#eazy season

[gerryland]

[7grandmel]

Todays rip: 08/01/2024

You Are Book Smart

Season 7 Featured on: Rips of Christmas Present

Ripped by circunflexo

Tentative rip name: You Are Book Smart

I'd like to wish a late happy Jay Eazy day to all who celebrate, I hope you spent your time together with your dogs like Mega Man fr fr

Okay, but, like, sincerely, I like many others have over the last year been completely enamored with all the edits and attention given to Jay Eazy, and the frankly hilarious promotions he does for his music. The guy's a rapper in a sea of others but is frankly a marketing genius - he attaches popular games and anime to his songs, such as Grand Theft Auto, Demon Slayer, or indeed Mega Man, and promotes them through TikToks that are so absurdly strange that your only logical reaction is to laugh. In 2023, he struck absolute gold, and Mega Man went absolutely viral - after, of course, it dropped on January 7th.

There's just something so inherently funny about Jay Eazy that's...hard to describe, especially if you haven't been down the rabbithole of edits people have done of the Mega Man promo video. Be it the setup of Jay Eazy dropping in on someone else's grief to promote his music whilst running away from them, The Very Perculiar Way That His Captions And Tweets Are Written‼️, or just the corny sound to the songs themselves - Jay Eazy is immensely fun to post about, and post about him SiIva did, just one day ago. January 7th, 2024, was dedicated entirely to the king of money smarts himself - and of all rips posted, You Are Book Smart became my favorite just about immediately.

The thing is, we've had a lot of rips, and even some events, kind of similar to Jay Eazy Day already. Rap mashup rips, from Yoshi's Cookie World to Loopdeloop Griddy, aren't exactly a rare sight on SiIvaGunner, and just earlier in Season 7 we received a sequel to Whip & Nae Nae Day, with amazing rips like Whip Fortress (coincidentally ALSO by circunflexo!). There's of course uniqueness to all of these rips due to the sheer personality and expressiveness inherent to rap as a music genre, but it does still mean that the rips that try to truly stand out from the crowd are the ones that end up sticking with me the most. And compared to a lot of the other hip hop rips on SiIva, the big benefit that Jay Eazy has enjoyed for me is that he's had a whole year to simmer in my mind - I know the bars to Mega Man completely off the top of my head through no choice of my own, at this point.

All that is to say, that Circunflexo's call to make a rip that specifically plays with the lyrics and flow of Mega Man, sentence mixing it into new bars entirely - is absolutely damn brilliant. You Are Book Smart, through the edits in the lyrics and the sheer whimsy in the original song's beat, transforms a song originally about bragging over riches and dames, into Jay Eazy proudly boasting about his intelligence in perhaps the funniest ways you'll have ever heard. The kind of monotone quality that Jay Eazy's vocals have lend themselves to absolutely fantastic, near seamless sentence mixing, and the jokes just write themselves from there.

"I'm book smart, I'm money smart - I'm more intelligent, Call me Mr. Smart Festival, I got hella books"

It has no right to work as well as it does - and yet, Jay Eazy, the king himself, pulls through. Even if I wasn't blown away by every rip of the event, it was absolutely fun the entire way through, and you can really tell the SiIvaGunner team loves Jay Eazy as much as the rest of us: the cherry on top being the edited opening, that persists in almost all rips of the event. Jay Eazy's typical introduction of spelling out "S-R-G", was across the entire event edited across all rips to say "S-G" - SiIvaGunner. Even for a meme this silly and dumb, the amount of effort put in was, frankly, admirable. What a start to 2024: and Season 8 is just around the corner!!

[earlydawnings-blog]

Seasonal depression would be cured forever with a summer like this

[karahalloway]

(Less Than) Noble Intentions: Chapter 15 - Not Without Obligation

Fandom: TRR

Pairing: Drake Walker x F!OC (Harper Gale)

Series Summary: The social season may be over, but Harper Gale’s problems are just beginning. With everyone at court a potential suspect, can she and Drake survive the engagement tour and get to the bottom of the plot against her and clear her name? An AU take of TRR2 featuring my OTP - Harper & Drake.

Masterlist: (Less Than) Noble Intentions

Chapter Summary: Harper gets a surprise visit from Christian... but are his intentions sincere?

Word Count: 2,800 (short for me, I know enjoy it while you can 😆)

Rating/Warnings: M (swearing, angst, possible ulterior motives)

Chapter theme song:

A/N: I know it's been more than a hot minute since I've updated this series! 😅 This is in part because I got sidetracked by Sleepless in New York also on my list to finish, I know, and then I took most of the summer off from writing. But also in part because I kinda got stuck on how to actually continue with this series... but, I now have a plan! *rubs hands together gleefully* and you ain't gonna like it, sorry, not sorry. So, with this long-awaited installment, I hope to be back in my usual groove and will be posting with some semblance of regularity again. Thanks so much for bearing with me!

A/N2: This is also my submission for @choicesseptemberchallenge2023 Day 25 Prompt - Secret, Surprise I’m only 2 days late

Chapter 15 - Not Without Obligation

Making my way back to my room, I try to push down the conflicting emotions that are roiling inside of me.

On one hand, I get where Drake is coming from, and why he shut the door in my face. We are no longer alone in Applewood and even the faintest whiff of impropriety could implode the carefully strategised work that the royal PR team has put in to try and resuscitate my public image.

And me getting caught outside of the room of a guy who not only is not Christian, but who I have no justifiable reason for seeking out at the butt-crack of dawn in the first place, would definitely scupper the assertion that I'm not a two-timing hussy. Especially since I rushed out of my room earlier wearing nothing more than a t-shirt and panties.

Mitigating factors, they are not.

But while the rational part of my brain knows that Drake is only trying to look out for me, I can't help but feel a pang of dejection at the abruptness with which he — very literally — shut me out, even though he promised yesterday that he wouldn't do something like that to me again.

Because God knows that it had been hard enough to get him to open up the first time!

And even though I'm not expecting him to have completely reversed his habitudes overnight, I guess I'd been hoping that our conversation in the barn would've prompted some kind of step in the desired direction.

Because it's clear that the bruises on my neck unnerved him. The turmoil on his face had made that clear. As the marks are not just some haphazard side-effect of our frantic love-making. They are a very real and visible reminder of the tangible strength of his feelings — and the fact that he lost control of them.

