#i said to my friend i was like “listen to his old rap album and tell me that doesnt sound like him”

[super-lupus]

What kind of brain rot is it that during the end credits of venom 3 I recognized that Tom Hardy was rapping within about 20 seconds because of how many times I listened to his abandoned rap album from 1999 and I made a fool of myself with how excited I got

[vintagegeekculture]

I remember a friend of mine had some LPs that were Star Wars themed disco albums, and it brought back a very weird memory from back in the 70s (yes, I'm old!) of listening to a Star Wars disco mashup on the radio. What was all that about? I also remember something like that for Close Encounters, too.

You remember correctly, and this went on for a long while. In 1983, disk jockeys around the country played a record that involved an Ewok rapping the plot of Return of the Jedi in Ewokese. This made it to #60 in the Billboard Top 100.

This is hard to explain to people who weren’t there….but in the wake of Star Wars in the late 70s and early 80s, scifi was so beloved and mainstream that the orchestral music for nerdy scifi and fantasy movies about outer space were remixed and sampled into Giorgio Moroder-esque Italo-Disco dance numbers. And the most astonishing thing is, instead of being consigned to convention acts the way “horse famous” Brony dubstep acts are, this received national airplay on the radio, reached the pop music charts, and were played in discotheques. And incredibly, this continued for years and expanded from Star Wars into Star Trek, Wizard of Oz, Black Hole, Close Encounters….

All of this was the work of one specific person: Meco (or Dominico Monardo). The term “ahead of their time” is thrown around a lot, but Meco really was: a combination producer-songwriter and Italo-Disco pioneer in the style of Giorgio Moroder, he did several things that are now absolutely standard: he used remixes and sampling before hiphop made that standard for musicians, he wrote “fandom music” on a Moog synthesizer decades before Bronies turned their conventions into cringey dubstep concerts with songs like “Everypony Dance Now.”

It's stunning to me that Meco has not been rediscovered, considering every single trend in the culture essentially went his way.

The most startling thing about Meco’s Star Wars disco album, the one that got the ball rolling on this trend, is this: I always assumed it was some kind of cash in created by a record label mandate, a label executive’s completely cynical choice to hop on a hot new trend. That isn’t a crazy thing to think at all, since Star Wars is and always has been the most merchandized and sold out scifi property ever. But it wasn’t! You see, it was all the product of a single man’s specific vision: Meco had to convince his record label to make the record because they were skeptical.

When Meco went to see Star Wars in 1977 on Opening Day (what an experience that must have been) with his friend and fellow Italian chest hair/gold medallion enthusiast Tony Bongiovi, he was already an experienced producer-songwriter who had worked with Gloria Gaynor, Diana Ross, and formed DCA, the Disco Corporation of America. If you've ever listened to Diana Ross's "I'm Coming Out," Meco actually played the trombone solo in that song. Seeing the Star Wars movie for the first time, though Meco thought the movie was nothing short of a religious experience. Originally, he wanted to do Star Wars music as a b-side on a Gloria Gaynor album, but expanded the idea into an entire album.

In Meco’s own words:

"When I think about what I did, nobody came to me, nobody said 'Meco, why don't you do this.' Nobody says 'Here's some money go make a record of this movie.' It was just my own... It was magical, it was just out of this world when all that happened."

Not only did this album hit platinum, not only did it actually outsell the Star Wars soundtrack, his remix of the Star Wars theme also went to #1 in the charts. It’s actually the best selling instrumental single of all time. A record, that, incidentally, it holds to this day.

Dick Clark, host of American Bandstand, had this to say about Meco:

"In 1977, Meco Monardo accomplished something no one else has ever done to the best of my knowledge. He was the first one in history to out-sell the soundtrack of a motion picture with his own distinctive version of a film's music. The music was totally danceable, and broke new ground. It's no wonder the STAR WARS THEME went to # 1. I loved his treatment of music from THE WIZARD OF OZ. Again, Meco created something innovative. The fun and the excitement gave a whole new feel to that totally familiar and well-loved music."

Like a lot of studio producers, Meco had an insane work ethic and hit when the iron was hot: he did an album about Close Encounters that exact same year, but also did a Star Wars Christmas Album, one of the strangest pieces of Star Wars kitsch around.

One of the most interesting things about the Star Wars Christmas album is that one of the songs, “R2D2’s Wish You a Merry Christmas” is the first professional vocals by John Bon Jovi, who was Meco’s friend Tony Bongiovi’s seventeen year old younger cousin (he was initially known as John Bongiovi). It's incredible to hear a squeaky voiced teen Bon Jovi on a kitsch album about a robot Christmas.

1978-1979 was really his best year. Meco made an Italo-Disco remix album entirely devoted to Superman, and at this point, Meco had the pull to get access to John Williams's sheet music for the score before the music even came out. In my personal opinion it's the best of them because he has to recreate it entirely with his own instruments, leading to a very unique sound.

He also did an album based on the Wizard of Oz:

And a combination album of Star Trek/Black Hole. It's probably the earliest remixing date of Goldsmith pieces of music: the Motion Picture Theme (which is now associated with the Next Generation - hearing it done in Italodisco is uncanny) and the Klingon Theme:

Incidentally, I think the design here of the Meco Enterprise, which had to be modified for legal reasons, would make a wonderful canon starship if anyone wants to be inspired by it. It reminds me of the same concept that would be used in the very next film for the Reliant-class of ships.

Meco eventually retired from music in 1985, but unfortunately he is no longer with us, as he passed into the next dimension in 2023. I think he showed us that creativity is often about transformation, and was inspired to make his art by a legitimate awe of space, the cosmos, and human imagination that the scifi movies of the 1970s and 80s provoke.

[luwukass]

OKAY TRACKLIST BREAKDOWN!!!!

so i have now had breakfast and coffee and my brain is on and FUNCTIONING lets get into this

putting a break here incase youre scrolling and dont wanna read all of this lol

so first things first i was watching tiktok and people were making a big deal about how its split up into sides similarly to midnights now i do believe that taylor posted the back cover of the vinyl and that the cd will be different but i could be wrong. even if it is split up like this on purpose on every physical copy this does mean that it is a two LP album instead of one like midnights

one vinyl (both sides) can hold up to 44 minutes of music on it so we can roughly estimate that the full album will be about an hour and a half long now if each side is 22 minutes long each track on side a, b and c should be about (if each song is in equal length) 5 and a half minutes long. side d has 5 songs on it so some of those might be short to fit in the manuscript

i have also seen people compare this back cover to the back cover of lover which is absolutely breaking my heart and im sure thats not gonna be the last lover comparison i see about this album

okay so lets dive into this track by track

SIDE A

track one: Fortnight (feat Post Malone)

okay so first of all this is obviously not a reference to fortnite the video game but i think all of those jokes are funny as hell. the fortnight shes talking about here is a reference to the measurement of time as seen down below google states that fortnight is a british term for two weeks.

according to wikipedia fortnight is derived from the old english term fēowertiene niht, meaning "fourteen nights".

now onto post malone i actually listen to some of his music from time to time. he mostly does do rap but his most recent album austin (which is coincidentally also taylors brothers name, but is also post malones real name) is listed on google as alternative rock, indie pop and synth-pop. so im unsure of what vibe post will bring to the track. i think its also surprising she placed one of the two collabs as the opening track. i think the vibe for this track will probably be either a story about what happened in a certain two week period or about what is going to happen in two weeks from the songs time standpoint (if that makes sense lol)

track two: The Tortured Poets Department

A TITLE TRACK!!!! now obviously we dont know much about the album yet so we cant really try and figure out what the title track will be about so im just gonna do a little yippee for having a title track

track three: My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys

this is a Whole fucking title good lord the only thing that really comes to mind when i think of this title is the lyric in better than revenge where she says “soon shes gonna find stealing other peoples toys on the playground wont make you many friends” which is if im not forgetting anything the only lyric as of now where she’s referred to being someones partner as someones “toy” but that lyric itself is a metaphor for relationships being playing on a playground. this will probably be a sad or angry song about how her ‘boy’ goes around breaking/hurting his favorite ‘toy’ aka taylor

track four: Down Bad

okay now down bad if you dont know is a slang term to describe how badly you have fallen for someone (mostly used in a more sexual nature in my experience than romantic) so this song will probably be about how badly she is for the love interest of the song

SIDE B

track five: So Long, London

alright new track five lets go! so this is obviously seeming to be a reference to track 11 on lover, london boy. now like taylor said when she announced it this album has been a secret for two years so we dont know when these songs were written or who they are about but i feel like it is safe to say this song and most of the other will be about said london boy [i personally do not care who a song is about and it is not taylors job to tell us who a song is about and that isnt the point of her music, but i will be commenting on the joe breakup bc that seems to be a large idea of this album so far] i can see this probably being about the break up and possibly sampling some music from london boy like she did with cornelia street and youre losing me

track six: But Daddy I Love Him

okay so the first thing i thought of when i read this track title is the scene from the little mermaid where ariel is fighting with her dad over the eric statue and im gonna be honest i dont remember the plot points in order of this movie BUT i do remember when taylor dressed up as ariel for her new years party in 2019. so given what we know this will probably be a song about maybe her fighting/arguing with her dad over how much she loves the love interest of the song regardless of who he is/how he treats her

track seven: Fresh Out The Slammer

okay so im not sure what this song will be about bc i dont think taylor has ever been to jail before so it would probably be metaphorical type of “im back bitches” type of song im assuming this might be a bass heavy maybe more rock leaning song and if it is a “im back bitches” it might be about the amount of time she was single for with the ‘slammer’ being her old relationship

track eight: Florida!!! (feat Florence and the Machine)

alright so as we all know this album has been in the works at least for two years but we dont know when each song was written so take this with a grain of salt but the tampa eras tour shows were the first shows after the news of the joe breakup dropped. so this song might be about her feelings during those shows. for those that want to know these were the surprise songs for the tampa shows in order.

night one: speak now and treacherous

night two: the great war and youre on your own kid

night three: mad woman and mean

SIDE C

track nine: Guilty as Sin?

okay so my main curiosity about this track is the question mark in the title because guilty as sin isnt much of a thought provoking title to me but that fact that its a question is interesting. the current vibes im getting are that this might be a more sexy song? but i have no idea here

track ten: Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?

okay so THIS is giving big taunting energy like “aww who would ever be afraid of little ol me 🥺 youre afraid of me?” which im Hoping thats what the vibes are bc that would HIT but i can also see it being completely different as well

track eleven: I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)

oh my GOD this one sounds like its gonna be sad. so this is obviously a reference to the common seen online phrase “i can/could fix him” which as ive seen is normally used towards people who are attracted to hot fictional characters that usually have a lot of emotional baggage or are villains (i saw it a lot when ballad of songbirds and snakes came out about young snow) so this song will probably be about her promising that she Can fix him and really will despite ‘him’ being broken or maybe even possibly a bad partner

track twelve: loml

so i saw and rb a post earlier about how its very interesting that this is already an acronym which i completely agree with because taylor knows we are no strangers to turning her song titles into acronyms. so loml does usually mean love of my life but i think because its already an acronym it might be something different (i saw someone earlier say it might be loss of my life instead of love)

SIDE D

track thirteen: I Can Do It With a Broken Heart

this one i think will kill me personally. i think this one will probably be about her continuing to go on with life (and possibly the eras tour) post joe break up i think this one will either be a sad song or a light beat ‘picking myself up on my feet’ song

track fourteen: The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived

this has so many implications but personally i think the interpretation shes gonna use for this song will be about how the said man is small emotionally and just as a person (i doubt she will talk about physical shortness in height or other areas)

track fifteen: The Alchemy

now im gonna be so real here i have no idea what this one will be about google says that alchemy is an older version of chemistry so maybe she will talk about the chemistry or alchemy she has in her relationships?

