkers to disprove his point. The only line that rings true comes mere seconds before: "I'm so fucking tired." Same. [3]

Juana Giaimo: I generally dislike rappers bragging about how they are the best in the scene. However, 6LACK uses this topic to change it; rather than being aggressive and loud, he is the opposite. The slow beat and the atmospheric sounds fit his calm and deep voice. He has the ability to not be monotonous; instead, he looks for subtle changes -- as those lines where a second voice in higher register appears when he says "I knew that I would grow to be the boy/The boy then grew to be the man," making the melody more delicate and nostalgic. [7]

Jessica Doyle: "Nonchalant" isn't quite right; which is part of the charm. "Somewhere between humble and hell no": much better. I'm less impressed by 6LACK's spending seemingly half the song talking about how hard he works: at some point that starts to look like a shortcut. But the combination of the ominous backing and his refusal to do more than hint at a loss of control is worth a few listens. [5]

Ryo Miyauchi: The contemplative beat, the tumbling flow that resembles a stream of consciousness, the lyrical unpacking of a shady environment: "Nonchalant" has the makings of an alluring #based freestyle in more proper hands. While it gets downplayed by 6LACK's self-indulgence of his elementary punchlines, his wordplay sometimes bears the feel of an on-the-spot association game that further takes cues from the work of Lil B. [5]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: I'll avoid the obvious reference to the title here because that's what 6LACK's looking for here -- not just coolness but too-coolness, of tossing off free-associated rhymes carelessly. Yet the intricacy of his rhymes here belies that point -- he's revealed his hand as an eminently skilled technician, and a charming one at that, but one that is very much invested in his own song construction. But at this point, we have enough careless rappers on the charts, and "Nonchalant" is welcome even if it isn't that. [7]

Stephen Eisermann: 6LACK's flow and wordplay is impressive as his lyrics fall from his lips in a stream of consciousness style, still managing to feel thematically relevant even as he jumps from reference to reference. The beat serves as nothing more than a canvas for 6LACK to fill up with different images and call-outs, but that really is what the track calls for as 6LACK nonchalantly continues along, unbothered by what others in his field are doing. [7]

Joshua Minsoo Kim: 6LACK's East Atlanta Love Letter is an album that benefits greatly from purposeful sequencing and a tightly curated cast of producers. These aspects are so crucial to the album that they successfully obfuscate how little 6LACK has to offer on his own front. If anything, his greatest asset has always been an occasional ability to work in lockstep with a producer's intended goals, stretching the emotional landscape of the instrumentation out to widescreen. "Nonchalant" is one of the album's better standalone tracks because it finds him justifying his presence, one beyond an exchangeable placeholder that accompanies the exquisite production. Stwo, a producer who once made a mixtape inspired by Drake's Nothing Was The Same, provides a beat that invites nocturnal introspection. Assisting him is Melbourne-based Lucian Blomkamp, an artist who was surely responsible for the clattering percussion and subtle electronic accouterments here. 6LACK utilizes the song's expansive yet lonely atmosphere to brag as if he's in a similar position: "I give a piece of me to everybody I meet/Not because they want it, it's because it's prolly a need." Much is gained from small shifts in his delivery -- the disaffected cool of singing "add a little reverb, yeah"; the cooling off of "crack a beer when I'm feeling pissed"; the slight aggression to "squeezing until they crack a windpipe" -- and it all rolls off his tongue to justify the song's title. [6]

Will Rivitz: What The Weeknd wishes he sounded like. [8]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox]

#6LACK #rap #hip hop #R&B #music #writing #pop #music review

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realmotionxi-blog · 6 years ago

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Pop’s Biggest Stars Can Control Their Own Narratives Like Never Before. Is That a Good Thing?