And as much as I understand the knee-jerk cause of his reaction, the last thing I want — or need — right now is for Drake to distance himself from me because he's scared of hurting me again.

That, I could not cope with.

"Demoiselle," nods Allard as I arrive back at my room.

I flash him a distracted smile on auto-pilot. He saw and heard what happened. There is no point rehashing anything. Especially since this isn't something he or Schweitzer can help with.

The weight of my Guard's concerned gaze flick over me as I shuffle past, but they both remain silent, no doubt sensing that I'm not in the mood for conversation.

Shutting the door behind me, I close my eyes as I lean back against the solidness of the wood.

Why are things never simple 'round here?

I really wish Drake and I could've taken a moment to talk things through. Because today's Apple Harvest Festival is expected to see hundreds of people descend onto Applewood to not only celebrate this year's bountiful crop of Cordonian Rubies, but to also catch a glimpse of the new King and his future Queen.

And if I thought that cornering Drake at the apple pick had been hard, the chances of being able to do so today are going to be slim to none.

But the rest of the week doesn't offer any better options because tomorrow we're off to Italy, where we'll likely have even less opportunity for privacy given the high-profile and international nature of the coming engagements.

My eyes snap open. I have to talk to him now.

As much as Drake may be concerned about protecting what's left of my image, I'm not going to let him use the inconvenience of our circumstances as an excuse to hide behind his insecurities or erect walls between us. Because the hard truth is that there's never going to be a good time to talk unless we make time.

Which is exactly what I am going to do, possible scandal be damned. I cannot let a tenuous fear borne out of a possible public backlash hold me back. My relationship with Drake is worth infinitely more to me than whatever garbage the paps may decide to print because some aristo decided to tattle on me if I get caught sneaking back into his room.

Because, let's face it. Even if I do end up on the front pages tomorrow (for all the wrong reasons), the fact of the matter is that any photo, any situation — no matter how sordid or innocent — can be spun any which way.

I've learnt that the hard way. So, I may as well use it to my own advantage for once.

Pushing myself away from the door, I march into my walk-in closet with renewed determination. Pulling the t-shirt that I'd slept in over my head, I quickly throw on a bra, some jean shorts and a black tank top.

Slotting my bare feet into my well-worn Sketchers, I make my way over to the French doors that lead out onto balcony so I can try to figure out the best way to scamper over to Drake's room without killing myself, given that I stand a better chance of slipping under the aristo's nosy radar via the balcony than going back through the corridor.

Hopefully, I can—

Tap, tap tap.

I stop mid-stride at the sound of knocking coming from the other side of my door.

Turning around, I contemplate whether I should respond, or pretend that I hadn't heard.

I have precious little time if I want to catch Drake before he disappears on me to do... whatever it is that he does in the mornings before the start of a royal event.

So, if I want to make it to his room, I need to go now before he finishes getting dressed.

But, then again, there is only a very small number of people at court who'd come directly to my room to talk to me. Especially at this time in the morning.

So, it could be important. It could be about Tariq...

...it could be Drake.

The latch clicks open.

I glance anxiously back towards the balcony, trying to decide if I should—

"May I come in?"

I whirl around in surprise at the sound of the unexpected voice. "Christian!"

He pokes his head 'round the door. "I... I didn't catch you in a state of undress, did I?"

"No! No... I was already dressed," I admit, trying to be as casual as possible as I quickly brush my hair over my shoulders in a haphazard attempt to try and cover up the bruises, given that I hadn't thought to slather any cover-up over myself yet.

Christian definitely doesn’t need to be asking questions about those!

"Ah, good!" he responds, stepping fully into the room and closing the door behind him. "You're an early riser, like myself."

"You can thank the Beaumonts," I mutter under my breath, glancing guiltily back toward the balcony.

So much for stealing a much-needed moment with Drake...

"I apologise for the intrusion," Christian continues, crossing the space between us, "especially at such an early hour. But I was hoping to catch you alone before the start of the Apple Harvest Festival."

One word catches my attention. "A-Alone...?"

He comes to a stop in front of me. "Very much so."

Anxiety flares in the pit of my stomach as Drake's words from yesterday swirl through my mind.

...he's trying to win you back.

And it suddenly hits me that I haven't been alone — truly alone — with Christian since the day of the Jamboree. When he took me into the hedge maze and offered me a duchy.

My mind starts to whirl.

Had that been the start of this... crusade? The fact that I turned him down? Does he still think he can change my mind? Is he simply incapable of accepting 'no' as an answer?

I force my gaze up to meet his.

His emerald green eyes behold me calmly, with maybe a hint of excitement. But I cannot read his intention.

"Wh-why?" I finally blurt out.

A smile spreads across his face. "To bestow upon you your letters patent, of course!"

I gape at him. "My letters of what?"

He chuckles good-naturedly at my evident confusion. "Letters patent. Itis a type of royal decree that formally confers some manner of privilege onto the names designee — an office of state, a coat of arms, a commercial monopoly... or, in this case, your new title as Duchess of Valtoria."

With a flourish, he pulls out a small, leather-bound box that he's been hiding behind his back.

I stare at it mutely.

"It won't bite, I promise," he assures me wryly.

Reaching up with a tepid smile, I accept the box, which is a lot heavier than it looks.

Opening it up, I find a medieval-looking document nestled in the lid, complete with densely-packed Chancery script and and a historiated initial C embossed with the stylised image of the Cordonian royal crest.

Peering at the text — which I can only assume is an archaic form of French — I can just about make out the odd word, like my name, Christian's name, and Valtoria. But the rest remains completely incomprehensible.

Presumably some grand declarations about the bestowal...

In the bottom part of the box rests a cream-coloured envelope also bearing the Cordonian royal crest, along with my name, though this time written in delicate cursive lettering.

"What's this?" I ask Christian, lifting the letter up.

"Your papers of naturalisation," he informs me. "Along with your new passport and ID card."

I glance up at him in surprise. "I am now a Cordonian citizen?"

"It would not have been possible to issue the letters patent otherwise," he says. "Even a king must abide by the diktats of the law."

"I... don't need to sign anything?"

"The US Consulate was very accommodating, given the unique nature of the circumstances."

