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(04/18/18 1:00pm)
Cardi B’s recent astronomical rise to fame alongside the mainstream establishment of Migos and Future have firmly established trap music as the definitive sound of mainstream hip hop—but you didn’t need me to tell you that. Several recent trends have become especially prominent, such as the sampling of live instruments and drums; see Migos’ “Stir Fry” and Future’s Mask Off, the “ayy flow,” and, of course, autotuning one’s vocals, as popularized by Future. The whole genre is constructed to exploit and highlight a song’s hook. Perhaps this explains its incredible performance across the charts, but it also explains its proliferation.
(04/09/18 1:00pm)
This week, much loved rap collective BROCKHAMPTON, the self–proclaimed “biggest boyband in the world” signed a record deal with RCA. They announced it with a video entitled “LET’S GET MARRIED” and enlisted a poe–faced Jaden Smith as their mascot. At the end of the video they teased us with a gorgeous piano loop from their upcoming album PUPPY—modern and nostalgic at the same time. Less than a minute long, it left me wanting much more and made it blatantly apparent that I was sucked into the BROCKHAMPTON publicity machine. While the teaser track for PUPPY was a delight for most, many fans have taken to Twitter to express their grievance at their signing to RCA. This has inevitably cued much wailing and gnashing of teeth accompanied with declarations such as “its over” and “it’ll never be the same.” But what does signing with a major record label actually mean in 2018?
(04/03/18 1:00pm)
Desert Island discs are an anomaly of music fans. While it becomes near impossible for music lovers to list their top five “favorite” albums, best artists, or even favorite songs, it seems everyone can think of their “desert island discs.” These discs are what you would take with you to the end of the world, what you truly feel will never get old, and what continues to grow on you as you grow up. Although it seems unimaginable to pick just THREE albums that would get you through a period of absolute desertion, it must be done—you know, just in case it actually happens. Music Beat writers Chris Troop and Holden Caplan have set out to explain their Desert Island Discs and why they keep them in an emergency Walkman case in their room at all times. It’s time to get sentimental.
(03/25/18 1:00pm)
If I were to ask you to name an album that has been sampled multiple times by A Tribe Called Quest, The Notorious B.I.G., and Ghostface Killah, covered by John Legend and The Roots, and produced by the legendary Curtis Mayfield, your instinct might be to name musical titans such as the likes of James Brown or The Isley Brothers. The record in question, however, is The Baby Huey Story: The Living Legend and is the only record that James “Baby Huey” Ramey ever released, albeit posthumously—one of the first records of its kind.
(03/23/18 1:00pm)
(03/22/18 1:00pm)
This week, a professional streamer who goes by the name of ‘Ninja’ broke the all–time streaming record on the video–game streaming platform Twitch. 628,000 people tuned in live to an evening of him playing the online shooter Fortnite, albeit with special guests Drake and Travis Scott (under the usernames “johnwick” and “cactus_jack92”).
(03/14/18 1:00pm)
When you hit your 20s, being an anime fan who wants adult friends who aren’t necessarily also into ninjas, super–powered high school girls, and giant mech battles proves quite the challenge. Aside from closeting your weeaboo status, one of the textbook methods to avoid universal derision and disdain is attempting to argue for certain shows’ inherent worth and that they’re “not all like Dragonball and Naruto, dude, you should really check some out.” The go–to series for this phenomenon is Cowboy Bebop, Shinichiro Watanabe’s Space–Western, also famous for its heavy jazz–influenced soundtrack. Its genius and cult status amongst American audiences is often explained due to this mixing of styles from east and west.
(02/27/18 2:00pm)
On Valentine's Day, Frank Ocean released a gorgeous cover of "Moon River," as made famous by Audrey Hepburn in the iconic Breakfast at Tiffany’s and, boy, did it floor me. Not only was it a highly creative and interesting spin on a classic, but it definitely has taken on a form totally outside of the context of the original—a crucial piece of criteria for a good cover. Frank’s version was so good that it inspired this series, “Under the Covers," where each week I will review three covers and give a verdict on whether I prefer the original or the cover. So without further ado ...
(03/22/18 1:00pm)
My friend Ethan first introduced me to Triathalon by sitting me down last year with next to no context and insisting that I had to listen to a song he had discovered. That song was "South Side" off Triathalon’s 2016 EP, Cold Shower. As I listened to the track, poorly concealing just how much I was enjoying it, Ethan’s grin grew wider and wider. Triathalon’s raw, vulnerable vocals on top of an 808 beat with an incredibly catchy guitar part immediately hooked me in, and I obsessively listened to the song and the rest of the EP over the next week. The band’s component parts may not have been mind–blowing, but the sound their blend created, along with the clever, sparse production, allowed every instrument to breathe and flourish, making them stand out in a sea of vibey, guitar–based lo–fi producers such as Cuco and Kid Bloom.
(02/27/18 2:00pm)
18–year–old London–based R&B singer Cole Basta, aka Col3trane, has made significant waves following the release of his debut project Tsarina in late 2017. I was highly intrigued by what was hailed by Pigeons and Planes and Complex as an artist to watch in 2018 and by some articles comparing his unique approach to pop music to (our lord and savior) Frank Ocean.
(02/23/18 5:00am)
I must admit that I was pretty late to the BROCKHAMPTON game. I had listened to SATURATION I and II when they came out and thought that while the projects definitely had their highlights, they were patchy. Let's be real, “SWIM” is just an Owl City song. In the interest of being ~edgy~, I felt pretty good about avoiding the hype train and was absolutely one of those Odd Future fans who felt threatened that there was a new rap collective in town.
(02/13/18 6:42am)
Phil Elverum, known to most as prolific folk singer–songwriter Mount Eerie, lost his wife, Geneviève, to pancreatic cancer in 2016. She died three months after her 35th birthday, a year and a half after the birth of her and Elverum’s first daughter. A Crow Looked At Me was released on March 24, 2017, and is Phil Elverum’s immediate reaction to a profoundly tragic situation. The album was written in a six–week period in the September and October after her death and recorded completely using the instruments Geneviève left behind in her home studio. With predominantly guitar and voice, this project is sparse and clean, shifting the focus towards Elverum’s narrative.
(02/08/18 5:34am)
As I began to put together this article I quickly realized that I was going to have to answer an inevitable question about my list’s composition; was I going to be utterly honest with myself and post every project featuring Hayley Williams since 2009? Or was I going to mis–remember how dope I was as a 15–year–old and claim that I was bumping Frank Ocean’s nostalgia, ULTRA as soon as it came out? I eventually came to the conclusion that I was going to do something in–between. No one wants me to review consecutive Paramore albums, that’s just sad, nor is it believable that I was a die–hard Bjork fan around the same time I **dabbled** in competitive Yu–Gi Oh (yeah, I don’t intend on explaining myself here).