track sixteen: Clara Bow

alright Clara Bow! okay so i dont know much about old hollywood so i am NOT the person to deep dive into what this song will be about but all i do know about her is that she was The “It” girl of the silent film era so im assuming this song will probably be like the lucky one and talk about the rise to stardom and being the Biggest Star Of The Time

track seventeen(bonus track): The Manuscript

alright so after looking at the definition of a manuscript this is the PERFECT bonus track?!!?!?! so a manuscript is normally a piece of work that is written or typed out but isnt officially published which is just genius for having it be a bonus track that probably wont be on streaming (if not for a long time) i have no idea what itll be about but i love that mastermind

that’s pretty much all of my thoughts as of currently PLEASE let me know what yall think and what theories yall have for this album i am SO excited for april 19th 💕

[doodling-doodle]

So I like Just Dance

I don't normally make other content but @wainmfis decided to bring this up and give me an excuse to talk about this so thank you :)

Jack Rose with his own Eras Tour, along with many-a-headcanons for Jack and Wanderlust (Wanderrose tee hee) and the aftermath of JD2024

Buckle up, y'all, this is a long ride. I put this post into a word counter and it's almost 3,000 words. So, if you just want The Era's Tour stuff, I marked it in italic, bold, red, ALL CAP LETTERS

Alright, so, I'll get my Jack headcanons first

He started making music when he was fifteen and was allowed to release albums (With songs only approved by Night Swan on the album) when he was sixteen. He was allowed to choose his own genres though, as long as she fully wrote some of the songs.

His debut Album was Self Titled (So it was called Jack Rose)

annnd this is where that most of my inspiration on Jack comes from Taylor Swift and I have zero shame.

So all of his albums are mostly the same as hers, titles, songs, etc. (Except for 1989... how old is Jack right now? 28?? Lets say 28, it would be titled 1996)

However... there is one extra album, that happened between Speak Now and Red.

When he was around seventeen, that's when he finally used his slightly later curfew, when he was allowed to be wandering in Eternyx until eleven o'clock at night, which was insane for him because he used to only be out until nine-thirty at the latest.

He would wander around the streets for hours, running back to Swan Tower when he had about an hour and a half left.

Until the day that he found an abandoned bar turned hidden rap club in the small part of the city that Night Swan didn't go around often.

He had wanted to try putting out rap for a while, but Swan never allowed him, she said he wasn't good at it, it wasn't good music and it wouldn't do well under his name.

He would watch and listen from the outside, scurrying back home just in time for his curfew.

Until the night he decided to go in there. He had paid the servants (Hehe, serve) to not tell Night Swan he was out past curfew, and he went out to the little club in the city.

He would hide in the corner, in a hoodie to hide his face and in the dark. No one could now that he was there.

People came up to talk to him, eventually realizing who he was and quickly swearing that no one would tell a soul. That was the first time he really told anyone about his mothers ways.

They all welcomed him with open arms, and he had real friends for the first time in his life.

He would sneak back into his room through his unlocked window, the servants would fake pictures of him being in his room, either at his desk writing or in his bed on his laptop or asleep.

He eventually started fully making his raps, rather then just keeping them on paper, and he starting singing them at his little club, much to everyone's joy.

To his mother's horror.

He was under an alias (Not sure what to call him yet), and she made him not only drop it, but scaled back his curfew again and made him cancel plans to tour for months.

But she "punished" him by making him release an album full of his raps. That made him so happy, and it ended up becoming his favorite album, cover and all.

Lose Yourself. (So this is where Eminem inspiration comes in, plus NF)

When he got to tour for that album at the age of twenty, dressing how he wanted to dress, he saw his friends from the club, screaming in support. it ended up being his most successful tour before 1996's Danceverse Tour, where he finally got to leave Eternyx for the first time. That was when he was twenty-four. Even then, his mother still made him perform songs that she wrote for him. (Locked out of Heaven and Treasure for 1996)

That was the last album before the events of JD 2023. After that, it got out what Swan Army was doing, and while he wasn't blamed for what happened, he was partially questioned if he had any part in what she did to coaches.

After that, he fully detached himself from her, left nearly everything to his name in Eternyx and started a new life in Dancecity. He had an apartment and everything, he wrote songs but hadn't put out an album. Night Swan was still around, so he was scared about putting out the music that he was writing. He figured he could just get it out of his system and then write the things he'd normally write and put that out.

He got to keep in touch with his new friends, went to explore Danceverse's with all of them and was finally able to let loose- even managed to get back in touch with his old rapping friends.

But... Wanderlust was the one that was around the most, always coming around at some point, even if they just walked through the city together, running across the rooftops, or went to another Danceverse, or something, but Wander was determined to be around him. Maybe to prove a point to his father.

But months went by, writing songs together and going to Scarlet's Palace together...

Until Jack asked him on a date. And he said yes. And they kissed. They started dating about three months after the whole battle in Eternyx.

(Also saying this now, I always thought Jack was the taller one until realizing that Wander was... so I'm just gonna throw canon out the window, Jack is taller now, fight me-)

They kept it hidden, fully hidden, from Wander's parents and their friends, and any media attention.

Then... Well the thing happened.

My explanation for Jack being in Swan tower is that he 1. wanted to try and get some of his things while he knew Night Swan wasn't around, and 2. try and free some of the poor servants. He couldn't hear Wanderlust calling out to him.

So now he has to go on an adventure to free his friends and his lover.

Now... how do I go about describing Jack's powers/magic? Said powers were lying dormant after Swan tried to take it from him when he was young, but she did it wrong, and he still has them, and managed to re-awaken them. Not sure what song he would be dancing to for it, (kinda leaning towards Hope by NF, with the right imagery and maybe a few lyric changes it'd be perfect. Like imagine Jack having a battle with Mirror Jack?? Hell yeah!) but it would be right after Tainted Love when he watched the ship leaving.

So... said powers include, the same thing that Swan did with the water in the pond in the tower, visions, but also memories. Also with that, kind of what Mihaly did with the signal they sent Jack. Another thing is swan wings (Lets be honest Night Swan just jumping to the top of the top of the ship looked a little... weird. So now Jack can look cool while doing it) another thing with water!... I guess you could call it water manipulation? He's able to control waves, and storms to an extent.

I could go on about the adventure he went on, but that's for another time (maybe)

Long story short, Eternyx was collapsed, Jack found out the truth about why his brother (Yes, Cygnus) left, and why his father was never around (Vester), Wanderlust was drug out of Eternyx by The Traveler, screaming for Jack, Brezz and Mihaly ran out of there through a portal Jack made for them before he went to leave a parting shot to Night Swan. Si'ha took him out of there before it collapsed, took him to her palace and tried to help him as much as she could.

Wanderlust had a fight with The Traveler in the SpaceTime Hotel, was essentially disowned by him, and Wander went back to Eternyx to try and find Jack, shit happened, he found a crown that Jack had made for him, found out he was alive but he didn't know where he was, and left to Dancecity.

Like a month goes by, people realize what happened, and Jack is blamed for his friends being in danger (He also blamed himself) and a lot of shit Night Swan did, and Wander is trying to both find him and defend Jack, to no avail.

So Wander, of course, tries to go to Jack's apartment, to their favorite places, to other Danceverse's, to no luck.

Discoball is actually the one to find Jack at Si'ha's palace, and they go to him, show him just how bad Wanderlust was doing while searching for him. Jack immediately goes to find Wanderlust, and he does, taking him back to the palace, where Si'ha was waiting for them to get back so Wander could tell her exactly what his father did.

Anyway, time passes, Jack is still being hounded by media and everyone else other then his friends.

So... Yes, this leads to Reputation and his first tour in four years. No one knows that he and Wanderlust are dating still, have no clue who the person he's singing about in some of the songs are.

While still hounded during it, he managed to actually get the proof of him not being involved in Night Swan's schemes, which finally put a stop to some of the massive hate he was getting. He also got his first proper award from it, that he got to keep instead of Night Swan taking it from him.

A year later, when he finally feels safe to go out, he's seen with Wanderlust a little too much, leading to rumors and eventually, them saying that, yes, they'd been dating for about three years.

That's when Lover came out.

I could go on about headcanons for award shows, but not today.

He just never went on tour for Lover, and his albums went on, and there was something going on in the Danceverse's that stopped everything (Basically the equivalent of the pandemic) So by that point, Jack and Wanderlust had their own home, and they were stuck there. (Their social medias were unhinged during this time) So both of them were writing a lot of songs, leading to the first album of that year, Folklore. He and Wanderlust wrote it together, which was special to him.

But because of how insane they both were going, Jack kept making more music and put out a second album, Evermore, while Wanderlust actually made his own EP with music that he wrote about his dad and about Sara (I may elaborate about it another time)

So, now, lockdowns are lifting, and people are going on tour again but Jack didn't because he now had three albums that he would tour for...

So then two years later, Midnight's comes out, and the next year, he announces his tour.

The Jack Rose Era's Tour.

This is where I mention that... Jack re-recorded his albums, so there's "Jack's Version" Albums. When Eternyx collapsed, so did everything in it, which meant the record label he was under (Night Swan's, which meant she also had the royalty rights to his songs because she's an absolute bitch) was also gone, which meant his old albums existed, but weren't under his name. This is where he got to do all the vault tracks and even some of Wanderlust's music that he never put out.

THIS IS WHERE THE ACTUAL ERA'S TOUR HEADCANONS START HOLY SHIT I DIDN'T MEAN TO RANT THAT MUCH

So!

Let's start with the outfits.

Most of the bodysuits are the mostly same as the real Era's Tour, but I can't really see him wearing heels, at least not the type that Taylor wears, but I can see him in wedged shoes, not full heels but something. As for the dresses, those are replaced with suits and/or jumpsuits (Maybe he could pull off a dress... maybe)

As for songs/lyrics, some have been changed for the sake of context

For the Lover setlist, I'm replacing Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince with I Forgot That You Existed (If I can figure out good lyric changes to make it fit, that might change) and The Man with ME!

Fearless setlist is the same, though. (I love Love Story too much, I want to change lyrics/context for it, but if I can't, I'll replace it with something but not sure what yet) He also has something similar to the Junior Jewels shirt for You Belong With Me because it's so cute, and he has variations in the main outfits.

Evermore setlist is the same (MAN do I have headcanons about Champagne Problems, I'm putting Jack through the ringer. And for Marjorie, Oh this poor man.) However, while looking into it, some things said that Evermore's set had 'Tis The Damn Season, while others said it was No body, no crime? so for now, it's No body, no crime. The outfit is a flowy and long Jumpsuit, same color as the dress, and he gets the cape for Willow. (I might make drawings of all the outfits at some point, but don't expect them to be flawless designs because this guy seems hard to draw for some reason)

Reputation is the same, so is the outfit, BUT! This is where Wanderlust comes on stage with him too, singing all the songs with him, plus songs from his EP that fit (A lot of the songs on that EP were written around the time Reputation was written). Wander is wearing the mirror image of the outfit, the asymmetrical sleeve and pant leg on the opposite side. Wander sings the second verse and chorus of every song, except his own, which he sings most of them completely on his own.