We have a strange way of experiencing artists’ lives outside of the spotlight. As tours conclude, interviews become repetitive, and singles slide down the charts, a silence sets in. Some artists do essentially vanish once the curtain drops, but this silence can be felt even if an artist remains visible via social media, or music video cameos, or more new music. The silence is the active gulf between what we want to know and what they’re willing to share. It can emerge around topics (“What happened in that elevator?”), rivalries (“Is he dissing Kendrick?”), careers (“Is Portishead ever coming back?”), anything. The less artists divulge, the more we clamor to know. And critically, the longer an artist can elude our prying, the more dramatic the reveal. Artists have long tried to use this perceived importance of the silence to their advantage. The Weeknd’s first big interview, which came two years after his breakout mixtape, was in service of self-development. “Honestly, I want to do interviews now because it’s one thing that I haven’t mastered,” he told Complex in 2013. “Even Prince did interviews. Michael did interviews.” For Whitney Houston, opening up about her marriage to Bobby Brown in a 1993 interview was a matter of setting the record straight. “I read some stuff about myself in the last year—it’s like ‘Who the fuck are they talking about?’” she said. “The media always distorts shit. It’s never, never what I said.” And in a 2002 interview, Eminem, newly on probation, prioritized directing attention away from his antics and toward his music: “Why do I have to sit here and explain myself? Just listen to the fucking songs. They will tell you everything.” Few artists today can claim to be as famous as Whitney Houston in 1993 or as scrutinized as Eminem in 2002, yet the ways in which music’s biggest stars manage their relationships with the public have grown increasingly guarded and tetchy. Through cultivated standoms, tailored apps, and willed bypasses of the press, artists like Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, and Chance the Rapper are now regulating the silence rather than breaking it. It’s a strange new order, and it’s increasingly unclear who benefits, if anyone at all, from all this obsessive tinkering. TRENDING NOW Digable Planets: Reachin’ (A New Refutation of Time and Space) It doesn’t feel accurate to describe these maneuvers as standard attempts to control the narrative or direct public relations. Artists have always attempted to exert some level of control over their public appearances, and that’s a practical reality of the business. Decisions as banal as creating a website, or making and selling merch, or just choosing which cities to perform in are all ways of shaping public perception. Even more calculating moves, like choosing which associates can participate in a written profile, is understandable conduct. Access has always been tenuous, negotiated, arranged. But more and more, artists seem to be vying to move the levers themselves. Social media platforms are the go-to scapegoat for this shift from negotiating to making demands, but the artists with the deepest roots in YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter often just prove these platforms’ profound ambivalence. On Twitter, Kanye West recently announced and launched five G.O.O.D. Music releases, then used the reception of his tweets as fuel for his music. It resulted in some of his dullest, most exhausting work. As the projects trickled out then quickly faded from view, it didn’t feel like a coincidence that the series of albums began as a literal timeline. Perhaps in response to the fickleness of social media, the greater power move has become to create or govern platforms rather than just use them. Beyoncé, for instance, recently orchestrated a self-crafted Vogue cover story in which she picked the photographer (Tyler Mitchell) and the photographs, as well as directed the shoot. Forgoing a proper interview, as she did for her 2015 Vogue cover story and routinely does when she covers a magazine, Beyoncé instead presented a handful of topical statements that she told the (excellent) writer Clover Hope. The resulting piece read more disjointed and perhaps more sanctimonious than a typical cover story or Q&A would have. “When I first started, 21 years ago,” Beyoncé said, “I was told that it was hard for me to get onto covers of magazines because black people did not sell. Clearly that has been proven a myth. Not only is an African American on the cover of the most important month for Vogue, this is the first ever Vogue cover shot by an African American photographer.” The shoot certainly marks a breakthrough for the 23-year-old Mitchell and for Vogue, but what does it do for Beyoncé that millions and millions of anthemic records sold worldwide does not? On “APESHIT,” Beyoncé’s