My stomach twists unexpectedly. "Oh..."

Dual citizenship is a good thing, right?

Returning my attention to the box, I see that the envelope has been concealing a large, intricate-looking seal bearing what appears to be the stylised outline of a rampant phoenix, next to which sits a signet ring with the same image.

"Does it meet expectations?" asks Christian.

"I'm not sure I know what I'd been expecting..." I admit, running a finger over the lines of the mythical bird, marvelling at the level of detail that's been put into creating such a realistic rendering, complete with individual licks of flame spouting from the tail feathers.

"Any egregious spelling errors?"

"Not that I can see," I admit, glancing up at him. "But—"

"Excellent!" he declares, reaching over the lid of the box to deftly pluck the signet ring out from its nest of blue silk.

Before I have a chance to react, he's clasped my hand in his to poise the heavy circlet of gold at the tip of my ring finger.

"Wait!" I gasp in the face of the unexpectedly intimate turn of events. "What are you—?"

"It would be remiss of me if I did not verify the correctness of the sizing," he advises, meeting my panicked gaze calmly.

"You don't need t—"

"It would be my pleasure," he insists, slipping the ring onto the digit before I can protest further.

As he withdraws his hand, my eyes fall onto the spot where the cool metal's unfamiliar weight now encircles the base of my finger.

"Perfect," Christian declares with a satisfied smile, brushing his thumb over the phoenix insignia.

I stare at the band with an uneasily mix of feelings swirling in my chest. "Christian, I—"

"Let's celebrate, shall we?" he announces, pulling back to click his fingers with a decisive snap.

On cue, the door behind Christian swings open to admit a veritable procession of servants bearing ice buckets, champagne, crystal flutes and tiny servings of finger food.

"Wait..." I stammer in the face of organised onslaught. "They were waiting outside this whole time?"

"I may have take a page out of your party planning book," he admits with a grin while the industrious staff set about transforming my bedroom into a first-class tea room. "Seeing the success you had with Drake on his birthday, I thought I would try my hand at surprising you on this important day."

"And that's great, but I never agreed—"

"Didn't you?" Christian asks with a level look as he nabs a miniature scone from the tray of a passing server.

I shake my head. "No, I—"

"Because I specifically recall you giving your unambiguous consent at yesterday's apple pick to proceed with finalising your new status," he states, taking a bite out of the pastry.

I open my mouth, but promptly shut it as the conversation from the orchard floats back into my consciousness.

"...having the paperwork squared away before our departure would grant significant boon for your image."

"Oh. Okay..."

"Oh, fuck..." I mutter as the cold hand of hindsight clamps down on the nape of my neck.

Christian had obviously mischaracterised my somewhat dazed reaction as some kind of explicit affirmation.

And since Drake's appearance yesterday had interrupted the conversation at that key moment, I never had a chance to correct the misunderstanding.

But I need to. Because once again, Christian has taken matters into his own hands and acted without my my prior agreement or approval t. Just like he had done when he decided to send me away during the Coronation Ball, only to then bring me back to court as his mistress, not to mention spring an actual duchy on me without any warning.

And while his heart's probably been in the right place each and every time, I'm not sure that I can cope with any more bolts from the blue.

Especially when they so drastically upend my life.

Heaving a breath, I look back up at the King of Cordonia again. "Look, Christian, I really appreciate all of this, but I think there's been a major—"

The loud bang! of the champagne bottle shooting its cork across the room makes me jump.

Turning around, I can see that the gold-coloured liquid is already in the process of being dispensed into a pair of waiting crystal flutes.

"I hope you like this Moët & Chandon Imperial Vintage 1946 that I had picked out," Christian murmurs, brushing a hand over the small of my back. "It is an exceptional cuvée with notes of citrus, apple and pear — an apt combination, I thought, given the occasion."

"Because of the pear trees in Valtoria..." I surmise heavily, watching a footman bring over a pair of freshly-filled champagne flutes with a foreboding note of finality.

"Exactly," confirms Christian, grabbing a glass from the tray. "A beautifully complimentary pairing. One that hope we can both enjoy for many years to come."

"Yes, but—"

"Let's toast, shall we?" prompts Christian, cutting me off yet again as the footman proffers me the other serving of expensive bubbly.

I stare at it like a poison pill.

This is what Drake had warned me about, isn't it? That Christian would seek to manoeuvre me into a corner like a chess piece... By giving with one hand, only to take with the other when the time came for the chips to fall due. Because what better way to create an unimpeachable sense of obligation than by making me into a duchess? A literal vassal to the Crown? Required to do the King's bidding, no matter the cost?

And if that really is his aim, then he has certainly been succeeding.

But at the same time, I am not sure I can trust my assessment. Christian has given no indication, one way or another, as to where his goals lay. And even if the misunderstanding had been genuine, to turn him down now would not only be inexplicably rude, but maybe also dangerous?

Would I be jeopardising Christian's support in the hunt for Tariq and my quest to set the record straight if I offend him by throwing all his heartfelt effort back in his face? Especially when I don't know for certain what Christian's motives are?

Because what if Drake is wrong? What if there is no hidden agenda and I'm just massively overthinking this entire thing because I've been burned once already and now everyone looks suspect... Even — and especially — when I'm being offered help?

"Harper?" queries Christian. "Everything alright?"

I shake myself out of my stupor and grab the crystal flute. "I'm fine. Just... Trying to come to grips with it all."

"There will be plenty of time for that," he assures me with a grin, raising his glass. "To the new Duchess of Valtoria!"

I clink the delicate crystal in my hand against his with a leaden feeling in my stomach.

There's no going back now...

For better or for worse, I have just become an aristo.

The story continues in Chapter 16 - Snakes in the Garden

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(Less Than) Noble Intentions only (let me know if you want to be added!)

@thetruthisthatiloveyou @anakjaybon-blog

[merlotmadchen]

saturday 09.03 // 7:30pm

Yesterday, I had quite a bad day thus I didn’t blog anything. It’s okay and totally normal to have bad days, not every day can be a walk on sunshine you know. Even on the bad days, it can help to blog to just let things out or journal at most. Which is what I always try to take into consideration, even if I’m having a bad day — it might be a good thing to document it, so in the future I can look back and think “I got through that, I can get through this!”.