Speak now is the same, with the dress(es) replaced with a full suit (That would match the dresses, so there would be one with flowers at the end of the sleeves and the pant legs, a purple one that matches the ballgown, etc.) And Wander is back! Similarly in a suit that would match Jack's, and he sang Enchanted with him, first verse and the bridge.

The extra era, Lose Yourself! His outfit here is basically the outfit from the actual Lose Yourself beta map. Songs would be Not Afraid, (Em, but this one may change) Hope, (NF) 'Till I Collapse, (Em) and of course, Lose Yourself with a slight outfit change. Wanderlust isn't here for this one

Red set is the same, and the outfit, shirts, 22 hat and the coat for All Too Well. No Wanderlust here :(

Folklore set is the same, dress replaced with a long jumpsuit with a vest, plus a bit of a cape (there's been multiple dresses for Folklore, right? I feel like there has been. So there'd be multiple suits) Wanderlust is on stage for Cardigan, singing the first verse and chorus, part of the bridge and the last chorus with Jack. He's in a similar suit to Jack's, just more of sleeves.

1996 set! songs are the same, but the outfit(s), while still a two piece, the skirt is more like shorts. Wanderlust is there for Shake It Off because it's cute. He sings part of each chorus with Jack, plus most of the background vocals and part of the second verse.

Surprise song set, most of the time it's both he and Wanderlust on stage, both in similar full suits, just different colors.

Midnights set, all the shirts, coats and body suits are the same, so are the songs. Lavender Haze and Anti-Hero are performed with Wanderlust. Wander does the first verse and chorus for Anti-Hero, and the second verse, chorus and bridge for Lavender Haze.

The Tour itself goes one for nearly two years, with breaks occasionally. Of course, Brezz and Mihaly are always in VIP seats in stadiums with Wanderlust's parents (It's a little awkward for The Traveler, which Wanderlust kinda enjoys knowing. Has he forgiven him? In the process of it. Not something to elaborate on now)

Jack and Wander are only slightly unhinged on stage together, more during the surprise songs when they normally just talk a little bit and have fun.

The Era's Tour chants are also here, because I love them (so Fearless Heart Hands, 123 Lets Go Bitch, Jack you'll be fine/ Wander you'll be fine, etc.)

But whenever Wanderlust and Jack are seen in public together on breaks, it's normally on a rooftop together on a "date" (COUNTLESS pictures of them just eating together on a rooftop in Dancecity, or writing songs together) Or in Sun Horizon, or in a mall, or a restaurant, Scarlets, just having fun together. Seriously, if their seen somewhere public, there will be multiple times where they are laughing their asses off over the smallest things

There is a new album, but I don't think it's going to be The Tortured Poets Department, since it's not even out as of this post, but maybe another rap album?

Buuuut... the end of the tour?

The very last show, there was an extra segment at the end of the show, after Midnights was over and they were supposed to just go backstage, instead, Jack added like an extra ten minutes to the end... to propose to Wanderlust.

Which he, of course, said yes.

And that concluded The Jack Rose Era's Tour.

JUST A QUICK ASIDE, IF YOU WANT TO STOP READING HERE YOU CAN

I'm honestly not sure if I will do more Just Dance content, at least not consistently. I will probably not make a full out fic, unless people really want it. This was fun to do, I want to do more, I just don't know when I will.

Anyway, hope y'all enjoyed this!

[thisaintascenereviews]

Eminem - The Death Of Slim Shady (Coup De Grace)

Millennials seem to love rapper Eminem, don’t they? A lot of people my age, or just a bit older, grew up with the music of Marshall Mathers, and they’re nostalgic for his brand of offensive, edgy, and offbeat humor and bars. Eminem had some hits back in the day, but you really could make an argument that he’s washed up. Hell, I’d make that argument, but I’ve also never been a fan of his work. Millennials love it, though, and every now and again, you’ll see videos from millenials that claim Gen Z is trying to “cancel” him, and it’s so painful to watch. The funny thing is, no one is trying to cancel him, when it’s really that Gen Z just doesn’t care about him.

I’m in the same boat, despite being of the age that should love his music. I suppose I’ve just never seen the hype for it, despite being able to acknowledge that Em has talent as a rapper. He’s got a solid flow, and he has the ability to spit pretty fast, but I’ve always said that rapping fast doesn’t equal being good. You can rap fast, but if you’re not saying anything worthwhile, who cares? That’s how I’ve felt about most of his work. I listened to the Marshal Mathers LP II back a decade ago, and thought that way about “Rap God.” An impressive flow, but spoke almost gibberish.

Saying Eminem sucks won’t win me any friends, and I might be in the minority when I say that, but his “2edgy4u” shtick never struck a chord with me. There are better rappers out there, so why people want to listen to Eminem baffles me, but he’s back with a new album — The Death Of Slim Shady (Coup De Grace). I’ve ignored his music in the last decade, but I figured I’d check this out because this album is supposedly the final appearance of his character Slim Shady. Shady is basically his justification for using slurs and offensive language, but I guess Em wants to grow up, despite being 51-years-old, so does this album succeed in that?

No, not really, because despite this album being called The Death Of Slim Shady, most of this album has Em making a profit off the character he’s claiming to want to move on from. This album is told through some skits where Slim kidnaps Em, and they have a back and forth on a lot of tracks, only for Em to finally kill Slim Shady at the two-thirds mark. The last third is Em being himself finally, but he proves he has nothing to say outside of his edgy Slim Shady persona. It’s also easily in the top three of the worst albums I’ve heard all year, and only a couple of other albums this year have pissed me off to this same level, maybe even more.

This record employs a lot of typical Slim Shady tropes, such as using slurs and offensive language to sound edgy and cool, as well as insulting various groups of people to be relevant. Relevant to who? I can’t say for sure, but probably his immature fanbase of conservative white dudes that think saying slurs is funny, especially insulting trans people. Em is weirdly obsessed with three things on this LP — insulting trans people, mentioning Caitlyn Jenner, and wanting Gen Z to cancel him. It makes for some of the corniest and most awful music you’ll hear all year, especially coming from a grown man, and it makes me cringe and makes me angry.

There are some awful transphobic bars on this record that aren’t even funny, but he insults other people, too, and there’s no rhyme or reason for it. He keeps begging Gen Z to cancel him, too, but they’re not, though, so he sounds really desperate. It’s almost funny, but in a sad way, like he’s begging for relevance. When he isn’t being edgy and corny, he’s got songs that are titled, and I kid you not, “Lucifer,” “Antichrist,” and “Evil,” where he talks about how he’s evil, the antichrist, and the devil, and all that corny ass stuff. Maybe a few clever bars show up here and there, but it’s bad.

When he has to be himself, he talks about his daughter, making two songs about her on this album for some reason, and they’re as bland as you can get. Eminem is just trying to make a 90s / 00s Em album in 2024, despite not being young and relevant anymore. Sure, the album has some solid production, and some of the guests are good, but Eminem’s just being Eminem, and it feels dated and cringy now. Who is this for? The transphobic and offensive bars are corny, lame, and unfunny, and everything else is nothing new, so why bother?

For being called The Death Of Slim Shady, he really milked that character for most the album’s hour-long runtime. This album sucks, plain and simple. It’s one of the worst albums of the year, and it’s a shame, because he can do better. He’s got technical skill, but instead of actually honing his craft, he sounds like a 12-year-old who learned a new cuss word, and won’t shut up about it. I’m not even “triggered,” either, because most people who love Em think that anyone who doesn’t like him can’t handle his offensive bars, when it’s really that he sucks, and his shtick is for edgy teenagers, or Millennials that have their rose-colored glasses on.

[struggle-but-its-all-ocean-floor]

RPWP let's go! To be honest, I didn't know the album dropped today. I thought Lost was another pre-release and that the album would drop in June, but I think that's NJs new album?

Anyway, I watched the Lost MV after waking up and was kind of disappointed. Namjoon's always a mixed bag (except in collabs). I don't understand his way of writing and expressing himself, and find it quite indigestible and dense; his English rap is very slurred most of the time too. Yes, he's incredibly intelligent, can write amazing lyrics, and his Korean rap can be insane, but a lot of the times I can't enjoy his songs. I tend to like his features more (he has some amazing ones, like Change, Sexy Nukim and Don't).

Hours later, I'm back from work and have listened to his album:

Right People, Wrong Place: Nice intro, but immediately his English accent and the way he sings in English is off-putting. The track is also very alternative and indie, which are genres I don't vibe with.

Nuts: Very interesting song... The way he's rapping in the beginning is a bit... it doesn't work super well. I loved the outro though - that part was cool. Overall, it's a good song. People went fucking crazy over the "she's a pro-rider", and also "he's a pro-rider", but I'm not sure this is Namjoon being a "bisexual king"; it's like the relationship from the guy's pov, which is why he says "no woman could stop him" and not "no man [RM] could stop him". But it's still a possible interpretation. I just see too many Armys taking everything he said literally and filling in the blanks with assumptions, creating their own narrative which is quickly being spread as the truth. People are saying RM cut his hair, started working out and deleted his IG pics because of a breakup and that he then got into situationships. I mean, this would be a normal thing to do but those could all be isolated events. You don't know if he cut his hair over a breakup?... Like, Army wants BTS relationship drama so much they act like they know everything. I admit I'm not a normal 20 year old, so who knows? I also wasn't keeping up with his Weverse lives.

out of love: Well, this whole album is very Sundance coming of age movie about a "cool yet lost guy in his 20s who goes to bars, drinks, smokes with this friends while contemplating his existence" which couldn't be further from my vibe. I hate indie music because it's slow, lethargic, whimsical, loose, and I'm neurotic, high-strung, literal, and uptight. I can't vibe with indie; I can't relate to normal 20 years old who smoke weed at parties. That's really nothing special, but to me it's a whole different universe. I have no friends or a life. I can't relate to Namjoon at all... Anyway, him saying "bitches" is not cool. I see Army praising him for hitting back at those who criticize idols for smoking, but, no man - unless he's explicitly queer and saying it and a fun manner, maybe, can use the word "bitch" imo. I fucking hate that word. I also felt like Namjoon was trying to copy black rappers in this song, but I'm probably too white to comment. Can't say I enjoyed the track. I feel really basic, but I'm too straight-laced, boring white girl to appreciate this album, sorry.

Domodachi: Eh... I was expecting the woman to be an amazing rapper, since I saw Army hype her up, but she's... alright? Lyrically, she's pretty basic - in this track at least. Also, it's so weird listening to Brits rap lmao. There's no translation of this track yet, so I don't really know the lyrics.

? (Interlude): I like classical music (won't include XXI classical music in this statement, which I know nothing about and is a lot different from what we traditionally think of as classical music), but I don't like jazz that much in general... Both are considered "intelectual music", but jazz isn't for me... I like structure and a certain repetitiveness in music. Improvisation is just confusing to me and, like, I'm so type A, I just can't vibe with it.

Groin: Joon's cursing is a bit too much in this album. The way he curses is a bit... aggressive?, yet at the same time giving Jungkook in Seven vibes. I guess that's the point. We have "bitch" here again. It's pretty disappointing... I thought he'd learned better. I read the lyrics translation from an account on X and on Genius, and they were quite different... The first was very anti establishment, the second less so. "Not a fucking diplomat" is great though. But I hate the chorus... "Get your ass out the trunk?"...

Heaven: Didn't particularly stand out. This song also doesn't have a translation yet (or I couldn't find one. It's been hours though. If this was an ot7, maknae line, or Yoongi track, 100% sure there would be multiple translations already).

