#for the record I'm not dissing trap

[keiachi-chan]

Genuinely pleased that we've moved on from generic trap beats as "remixes" and graduated to making everything breakcore or perhaps jersey

[cyarsk52-20]

I know that it’s been weeks since my Spotify wrapped but I thought it would be a good idea to talk about my top songs

First track: "Killing in the Name" is a song by the American band Rage Against the Machine, and appears on their 1992��self-titled debut album.It features heavy drop-D guitar riffs. The lyrics protest police brutality, inspired by the beating of Rodney King and the 1992 Los Angeles riots.

The guitarist Tom Morello wrote the riffs while teaching a student drop D tuning; he briefly paused the lesson to record the riff. The band worked on the song the next day. According to Morello, "Killing in the Name" was a collaborative effort, combining his riff with Tim Commerford's "magmalike" bass, Brad Wilk's "funky, brutal" drumming and vocalist Zack de la Rocha's "conviction".Morello recorded his part on a Fender Telecaster.

this song (their signature song btw) combines elements of punk and hip hop and has been described as alternative metal, rap metal, rap rock, hard rock, and proto-nu metal. The journalist Peter Buckley described it as "a howling, expletive-driven tirade against the ills of American society". The song builds in intensity, as de la Rocha chants the line "Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me", building in a crescendo the next four times and aggressively screaming the line the final eight times, culminating with the scream "Motherfucker!" The song contains the word "fuck" 17 times.

The lyrics were inspired by the police brutalitysuffered by Rodney King and the subsequent 1992 Los Angeles riots. The refrain "some of those that work forces are the same that burn crosses" draws a link between the Los Angeles Police Department and the Ku Klux Klan. According to BBC News, "Killing in the Name" protests the military–industrial complex, justifying killing for "the chosen whites".

It’s not a surprise that this song has been on my Spotify wrapped multiple times in the past few years but I never thought it would be number one twice in a row.

second track: "Superhero" is a song by American rock band Jane's Addiction and it’s from their third album Strays . Though not a single, it’s best known for the theme song for HBO original series “Entourage “ (2004-2011)

I’m not a huge fan of Jane addiction but this one slaps hard

third track: “like that” is a song by American rapper Future and record producer Metro Boomin with fellow American rapper Kendrick Lamar . It’s the third and final single from Future and Metro's collaborative studio album, We Don't Trust You, on March 26, 2024. Rodney-O & Joe Cooley are also credited as songwriters as the bass line in the song contains samples of their 1986 song, "Everlasting Bass". "Like That" also has additional elements that contain samples of Eazy-E's 1989 single, "Eazy-Duz-It", and contains a vocal sample of Michel'le.

A trap and hardcore hip hop song that is predominantly composed of lively percussions, "Like That" received acclaim from music critics, who primarily praised Lamar's performance and Metro's production. His verse, which attracted significant media coverage, is a diss aimed at fellow rappers Drake and J. Cole in response to their 2023 collaboration, "First Person Shooter." 

Lyrically, Lamar uses his surprise appearance to directly respond to "First Person Shooter", rapping: "Yeah, get up with me, fuck sneak dissing / "First Person Shooter", I hope they came with three switches". He also rejected J. Cole's idea of the three rappers representing hip hop as its "big three" and claims that he alone takes the top spot: "Motherfuck the big three, nigga it's just big me". Throughout his verse, Lamar compares his rivalry with Drake to Prince's reported feud with Michael Jackson ("What? I'm really like that / And your best work is a light pack / Nigga, Prince outlived Mike Jack"). Drake has notably compared himself to Michael Jackson on numerous occasions, including during the final verse of "First Person Shooter", and Lamar has similarly compared himself to Prince. Lamar also makes references to the Click ("Niggas clickin' up, but cannot be legit / No 40 Water") and Stephen King's 1983 novel Pet Sematary("'Fore all your dogs gettin' buried / That's a K with all these nines / He gon' see Pet Sematary").

Lamar verse is the contender for iconic feature verse in a hip hop song of the year and that’s saying something

Fourth track “lights on “ is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Shawn Mendes from his second studio album Illuminate. This song contains lyrics about lovemaking in a way that is not too racy or overly sexual in nature. Very classy, very demure and mature

fifth track: "Meet the Grahams" (stylized in lowercase as meet the grahams) is a diss track by American rapper Kendrick Lamar. It was released on May 3, 2024, through Interscope Records, during his ongoing feud with Canadian rapper Drake.

The song is written in the form of a letter, with each verse addressed to members of Drake's family, including his son Adonis, his parents Sandra and Dennis Graham, his alleged daughter, and Drake himself.