Nevertheless, today was a good day! I updated all my workouts and transferred them to my garmin clock! So today I did a new upper body routine which went great! I even got some help from a staff member with my form — my gym is so comfortable and I feel it’s a perfect place to grow! Then after my workout I went to the golf course to do some practice on the driving range and the chipping- and putting green so I can be prepared for the season when I get back home. This evening I am just going to do some self care and journaling whilst watching the Carolina Hurricanes vs New Jersey Devils game!

🏔️today’s wins

great upper body workout ! pushed myself and hit some new pr’s! 🧘🏽‍♀️🏔️

10k steps with 20 day streak! 👟🪽

practiced on the driving range ! 🏌🏽‍♀️🎧

drank lots of water ! 🫧🤍

🤍 self-care

listened to music ! 🎧🪩

did a facemask! 🧖🏽‍♀️🪞

no makeup day 🫧🪽

enjoyed the nice weather outside! 🤍☁️

song of the day 🎧🪽

[infatuatedgabs]

⭑ Gabby. 18. purple and black. reading. writing. billie eilish. chase atlantic. frank ocean. the weeknd. usher. g-eazy. partynextdoor and more. sturniolo triplets. sam and colby. dantdm and markipler. fall season.!stuffed animals!. movies and tv shows (HORROR MOVIES!!). dr pepper lover to the core. don’t have a certain aesthetic. talk to me all you want!. school never again. <3

⭑ this blog will be used to post random stuff and to spam talk with people !!

⭑ my writing blog is @strnilolover !!

[in-flvx]

WIP tag: potter manor 🩷🩷

Yes hi hello <3 Potter manor is going to be another long fic and I'm really not all that sure when it will come out. But it is a muggle au, in which Sirius didn't attend school with the others, and only meets them years later, when he starts to work as a seasonal staff member, at Potter manor. Starting with him will be his old roommate (at Paris at the time, where they attended culinary school together) Snape - the two despise each other, who has his own reasons to work there, that are not only about earning money. Also there: CEO of Sleek-Eazy, owner of the manor, airplane enthusiast and playboy James Potter; PHD candidate and single mother (with James' child) Lily Evans; Free-lance wildlife photographer, childhood friend of James, with epilepsy and a bit of a hypocritical stance on wealth Remus Lupin; Journalist on vacation Mary MacDonalds; Sports journalist childhood friend of James Peter Pettigrew; and also Hagrid: farmer, and both ex-client and ex-partner of Sirius. And others.

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 28/09/2024 (Alex Warren)

For a fifth week, Sabrina Carpenter remains at #1 with “Taste” - it’s been there since release, and shows no real sign of decline. I suppose time will tell, but for now, welcome back to REVIEWING THE CHARTS!

content warning: language, G-Eazy

Rundown

This is a pretty slow week, and if Alex Warren having the biggest debut doesn’t tell you that, everything else should, but that doesn’t mean nothing happened and of course, we start as always with our notable dropouts, songs exiting the UK Top 75 - which is what I cover - after a peak in the top 40 or five weeks within the covered region. This week, we bid a fair adieu to, firstly, a couple songs that really did not kick off and are gone really early like “ALL RED” by Playboi Carti after just a week in the top 40, “Moi” by Central Cee and RAYE, “Nobody’s Soldier” by Hozier and “Pretty Slowly” by Benson Boone, alongside two more seasoned hits in the form of “Fortnight” by Taylor Swift featuring Post Malone and, thank the heavens, “I Don’t Wanna Wait” by David Guetta and the hacks over at OneRepublic. I have never once said my coverage is unbiased.

Apart from Ariana Grande’s “we can’t be friends (wait for your love)” back at #74 and “i like the way you kiss me” by Artemas at #71, just creeping back up in a slow week, alongside Coldplay’s “Yellow” at #62, we don’t have many returns of note, so we can look towards the interesting and relatively significant gains for “KEEP UP” by Odetari at #51, kind of surprised that’s making it higher, “Close to You” by Gracie Abrams at #47, “Who” by Jimin at #40, “Diet Pepsi” by Addison Rae at #37, “Carry You Home” by Alex Warren at #32 thanks in part to the new song which we’ll talk about later and the album next week. Then we have “feelslikeimfallinginlove” by Coldplay at #32, “WILDFLOWER” by Billie Eilish at #23, “Embrace It” by Ndotz taking virality up to #20, and finally, “Pink Pony Club” by Chappell Roan at #15.

And as for our top five, well, it’s mostly stagnant. Sure, at #5 and #4, “Please Please Please” by Sabrina Carpenter swapped places with “Die with a Smile” by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars, but our top three stays still: “Espresso” by Sabrina at #3, “Good Luck, Babe!” by Chappell Roan at #2 and of course, “Taste” at #1. Now to run through our batch of new songs, a small but really mixed bag here, starting with:

New Entries

#73 - “I Only Smoke When I Drink” - nimino

Produced by nimino

Alright, I’ll bite: who the Hell is nimino? And perhaps more importantly, does it matter? This is a woozy, bordering on fuzzy and lo-fi, spin on a house tune from a producer based in London who has been active since at leasst 2018 in EDM but hadn’t broken out with a big single until now. Firstly, here’s a way of telling if someone is more of a real deal bedroom producer finally getting a deserved break instead of an opportunist TikTok viral moment: this is a bit of a deep cut of a sample, isn’t it? R&B singer Rayana Jay released her song “Hangover” in 2019, it’s a smooth jam with just barely over a million streams on Spotify and a post-success feature from G-Eazy alongside the much more unknown and definitely much more talented Beni Moun. It’s not something that stands out to me, but is a cute enough song that closes her album - it’s rough to finish your record with a G-Eazy feature, though. It stood out to nimino though! He takes not the chorus but the opening line I wouldn’t think twice about to make the titular hook, turning it into a mantra unrecognisable from its original context.