LOST!: The woman singing in the beginning sounds so familiar... The song has a fun rhythm, and of all the RPWP tracks (aside from Come Back to Me), it's the easiest listening song. It actually represents the album very well, unlike Come Back to Me which is a clear outlier (feel kind of deceived, really) and easily the most GP friendly track (hence it being the pre-release). The song is fun but the English lyrics are just bad. The album's full of poorly written English lyrics. I guess it's on purpose? Don't like it, don't get it.

Around the world in a day: Another count for "bitch". The song's okay, butthe lyrics are... Honestly, it feels like the whole album is just vibes. What is he even saying? Heartbreak, anger, etc., but in terms of message, it's very repetitive. It's all so vague too? Don't know what he means because I like things spelled out to me - maybe that's my bad.

Credit Roll: Well, no use commenting haha.

Come Back to Me is the only relatable and truly enjoyable track to me. Sorry, I don't know how to appreciate this album and can't stand a lot of the English. I feel like RPWP highlights everything I like least about RM as an artist... While, I didn't enjoy the album on my first listen, it's cool how experimental it is and that it sounds nothing like idol music. BTS are so diverse musically. If you play this album to anyone and tell them it's BTS, they'll be in absolute disbelief lmao.

Second listen through and review here!

[thevividgreenmoss]

I had a couple of friends (my only two friends really lol which two is far far above my historical average for friends, one is above the historical average if we're being Real) over last night to see the movie I made with my cats/co-directors and I made little tickets/keepsakes for both of them lol

Since the first short I randomly slapped together back in January which eventually ended up being incorporated into what this ended up being I liked the idea of keeping this as something I primarily just directly share with people in my own living room, like the only reason I initially put this shit online anywhere is to have an easy way to share it on here with you all in case it's of interest to anyone lol but idk like there's no way to make even five dollars off of this since I don't have the rights to any of the music playing in the background and huge chunks of certain songs/albums are in the shit lmao like almost half an hour of D'Angelo - Voodoo lmfao but like. it cost me literally nothing to make this, I shot the entire thing on my phone and cut it together on my laptop using open source software so there isn't even any cost to recoup so why not include the music I was already listening to ig and past that just share it with directly with anyone that's willing to sit through it

Back in May I was talking to one of my neighbors who is also one of the neighborhood plugs who also raps a little bit just for the fuck of it "I dont make money off music, I'm a trapper for real" (slightly paraphrased it was almost a year ago at this point), but I actually fuck with his music and listened to it of my own volition after he initially directly played a track for me and our other neighbor and the other day I was over to reup and was like 1) I made a movie off your product so truly thank you cause this doesnt happen otherwise and 2) if you check it out and anything jumps out at you we can work on a music video along those lines if you're down which who knows if we'll do that but personally I'd love to. Then he asked me why I haven't been fasting lmao, remembering that I also didn't fast last year. And that led to talking about god and history and america and the whites. He was telling me a bit about another Pakistani guy that buys from him, showed me a picture of the dude, standing with (presumably although I can't say for sure) his father and grandfather.

The picture he showed me, everything he said has been stuck in my head since. The three smiling desi faces, if I had to guess either fellow Kashmiris if not that maybe Pathaan, but especially the old man's face recalling of course my nana's. I wish I could've made a movie in Lahore with him. I do want to make one with my mom, I was thinking of incorporating clips of a walk around the creek at my parent's neighborhood with her into this video but I ended up going a different direction but I do think it could be worth it's own standalone piece. But I do want to do more of these and the process by which it came together is definitely something accessible to everyone like everyone can do this I feel, if anyone wants. But I personally do want to make one with my mom if she's down.

A few days before that aforementioned day in late May I read Prince's unfinished autobiography and among a million things in there that I have not been able to stop seeing or thinking of was what? The way he opened the first chapter with the image of his mother's eyes - the first thing 👁 saw.

[klavierforte]

&& that tiny ray of light amidst the shadows || @tinyredlawyer

Apollo Justice has always hated Klavier's music.

And Klavier has known it this whole time, too. Apollo wasn't exactly subtle in his distaste for the Gavinners, and Klavier has been fine with that. He's learned to acknowledge the critics, and mostly lets that sort of thing roll off like water on a duck's back.

So why, oh why, was he sending this?

Hey there,

Sorry for this being perhaps a bit out of the blue, but I was hoping to get your opinion on something. Not related to our law careers, but...to do with music.

I know you've never particularly liked the music I made with the Gavinners, and that's fine. It's never been something everyone will love, and I respect that you don't. In fact, it's somewhat refreshing. So, please understand I am not wanting you to pretend to fawn over my music.

Anyway, the point...I have been having trouble writing music for a while. Since the Tobaye case, mostly, and it has basically driven me insane that I've been stuck since. And...for the first time since that case, I've actually written something worth putting out.

All that being said...I'm not sure I'm ready for these specific songs to be heard by most people. They're nothing like what I had pictured when I thought about a solo album before. (I've thought about what my first published music after the Gavinners would be like before, and now that plan is out the window--whoops. I had even been mulling the thought of having you do the rap part of a song, if you'd wanted to do it. Bringing in my friends on my return to the music biz, if that makes sense. Oh well, I suppose. I haven't even told the band's old manager I've got something in the works, either...)

Not sure I'm ready for people to see what I was thinking and feeling when writing these, really. I know you're primarily going to hate these, too, and that's fine, but...I want an honest opinion. And I feel okay letting you give them a listen because I know an honest opinion is what you'll give me.

No rush or anything to get back to me--like I said, you will probably hate most of these songs. But I did edit these specifically for you so the loud and angry-sounding ones are a bit quieter. And I think there's at least a couple that may border on something you might find enjoyable. So just...tell me what you may think.

-K

There's ten audio files attached to the email, and a word document with the lyrics, and the email is sent off at what would be roughly 4 AM in the States.

Certainly the news about recent events in his life would be something he would want to talk to Apollo about instead, but this is the only thing Klavier sends Apollo's way--a grand total of six days after news breaks of Kristoph Gavin's execution.

[echho]

(all from the not-american ask game bc i love playing ask games w people! no pressure ofc :) )

3. does your country have access to sea?

5. favourite song in your native language?

6. most hated song in your native language?

7. three words from your native language that you like the most?

10. most enjoyable swear word in your native language?

19. do you like your country’s flag and/or emblem? what about the national anthem?

20. which sport is The Sport in your country?

24. what other nation is joked about most often in your country?

27. favourite national celebrity?

i picked the ones i'd have the most fun answering, so i hope you have fun w these!!! :D

thank you so much for asking!! and sorry it took a while :) (i had to edit this to add a cut because boy did it get long. brace for some history bullshit)

3. does your country have access to sea?

unfortunately, it doesn't, so we usually travel to maritime countries (especially croatia, bulgaria...) in summer. however, we have dams, reservoirs and lakes that we often choose instead of the sea!

5. favourite song in your native language?

i am not THAT involved in our music scene, but strmá voda by billy barman is pretty cool, za sklom (from the kam ideme album though!!) by korben dallas too. and i have a deep history with the whole na skle maľované (originally na szkle malowane in polish, "painted on the glass") musical. do batôžka by katka knechtová shaped my childhood as well AND i know it basically said one song so i'll stop now, i promise.

6. most hated song in your native language?

our rap is... not my favourite thing. it sounds silly to me, to be honest, so most rap songs. and the radio ones are annoying too. hi to pomaranče z kuby, if i hear you one more time i'm gonna cry <3

7. three words from your native language that you like the most?

okay, this is not be based on their meaning, but the way it feels to pronounce them-

krémový (creamy), žblnkať (to make the plopping sound of water (?)), holubienka (help how do i translate the ✨vibe✨ of this,, it's an outdated pet name, basically. an old-sounding diminutive for dove)

but the one i use the most is a non-literary word: ✨oné✨, aka "that thing", aka a word you use for everything you forgot the word for.

10. most enjoyable swear word in your native language?

love me some good do piče (stolen from my friend @hyperobsession because he has a way with words that i don't: "the meaning is basically the vulgar designation of vagina"). jebať (to fuck) is fun too, use some prefixes and you get some brand new swearwords with different meanings. BUT i also love some outdated ones like papľuh, ej ci bisťu, kulifaj... the list goes on.

19. do you like your country’s flag and/or emblem? what about the national anthem?

the anthem slaps, mainly historically speaking (reverse pink floyd basically: hey, kids, leave our teacher alone), nowadays there are no lighting bolts to wake us up however, and our flag...

listen. i have Opinions about our flag. not about the similarity with the russian one (correct me if i'm wrong, but i believe the russian tricolor is basically a modification of the dutch one, while ours was a red-white bicolor at first and then adopted a blue stripe to symbolize our croatian "brother nation" in austria-hungary and our "patrons" russians in 1848, making the slavic tricolor, modeled after the russians? and we basically had to add the emblem as to not clash with the russian flag after the dissolution of the soviet union. anyway. the revolutionary year of 1848 will forever haunt me). where my amusement peaks (no pun intended), however, is the said emblem. noticed it's basically the right (left for the heraldists out there) part of the hungarian coat of arms?

yada yada the double cross from cyril and methodius, the red background because ✨emblems✨, everything is basically connected to the hungarians through austria-hungary... that's where the triple peak, my favourite part, comes in. it symbolizes the three mountains of matra, tatra and fatra, formerly on the hungarian soil, right? and it had many colours over the years, ending with green, until slovaks said nah, fuck this, we don't like it here in austria-hungary, yoinked the emblem (but said fuck your crown too and, of course, changed the colours, don't let the teacher know i let you copy my homework, slovakia) and eventually took tatra and fatra too. the funny thing (to me) is that the blue triple peak feels like a fuck you, we took your mountains to hungarians now.

(no offense to hungary, of course. i'm part hungarian. it just feels funny)

also- god, who let me speak. sorry for the history lesson. maybe it's not even correct. don't quote me on this info.

20. which sport is The Sport in your country?

i guess most kids play football (soccer) in their childhood, but the most promoted one during championships might be hockey...? not sure, actually. i wouldn't consider us a big sports nation, but it might be because i'm not involved in the scene (except for hockey, kinda).

24. what other nation is joked about most often in your country?

the hungarians and the czechs, for sure. i won't get into why it's like that because peace and love blah blah blah. but it's definitely them. also the poles, but not the whole nation i think, mostly just the language.

27. favourite national celebrity?

eh- good question? i have some actors that i like to see in theatre/tv, but apart from their roles, i know nothing about them, so... i don't think i have one.

(i googled "slovak celebrities". i didn't know those people existed. i'll leave it at this)

thank you again for this ask, i did have a lot of fun!! especially with the history part, which i'm, again, sorry for :D (but not really. only like. half sorry)

[redhydrogen]

Album Review:

All My Heroes Are Cornballs (JPEGMAFIA, 2019)

(First Listen)

JPEGMAFIA is an artist who has been on my radar for a very long time. I asked some friends of him who know more about him than I do what I should check out, and this album narrowly won out. I've heard a little bit from Peggy; Scaring The Hoes, Hazard Duty Pay, Bald, Baby I'm Bleeding, among others, so I went into this album expecting something high energy. This album was decisively not high energy, but I absolutely loved every second of it.

I was absolutely blown away by the production on this album. Someone I know once said that the music sounds like it's falling apart, and that is a sentiment I agree with. The production is the musical equivalent of walking on crutches. On songs like Kenan Vs. Kel or Lifes Hard, Here's A Song About Sorrel, the samples sound like they are dying before your ears, and while these things may seem like complaints on the surface, they are anything BUT complaints. It sounds fucking incredible, on every song; the production is nothing like I've ever heard before in my life.