In the song, Lamar accuses Drake of being an absent father, signing sex offenders to his OVO Sound record label, and being a sexual predator himself. He even goes as far to compare Drake to disgraced Director and movie mogul Harvey Weinstein saying that he’s a sick man with sick thoughts and thinks that people like him should die. (that’s not a hyperbole)

He also alleges that Drake is running a sex trafficking ring out of his Toronto mansion, saying it will soon be raided by law enforcement. Lamar further accuses Drake of lying about his family, his OVO Sound labelmates, and Lamar himself.

Produced by the Alchemist, "Meet the Grahams", unlike Lamar's previous responses(the witty and catchy euphoria and warning shot 6:16 in L.A(which is not on any streaming services ) takes on an unsettling, haunting atmosphere, with an eerie piano-driven beat, sampled from Timothy Carpenter & Triunity's "I Want To Make It" accompanying critical lyrics accusing Drake of a number of wrongdoings including parental negligence, sexual exploitation, sexual grooming, sex trafficking, and another incident of child abandonment.

I remember when I heard about this track. When I first heard it I knew the moment I heard the opening lyrics “dear Adonis, I’m sorry that man is your father” along with the haunting, unsettling atmosphere of the beat(combined with a eerie piano playing) this is going to be brutal . From beginning to end I was stunned speechless and then I was like oh my gosh. Totally brutal and dark (and the darkest song in the history of my Spotify wrapped ,and that in a world where “we cry together “ featuring Taylor page exists, see my 2022 version of Spotify wrapped) and yet methodical and creative.

[sinceileftyoublog]

Ashnikko Album Review: WEEDKILLER

(Parlophone/Warner Records)

BY JORDAN MAINZER

It's rare that someone's debut album is a concept record, though if anyone were to successfully on first pass navigate the murky waters between establishing a fictional narrative and making a larger statement about humanity as a whole, it would be trap metal singer-songwriter and rapper Ashnikko. On WEEDKILLER, a fairy civilization has been destroyed by machines, and the protagonist essentially becomes part machine in order to uproot the system from within. You can immediately see parallels to the crises of our time, from climate change to the legislative war on people with uteruses and LGBTQ+ folks; Ashnikko doesn't suggest to either burn it all down or incrementally pick battles, instead focusing on their own emotions to elicit empathy. It works to cement both their imperfections and wants.

Fittingly, some of the best songs on WEEDKILLER are about desire, especially queer desire. The Daniela Lalita-featuring erotica of "Super Soaker" skitters to corporeal heights. "Don't Look At It" is less spiritual, more physical, Ashnikko comparing themselves to Tony Hawk as they're "doin' tricks until my tongue hurt." "Miss Nectarine" details Ashnikko's childhood friend who they'd make out with to "practice for the boys," Ashnikko developing unrequited feelings. "The bruise of bein' fourteen / Got chlorine in our hair, my jaw is shaking in my mouth," they sing, the warbly auto-tune an effective window into their emotional volatility. And "Possession of a Weapon", written after the overturning of Roe v. Wade, effectively alternates between anger and mournful acceptance. "How dare I have private desires?" Ashnikko asks, at the same time realistically and sadly comparing their own body to a chess piece in a game played by lawmakers, their autonomy as strong against oppressive rain as papier-mâché.

Ashnikko has been making music for almost a decade and releasing it for over half that time, so they've certainly established somewhat of a visual and sonic identity. WEEDKILLER doesn't upend what they'd been exploring on their EPs and debut mixtape DEMIDEVIL, but it's certainly their most cohesive statement yet. The title track and "World Eater" form not just the conceptual but musical base for the whole album, a conglomerate of trap beats, cascading synths, and power chords. "Worms", in which Ashnikko makes the best of their own decomposition within a post apocalyptic-world, features surprisingly limber bars and inventive rhyme schemes, as they declare, "Brand-new day, got a brand-new grin / Got a colony of ants underneath my skin / My bones decay, now I'm gelatin / I swear I'm better, Miss Parasite Possessor." From nu metal jams with metallic, clanging percussion to obvious, but successful Britney and Rihanna tributes, Ashnikko fulfills the promising pop dexterity they merely hinted at on previous releases.

And then there's "Dying Star", which takes another sonic left-turn and perhaps hints at where Ashnikko could go next. Featuring gothic Americana troubadour Ethel Cain, Ashnikko finds an aesthetic nestled somewhere in between the hyper-aggression of the rest of WEEDKILLER and Cain's slow-burning epics. The two harmonize, over repeatedly echoing guitar strums and bass lines, Ashnikko at one point singing, "I want something soft." After an album's worth of diss tracks and feelings bursting at the seams, they finally let themselves be vulnerable.