This new song has flittering percussion and synths similar to a Fred again.. track alongside the filtered, more typical house drums which all eventually collide into a louder, almost overwhelming melodic blend against the original cooed hook. The main synth may be too loud, actually, but it phases in very well into a chirpy rhythm that really reminds me of the late 2010s with the cute vocal sound effects and one-offs like the kid laughing, the shuttered future bass-esque synth and nice little percussive percs that show a level of detail to the production here. The sound design is top-notch, the drop is not one-note as the second time around, we get a much more filtered rendition that renders everything into pitch-shifted fragments and even new elements from the original sample coming in, before a final lead-up to what seems like a crescendo amongst 2-step drums… and it just doesn’t arrive, which in this case is genuinely disappointing, because the potential is there for a longer song and really impactful third drop. For what it is, though, it still exceeds my expectations greatly and is a neat, fun little jam I wouldn’t be against seeing chart for a few weeks longer. I believe this is what the kids are calling “stutter house” but I may also need to check out more of nimino’s other work to see what he’s been up to outside of this viral hit, and also to see if he ultimately fits into that genre or, like many EDM DJs nowadays, is a jack of all trades. I feel like his late-summer, wavy sound will fit into many different styles. For now, I recommend this… and not really the song it came from.

#72 - “TEFLON DON” - Future

Produced by Southside, Topp, Peeb, MoXart Beatz, London on da Track and Desro

So, Future dropped an album. Or mixtape. Or album called mixtape. Either way you shake it, it does not seem like this drop will make as strong a wave of his duo of collaborative projects with producer Metro Boomin, primarily because of how there are no features, and it’s an overall rawer project that spends most of its time in and out of short, hard beats with a lot of decadence and deviance from the main affair and no-one else. Given its shorter length, the lack of other voices does not really lead to it dragging as you’d expect, and outside of other long-time collaborators Wheezy and Southside, there aren’t many recurring producers, and a lot of beats have varied contributions from several. There’s a snappier and more diverse palette of instrumentals than you could have expected as a result. However, that doesn’t translate to sales, and this album debuted at #11 on the UK Albums Chart, with only one song charting - I didn’t expect to discuss MIXTAPE PLUTO at all but I’m sure the last-minute music video helped matters, though it’s also the opener - I assume many tapped out after realising there wouldn’t be any guest stars, but Pluto does hold the tape well on his own. This has a hard trap beat, some operatic textures, and splintering production amongst the other alien loops that find themselves in his mix serving one verse from Future, comparing himself to John Gotti like many a rapper before him and not saying much of interest. Why do I prefer this to many other trap bangers? It’s simple: firstly, the beat has a genuine dark menace with the vocals and strings, but mostly because of Future, whose relentless flow locks him into falsetto vocal cracks and nonsensical ad-libs that add so much more character to this track than needs be. It’s far from my ultimate favourites on the album - “SURFING A TSUNAMI” and “LOST MY DOG” are what I recommend - but it’s a fair opener that primes you into exactly what you’d expect from a decent trap solo tape from the king of the genre.

#70 - “S P E Y S I D E” - Bon Iver

Produced by Justin Vernon and Jim-E Stack

Sure, Bon Iver. We’re just doing whatever the fuck this week anyway, it appears, so why not Bon Iver? Ostensibly an indie folk band around since the 2000s, the catalogue of which I’m admittedly not familiar, Bon Iver is synonymous with its lead songwriter and vocalist, Justin Vernon, who will often use the name when in collaboration with bigger acts like Ye, Taylor Swift and Travis Scott, with the Bon Iver albums themselves also increasingly using outside collaborators, making the name feel closer to, say, Tame Impala, even if they’re yet to be that level of one-man band, though they started out as such initially. It doesn’t appear that any of the band actually play on this one, though, with pop producers Jim-E Stack and BJ Burton helping out for a lead single I also did not expect to chart at all this week.

He has - or they have - got an EP coming out and interestingly, this has less of the folktronica, art pop and R&B influences Vernon has been messing around with for the past decade now, instead going for a stripped-back, conventional singer-songwriter track with some great acoustic guitar playing from Mr. Iver, alongside a falsetto vocal that I have always struggled to distinguish from James Blake if I’m honest, especially since I usually hear him in a poppier context. There’s not even a chorus here, but there is a delightful swell of strings jumpstarted by a floaty, almost flippant falsetto chirp from Vernon, though that same swell has a certain melancholy to it, fittingly when there’s a great deal of despair in the content. Vernon begs at the end of the song for him to be made a man from what’s left of his life, one that he acknowledges as full of mistakes, nothing like how he’d have hoped. He starts to enter the stage of sobering up, realising what’s been wrong by the tail-end, but that’s only after moping about self-sabotage for so long that actually articulating what the problem is seems unnecessary. The last verse’s last glint of hope is not a plea for fixing, but more a rearrangement: he barely even resembles the man he’s supposed, so with whatever remains, make a new one. It’s a sombre ballad, it won’t last on the charts, and there isn’t a particular moment that really resonates with me like a specifically poetic turn of phrase or vocal inflection: there’s little to the song over than vocal, guitar and strings, so it’s not very layered in that front. There’s something missing that prevents me from gravitating to it in a specific sense, outside of the context of the tracks it will be sandwiched between, but it’s a powerful vocal, pleaant listen and downright earnest song that deserves well enough to be here.

#66 - “Heavy is the Crown” - Linkin Park

Produced by Mike Shinoda

Well, I suppose with all the controversy floating around, you’d want to move quickly and release some good songs to shut everyone complaining up, right? Well, potentially, that method will work - given the YouTube comments and the tour on the way, with pretty much guaranteed sales, I don’t doubt it will. It won’t work on me, though, primarily because this song sucks. I liked “The Emptiness Machine”, but this feels pretty transparent in its approach: let’s recreate “Faint”. From their 2003 album Meteora, the single starts with an eerie strings sample before dropping into the distorted guitars and a jungle-adjacent drum sound, as co-lead Mike Shinoda raps slightly awkwardly with his characteristic digital stutter, before Chester Bennington crashes in for not just the anthemic chorus but a guttural screech for the bridge. It peaked at #15, but this isn’t a direct sample, instead just a very similarly-structured song which could be a decent thematic song, but it feels a tad lazy when Shinoda is referencing his own rhyme schemes and newly-hired Emily Armstrong also does a long scream in reference to Chester’s iconic one from “Given Up” that really just does not hit the same: technically impressive, but it doesn’t feel as “real”, especially with all the electronic, reverb-heavy production that has flattened this song in terms of having the impact it wants to, including that gross Auto-Tune pre-chorus and the unnecessary echoing. More than actually creating new and interesting music with their new members, this song feels more like a corporate-requested Linkin Park compilation of revisited ideas in a song that’s not even three minutes, squashed into some promo link with League of Legends. Yes, really. I appreciate that since they’re in a genre where sounding like you care is kind of required, they can’t go fully into autopilot, but this has erased some of my hopes for that new album, given this is completely a retread, very transparently, and nothing else.