Peggy's lyricism on this album is about what I would expect from him, at least with what I've heard from him before this, though I enjoyed the moments on songs like Thot Tactics where he rapped from the perspective of a woman; I found that unique. What impressed me, however, was his vocal range. Peggy does a lot of singing on this album, with him even having an entire song dedicated to covering an old TLC track. I was very surprised by the range on display here, and I think it lends itself to the soundscape of this album very well. The mixing is jarring and inconsistent, with vocals often being overpowered by the instrumentals, but I feel this was done by design, and it was done very well.

If I could find one complaint with this album worthy of being brought up here, it is that a lot of the songs seemingly end just as I'm getting into the groove of them. I feel this issue is most prominent on Lifes Hard; just as I feel myself really getting into the way that song sounds and feels, it ends with little fanfare. It doesn't take away from my enjoyment to a significant degree, but it is something I take issue with on some of these tracks.

I went into All My Heroes Are Cornballs expecting an album completely different from what I got, but it was pulled off so masterfully well that I honestly can't bring myself to complain about that. I am curious to see how the rest of JPEGMAFIA's discography stacks up to this album.

Jesus Forgive Me, I Am A Thot - 8/10

Kenan Vs. Kel - 8/10

Beta Male Strategies - 10/10

JPEGMAFIA TYPE BEAT - 8/10

Grimy Waifu - 8/10

PTSD - 7/10

Rap Grow Old And Die x No Child Left Behind - 7/10

All My Heroes Are Cornballs - 8/10

BBW - 8/10

PRONE! - 9/10

Lifes Hard, Here's A Song About Sorrel - 7/10

Thot Tactics - 9/10

Free The Frail - 7/10

Post Verified Lifestyle - 8/10

BasicBitchTearGas - 8/10

DOTS FREESTYLE REMIX - 9/10

BUTTERMILK JESUS TYPE BEAT - 7/10

Papi I Missed U - 8/10

Favorite Song: Beta Male Strategies

Album Score: 8/10

[shineiidawn]

I called this blog Shine II Dawn for two reasons. Firstly because it's a track I love by my favourite DJ, producer and remixer Todd "The God" Terry, making it as a good a place as any to get things going.

Ever the hustler and never one to let anything go to waste, Todd Terry frequently reused beats and riffs across both his own tracks and remixes of others. Shine II Dawn from his Unrelased Project E.P from 1992 is essentially a dub of Todd Terry's seminal 'Melody' remix of PM Dawn's A Watcher's Point of View (Don't Cha Think) from 1991. He also released Shadow's Dawn on The Unreleased Project 2, which uses a different arrangement of the same elements while throwing in some manually(?) gated Uranium from Kraftwerk 'aaaahs' to keep things interesting. Todd Terry's uncanny knack with samples ios another post altogether. To my knowledge the New York producer managed to squeeze 4 tracks out of Watchers Point of View for The Unreleased Project 12"s released between '92 and '93, I like to think that his no nonsense approach to production and studio time meant that they were put together during the same session. They are:

Shine II Dawn - The Unreleased Project Put Your Hands Together - The Unreleased Project Part 2 Shadow's Dawn - The Unreleased Project Part 2 On and On Again - The Unreleased Project Part 4 PM Dawn became friends with Todd Terry while working at the mailing offices of New York record label Warlock, which launched Todd's career. They were signed briefly to the label before moving to Gee Street Records, Warlock's partners in the UK who were there at the cusp of the Acid House explosion and would famously go on to release Todd's game changer of a remix for The Jungle Brother's - I'll House You - which is basically the rap over a slightly-tweaked Royal House's Can You Party?, arguably one of the definitive tracks of the UK scene in 1988. Never one to let a good beat or riff go to waste, you see.

PM Dawn's Watcher's Point of View single came off the back of their massive hit Set Adrift On Memory Bliss. Leaning heavily on a sample from Spandau Ballet's True, the song was looked down on by most "real" Hip Hop fans despite it's otherwise more credible samples from The Soul Searchers and Bob James. With their "Beautiful, sweeping melodies paired with lyrics of regret, remorse, heartache and profound loss" you can make up your own minds why they never fit comfortably into the Hip Hop scene. Their story, and in particular that of their front man Prince Be, is both fascinating and tragic. I'd be lying if I said I'd given them much thought at the time of Set Adrift… and wrote them off as a something of a novelty act, a kind of uncool De La. I'm only half joking when I say that I blame the Spandau Ballet sample for turning me off. True was considered naff and inextricably connected to a not too distant past that recalled shiny disco trousers, white socks and loafers, slow dances at the end of the night (or "erection sections" as some of us called them) and a fight in the taxi rank afterwards. And shit music. Really shit music. True was new but sounded old, Soul without the soul. Additionally, to anyone with a mild interest in Hip Hop, The Soul Searchers drum break used on the PM Dawn track was also overused by that point, as was Bob James' Take Me To The Mardi Gras.

In 1991 I was listening to albums like Fear of a Black Planet and The Low End Theory. Public Enemy and The Bomb Squad melded layer upon layer of samples together, creating dense and abrasive slabs of noise while A Tribe Called Quest were rhyming over dusty Jazz and gritty Funk samples and breaks. This music was sonically a long way from anything I'd heard before, and despite both borrowing heavily from the past, this sounded like the future. It's a tired old story, but many of my generation who were into Hip Hop were swept up in the Acid House scene and it wasn't too much of a leap from the more experimental Hip Hop to breakbeat led rave that developed a little later. You could argue that the Hardcore sound was a representation of both of the Public Enemy and Tribe approaches, plus a big dollop of sound system culture and a pop sensibility. Just not Spandau Ballet-type Pop.

Set Adrift On Memory Bliss was a huge hit, reaching number one and three in the US and UK charts respectively, and was the first black rap single to reach number one on the pop charts, much to the "real" rappers disgust. Despite critical acclaim and commercial success, (although not necessarily at the same time) the duo slowly slid into obscurity and split. Prince Be died of kidney disease caused by complications of diabetes at the age of 46.

The PM Dawn Melody Mix is one of Todd "The God" Terry's many big remixes of the early 90s. I can clearly remember Pete Tong introducing the track on his Essential Selection with the words: "Todd Terry. Back on form." The acapella introduces the track part of which is the source of a tiny vocal snippet that runs through the whole thing. The acapella is accompanied by heavy and ominous pads that drop out suddenly before an extremely crispy drum pattern begins. A bouncy synth melody fades in under it all before everything is thrown into the mix with rave stabs and an undulating bass line and everything keeps moving until the breakdowns. Then, different elements are dropped out before bringing everything back to a crescendo with the trademark Todd snares. Simple but powerful and dynamic, this track used to ruin dance floors.

A track from 1991 I always associate with Todd's PM Dawn remix is TC 1991 - Berry. TC 1991 were one of the many aliases of Italian House chaps FPI Project, who have an insane amount of releases under their collective belt, under numerous aliases. FPI stands for Fratty Presti Intrallazzi, the surnames of the original members of the collective but the group used the TC name (and others) to enable them to release more underground music without the association of the commercially huge hits they'd produced as the FPI Project.

TC originally stood for Tina Chris a mix of Cristina (Malvestiti) who was a vocalist on FPI's first singles, but this was later changed to Total Control. TC was used on a series of big hitters, with TC 1991's Berry and TC 1992 - Funky Guitar in particular having a huge impact on UK dancefloors, landing at a perfect time when guitars and a rock music element was turning up in some tracks, along with a Rock 'n' Roll aesthetic becoming popular in clubland fashion. Somehow, leather trousers in a sweaty club seemed like a good idea.

With Italian made records not selling well in their native country, the group sent copies to the UK and then had them re-imported as if they were foreign productions. The rear cover of the original release features the phrase "Hey papa, guarda… un pollo!" Hey daddy look… a chicken! which is taken from a Knorr chicken stock cube TV advert. I've failed to understand the reference. Hopefully, I'll find a middle aged Italian that could explain it to me.

TC 1992 was licensed to R & S, ZYX and Union City Recordings in the UK, getting the trademark Justin Robertson/Lionrock remix treatment with triumphant trumpets galore but the FPI Funky Mix still sounds fantastic, replete with its dubby drum workout.

"Hey papa, guarda… un pollo!"

Back to Berry. Introduced dramatically with the crash of a gong, Berry wastes no time in getting going with some galloping beats before a snare break not unlike Watcher's unleashes the elastic, bass line led riff. The riff is basically Bizarre Incs Technological, while that itself isn't too far away from the classic Mr Fingers Can You Feel It. They all use a Roland 909 and Juno-60, I've been reliably informed by the internet. This clever chap breaks down how Can You Feel It was made.

Like the Melody Mix of Watchers Point Of View, Berry builds everything up to a peak, drops everything out, then brings everything crashing back in again. Both owe something to the early style of Hip Hop DJing in that respect, the technology and music of the time only really enabling DJs to cut in beats and breaks rather than achieving long blends. The beauty of this type of mixing is it creates a powerful and dynamic effect. Todd Terry, who famously reinvented House music for a bit of a laugh, was DJing and producing Hip Hop and Freestyle way before the Can You Party era and brought those influences to how he made House tracks. From the man himself: "Do a really hot minute-and-a half/two minutes and just loop it three times." Just like that.

"Do a really hot minute-and-a half/two minutes and just loop it three times."

Todd has always been upfront about reusing beats while also showing no contrition for playing DJ sets that predominantly feature his own music. And why should he? I don't doubt the NY hustler in him has something to do with this approach, along with releasing and rereleasing tracks using multiple aliases on many different labels. In the context of Watchers Point of View, he's still getting mileage out of the track 30+ years later, just recently releasing a remastered version of Put Your Hands Together. I wonder what Prince Be would make of it. On the subject of reusing beats and pieces, PM Dawn had sampled Todd Terry's moody (and underrated) I Love The Way You Shake under his Frontline monicker on their Hip Houser Shake, with Prince Be imploring everyone to "thank Todd Terry" in the final bars. That refrain later turned up on Irish outfit Sound Crowd's Touched By The Hand of Todd. I won't link to that because the first track on The Public Image EP that it appears on: The Acid Garage, is arguably more of a celebration of Todd Terry as it has the same kind of driving bass line, signature choppy percussion and tearing snare breaks as many of his tracks.

"Everyone thank Todd Terry"

Very similar to the use of riddims in Jamaican dancehall, the examples of reuse are endless. The infectious keys from Jazz Anthem, released in 1991 were reused three years later on Bounce To The Beat. In 1994, Grant Nelson and Si Firmin's G.O.D alias released the first of their 'Limited' run of 12"s. These took huge liberties by chopping up and repackaging classic House tracks to great effect. One of these tracks was Todd Terry's Bounce To the Beat. G.O.D's version begins with tribal drum intro before launching into a barely altered original. Taking it full circle, Todd Terry later released Sound Design – Back From The Dead EP which featured Bounce To The Beat (Remix). This is exactly the same as the G.O.D version, minus their intro. (Insert laughing emoji here.)

Other notable tracks Todd Terry reused in that early 90s period are his remixes for Bizarre Inc. and Cajmere. Rave Mix of Bizarre Inc - I'm Gonna Get You and his TNT Dub of Cajmere Featuring Dajae – Brighter Days. Hilariously, they're pretty much the same track, and both take massive liberties with Cool Jack's Come With Me, taking the chutzpah to extraordinary levels. He did do the Cajmere remixes for nothing, however, and his Tee's Dope Mix is a standalone classic.