summer single with JAY-Z, the rapper sneers at the Super Bowl and the Grammys. Is Vogue not on that list too? Responding to a report that the magazine had contractually agreed to grant “full control” to Beyoncé, Anna Wintour, Vogue editor-in-chief and Condé Nast artistic director, insisted that all cover stories and shoots are “collaborations.” Beyoncé did not comment. In 2017, Taylor Swift “collaborated” with Target to exclusively bundle her album Reputation with two bizarre satirical magazines. In both volumes, Swift sneered at the press in the form of sardonic headlines (“Why She Disappeared!”), snippy poetry (“When she looked around, her skin was spattered with ink/forming the words of a thousand voices”), and uber-glam mock photo spreads. The tone of the literal vanity fair was clearly meant to be flippant, but a palpable sense of betrayal leaked through all the camp. “When this album comes out, gossip blogs will scour the lyrics for the men they can attribute to each song, as if the inspiration for music is as simple and basic as a paternity test,” she wrote. “There will be no further explanation. There will just be reputation.” The magazines are essentially oversized album booklets, but the form is telling. Taylor doesn’t resent magazines for challenging her reputation; she resents them for being able to challenge it. Which feels counterproductive: Her thinly veiled contempt for the press does nothing to contextualize her album. In fact, it makes her infamous victimization complex feel more exaggerated, which was the precise narrative Reputation set out to challenge. This is what full control looks like. Back in the real publisher’s marketplace, in July Chance the Rapper purchased the defunct site Chicagoist from WNYC (who purchased the site after its last owner shuttered it in response to the staff unionizing). As announced in his recent song “I Might Need Security,” Chance dedicated the acquisition to running racist competitors out of business. “I look forward to re-launching it and bringing the people of Chicago an independent media outlet focused on amplifying diverse voices and content,” he said in a statement. Chance’s acquisition of Chicagoist has no explicit vision beyond that, which is perhaps troubling considering his past record of aggressively disputing the rare example of minor bad press against him. If he tried to get a story unpublished as Chance the Rapper, will he be as hawkish as Chance the publisher? Chance’s precise plans for the publication have yet to be disclosed—particularly his involvement or lack thereof in its editorial operations—but the choice to embed the purchase within a package of new music gave the announcement the optics of a flex. These kinds of muscular moves are paralleled by more shadowy arrangements by other big acts. Earlier this year Nicki Minaj, who maintains frequent contact with her stans, the Barbz, was goaded by them into finding and confronting entertainment blogger Wanna Thompson, who she then sent a churlish DM. After Thompson publicized Minaj’s reaction to her single tweet of criticism, she was fired from her position with Karen Civil’s blog. A social media advisor who boasts Minaj as a client, Civil claimed that the firing and Nicki’s outrage were a coincidence. If so, it wasn’t the only convergence. In her zeal to mobilize them, and enthrall them, and represent them, Nicki has become the Barbz’ avatar in name and deed. Her obsession with being and remaining number one has become so tedious and histrionic, she’s become a metronome of achievements. As she’s excoriated Spotify and Travis Scott and Kylie Jenner and Billboard, she’s begun to sound like a sentient web thread, reams upon reams of validations and cross-checks looping into the void. She’s so tethered to this idea of being a champion that she can’t even enjoy the game. It almost feels inevitable that she’d start treating mild criticism like rebukes: She’s become her own biggest stan. Ultimately, it’s not surprising that artists have begun to test the waters. What we now call the attention economy is really just the emergence of more competitors in a space once artificially filled with celebrities and the outlets covering them. As the outlets dwindle, losing leverage and scope, the celebrities themselves are becoming the shapers of their own stories. The trend mirrors the ways in which social media platforms have seized space over the past decade: It can’t be a coincidence that the subjects of “stories” and “news feeds” are now adopting the same language for their own takeovers. It’s bizarre and silly, and it’s often barely recognizable as journalism, whether you’re a reader, writer, or participant. Yet artists continue to assert themselves in bolder ways, pulling whatever strings they can reach. I hope they’re just as invested if it all unravels. Read the full article