#35 - “Burning Down” - Alex Warren

Produced by Adam Yaron

You know the stomp-rock revival is really coming to a head when we’re giving Alex Warren, who barely really has the one hit with “Carry You Home”, a serviceable folk-pop tune but nothing special or distinct, a second hit… and an album this week! Maybe we’ll see how that does to see if he can join Noah Kahan in being the figureheads for a really unexpected turn in pop - rock? - music, but for now, he’s got a new single to promote it, it’s debuting over trap legend Future on one of his many peak runs, a Bon Iver lead single, and megastar band Linkin Park’s video game crossover marketing launch, so there must be something to it. There must be. There’s not. Okay, I suppose, the gospel organs are a tad unique, even if it’s moreso just bringing the Christian imagery that’s often subtext in folk songs to a more explicit angle, reflected in the choral vocals and a tone from Warren that resembles David Kushner - yikes - over a dark atmosphere leading into the song that completely flails into a swinging tune by the time the chorus hits. It’s a nasty post-breakup piss-off, but it’s not fully unlikeable given the smug tone has some more genuine drama, with the backing vocals doing a lot of heavy work there, and the chorus being genuinely catchy helping a great deal too. I do find Warren’s vocals here actually pretty shit, generally, he sounds dull on the verses and I have no idea what emotion he’s trying to convey the rest of the time, not sure he does either. In fact, given the mediocre writing that doesn’t really give much detail, he’s the weakest link in a song that sounds more professional than the breakout track, but also in a variation of this genre I don’t have much patience for. It’s once again serviceable, and I appreciate that there is much more character to this than “Carry You Home”. The problem is that I don’t really like that character, and whilst it’s not as immature as a Benson Boone, at least he sells that unlikeability factor in a really uniquely stressful way. This is just unremarkable.

Conclusion

That word does tend to summarise the week, both chart-wise and with the quality of these songs, though most of them remain on a pretty positive edge of the spectrum. nimino, whoever that is, grabs Best of the Week for “I Only Smoke When I Drink”, with Bon Iver just cutting Future off for the Honourable Mention with “S P E Y S I D E” - if it were another track, he could have ran away with it. I can only give one bad title here, Worst of the Week to Linkin Park’s “Heavy is the Crown”, but it’s not as offensively bad as much as it just being utterly see-through. As for what’s on the horizon, expect Kylie Minogue and JADE to land their new bops onto the chart, then maybe something from Alex Warren and Lady Gaga’s soundtrack companion album… and then The Weeknd and Playboi Carti following up their faltering singles with an immediate collab that will probably debut pretty high. I can’t say I’m excited for all of that, but we’re entering the end of the year, with just two months of non-Christmas chart-reviewing, so I suppose we’ll have to see. For now, thank you for reading, long live Cola Boyy and I’ll see you next week!

[gerryland]

10 Years 💪

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[7grandmel]

Todays rip: 15/05/2024

Mallstep‼️

Season 8 No Album Release (Read More)

Ripped by BluLuigi7

Can I just say: I am SO happy to see that Jay Eazy posting is still going so strong past January 7th? Like, we pretty firmly established back with Hella Pummel that venula is the champion of Jay Eazy posting, but we've had tons of other talented rippers take their own crack at it - there's circunflexo back with You Are Book Smart, of course, but also the focus of today's rip - BluLuigi7. After making the first-ever Jay Eazy Raft Ride with She Gon Make Me Ride On Her Raft Like I'm Link‼️, he's finally ready for the main stage with perhaps one of my favorite Jay Eazy rips to date - or, if nothing else, one of the most creative ones.

See, a lot of people still only really know Jay Eazy as the funny Mega Man rapper, and fair enough - it is a very funny video, and a lot of his music sounds rather...homogeneous, for lack of a better word. But there is a silver lining to his songs sounding so similar, in that rips like Mallstep‼️ are able to leverage different ones at the same time without it clashing. Indeed, Mega Man is only one part of the rip, the part that introduces the rip with the iconic "Yo bro, why are you doing that??" - but after the most iconic bars of said song drop, it changes seamlessly to using Respect Your Elders without missing a beat. And honestly, that's absolutely the right call for a song like Pigstep, I think Respect Your Elder's flow fits the track far better - but I love that Mega Man still gets incorporated AT THE SAME TIME as the former song, with it being used as a backing layer to the whole thing.

It's just a very clever rip all around, tons of small touches you'd otherwise find unneeded but just make the rip funnier in the long run - small uses of sound effects call to mind rips like Locked In The Underground except here done explicitly for comedic purposes, playing a sudden Nutshack sample when Jay Eazy says "nuts" or a reverb fart SFX far in the distance when the lyrics mention "shittin' on 'em". It's primarily a mashup at first, but with tons of these small additions throughout, little edits to how Respect Your Elders flows through Pigstep's ebb-and-flow lead melody, all of course culminating in a fully pitch shifted section at the rip's melody. The Jamminest Of All is a recent example of it, but these kinds of surprise pitch-shifting rips are always a favorite - it can be overbearing at times if done for an entire rip, yet it adds just enough variety when used as spice to an already fantastic rip like it is here.

The point is - a rip like Mallstep‼️ is at once very funny through its concept alone, but elevated even more through how prominently BluLuigi7's own character shines through it. It feels like a flex in the best ways possible, a big grab-bag of additional notes onto an already super-solid rip. The star of the show, fittingly enough, is the short little nod to Starboy near the rips end, which was the joke in one of the first-ever Pigstep rips on the channel in I'm a motherh*cking Starpig, a rip that's evidently still remembered fondly even four years later. I received a comment a while back noting that nobody loves SiIvaGunner as much as the team itself, and it's the stuff like what Mallstep‼️ pulls that keeps reminding me of that: the rips made by people like BluLuigi7 who just love having fun with their ideas althewhile paying small tributes to past rips on the channel. Hugely popular rips like Stickerbrush Queen are far from the only ones to get references like this, and it always makes me so happy to see, to be reminded that each individual ripper has their internal web of rips that means more to them than I've ever considere that they could.