Cool Jack was another Italian Euro House vehicle. Made up of brothers Brothers Paolo and Gianni Visnadi, they not only produced utterly glorious cheese by the likes of Alex Party and Living Joy but more underground recordings like the mental Racing Tracks under the Visnadi moniker and Try The Feeling, also as Cool Jack. Both Cool Jack tracks use the vocals of the interestingly surnamed US singer Tom Hooker. Where things get very interesting…

Tom Hooker was a songwriter and vocalist for Den Harrow (a bastardization of "Denaro", money in Italian) recordings, along with other vocalists including dreamer Silvio Pozzoli and others. Den Harrow was an Italian music project (another one) started by Roberto Turatti and Miki Chieregato. Amongst many other music projects, they produced this absolute banger of an Italo-Disco track from the improbably named Jock Hattle (real name Alberto Carpani). Den Harrow was energetically and flamboyantly fronted by Stefano Zandri, while others did the rest, including the songwriting and actual singing. Stefano and the producers Turatti and Chieregato finally admitted in 2012 that he hadn't sung on any of the Den Harrow songs. It's a story more common than you might imagine. Things have been very messy between Hooker and Zandri since, both fighting about the right to perform the songs of Den Harrow. If you're interested, there's a great documentary about it here: Dons of Disco.

It's all gone a bit Milli Vanilli, which is as good a place as any to end it. More next time…

[cyarskj52]

Drake Is An Awful Person To Date (And If You Act Like Him, So Are You)

Drake is emotionally and lyrically stunted, and it's time to grow up.

"Thots & Thoughts"is a column in which musings on dating, sex, race, religion, and politics all come together—from a bird's-eye view.

In terms of artistic license, Drake has every right to continue making music about emotional immaturity. He has every right to a whiny outlook on his failed relationships (fictional and otherwise). Likewise, his most ardent fans have every right to keep quoting his songs on social media and pretending that Aubrey Graham is more emotionally intelligent than he actually is. But wouldn't it be nice if we could all grow up a little?

I am not a Drake hater. Of course, I do question how a Canadian developed a Houston accent as an adult. I also question how said Canadian became West Indian on his latest album. But petty concerns like that haven’t convinced me that he isn’t good at what he does. (I have the receipts of monetary support to prove it.) Still, time has made me wonder how anyone that close to 30 can continue thinking the way he does.

How many more songs can this man make about how he had a “good girl,” went off to do his own thing (and fuck other people freely), and found himself steaming like a hot toddy because that “good girl” lost interest? Even worse, this motherfucker has the audacity to feel a way about someone getting over him. What kind of middle school man-child tripping-over-his-hormones shit is he on? Excuse me, still on.

via GIPHY

Gather ‘round, beloveds. I have many examples:

“All of my ‘let’s just be friends’ are friends I don’t have anymore/Guess that’s why they say you need family for”

Listen, when you do not meet people under platonic circumstances, do not expect them to want to be your platonic friend. I have told many a man to get the hell away from me talking about “let’s just be friends.” Bitch, I got friends. Move around.

“I tried with you/There’s more to life than sleeping in and getting high with you/I had to let go of us to show myself what I could do”

Okay, great. So when they move on, don’t get all pissy about it, newly beardless wonder (more wonderful with a beard, though, tbh).

“Why do I settle for women that force me to pick up the pieces?/Why do I want an independent woman to feel like she needs me?”

Because you’re emotionally manipulative.

“I gave your nickname to someone else.”

You’re also a mean-spirited child at times.

“Chasing women a distraction/They want to be on TV next to me/You cannot be here next to me/Don’t you see Riri here next to me?”

God, shut up.

“I’m way too good to you... You take my love for granted/I just don’t understand it.”

Yo, this man routinely raps about screwing over women, virtually driving them away. Wait, I have another example.

“You hit me like, ‘I know you’re there with someone else’/That pussy knows me better than I know myself”

See that?

Get the hell on somewhere yapping about being too good for anyone. Okay, you are handsome, famous, and rich. There are a bunch of folks like that on Unsung and old episodes of Behind the Music, though. Don’t get too cocky.

And we cannot forget “Hotline Bling,” which is great as a song to bop to in the club, in the car, at the gym, on a sidewalk, or wherever else it’s playing. But as a statement, the song is a prime example that 2016 is the year of our Lemonade.

via GIPHY

Whoever told Drake he was more immature than Marques Houston deserves a medal of honor.

I don’t expect a whole lot from him. I know some would like him to be more socially conscious in his work, but I’m not sure he’s capable of that—and if he isn’t, I’d rather he make silent donations to those who are. What I do want from Drake, though, is for him to work on the sexism in his music. More specifically, I’d love for him to be a wee bit less of a self-involved jackass who routinely bitches about chasing women away and then being bitter when they move on with their lives.

That’s what folks are supposed to do, especially when they date people like Drake. His new album is disappointing for many reasons, but I’m most disappointed that, lyrically, he’s doing the same boring shuffle without a morsel of self-awareness.

I guess that doesn’t really matter, since his music is selling exceptionally well. But for those of us with higher expectations for Drake, it’s about time he grew up already. Maybe then he’d escape the pattern of pushing “those girls” away, who move on to become much happier women.

And if you act anything like Drake, you should join in walking into actual adulthood. Ashe, assholes.

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Sent from my iPhone

[briamichellewrites]

73

Bradford nominated Bria for Album of the Year, Best Female Vocal Performance, and Best Pop Album for the upcoming 2007 Grammys in February. The nominations will be announced in November. 2006 was looking to be her comeback year. Her tour and record sales were beating records. Let’s Try This Again was number one on the Billboard charts and she certified gold with over five hundred thousand sales. She made millions during her tour alone.

Linkin Park was nominated for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for their album with Jay-Z at the last Grammys. They won against Gwen Stefani featuring Eve, Destiny’s Child featuring TI and Lil Wayne, Common featuring Kanye West and John Legend, and Ciara featuring Missy Elliot. They went to the ceremony and accepted their award.

Bria watched everything from her hotel room. She sent them a text message congratulating them! They all responded thanking her. She would have loved to be there celebrating with them, but she was on tour and was unable to. They all understood.

“Oh my god! Brad just texted me saying that he nominated me for three Grammys!”

“Do I need to ask which one”, Bradley replied.

“Bradford.”

“Congratulations! How many awards do you have?”

“Just one for Best New Artist in 2000.”

He kissed her cheek because he was so happy for her. They were in their hotel room after wandering around Baton Rouge. Yes, they did some shopping. She would have to ship what she bought back to her house because it wouldn’t fit into her suitcase. That was something she would deal with later. For now, they were waiting to go down to the shuttle that would take them to the set.

She changed into pants and had a sweatshirt wrapped around her waist because it was going to get cold once the sun went down. He had everything he needed. As he put his book bag on, there was a knock on the door. Matthew. He was making sure they were back. They were. Did Bria have bug spray? No, she did not. He would have to spray her when they got on set. The Louisiana bugs would eat her alive. She thanked him for looking out for her.

Dude! That’s awesome! Oh my god! Thank you! – Bria

Haha, you’re welcome. – Bradford

“Well, it’s too bad you’re here because you’re about to miss the cutest dog play date ever.”

“You’ll have to tell me all about it”, Bradley said.

“Who has dogs? I know you do”, Matthew asked.

“I have two dogs, Missy and Buddy. Mike and his boyfriend, Chester have two dogs. Then, our other friend Phoenix and his wife, Linsey have a dog.”

Bradley didn’t know Mike and Chester were dating. She realized she had forgotten to tell him. He laughed and replied it wasn’t a big deal. Yes, she got a text from Bradford about the gossip going around about them dating. He then responded to her later saying they had confirmed it. If anything happened in the band, they would find out about it. They gossiped like old ladies.

What band was she talking about? Linkin Park. They were a nu-metal band from Agoura Hills, California. He had never heard of them. She would have to play one of their songs for him! Before she could, they had to go down to the shuttle. After getting seated, she dug in her backpack and took out a CD player and Linkin Park’s newest album, Meteora. After putting the CD in, she handed it to Matthew who was sitting in front of her with her headphones.

He listened to the first song, Foreword. Then the second, then the third. By the time they got on set, he listened to the whole album. He thought it was good music. She was excited that he liked it! Bradley told her again how adorable she was. She got her CD player and headphones back.

I had Matthew McConaughey (spelling?) listen to Meteora. He said it was good music. I’m literally bouncing up and down! – Bria

Mike shared her text message with Bradford, Rob, and Phoenix. They thought it was so cool! Even though they weren’t recording their new album until August, he invited them over to hang out. He had an in-home studio he called, The Stockroom. The boys were not allowed in there because the equipment was very expensive and he didn’t want anything damaged. He locked it whenever he wasn’t in there and he carried the key with him at all times.

They were catching up with each other. Bradford was going on dates with Elisa once a week. Rob was busying himself with his usual routine of practicing the drums. They all made sure he wasn’t pushing himself too hard. He promised he knew when to stop. Okay. He also attended services at his temple once a week. It was his way of getting rid of stress and anxiety.

Phoenix was balancing going to doctor’s appointments with his mother, attending therapy sessions once a week, and checking in with his sponsor once a week. Could they ask how she was doing? She was not doing well. They were holding off on having her admitted into a hospice for as long as possible. She moved in with his brother, so he could take care of her. He hired a nurse to come in while he was at work. They all expressed compassion and sympathy.

Thank you. If they need help with anything, please let them know. He promised to do that. Thank you. They had her and Joe over the previous afternoon for dinner. She had a lot of fun with Anya. What did she do? She sat in her lap and let her pet her. Cats were known to be difficult, but they could also be empathetic when they wanted to.

“She wants to meet Bria.”

“What does she know about her”, Mike asked.

“She knows that she was in the hospital and why. But she doesn’t know about Emma or her mental health issues. Linsey doesn’t think it will be an issue. She also knows her as the girl who helped me through my trauma and my ex-girlfriend.”

“Yeah, I would let her know about her mental health issues. Just in case Emma shows up, she’s not… I don’t want to say scared.”

“Overwhelmed”, Rob suggested.

“Yeah. Overwhelmed. Bria would probably appreciate you doing that.”

Okay, he would. He would explain how she had brain damage from her coma. As a result, she had an alternative personality and what that meant for her. He would also explain how Emma was not dangerous at all. She just had an attitude. They laughed because it was true. Bradford agreed that sounded good. Okay, he would do that.

@zoeykaytesmom @feelingsofaithless @alina-dixon

[jackalsinthekitchen]

pop report #6 (billboard 200, week of 2/3/2024)

on dicks, or things that sound like them

I’ve mentioned it before, but my late buddy and I had a different relationship with the pop charts. I was raised – digesting the star-ratings in my dad’s giant album guides like gospel – to distrust the pop cultural world around me. I always felt out of step (like that girl in the Onion article) with the trends of my time; I was always making heroes out of bygone artists out of step with theirs. My bestie similarly distrusted new culture – it being the early 2000s, what was popular was often mean-spirited and overly prefab. But an odd affection for numbers (innate) and a higher tolerance for boomer-sanctioned fluff (instilled) made him pleased as peaches to ride around to the local oldies station. We doubled down on our anachronisms in a bunker of a band, but when we broke up and stepped separately into daylight, we each had new pop epiphanies. Because somewhere between ‘07 and ‘13, radio music got juicy.

