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Check out this sick documentary about Childish Gambino by kaptainkristain.
The Weeknd released “Starboy” and paired it with an extremely metaphorical music video. Rumor has it that this is a preface to the upcoming album to be released November 25th, also entitled Starboy. This track obviously has The Weeknd’s signature vocals, but it is much more pop, which likely can be attributed to Daft Punk.
In my opinion, the “Starboy” video is much more significant to The Weeknd and where he plans to go with this upcoming album. It opens with a very 2010 Nicki Minaj from Kanye West’s “Monster” move, essentially killing the old version of himself. The Weeknd emerges with a diamond filled cross, all leather, sporting a new haircut and Drake-esque shape up. His cross is not the only religious overtone, the revitalized The Weeknd takes a glowing cross off the wall and carries it (almost like Jesus?) and proceeds to smash all of the awards and evidence of wealth in the apartment. He also states “I come alive in the fall time” which clearly states his opinion of this upcoming fall album. As he drives off, a black cat gets into the car with him, but in the next shot it has transformed into a panther. So does The Weeknd feel that his 2012 cat-like self will be transformed into a panther with this album? I guess we’ll be the judge of that on November 25th. Watch more here via The Fader
In light of his new relationship with Arianna Grande, Mac is clearly in a very romantic mindset, and his most recent album is extremely indicative of that. From what I’ve read, Mac has decided that the whole hookup rapper culture is not for him. He appears to be a real relationship man, not based on previous songs and videos, but recently he appears to have matured a bit.
The Divine Feminine is exactly this, it has consistent overtones of femininity. It is still sexually explicit, but less demeaning and more in appreciation of women and the female form. Throughout the album, Mac uses horns and string instruments which gives it the feeling of a classic ballad or romantic song. Although this album was rather short, Mac did have a few features including Anderson.Paak, Ty Dolla $ign, CeeLo Green, Arianna Grande and Kendrick Lamar. It might not be my favorite work from Mac Miller, but there are a few highlights that I enjoy. These are “Dang!”, “Stay”, “Cinderella” (feat. Ty. Dolla $ign), “My Favorite Part”, and “God Is Fair, Sexy Nasty” (feat. Kendrick Lamar). Imagine Dragons will always have a special place in my heart. I know that this review is coming a little more than a year and a half late but why not take the time to give "Smoke and Mirrors", their latest album, the time it deserves?
I have to admit that I jumped on the "Night Visions" bandwagon, becoming a fan of what I heard on the radio. After a couple of good singles, I finally got the album and devoured it. Really good. It was on repeat forever. However, "Smoke and Mirrors" is what really made me a lifelong fan of this group. As others have said, Imagine Dragons really could have capitalized on their success of their previous album and really sold-out to make this one radio polished. I didn't listen to any of the singles that were released before the album premiered because I like to treat myself to the surprise of unwrapping an album via listening. It's like Christmas Day for me. Upon first listen to the album all the way through, the only thing I could concentrate on was how sad it was. How often the singer pleads for forgiveness stood out immediately (Shots, I Bet My Life, I'm So Sorry) and the intro screaming in some tracks caught me off-guard. Overall, I liked it, but it stayed unlisted to in my ITunes library for around a year. Then, as life would have it, I was going through a hard time and I found myself going back to the album. During the second listen, something really stuck with me and it was instantly one of my most favorite albums of all time. Renoylds really doesn't try to hide his despair or his depression or whatever he has experienced. He sings honestly, with a despair that I could relate to. I find the album to be deeply and quietly religious, something Imagine Dragons is inadvertently known for. "The Fall" is a perfect way to close an album that opened up so much, so honestly. It's one of my all time favorite songs- ever. This is probably due to how significant and lyric heavy this album is. Everything comes full circle with the last song. I read an interview from the band awhile ago, and I'm not sure who said this, but it was something to the extent of "Listeners who have not yet sold their souls to the devil will really enjoy this album" which really ticked me off. This album is about the human experience. It's about realizing that there are material things in life (Gold) and feeling depressed (Smoke in Mirrors, Dream, etc) but still acknowledging that life goes on (The Fall). This album is grounded in love and everything good in the world. They captured life's messiness in the most relatable way. Being a strong advocate for their often overlooked second album, I attended their concert last New Years Eve at Foxwoods. The Smoke and Mirrors tour was equally as impressive as their album and the best concert I've ever been to. I've always rolled my eyes at the over hype concerts sometimes receive but this one was as close to religious experience for me. I'm excited to hear what comes after The Fall. In case you missed it, Halsey called out Buzzfeed on Twitter for an article written about female singers and their sexuality. The article, written by Shannon Keating and entitled “What Does A Queer Pop Star Look Like In 2016?”, aimed to address how lesbian and bisexual women in the music industry are forced to suppress their sexuality and adopt a more heteronormative persona. While Keating’s main argument about heteroculture dominating our entertainment industry and causing female artists to comply with said culture, some of her more specific points weren’t phrased as well as they could have been. Keating made assumptions about female artists’ sexuality as a “phase” or a thing of the past, noting examples like Katy Perry, Jessie J, and Demi Lovato. While I agree with Keating that the music industry makes it very difficult for LGBT+ women to flourish, I don’t think you can safely make assumptions about someone else’s sexuality and decisions. And Halsey didn’t think so either. In response to the article, published on September 16th, Halsey released a series of tweets calling out Buzzfeed. She has since deleted the tweets, but I have screenshots below from Nylon. Jenny Lee, the author of the Nylon article covering Halsey’s response, writes, “While the article’s intention may not have been a negative one, the suggestion that Halsey is ‘toning down the queerness of her image’ directly plays into the notion that she must choose straight or gay, and Halsey seems to have taken issue with the undertones of bi-erasure in the article.”