#Chancetherapper #Pop

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exitexis · 7 years ago

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part one: morning, chapter one: morning

original title: “do not hope, do not regret”

notes:

- the family name “ui” was only chosen because it rhymed with “madotsuki” and it was only appropriate to have her parents’ names rhyme also.

- ui hiroyuki and akiyama yumiko’s names are puns within themselves. “yuki” (雪) means “snow,” but he is not the “cold” parent, while “yumi” sounds similar to “yume” (夢), meaning “dream,” but she is not exactly the “dreamy” parent. yumiko’s character is based upon the yuki-onna, oni effects, and the snow world in the game.

- early on, it is mentioned that ui madotsuki drinks formula instead of breast milk, hinting that akiyama yumiko’s issues with alcohol.

- hiroyuki was given agoraphobia to set an “example” for madotsuki of someone who does not go outside.

edits:

- date changed from “march 12, 1980” to “march 13, 1980,” because Madotsuki was born on the twelfth at a late time (23:07 to be exact), so it would be logical that her parents would return home the next day, not the same day.

- explicit mentions of ui hiroyuki being the dual landowner of the apartment complex he resides in, instead of his job being ambiguous.

- masada’s name changed from “seccom masada” (english pronunciation) to “sekomu masada” (japanese pronunciation) and alternate explanation behind name provided.

- slightly more backstory of akiyama kumiko given – mentions of her moving from nagasaki to fujisawa.

- in the outline of the story, masada, hiroyuki, and yumiko all become good friends. this was later scrapped once the chapter was written. masada and hiroyuki become close friends while masada and yumiko remain acquaintances.

part one: morning, chapter two: kids

original title: “the world of people and things”

notes:

- the summary quote is foreshadowing to the next chapter.

- monoko’s real name is “momoko” (桃子, “peach child”) so that the girl would easily confuse the two when she introduces herself. the same goes for monoe becoming “momoe” (百恵, “hundred graces”). “monoko” and “monoe” aren’t exactly names, but luckily “momoko” and “momoe” are and they could be used in place.

edits:

- masada’s age is explicitly mentioned as being sixteen in 1986, making him officially ten years older than madotsuki (which she mentions). originally madotsuki mentions that he is nine years older than her – making her seven years old before her age was pushed back to officially be six years old.

- in the outline of the story, monoe would drop off monoko at masada’s and sleep with him while the girls played. this idea was scrapped once the chapter was written.

part one: morning, chapter three: crash

original title: “exploding head syndrome”

notes:

- komatsuzaki mariko’s (小松崎鞠子, “small pine peninsula,” “ball child” – i… don’t have an explanation as to why i specifically chose the “ball child” kanji for mariko’s name, it could be taken as a dark joke because of the relationship with her father… but those weren’t my intentions) character is based upon mafurako and the hat and scarf effect.

- monoko is hit by a car because of her event in the game – her body suddenly growing disfigured when you use the stoplight effect on her. she also has the appearance of a young girl, which is why the incident takes place when she is merely a junior high student. her color scheme and the setting she resides in being in black and white also adds to the fact that her event takes place in the past as a memory in madotsuki’s mind.

- the last appearances of monoko and monoe and the first appearance of mariko are in the same chapter because they are connected in the game. mafurako (“mariko”) is the one who leads the player to monoko and monoe.

edits:

- the chapter summary inspired the original chapter title. the current chapter title is a reference to crash by jerry spinelli.

- it was originally mentioned that madotsuki was the runner-up for learning the most characters in her class, but her placing is moved to fifth as an early hint towards her reading troubles that are mentioned frequently later on throughout the story.

- originally, komatsuzaki motonobu (小松崎元信, “small pine peninsula,” “former trust” ) was yumiko’s cousin – they both shared an uncle – who she briefly dated in high school before they quickly called it off once learning that they were related. then, motonobu became madotsuki’s biological uncle (relationship unknown, because he was never mentioned as being yumiko’s brother). finally, it was changed so that he was the boyfriend and later husband of yumiko’s former stepsister, abe sakura. abe sakura’s father was married for yumiko’s mother for some time but are currently divorced, making them former stepsisters. madotsuki calls him her “ex-step-uncle” for these reasons.

- motonobu’s original name was “uncle junichi.”

- in the outline of the story, monoe visited madotsuki and masada to inform them that monoko had died in a car accident where monoe had been driving the vehicle. since madotsuki was not invited to the funeral, masada takes her to put lilies on monoko’s grave. this idea was scrapped once the chapter was written. because… in japan aren’t typically buried, they’re cremated.

part one: morning, chapter four: goddess

original title: “how to befriend an american goddess”

notes:

- poniko’s name is “pomona coe” because: a) so that the teacher would mispronounce it as “poniko,” b) the city that poniko is from is pomona, california which is part of the los angeles county, and c) pomona was a roman goddess and wood nymph, ruling over fruitful abundance, gardens, and orchards.

- the title of poniko and madotsuki’s story is a reference to the rpg maker game space funeral.

edits:

- both of the original and current chapter titles refer to the roman goddess, pomona, who shares the same name as pomona “poniko” coe.

- since madotsuki’s age was lowered from around an ambiguous age of fourteen-fifteen years old to the official age of twelve years old, her descriptions of poniko were edited to appear less sexual sounding.

- a date is given on madotsuki’s letter to poniko.