Strong melodies are rarely in short supply, but other things had been adjusted. Hip-hop and pop production became indiscernible, the hook emphasis and contrapuntal construction of the latter absorbing the atmospheric and rhythmic virtues of the former. Spearheaded by artists like Lady Gaga and Beyoncé, women (many non-white) took pop over, tamping down indie tumors like Mumford and Sons and keeping the bros at bay. The most conventional such superstar, Taylor Swift, opened her music and mind to the new sonic fashions, while maintaining her foundation of catchy, emotionally inhabitable songs. A vision of a braver, more equitable world felt represented on the radio, and it was a trip to listen to. With digital production outgrowing its ungainly hallmarks, everything started to sound a little like a dream, and by six or seven years ago, what most people wanted to listen to was wonderful.

But pendulums have a way of swinging back, and while I can’t put my finger on what’s changing, I’m at least equipped to note a few data points and go hmmm. For instance: the top five albums currently perching atop Billboard’s 200 chart are by male artists. I’m a lot less savvy when it comes to analyzing the album charts, in some part because my friend talked about them less than the song charts. It’s often a mixed bag of rap platters, country platters, pop platters, soundtrack platters and evergreen old faves (Thriller; Rumours; Queen’s greatest hits; Elton John’s greatest hits; these days every Taylor Swift album). But with the influx of country bros up said charts – who as far as I’m concerned are always named Luke or Zach, even when they’re named Blake or Chris – you wonder why the Eagles’ Greatest Hits isn’t the hotcake it once was.

It bears mentioning that none of country-pop (much less country)’s women – Taylor Swift hasn’t counted for a while – are selling like the dudes are. I mused a few blogs ago that MAGA might partially account for the whitest genre’s ascendence, but if I’m being cynical I could go bigger. The resistance #metoo engendered (as progress does) obviously includes more than just the red hats. Not that I figure All Men are bulk-buying Morgan Wallen CDs solely out of spite, but it’s hard to imagine any mild-mannered or self-reflective men even streaming him. “Last Night” is one of many smashes he’s racked up to date. His country-rock is inflected with a steely pop sheen, and beefed up with rap-adjacent beats, not to mention a looser and less laconic vernacular than Southern-drawl singers are usually armed with. But that cocky song and its album were each the #1 sellers of 2023, which seems a shame when the best stuff (“Anti-Hero”, “Kill Bill”, “Flowers”, any Barbie single) came, yet again, from the better side of the battle of the sexes.

Unrefined as he may be, Wallen isn’t a menace – if grassroots red meat like “Rich Men North of Richmond” was always on top, things would be less nice. But he does seem likea dick, and it’s a shame when dicks win. Wallen’s album isn’t at #1 anymore, and I’m not super familiar with superseder 21 Savage’s work – though he was half of Drake’s sus Her Loss, which definitely had an indulgent-resentment-of-women vibe. And although from the opening monologue, his album American Dream codes sincere (sincere almost never being preferable), it’s nice in theory to have an album called American Dream at #1 when that album is by a Black hip-hop artist making no overt pop concessions. Anyway, like I said, I haven’t given it sufficient attention, and maybe it’s great. But it’s not revolutionary I’ll betcha, and a scan of the reviews solidifies this enough for me to write all this on my blog without worrying about doing 21 Savage too dirty.

Wallen’s album is at #2 – on the charts for the 47th week. I wonder, without caring to do the work to find out, if its preeminence is comparable to that of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, enduring bestseller Elton John’s half-century-old blockbuster. That was a 2-LP set with 17 songs, and because Elton was the biggest artist in the pop music galaxy at that time, it listed for $5 more than a normal LP ($6.98). Wallen’s albums always contain something like 200 songs, so in theory, that spiffs up his sales. Also, his occasional loose tongue (“take care of this n*****”) and the “I’m a jerk but you love me” aura hallmarking his biggest hits almost definitely guarantees a dose of racists and douchebags in his audience share. But you don’t get to #1 without a portion of your constituency being honest-to-goodness Very Fine People. Then again, a lot of people sit out elections – just like Ariana says, “in case you haven’t noticed/everybody’s tired”.

Drake’s latest is #3, and while the title and imagery of For All the Dogs is less self-celebratorily male than Her Loss, it’s still a bad look from a distance. Drake really is the Elton John of his generation – every one of his albums and mixtapes and “playlists” has gone #1 on the Billboard 200, except the very early So Far Gone (#5 pop, #1 elsewhere) and something called Dark Lane Demo Tapes (#2 pop, #1 elsewhere). His reign has just about tripled John’s heyday (though the double-disc compilation Diamonds wouldn’t be a perpetual top 40 staple if John didn’t have decades’ worth of hits to his name). Though when his streak began, it was the Degrassi alum’s sheer niceness that set him apart – to where, when he came on strong to nominal work friends Nicki Minaj and Rihanna, you had to stifle a smirk – he’s been on something of a Dark Aubrey kick for a while. His flow remains a highly agreeable sound, but the charm’s been low (which is never Jay-Z’s problem), and his invention has never been strong enough to counterbalance it.

Next is Green Day. Green Day! A band, with guitars! At this point Green Day are an American institution, at a level above many of their diverse bands-with-guitars ‘90s peers – it doesn’t seem likely Billy Corgan, for instance, will be asked to turn one of his concept albums into a Broadway musical anytime soon. The band’s staying power, although they capitalized on fashionable liberal resistance and indie-derived pretentiousness with American Idiot, can be chalked up to the fact that they’ve always been more of a pop band than a punk band. But coming on like a punk band still helps. “The American Dream* is Killing Me”, Saviors’ opener, couches its good old-fashioned generalized protest in generic, Beatley melodics, and couches that in hard-within-reason guitars. The Tik Tok time-warping that tosses aging acts up the charts is heartening. Whether or not Saviors is good, Green Day feel like old-guard underdogs now, or at least old friends.

Rounding out our Penis Quintet is Noah Kahan’s Stick Season, the indie-boy fluke du jour. Every once in a while, people want to open the window of the pop palace we’re living in to more organic styles, e.g. the Green Day pop-punk model. When indie started really selling in this country, it wasn’t the soundscaping experimentalists or mordant wordsmiths – it was the real teary-eyed and sincere (wuh oh)-sounding people, leading up to people like the Lumineers, who lived at the crossroads between Arcade Fire and Mumford & Sons, and had about as much depth as the Archies but pretended otherwise. You can hear why Kahan is setting himself apart – the unconventional tinge in his voice helps lend a unique air to his lyrics, which are also unconventionally tinged. This isn’t the same as “clear-eyed” or “incisive”, though (much less mordant); the trick is to make you think you’re hearing something more outside the box than you are, which on the pop charts is sometimes just outside the box enough to be compelling. Nevertheless, he doesn’t seem like a dick – his music is as nice as it sounds, and his words’ heart is in the right place despite the weakness of the sauce. They aren’t very funny, but Kahan certainly is, at least when he’s talking about sunflower seed shells.

The rest of the top ten discontinues the pattern. Taylor bookends – #6 is her latest, which happens to be the long-awaited, marginally-differentiated re-recording of the album that launched her into pop super-stardom. Nothing she says isn’t calculated, but she’s right to tout her own prescience in the liner notes. There was liberation as well as mercenary benefit in roping pop into her music, in all its Nashville-bucking, cybernetic glory – and using the tradition of sexualized pop stars as a vehicle to amplify her rich-young-woman-about-town themes. But if 1989 wasn’t a money move (it was, at least a little), 1989 (Taylor’s Version) begins in that category. I note that “Is it Over Now”, her 9000th hit, has more of a self-repetitive vibe than usual. Then there’s Lover at #10 – on the wings of “Cruel Summer”, surely. The notoriously sunny album, brimming with shrewder pop gestures than her more consciously “artistic” last three, increasingly hits like a pre-COVID time capsule if not balm.

In between are two girls and a guy. #7 is last year’s from SZA, an always thoughtful, rarely compromising album auteur whose music rides that line between art and commerce better than most. #9 is country’s best example of same – the self-titled from Zach Bryan, foremost among the Luke and Blake crop as a singer and writer even if he’s no Tyler Childers in either department. Sandwiched between at #8 is Pink Friday 2, sequel to an album that back in 2010 felt like the shape of things to come. Well before huffers and puffers tread on the toes Taylor was dipping into pop waters, Nicki was getting slammed for loving pop and showing it. Now Pink Friday is regarded as the kind of classic none of her subsequent albums, which are always overlong and (how do I safely say this) temperamentally disagreeable, can hope to measure up to. Back around PF1, her verbal invention and shapeshifting ubiquity had me thinking, rockistly, “new Dylan”. Well: she wasn’t. But I’m glad she’s still selling some records.

I never turned my observation of the top five’s all-sausage status into a hypothesis; I’m not really good at hypotheses. But I wonder if there’s also a connection to the #1 song in the country right now, which is by Jack Harlow and is called “Lovin’ On Me”. On sight, Harlow is like a post-Post Malone, a beardy, dirtbaggy-looking white guy who’s sort of hip-hop and sort of not, and he’s been a big star for a minute. (My editor: “he doesn’t look like he has a stylist… or a shower, maybe.”) Like Drake, his flow has a downtempo, low-effort-seductive quality, and he’s possibly hotter than Post Malone – you can sort of see why Dua Lipa dated him, even if it took him putting out a million-selling mash note called “Dua Lipa” and it doesn’t look like it worked out. But I have to admit, I just don’t understand why “Lovin’ on Me” is number one. It’s one of those club-style songs so totally unmelodic it almost feels like an insult, and though “I’m vanilla baby/I’ll choke you but I ain’t a killer baby” is more on the gentlemanly side than is common for this playa-hype stuff, the attitude and verbiage are mostly not mold-breaking.

That line does give me pause; if your partner wants to be choked, and consent is properly brokered, then obliging is not only nice, but, lovin’, even. And while the chorus is a rejection, not an embrace, of BDSM predilections, it still hinges on “you can’t tie me down”, an age-old I’m-a-man-and-I-can-do-what-I-want trope. If American elections have proven anything, it’s that Americans don’t always pay careful attention to what they’re giving power to. The single’s lyric is all over the place (“I keep it short with a bitch, Lord Farquaad”), but one thing it is not is self-effacing. So maybe “Lovin’ on Me” is the druggy-hangout or night-at-the-strip-club soundtrack staple of the moment – for the kind of white bro who likes to pretend he’s (his idea of) a Black bro, or for Black bros united with them via sexism and taste for a certain sound. It’s also worth entertaining that, given its current primacy, a number of women like the song too.

I know it’s dumb and dangerous to speculate along dichotomous demographics (he says, right after doing just that). I remember quizzing my Black Lyft driver about his passion for Luke Combs’ “Fast Car”, which he did not know was a Tracy Chapman song and did not listen closely to enough to hear Combs refer to himself as a “checkout girl”. Instead, he felt drawn to it because of the nature of the narrator’s care, the I’ll-do-whatever-it-takes-for-us of it all. The reasons people love the music they love are often more visceral than complex. It’s not only conceivable but inevitable that “Lovin’ on Me”, by a white rapper who’s on record as a BLM supporter and has been praised for his self-interrogation, appeals to otherwise irreconcilable categories of listeners. But not the category I’m in, which is something like “well-intentioned, open-hearted, bi-vibes older millennial who loves music more than anything.”