[justabumatthepark]

Sitting on Tumblr, never outside or enjoying the weather

Can name a sweater, but not a talent or don't know if whether

Or not they got one, tried to change their life for the better

I was the drama club kid, I run where the fun did, my nuts itched

I was defiant, always said, "Fuck shit"

Hated the popular ones, now I'm the popular one

Also hated homes too, 'til I start coppin' me some

See, I don't beez in the trap, nigga, I beez in the b's

And I be gassing up my buzz like some bees at a Shell

Fucking sick and getting bigger like I sneezed on Adele

And bitches getting touchy-feely like they reading some Braille

I bust quick like gun-holders with short tempers, and well

I tried to tell the kids, like fuck it, start being yourself

These fucking rappers got stylists 'cause they can't think for themselves

See, they don't have an identity, so they needed some help, but

Really, boy? Posers looking silly, boy

I'm in that past season 'Preme shit, older than Tity Boi

Not a diss, but same with ice cream, my shit is Diddy Riese

Na'kel Smith, Transworld page 64

Poppin' like oil ollie in fire flames

I'm harder than DJ Khaled playing the fucking quiet game

The fuck am I saying? Tyler's not even a violent name

About as threatening as stained windbreakers in hurricanes

But he rapes women, and spit wrong, like he hates dentists

God-damn menace, 666 and he's not finished

And my shit's missing, he hates women, but love kittens?

See y'all niggas tripping, man

Look at that article that says my subject matter is wrong

Saying I hate gays even though Frank is on ten of my songs

Look at that Mom who thinks I'm evil, hold that grudge against me

Though I'm the reason that her motherfucking son got to eat

Look at the kid who had the .9 and tried to blow out his mind

But talk is money, I said, "Hi, " I guess I bought him some time

Look at the ones in the crowd, that shit is barnacles, huh?

They thought I wasn't fair until I threw a carnival, huh?

But then again, I'm an atheist that just worships Satan

And it's probably why I'm not getting no fucking album placements

And MTV could suck my dick, and I ain't fuckin' playing

Bruh, they never played it, I just won shit for they fucking ratings

"Analog" fans are getting sick of the rape

All the "Tron Cat" fans are getting sick of the lakes

But what about me, bitch? I'm getting sick of complaints

But I don't hate it when I'm taking daily trips to the bank

Oh, but no but, shit, who really gives a fuck what I think?

My fans don't, they turning on me, shit, they're almost extinct

Fuck buying studio time, I'ma go purchase a shrink

Record the session and send all you motherfuckers a link, bitch

[theseventhoffrostfall]

When you put aside the stuff that's just fun adventure romps (which I'm not dissing, that's most of what I read) it's interesting to look at how 'high-substance' sci-fi and fantasy tend to operate. Not just in the trappings of whether a knight is fighting orcs with a sword or a a commando is fighting aliens with a laser rifle, I mean in terms of the philosophy behind the narrative

Fantasy works tend to examine man's relationship to nature, the divine, and purpose in life. Magic augments how a character interacts with the world more than the world itself, and grand-scale issues and conflicts tend to be outgrowths of baser, more personal and fundamental conflicts, not just depicting good vs. evil or law vs. chaos, but examining what that means to the characters and the author. As you might expect, the prime archetype here is indeed Lord of The Rings

Sci-fi, by contrast, tends to be much larger in scope with what it tackles. The focus is more likely to be on societies as a whole, the nature and purpose of government, how religion is among the factors shaping both individual thought and the cultural zeitgeist, and more fringe topics like the effects ecology and planetology have when shaping a people's philosophy and mindset. And, of course, how new factors like new technological paradigms, the dispersal of civilization across multiple planets, contact with non-human sapience, and even the removal of certain factors ranging from computers to senescence affect all of the above. As you probably predicted, the poster child for this is Dune.

Where it gets interesting for me is when a work of one genre seems to be written with the mindset of its counterpart. The Hyperion Cantos is a sci-fi series to the hilt, but its focus and mindset trend much more towards fantasy, with different characters going through crises of faith and being forced to confront their understanding of their place in the universe as they encounter strange factors outside their conceptions of what was possible. Conversely, The Prince of Nothing is a fantasy series, but a huge amount of focus is given to how various characters' cultural and religious backgrounds shape their thinking, and as the series progresses it examines the way a new government forms and the methods and reasoning that shape it. As a more surface-level detail, the way it handles plot-important magical devices is a lot closer to how sci-fi handles precursor artifacts and LosTech than how fantasy tends to handle magical relics and wondrous items.

Certain books are likewise a more even mix of the two. Book of the New Sun has examinations on both personal, spiritual topics and the nature of society in an exhausted, ancient world facing none-too-distant extinction, while Sun Eater explores both the personal internal strife of its protagonist and the oppressive, alien nature of a society that in the story's context is a pretty believable evolution of our own. These are actually perhaps unsurprising, since the author of the former is on record as saying "all novels are fantasies, some are just more honest than others" the author of the latter is an outspoken advocate of a no-more-brother-wars attitude among what he calls 'weird fiction'.