Back to the rip as a whole, though - it just kind of bangs in that very particular Jay Eazy way. For as stupid as his music may be to some, it's difficult not to love with everything that the meme of his music has wrought. So much passion from the side of the internet that just loves to have fun spawned purely from a guy promoting his music in a bizarre way on TikTok, and Mallstep‼️ is just one of many examples - a rip that has fun with its concept, fun with the very channel its on, but most crucially of all exudes the fun energy of its very ripper in spades. To say that I'm happy that Jay Eazy is a reoccurring gag on the channel would be a grave understatement: I'm looking forward to just how many fun ways his music will be reinterpreted with next with far too much excitement, and thus far SiIvaGunner has not yet failed to deliver in regards to fresh ways to go about it.

[5ivebyfive]

Character ask game 5 and 19: Emily Prentiss 😊

5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think of them?

19. How about about a relationship in canon that you don't like?

The guy in the last couple seasons. I forget his name because he's super forgettable. I did not like them. It felt way too forced and gross. I really think she was wanting to not be alone and she fell into that. Just. No.

[star4daisy]

Hey babe, it's me, wifie 😎

I'm curious to know about the 8, 11, 14, and 20, please.

oh I thought u looked familiar hsdadhsaua performing ur wifely duties I see 🩷

8. If all of your fics were in a horror movie which one would die first?

THIS IS SO HARD they are all kinda darkish, Addicted to You is the only one without murder or blood so probably that one but it's rosekiller so not really, Power Over Me is the one where they're more tame so maybe that one

11. If you had to give an album to each of your fics which album would you choose? 

I DO NOT LISTEN TO ALBUMS and the ones I have listened do not fit at all so I'll choose songs that inspired me in each one or that I listened to while writing lol my taste in music does not reflect my fics at all this is very random (I listened to Ludovico Einaudi while writing most of these too)

Arsonist's Lullabye: obviously Arsonist's Lullabye by Hozier, Mother Mother - Hayloft II, Angel of Small Death and The Codeine Scene by Hozier and I listened to ptolemaea by ethel cain while writing it ever since I heard it for the first time

The Devil in your eyes: Me and The Devil by Soap&Skin (I listened to this on a loop), The Monster by Eminem ft Rihanna and Hail Mary by 2pac (it's actualy very fitting ok)

You Hold My Heart in Your Hands: Animals by Maroon 5, Sucker For Pain by Lil Wayne, Heartless by Kanye West, I Can't Go On Without You by Kaleo

Power Over Me: Power by Isak Danielson, Power Over Me by Dermot Kennedy, Way Down We Go by Kaleo and Cinematic Fairy Tale Music with ASMR Ambience lol

Addicted to You: Toxic by Britney Spears, Woo by Rihanna, Him and I by Halsey and G-Eazy, Drunk In Love by Beyonce, The Hills by The Weeknd

THIS IS WHY I DON'T DO PLAYLISTS FOR MY FICS LOL people would be wondering what I was on while writing it (I did write most of YHMHIYH while drunk so there's that)

14. Assign each of your fics a season. 

They are all autumn to me but Addicted to You and You Hold My Heart in Your Hands could be winter

20. If you had to pick a fic to make a sequel of which fic would you choose?

I already answered this here ;) but I forgot about Power Over Me so there's that

Thanks babe this was hard but fun ❤️

[cyarskaren52]

How bad do you have to be when even the cast of glee (a jukebox musical tv series that lasted six seasons from 2009 to 2015 that you either loved, hated, or hate watched) doesn’t like your new song if you can call it that and they don’t even have to say who they’re talking about but everyone else knows based on the timing

even Mr. schue rapping was better than that Bigfoot mess. And let’s just say, Eminem (or any other white rapper you can think of I.e Mac Miller, g-eazy, vanilla ice, jack Harlow, etc) he’s not. Heck even Tom Macdonald is a better rapper than mr schue , and his music is worse (unless you’re a trump loving conservative who loves this kind of music because artists like Garth brooks and rage against the machine are “too woke “ for them, their words not mine)

Nicki if you were the stock market you’d be going down 📉

[beardedmrbean]

“Baby it’s cold outside is a rape song!” Bitch we radios still played R Kelly songs despite FUCKING FOOTAGE of him raping a teenage girl. Ugh, boondocks was a good middle finger to how my community acted

Also…do people forget that 40’s-50’s people were tongue in cheek about their sexual desires? You can easily pick up the innuendos if you remember pre sex revolution dynamics

Why do I got better critically thinking skills than grown ass adults? WHY, WHY, WHYYYY

Bored as hell and I wanna get I'll So I went to a place where my homeboys chill The fellows out there, making that dollar I pulled up in my 6-4 Impala They greet me with a 40 and I started drinking And from the 8-ball my breath start stinking Love to get my girl, to rock that body Before I left I hit the Bacardi Went to her house to get her out of the pad Dumb hoe says something stupid that made me mad She said somethin that I couldn't believe So I grabbed the stupid bitch by her nappy ass weave She started talkin shit, wouldn't you know? Reached back like a pimp and slapped the hoe Her father jumped out and he started to shout So I threw a right-cross cold knocked him out

Cause the boyz n tha hood are always hard You come talking that trash we'll pull your card Knowing nothing in life but to be legit Don't quote me boy, cause I ain't saying shit ____________

Eazy was the only one of the bunch that didn't sell out in the end, at least between him, Dre', and Cube.

MC Ren is low key enough that he doesn't pop up too much, so he may or may not have.

Eazy didn't know how to lay low, or wear a condom.

Cube doin the 'no vaseline' attempt at a diss track just sounded like him crying through gritted teeth, and the Antisemitism wasn't cool either you'd be dead if a Jewish dude hadn't picked y'all up and fought to make you famous.

I have a strangely high level of respect for E, him and Ice-T from that particular genera.

Shock -G too, but Digital Underground wasn't gangsta. Humpty Dance could fit in with the subject matter too though.

tangent over ________________

This is why I have so much trouble with people bitching and moaning about misogyny and shit in tv and movies an screaming and yelling about how women need to be treated as more than sex objects,

Then comes Cardi B to save the day in the CA wildfire season

they just want to be offended at things they don't understand, or care to look into.