Men are people too; I’m one, albeit a self-hating one. And lest I slip into misandry, let me concede that some forms of male aggro do relate to necessary strength, rather than the typical insecurity/emotional avoidance/urge to violence. Hip-hop’s strivers are economic cousins to Nashville’s nouveau riche, because some class disadvantages necessitate hardness to thrive and provide. Inherited toxicities can enflame this already combustible component something awful, but DJ Khaled (for example) insisting he deserves oral sex but his wife doesn’t because he puts food on the table (“ya gotta understand, I’m the king, I’m the don”, he actually said, not in a song but an interview) is an especially low bar. But men sometimes do live up to their projected strength – and there are times when what they’ve got is just what somebody needs. Looking askance at any consensus, like what song or album the biggest number of people are listening to, is a slippery slope if you don’t try to understand it first. Still, I’m playing American Dream right now, and still not sure how it’s won over this many people.

Maybe there's another key to what’s going on here. Many of today’s top hits are het-up and horny, just like “Lovin On Me” – Tate McRae’s “Greedy” (#3) which is plenty feminist, or Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control” (#4), a different twist on America’s main racial binary (country-looking white dude belts out barn-burning gospel/soul), or Tyla’s blissfully lubricious “Water” (#11). So maybe that’s why people keep banging “Lovin’ On Me”, which is also the first hit single since Rihanna’s “S&M” a bajillion years ago to turn on the phrase “whips and chains”. The cold is keeping people indoors, and Harlow’s hit is giving them ideas, so they’re jamming to it. Not here to knock your love, America: you fuck to what you wanna fuck to. But maybe being a straight man (ugh) is why I just can’t get it up, be it on a dancefloor or behind closed doors, to anyone who comes on like a dick.

*not the 21 Savage album

[musicarenagh]

Get to Know JusKolMeAl: The Hip Hop Artist Redefining Modern Beats JusKolMeAl has been in this game for some years now, and I tell you he is doing well. His new music release Other People’s Money is attracting attention, and rightfully so. You feel an old school vibe merged with modern trendiness. What sets him apart? Or maybe it’s just his flair for combining true, familiar words with striking beats that have you bobbing your head. Overall, tracks like “Progress” and “Cheat Code” are insanely catchy but also have some depth. They submerge themselves in the joys and struggles of real life, offering you a bit to contemplate while you nod your head. However, JusKolMeAl is not only about music. He is a versatile individual, trying his hand at video editing as well as cooking. He’s all about connecting with his fans and spreading positive energy everywhere he goes. So, what's next for JusKolMeAl? He has scheduled a few shows and is going to release some music videos.But one thing's for sure: He is here for good and ready to conquer the Hip Hop community. To his fans, JusKolMeAl has one message: thanks for rocking with him. He is thankful for the love and support, his journey has just begun. Therefore, fasten your seatbelt and be prepared for a bumpy ride provided by JusKolMeAl. It's gonna be epic! Listen to Other People’s Money Ep below https://open.spotify.com/album/2z1QYwts6clv18yYAsWOQS Follow JusKolMeAl on Spotify Soundcloud Instagram Facebook Twitter Youtube Tiktok What is your stage name JusKolMeAl - pronounced Jus Call Me AL Is there a story behind your stage name? My name is Alfred. In my early hip hop years, I changed my name several times. I did a show one day and when the MC asked me my name, I told him, "Just call me Al". He got up and said, "coming to the stage, Jus call me Al! I tore up the stage and the crowd started chanting, Just call me Al. It stuck with me. Where do you find inspiration? I don't find inspiration, inspiration finds me. I have been many places amd seen many things. When I get the feeling to create, I just do it. What was the role of music in the early years of your life? I have been around music my whole life. My cousins, my parents, all had a musical background. My mother used to sing in a group, my family all Dj'ed or played instruments. In my hometown, me and my peers grew up competitively in music. Its always been around me. Are you from a musical or artistic family? Yes. Mother was a songstress, cousins and aunts were all musically inclined. Who inspired you to be a part of the music industry? My cousin, Kenny first inspired me as a kid watching him and friends on the turntables. My friend Tim "Real" Davis of RMG studios really taught me the studio side of things. How did you learn to sing/write/to play? My writing/verbal skills came from reading a lot of Dr. Seuss books growing up. He was my first lyrical teacher. What was the first concert that you ever went to and who did you see perform? I went to a Melba Moore/Freddy Jackson concert at a park near my home. How could you describe your music? A modern era take on that old school boom bap feeling of the 90's Describe your creative process. I have 2 or 3 stages that I go through. As a producer, I have my times when I am strictly making beats and concentrating on sound. Then I have my lyrical stage when I am walking around or driving around just rapping in my head to whatever i'm hearing. Then I have my studio time when I put it together. Some of my songs may go through 2 or 3 different beats or restructure before I say, OK, thats the one. [caption id="attachment_53987" align="alignnone" width="1500"] As a producer, I have my times when I am strictly making beats and concentrating on sound.[/caption] What is your main inspiration? Myself. I realize that if I don't inspire me, how can I expect to inspire others. What musician do you admire most and why? Bette Midler. The way she controls a crowd by simply being herself. She always intrigued me.

Did your style evolve since the beginning of your career? Certainly. My experiences and my life in general has evolved, therefore my content and flow had to follow suit. Who do you see as your main competitor? My internal being and mind. I am constantly in competition with myself. My goal is to make sure that everytime I release music, someone tells me, "This is your best work". What are your interests outside of music? I love video editing, cooking, video games and acting. If it wasn't a music career, what would you be doing? I don't know, I do a lot and I always focus on achieving great things. I'm following my dreams on every level. What is the biggest problem you have encountered in the journey of music? Learning how to navigate the social media aspect of things. I'm a in-person, outside kind of guy. Having to rely on people I've never met or trust people i've never seen still spooks me out. If you could change one thing in the music industry, what would it be? Better pay for streams. https://open.spotify.com/artist/0rGsBhWdeNcaYJIHNIn2Um?si=Rp_Ap56xTvK4Cff-iOtO0w Why did you choose this as the title of this project? This my first project that involves me using other producers. I usually produce a few tracks or tap into my circle of other producers. This project is all beats that i've aquired from other producers. What are your plans for the coming months? I have some shows coming up. I also plan of making a few videos. Do you have any artistic collaboration plans? I'm always open to work with others. I usually let fate decide that one. What message would you like to give to your fans? I love y'all and theres nothing y'all do about it! I appreciate you for apreciating me.

[lovejustforaday]

2023 Year End List - #4

Maps - Billy Woods and Kenny Segal

Main genres: Abstract Rap, Conscious Rap, Jazz Rap

A decent sampling of: Experimental Rap, Political Rap, Lo-fi Hip Hop, Glitch Hop

As much as I enjoy a lot of the output of Armand Hammer, I have to say that Billy Wood's last two records under his own name have definitely been a considerable cut above. Less experimental, but more focused and cohesive in their vision.

Of course, this isn't really just a 'Billy Woods' record, which, then again, can be said about most 'solo' albums since a majority of them still have multiple credited producers. But moreover, going off of its own title, this record is also a Kenny Segal project; the second collaborative project under both names after 2019's Hiding Place.

I've already talked about Woods himself to the point that it's kinda beating a dead horse if I were to try summarizing the artist again. You can always go ahead and check out one of the three other reviews regarding his work that I've put up on this blog. TL;DR he's the king of abstract hip hop of the last few years.

As for Kenny Segal, I can't say that I'm awfully familiar with any of his work beyond this project, but some quick googling tells me he's worked on projects with other underground/alternative rappers like Open Mike Eagle and Milo. So he sounds pretty legit, and I'm certainly impressed with what he's laid down on this LP.

Woods' previous record Aethiopes was my first runner-up AOTY last year, so I was anticipating a real treat with this latest release. And hoo boy was I right. The man's done it again.

Aesthetically, Maps exists in a state of limbo between icy bitter cold nights in run down cityscapes, manifested through throbbing low-hum, lo-fi beats, and first class flyer luxury waiting lounges with tasteful jazz accompaniment. To me, the record is sort of an allegory for the great paradoxes of late stage capitalism, wherein a society can have so much and yet so little simultaneously. Seeing what's been happening in real-time here in my own city over the last two years just makes the imagery of this record so incredibly timely.

Woods' own official description of the record is "an album about trying to find your way home, after making your home wherever you lay your head." Fitting, because this album leaves me feeling a little lost in a fucked up world every time I listen to it.

One thing that really impresses me about this particular record is the versatility in atmospheres it can create from track to track. This might also be the most melodic and accessible project I've heard from Billy Woods, which still isn't to say that this is "pop rap" by any stretch of the definition, but more something you could readily recommend to your friends who aren't already in over-their-head under the murky waters of underground hip hop's weirdest beats.

"Soft Landing" makes me wanna rub the tired out of my eyes. This exhausted lo-fi beat got me feeling like I'm coming home late from work on a Friday night and I just wanna kick back with some low lighting and get a little tipsy.

The shaky big band jazz rap of "Blue Smoke" is giving me big "For Free?" vibes off of Kendrick's To Pimp A Butterfly but with a little more chill. Billy raps his way through gourmet food metaphors and references to situationist philosophy and FBI agents trying to spy on him.

"Babylon By Bus" is absolutely chilling. Underwater minimalist noises reverberate in the background to fill the void between hats and snares trembling and twitching to form a coherent rhythm, before some of the lowest notes on an old grand piano begin to stalk you from the shadowy depths of barely audible caverns below. All of this could easily be taking place in the dingiest abandoned subway station. This is the kind of track Billy Woods really shines with - bleak atmosphere so palpable that you can listen and start to breathe the unpleasant cigarette smoke and perceive the dim flickering glow of public LED white lights, with bars that immerse you in the familiar creep of your most cynical public transit thoughts.

"Year Zero" features Danny Brown in what is honestly probably the best bars he's laid down in 2023, despite having spearheaded two of his own LPs in the same year. Musically, this is just menacing - no other way to really describe the mood of this beat. It's very Billy Woods and I love it. Should be blaring out of broken old car stereos in a sketchy back alley.

After a series of much harder, murkier tracks, "The Layover" winds things down into a sprinkling piano beat that you could easily recline into. There's a real ebb and flow at work here, and I appreciate having these breathers to make the more grisly cuts go down a little smoother. Really does feel like a layover between flights.

"FaceTime" is like a puff of weed clouds that take on a humanoid silhouette and turns into a personal head masseuse. Bittersweet saxophones and lyrics, but also very soul cleansing. Also, WHAT THE FUCK THAT'S THE GUY FROM FUTURE ISLANDS SINGING THE REFRAIN? You mean, the same one dancing like your dad in the 80s on David Letterman? I mean hey, big respect. Sam's got a handsome fucking voice that could make public service health and safety recalled food announcements sound absolutely gorgeous. And just gotta add that the sound design here is absolutely flawless, mad props to Kenny Segal.

As it stands right now, I think last year's Aethiopes is still my favourite Billy Woods project, but this definitely comes damn close, and there's a little more variety put on display here. I think this would be a better introduction to his work for most folks.

I could comment on how the last stretch of tracks is a fair bit weaker than the rest, save for "Waiting Around". But on the other hand, that run of "Babylon by Bus" through "FaceTime" is arguably the best mid-section off of any album this year, and really just one of the best stretches of five or six tracks in general for the decade so far.

Maps is further proof that Billy Woods is one of the most talented artists in hip hop right now, criminally underrated by the mainstream but rightfully lauded by the underground scene and dorky hipsters alike. He's almost guaranteed a spot on my next year end list if he decides to drop anything else this year. In the meantime, I think it's my duty to start playing catch-up with his prolific back catalogue.

9/10

Highlights: "Babylon by Bus", "FaceTime", "Year Zero", "The Layover", "Soft Landing", "Blue Smoke", "Hangman", "Rapper Weed", "Waiting Around", "Soundcheck"