- in the outline of the story, motonobu, then named junichi, would tell madotsuki that if the money and alcohol he keeps hidden in her room goes missing, then she will be punished accordingly. yumiko would have a cold and madotsuki would take care of her. yumiko apologies to her daughter for being “useless” and says that once she gets better she will find a proper home for them to get away from “uncle junichi.”

- poniko’s original name was “purificación trujillo” and she was going to be from the spanish canary islands. she earns the nickname “poniko,” when a student jokingly calls her it because her name is “too long” and she has a ponytail. she then would have agreed to go by “poniko tuhiro” to make it easier on everyone. this version of poniko had a grandmother, mother, father, older brother, and younger sister back home in the canary islands.

part one: morning, chapter five: party

original title: “house of balloons”

notes:

- mr. and mrs. watari’s names are references to quillsh “watari” wammy from death note.

- the quote from mrs. watari: “there would be a global crisis if i said no, hm?” – is a reference to the song “jessica” performed by hatsune miku and produced by kururingo (“it’s a global crisis, my headaches and dizziness won’t stop”).

- the name violette is a reference to violette from my candy love.

- poniko’s interaction with madotsuki before the party was important because madotsuki was not educated in sex. if she had been attacked at the party without this prior knowledge, she most likely would have not seen it as an attack and thus would not have even known what happened.

edits:

- the house of balloons is a reference to house of balloons and “house of balloons,” a mixtape and song performed by the weeknd. the reason why balloons are alluded so much is because of poniko’s location in the game. the pink sea is surrounded by balloons, thus meaning that madotsuki associates poniko with balloons – this was interpreted as some type of celebration or party that was significant to madotsuki’s life that poniko was associated with. the current chapter title is a reference to “the party & the after party,” also performed by the weeknd.

- poniko’s original surname was “ko” instead of “coe.” an alternate spelling was chosen to make her name appear more american.

- since madotsuki and poniko’s ages were lowered from around an ambiguous age of fourteen-fifteen years to the official ages of thirteen and fourteen (respectively), descriptions of the sexual interactions was made much less mature than before.

- more dialogue between madotsuki’s attackers was added.

- in the outline of the story, madotsuki and poniko would have accidentally taken drugs at the party and madotsuki would take her to motonobu’s home. when she wakes up in the morning, poniko is gone along with some of motonobu’s money. motonobu, then named “uncle junichi,” would have slapped madotsuki and accused her of stealing the money. he then would have stopped short of assaulting her because of yumiko arriving home early. madotsuki would leave to spend the day with masada and then return home to see yumiko threatening to stab motonobu with a knife. yumiko would demand why madotsuki hadn’t told her that he was hurting mariko. motonobu would have then gotten arrested. these ideas were scrapped once the chapter was written.

part one: morning, chapter six: afterparty

original title: “the hour of separation”

notes:

- madotsuki receives her trademark purple skirt from her father here.

- lucky the cat is based upon the cat effect. the cat effect itself is based upon the maneki-neko as the game madotsuki is shown waving one arm and having a coin in hand when equipped with the effect in the game, so lucky’s appearance was altered some to match the description.

- poniko’s abrupt departure from the story is based upon uboa. poniko in the game refuses to look at the player and when provoked suddenly turns into a monster. this event was interpreted as madotsuki associating poniko with someone who suddenly ignored her, departed from her life without a single word, and left on negative terms.

final edit:

- the original summary quote was: “love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation.” ―kahlil gibran, the prophet before it was changed. this quote also inspired the original chapter title. the current chapter title is a reference to “the party & the after party” performed by the weeknd.

- originally, the madotsuki, her father, and masada were celebrating tanabata, or the star festival. so, when the chapter was edited to take place during winter, they celebrated new year’s instead because tanabata is a summer festival.

- madotsuki used to always refer to her father as “chichi” (父) until it was edited for her to refer to him as “papa” when she was younger – a common childish way to address one’s father in japan – and “chichi” – a more mature word for father – is saved for when she is older.

- since the setting was changed from tanabata to new year’s, more additional details were added, such as: hiroyuki mentioning for madotsuki to bring masada a card and leftovers (it is common to eat certain foods and to send cards out on new year’s in japan), masada gives madotsuki a dog ear headband instead of a star one (as 1994 was the year of the dog), and masada teaches madotsuki beethoven’s ninth symphony (oddly, a traditional new year’s song in japan) on the piano instead of a traditional tanabata song.