Though where it gets confusing again is that, despite what I said at the start, all of these books do indeed play with the trappings of the respective genres as well, with quasi-magical elements in Hyperion, Not-Angband being a crashed alien starship in Prince of Nothing, and Book of the New Sun having strange, time-breaking quasi-divine intervention in a primitive feudal world where a castle's towers might be derelict rockets and a knight's mount might be a bioengineered war-alien

[cyarskaren52]

11th track: "I Can See You" is a song written and recorded by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift from her third re-recorded album, Speak Now (Taylor's Version)(2023). It is one of the album's "From the Vault" tracks that was intended for but excluded from her third studio album, Speak Now (2010). Produced by Swift and Jack Antonoff, "I Can See You" features a guitar riff. The lyrics are sexually suggestive and contain flirtatious innuendos, describing Swift's attraction to a person she comes across often.

Music critics gave the song positive reviews, and praised its rhythmic production, sensual lyrics, and catchiness; some picked it as a highlight amongst the album's vault tracks. Critics have ranked it among her best "From the Vault" tracks. Commercially, "I Can See You" peaked at number four on the BillboardGlobal 200 and the top ten on singles charts in Australia, Canada, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It received certifications in Australia and the United Kingdom.

12th track: "Lovin on Me" is a song by American rapper Jack Harlow. It was released through Generation Now and Atlantic Recordsas a single on November 10, 2023. Harlow wrote the song with producers Oz, Sean Momberger, and Nik D, alongside Nickie Jon Pabón and Reginald Nelton. The song samples the 1995 R&B track "Whatever (Bass Soliloquy)" by Cadillac Dale. Prior to its release, a snippet of the song went viral on TikTok. The music video for the song was released the same day.

"Lovin on Me" is a pop rap track. It samples the 1995 R&B song "Whatever (Bass Solique)" by Cadillac Dale, repurposing its chorus.Lyrically, the single opens with "I'm vanilla baby / I'll choke you, but I'm no killer baby". On its verses, Harlow raps flirtatiously toward a potential lover.

13th track :  "Sweeter" is a song by American singer Leon Bridges from the album Gold-Diggers Sound released on June 8, 2020, Bridges and Terrace Martinreleased a single titled "Sweeter" in response to the May 25 murder of George Floyd. The narrator of the song is a dead man whose mother and siblings weep over him.

14th track "High Forever" is a song by American rock band The Maine from their album XOXO: From Love and Anxiety in Real Time 

Lead singer John O'Callaghan explained in a track-by-track breakdown how this song fits into the record.

We really kind of let this one live in its own world, and I’m really happy we did, because it feels like the oddball, but it’s really important, especially eight records in, to take chances and kind of experiment with your sound and see if people dig it, and if not, it’s a chance worth taking.

John also revealed that the guitar riff in this song is an homage to “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Tears for Fears.

15th track: "Like That" is a song by the American rapper Future and record producer Metro Boomin with fellow American rapper Kendrick Lamar. It was sent to US rhythmic radio through Freebandz, Boominati Worldwide, Epic Records, and Republic as the third and final single from Future and Metro's collaborative studio album, We Don't Trust You, on March 22, 2024.

Solely produced by Metro himself, the three artists wrote the song alongside Kobe Hood; Rodney-O & Joe Cooley are also credited as songwriters as the bass line in the song contains samples of their 1986 song, "Everlasting Bass", which in turn samples Barry White's 1973 hit "I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby". "Like That" also has additional elements that contain samples of Eazy-E's 1989 single, "Eazy-Duz-It", and contains a vocal sample of Michel'le

A trap and hardcore hip hop song that is predominantly composed of lively percussions, "Like That" received acclaim from music critics, who primarily praised Lamar's performance (which btw was a surprise feature) and Metro's production. His verse, which attracted significant media coverage, is a diss aimed at fellow rappers Drake and J. Cole in response to their 2023 collaboration, "First Person Shooter."

Lyrically, Lamar uses his surprise appearance to directly respond to "First Person Shooter", rapping: "Yeah, get up with me, f*** sneak dissing / "First Person Shooter", I hope they came with three switches". He also rejected J. Cole's idea of the three rappers representing hip hop as its "big three" and claims that he alone takes the top spot: "Motherf***the big three, n**** it's just big me". 

Throughout his verse, Lamar compares his rivalry with Drake to Prince's reported feud with Michael Jackson ("What? I'm really like that / And your best work is a light pack / N****, Prince outlived Mike Jack"). Drake has notably compared himself to Michael Jackson on numerous occasions, including during the final verse of "First Person Shooter", and Lamar has similarly compared himself to Prince.

Lamar also makes references to the bay area’s hip hop group the Click ("N***** clickin' up, but cannot be legit / No 40 Water") and Stephen King's 1983 novel Pet Sematary("'Fore all your dogs gettin' buried / That's a K with all these nines / He gon' see Pet Sematary").