Again, I am not criticizing Keating, because I think Buzzfeed’s article raises a lot of valid points. However, I don’t think it should have included a critique of Halsey’s sexuality and her life. Halsey identifies as bisexual, which isn’t a quantifiable label. You cannot “measure” how bisexual she is by analyzing the love interests in her music videos or highlighting her past romantic partners. In the words of Halsey herself, a “tiresome analysis of my 1 year in the public eye and the ignorance of 8+ years of sexual discovery to determine if I’m truly queer.” As police brutality against African Americans escalates, many artists of color are using their elevated platforms to raise awareness. TI is set to release his new EP, “Us or Else,” with Meek Mill and Killer Mike. He has released a few music videos to accompany the EP, including the two below for “We Will Not” and “Warzone.” Both are very politically charged. “We Will Not” shows images of #BLM protestors, signs, and headlines from police killings. The imagery is powerful, especially when accompanied with the song. TI took a different approach with “Warzones,” choosing instead to stage racial-reversed shootings of black men. The video shows black cops shooting and killing white men, with the cases of Tamir Rice, Eric Garner, Keith Lamont Scott, and more. The video is dedicated to all the black victims of police violence. Although this next song is older, it’s still very relevant to the movement. Everyone knows of Beyonce’s “Lemonade,” and the first single off the album “Formation.” “Formation” caused controversy over its performance at the Super Bowl halftime show (read more about the performance and the symbolism in the song here). An even older song addressing the movement is “Alright” by Kendrick Lamar. “Alright” has been adopted as the anthem for the #BLM movement. Lamar specifically channeled the movement in his Grammy performance (watch it here). Other artists contributing to #BLM include Miguel’s “How Many (Black Lives)?,” Jay-Z’s “Spiritual,” “Hands Up” by Daye Jack and Killer Mike, and “Black Rage” by Lauryn Hill. It’s important that artists (especially black artists) will large followings speak out against police violence and the institutionalized racism that continues to plague the U.S.
“Us or Else” is now available through Tidal. As much as I love Drake the highlight of the video is undoubtedly Tyra Banks (who has not aged a single day since my America’s Next Top Model obsession in middle school) playing Drake’s girlfriend. The pair are on a date at Cheesecake Factory when Tyra gets a bit upset to say the least, but for a very valid reason. The encounter culminates in Bank’s clapping for emphasis, smashing cheesecake into his face, and topping it all off with a glass of red wine, ruining his OVO white with black accented polo. Drake then proceeds to start Child’s Play, all while rocking his cheesecake facial. The next scene takes place behind the scenes in a strip club, with an interesting combination of all black dancers and their ginger bearded “Texan Hammer Jr” boss who is just as raunchy as you would imagine. He gives a quick critic of the girl’s stage names, and how he will financially exploit them and a strangely sexual “prayer” before they start the night. The remainder of the video is underwhelming basic in the traditional formula of rap videos, in a strip club, money, “fresh” clothes, sexualized girls, alcohol, cars, and Drake backed up by his crew. Granted the plot of this entire video seems to be Drake rebounding after a break up (that is entirely his fault, to be clear) it is fairly mediocre in content once Tyra exits. I can appreciate the logistics of filming a well made music video, but I have seen much more impressive things from Aubrey over the years. I can only assume that Drake is attempting his own version of a “visual album” with this video, but I am not completely on board yet, I am hopeful that there are more Views music videos to come. Read more here. This is the first experience I have had with Rich the Kid, and Jaden Smith as an artist. At first glance I commend Rich for a solid choice in a feature, seeing that I was automatically intrigued to see the rap potential of the Fresh Prince 2.0 (possibly). Some of the rhymes were solid, but I really wish that there was more of a chorus or a more significant repetition. Visually, Rich checks off all of the required elements of a traditional rap video with extravagant jewelry, expensive cars (a soccer mom style SVU Maserati with gull-wing doors was an interesting choice though). Although it has more of a natural setting, in fields, woodland areas, and a housing development. The scarves were clearly an extremely conscious artistic choice, but they took me back to studying abroad in Florence when I was equipped with scarves and kimonos to cover up in churches. I am not completely sold on Rich the Kid yet, but there could be potential in songs to come.
American Football has released two songs off their upcoming self titled album, their first project in 17 years. The track list via Pitchfork is below. The album is out October 21, and there a fair amount of accompanying tour dates, below. (Well, a fair amount for a band that’s been AWOL for (oh, I don’t know, so long???) 17 years.)
The first song is ‘I’ve Been Lost For So Long’ and honestly though it’s a great song, I can’t resist the jokes. Yeah. You have been lost for so long. 17 years long. But laughs aside, it’s catchy and beautiful and holds a lot of promise for the new album. Cliff notes? They’ve still got it. The second song released is ‘Give Me the Gun’ and it’s quite good as well, soft and haunting, with the elements that you’d expect from them, after their older work. Listen below via Soundcloud Track list and tour dates via Pitchfork: 01 Where Are We Now? 02 My Instincts Are the Enemy 03 Home Is Where the Haunt Is 04 Born to Lose 05 I've Been So Lost for So Long 06 Give Me the Gun 07 I Need a Drink (or Two or Three) 08 Desire Gets in the Way 09 Everyone Is Dressed Up 10-29 Chicago, IL - Vic Theatre 01-28 New York, NY - Terminal 5 02-11 London, England - Shepherd's Bush Empire 02-25 Los Angeles, CA - The Ace Hotel Theatre |
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April 2019
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