- the cat’s name was changed from “popcorn” to “lucky” and changed to a white calico japanese bobtail, which is the traditional breed of the maneki-neko, a japanese figurine that is often believed to bring good luck to the owner. lucky’s appearance was changed to match this description more instead of just being just a simple white cat.

- poniko’s letter had a date added to it and the title was removed (a callback to how madotsuki preferred no titles for her writings). mentions of the new year was also added in the letter.

part one: morning, chapter seven: siesta

original title: “leitwortstil”

notes:

- it can be implied that mariko stole the money that motonobu kept hidden throughout the house (mentioned in chapter three) to help her escape.

- the quote: “she was twisting. she was screaming (on the inside). he was uncompromising. every inch, every iota of her body was screeching an ode of the banshees for him to get the fuck off of her.” – is a reference to shitty horoscopes: book iv – resolutions by amrit brar (“aquarius: twisting/screaming/uncompromising; every inch; every iota”).

- the quote: “she felt her wrath plant a seed, take root, sprout and grow, and put forth flowers in her heart.” – is a reference to fellow yume nikki fanfic every girl does it by jackofnone (“but still, she thinks about it. she wonders. and when an idea enters madotsuki’s head, it takes root in the dream, grows, and puts forth flowers.”).

edits:

- the original summary quote was: “leitwortstil is the repetition of a wording, often with a theme, in a narrative to make sure it catches the reader's attention. an example of a leitwortstil is the recurring phrase, "so it goes", in kurt vonnegut's novel slaughterhouse-five. its seeming message is that the world is deterministic: that things only could have happened in one way, and that the future already is predetermined,” before it was changed. this quote also inspired the original chapter title. it is a reference to the repetitious words seen throughout the chapter. the current chapter title is spanish for “nap.”

part one: morning, chapter eight: high

original title: “king of the fall”

notes:

- doi “cookie” gidayu (土井犠打湯, reference to takemoto gidayu, a creator of a style of narration for japanese puppet theater – this reference is made because of cookie’s family history in traditional performances) is based upon the fat effect and strober: a character that appears to be eating a cookie, can be found in the docks b, and gives madotsuki the fat effect.

- matsumoto hatsuyo (松本はつよ, “base of the pine tree”) is based upon closet madotsuki, a character that can be found hidden a closet in the checkered tile path, but can only been seen using the severed head or midget effects, as all of the other effects are too big to see inside of the closet properly, and kamakurako, a character found sleeping inside of an igloo in the snow world.

- fujisaki umi (藤崎海, “wisteria small peninsula,” “ocean”) is based upon the fisherman, a character that can be found in the windmill world and the docks a.

- fuji and cookie are introduced together because their in-game characters (the fisherman and strober, respectively) both appear in the docks.

- the black mall is based upon the mall location in the game, right down to the chilly shoppers and the cat on the roof.

- the characters fuji, cookie, and hatsuyo are also based upon the train passengers. as in this chapter, madotsuki is mainly either with cookie and hatsuyo or just fuji – a reference to how the player can either be with a single train passenger going one way, and two going the other.

- the song that masada was teaching madotsuki on the piano was a reference to “hirai, hirari” performed by hatsune miku, written by nayuta momoka, and produced by tamaz, as it is mentioned to be “…an emotional ballad about missing a lover. madotsuki liked the slow, mesmerizing tune of it.”

- the quotes: “the train station was having a special in its shop. she remembered that because a colorful flyer advertising a new herbal-chicken roast with blue cheese was practically shoved in her face as she was descending the staircase to the train.” and “her word-hungry eyes then scanned over the other posters of the train station. there was a sign that announced that the city museum had a new exhibit about mars.” – are references to fellow yume nikki fic space oddity by injusticeshallfall: “she remembered this because the special at the subway's restaurant was a roast chicken on tuesdays. herbal-roasted chicken, with grated blue cheese melted on top. madotsuki was on her way into the city, because the museum had opened up a new exhibit about mars.”

- masada jumping in front of a train is based upon the significant location of mars in the game. masada’s spaceship crashes (his “crashing” in the story was of him by being on drugs and jumping out in front of a train) and once the player reaches the underground area of the game, they arrive to a location that resembles a train station with sober piano music playing in the background (masada’s spaceship featured a piano) and meet a character, mars-san, that appears to be crying.