None of the subject matters are anything new either, just stopped trying to be clever and dropped all subtext now.

[thewaywardkees]

Tag Game — Stranger Things Edition!

Tagged by: @destroya2005

Note: this was based purely on my opinion.

Ride or Die ship (OTP): Harringrove (Steve Harrington + Billy Hargrove). There is something about their dynamics that draws me in. Plus fanfic writers and video editors make the pairing believable enough! (:

Most annoying ship: personally, I don't really enjoy Steddie but it is mostly because of the toxic part of their fandom. I have seen a lot of people in that fandom bullying other m|m couples… makes me wonder why people love wasting their time making others feel miserable. Just chill and reblog some stuff! | Huge shout out to Steddie fans who don't witch hunt others! And to the ones who make amazing fanart!

Second favorite ship: Lumax (canon), Jopper (canon) and Argilly (non canon). Lumax and Jopper are definitely the best couples on the show! And Argilly??? How did people come up with that ship!? It is amazing!

Favorite platonic relationship: Stobin. I must admit I was a huge fan of the couple in S3 until Robin came out to Steve. The duo is one of a kind!

Underrated ship: Munver... tiger-freak... whatever you guys wanna call it. I mean... that ship has a lot of potential! Chrissy-Heather-Robin. Love them too! The fanart people are creating for the trio is chef kiss.

Overrated ship: — .

One thing I would change in canon: the whole introducing new characters in the show only to kill them in the last episode of the season... It is a never ending cycle. Like… don't be shy, kill some of the originals. The Duffers REALLY need to learn from George RR Martin… like, have you guys read/watch Game of Thrones (A song of Ice and Fire)?. The man doesn't give a crap about what fans think! He/She/They are your favorite chars? BAM! DEAD! 💀

Something canon did right: the 80's setting (music, clothes, cars, etc. Etc.).

A thing I am proud of creating for the fandom: I haven't posted my share yet, I am planning to… maybe someday… someday, yeah….

A character who is perfect to me: Hopper. He reminds me of my dad, they have the same personality.

Character I relate to the most and why: Steve Harrington, we are pretty similar in lots of aspects. We learn through experience (rights and wrongs) and both have deconstructed ourselves and created critical thinking of our own. — also, we both have great hair ;D

Character(s) I hate the most: Neil Hargrove, Henry Creel and Dr. Brenner… The three of them are monsters. (🚩🚩🚩)

Something I've learned from the fandom: I haven't interacted with the fandom as much so nothing yet. However, I admire how passionate people can be over their favorite characters.

Three tags I seek out on AO3: AU - Canon Divergence and/or Modern Setting, Happy Endings, Enemies to Lovers (👀).

Songs I associate with my OTP and/or Favorite Character: Harringrove — More than Words (Extreme), Words (F.R. David), Him and I (Halsey, G-Eazy), Bloom (The Paper Kites), There is a light that never goes out (The Smiths), Shameless (Camila Cabello). || Steve Harrington — Good old fashioned lover boy (Queen), The Archer (Taylor Swift), You are on your own kid (Taylor Swift).

No pressure tags: @theladycarpathia , @bigdumbbambieyes , @hephaestn , @harrgrove , @lemonhitsu , @ihni , @thediktatortot . And everyone who wants to participate, really! 🩷

[particularj]

Got tagged by @froggierboy for a double ask game!

Sign: Aquarius ♒️

Height: 5’7” (167 cm)

Time: Uh, it’s 6:16 pm as I start filling this out

Birthday: (skipping for privacy)

Favorite Band: Band - will probably always be Linkin Park, but I’m really like Joywave these days. If we’re doing solo musician, Tori Amos.

Last movie: I don’t watch movies much these days. New movie? Everything, Everywhere, All at Once. Actual most recently watched? Muppet Christmas Carol.

Last show: New show? RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 15 or Abbott Elementary. Most recently watched: Bob’s Burgers.

When I created this blog: 2008?

What I post: Whatever I like…lots of crafts, politics & news, video game and nerd things, architecture & design things, animals, and queer stuff.

Do I get asks: LOL, never. This is the first time I think I’ve even been tagged to do an ask game.

Other blogs: nope, just this.

Followers: About 250? I block spambots like it’s my job.

Average hours of sleep: Hahaha…my sleep is all outliers. Mostly 8-10 hours but sometimes that is heavily interrupted or split up.

Instruments: I wish. Had a keyboard as a kid for a short while and would love to play piano.

What I’m wearing: It’s the weekend so hoodie shirt and jeans. Otherwise it’s usually a cardigan. I love cardigans.

Dream job: none? But seriously I like my current job as a child advocate.

Dream trip: I’d love to revisit Japan, but I also want to see New Zealand, Lebanon, Argentina, Thailand, Ireland, Kenya, and Switzerland.

Favorite songs: Ugh, too many to list and it varies based on my mood. Who doesn’t love Blue (Da Ba Dee) by Eiffel 65!

- - -

3 ships: So, I’m not really a shipper? Or maybe I just don’t watch enough tv or movies nowadays. In my youth queer representation was not common, so…I guess I’ll just say Garnet (Steven Universe).

First ship ever: See above.

Last film: See above.

Last song: Yes, Anastasia by Tori Amos

Currently reading: The Happiness Trap by Dr. Russ Harris

Currently watching: Also see above.

Currently consuming:

—Video games: Just put down Animal Crossing after playing over 1,000 days straight. Playing Two Point Campus and excited to get into Kirby and the Forgotten Land

—Foods: Aldi’s Sparkling Frost Black Raspberry waters, Mush coffee & coconut overnight oats, and Chobani Complete Mixed Berry Vanilla yogurt drinks are daily consumptions right now.

—Textiles: trying to get into crochet…hasn’t been easy.

—Other: Enjoying Maggie’s Organics Ragg socks and Yogibo weighted blanket. I want to play Betrayal Legacy so baaaad.

Currently craving: I’m always craving coffee.

I’m tagging @the-cobalt-coast (my right hand arm man), @van-eazy (my confidant), @stormesandshowers (my silly rabbit), and @kipplekipple (I guess Barbara Walters in this case?)