- hiroyuki’s character is also somewhat based upon mars-san.

edits:

- the original chapter title was a reference to “king of the fall” performed by the weeknd. the current chapter title refers to the “high” of madotsuki and masada’s relationship and masada’s “high” from drugs and from jumping off of the train platform.

- fuji’s name was changed from “fuji umi” to “fujisaki umi” only because i wanted to make a reference to fujisaki chihiro from danganronpa: trigger happy havoc. ♡

- in the outline of the story, fuji was going to confess his feelings for madotsuki on a train ride from the mall and she would have rejected him. this idea was scrapped once the chapter was written.

- in the outline of the story, madotsuki confides in fuji about masada’s strange behavior and he proposes that perhaps masada is on drugs. with madotsuki’s frustration with masada, she turns to fuji for affection. she then walks in on masada while he is using heroin. he confesses to being on drugs and she confesses to “cheating” on him with her friend. this idea was scrapped once the chapter was written because… it’s melodramatic (as if this story isn’t melodramatic enough tho).

part one: morning, chapter nine: milk

original title: “apprehension for dummies”

notes:

- the vending machines that madotsuki and fuji use are based upon the vending machines in the game that give pink drinks if the player uses the money they collect. it is to be noted that the money system and the energy drinks in the game do nothing for the player!

- madotsuki and fuji watching kiki’s delivery service in the black mall is based on the witch’s flight event that occurs on the mall rooftop when the player equips the witch effect and begins to fly off the roof.

- the sleeping man in the hospital who sneezes in his sleep when madotsuki walks by him is based upon the e-man character that can be found in the mall, who sometimes sneezes if the player is around him for too long. (this man is toriyama eiji, the brother and assistant of toriyama orochi, madotsuki’s therapist.)

- abe sakura (安倍さくら, “double peace” – because her name is written in hirgana, the meaning of “cherry blossoms” is taken away) and yamaguchi usagi (山口兎, “mountain mouth,” “rabbit”) are based upon the toriningen, bird-like women who are the only chasers in the game.

- usagi’s name and appearance is a reference to tsukino usagi, or sailor moon, from sailor moon.

- masada’s inability to walk and vocal cord paralysis – resulting in a deeper, raspier voice – are based upon how after the spaceship crash event masada’s character in the game moves sluggishly and makes slower and deeper noises than before.

- mariko’s disappearance is based on how the character mafurako is invisible to the player until the stoplight effect is used.

- madotsuki’s miscarriage is based on the floyag characters found on the infinite road – they appear to be uterus shaped and one stares at the player – and the henkei shita characters found mainly on the footprint path – they appear to be beheaded pregnant women with mouths for stomachs.

edits:

- the original chapter title was a reference to the for dummies series. the current chapter title is a reference to milk and honey by rupi kaur and “milk and cookies” performed by melanie martinez.

- originally, yumiko mentioned moving to the next prefecture over, but it was changed that she moved to the city of kawasaki instead, still within the kanagawa prefecture which contains madotsuki’s hometown of yokohama.

- in the story’s outline, madotsuki gradually became sick before happening the miscarriage to the point where she stayed home from school and sakura watched over her in the medical center. this was scrapped once the chapter was written and instead the effects of the impending miscarriage were somewhat unnoticeable and the event happened suddenly.

part one: morning, chapter ten: chum

original title: “pick your poison”

notes:

- madotsuki’s fetuses having trap syndrome (twin reserved atrial perfusion) is based upon the takofussen event that occurs in the white desert, as the character appears to resemble twin fetuses having said syndrome, since this event occurs in an area that is black and white, this was associated as something that happened in madotsuki’s past. since the takofussen event has a one in three thousand and six hundred chance in appearing and appears for about half a second every half hour, it was associated with an extremely sudden and unexpected.

edits:

- the original chapter title refers to the term “pick your poison.” to pick your poison means to have to choose between two worse cases. the current chapter title is a reference to “chum” performed by earl sweatshirt.

- since madotsuki and fuji’s ages were lowered from an ambiguous age of fifteen-sixteen to an official fourteen, the phone conversation that they have together reflects on their younger ages. fuji’s response to madotsuki telling him about her miscarriage was also changed to be more emotional since it originally seemed impersonal.

- originally, fuji asks what’s happening in the prefecture that madotsuki is in as at first her mother had gotten a home in another prefecture completely until it was changed that yumi had moved to another city, so fuji instead asks madotsuki what it is like in kawasaki. he was then also added to call himself a “little yokohama boy” so that madotsuki’s hometown location can be explicitly mentioned.

part one: morning, chapter eleven: beautiful

original title: “monday, 13 november, 1995”

notes:

- sakura’s father, abe junichi, is only divorced from yumiko’s mother because if they had still been married then yumiko’s mother would have been invited to mariko’s funeral and introducing yumiko’s mother to madotsuki before introducing hiroyuki’s mother (baba) was not preferable.

- usagi’s disturbing photograph is based upon the disturbing photographs / drawings that the player can encounter in various places, such as the mall or the sewers, in the game.

edits:

- the chapter was originally called “monday, 13 november, 1995” as that was mariko’s death date before it was changed to the fourth of july, 1994. the chapter also takes place in only one day – the first time for a chapter to do so in the story. the current chapter title is a reference to “pretty” performed by the weeknd.

- sakura now mentions how she does not like to sit around and do nothing because of her narcolepsy. before, motonobu had mentioned sakura having narcolepsy, but it was not mentioned again (because, to be honest, i forgot about).

- in the story outline, madotsuki and usagi would have started a relationship and madotsuki would only tell masada that she has started a new relationship, but not with who, causing him to believe that she has started going out with fuji. this was scrapped in the final chapter since the situation created an unnecessary love triangle and there was no solid reason for madotsuki and usagi to be together. now, any chances of said relationship are gone with madotsuki and usagi officially aged fourteen and nineteen, respectively.

part one: morning, chapter twelve: runaway

original title: “drink more water”

notes:

- mariko is given a buddhist funeral, as evidenced by the rituals everyone undergoes by placing coins in her casket, a mention of the river of three crossings, the women keeping vigil all night, and madotsuki being given incense and condolence money.

- the quote: “her mother removed the shawl that came with her dress and threw it in the corner of the room. her thin dress straps had fell from her shoulders. yumi’s posture was hunched over. the setting sun was against her back. she looked like a skinny imp with no shoulders.” – is a reference to “hold my liquor” performed by kanye west, justin vernon, and chief keef (“then her auntie came over, skinny bitch with no shoulders, telling you that i’m bogus, bitch, you don’t even know us”).

edits:

- the original title was a reference to “drink more water” performed by mick jenkins. the current title is a reference to “runaway” performed by kanye west.

part one: morning, chapter thirteen: delivery

original title: “it is useless to go”

notes:

- yumiko’s family is from nagasaki, a location in southern japan that’s sunny with beaches, and hiroyuki’s family is from hokkaido, a location in northern japan that’s snowy with mountains, for a reason. there are no beaches or overall too “sunny” places in the game, but there are plenty of references to forests, mountains, and snow. yumiko’s family remains unknown to madotsuki as she barely remembers yumiko’s parents’ names and does not even know yumiko’s sister’s name. madotsuki goes to hokkaido because a place with the aforementioned forests, mountains, and snow are prevalent throughout madotsuki’s dreams and thus were significant to her in real life. since she resides in an apartment complex and there is the neon world, it can be assumed that madotsuki is originally from the city and visited the mountains, or vice versa. since the backdrop of the apartment in the game changes and is ultimately vague (except for one, more on that later), one can assume that madotsuki is from anywhere.

- madotsuki and fuji going out at night with streetlamps around them is based upon the streetlamps seen in the puddle world, the lamp world, and the lamp effect.

- madotsuki watching kiki’s delivery service on the airplane and having a dream about being a witch whose broom suddenly disappears beneath her, causing her to fall, is based upon the witch’s flight event where when the player disables the broom midflight, madotsuki falls out of bed in real life and wakes up.

edits:

- the original chapter is a reference based upon the chapter summary. the current title is a reference to kiki’s delivery service and madotsuki being “delivered” to the mountains.

- madotsuki was originally going to stay in hokkaido for the summer, but it was changed to a year because japanese schools work on a trimester system, meaning that when students go on summer break they are still in the same grade once the summer is over – they do not start a new school year.

- in the story outline, madotsuki slept with fuji, but this was scrapped once the chapter was written.

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