trucker's atlas/father's atlas

Memory lane is a two-lane highway.

For five years, my father and I took roadtrips, trailing the asphalt in different corners of the country. Dotting around New England seeing college towns; moving from the beaches of my native south Florida to the mountains of North Carolina; down the whole Oregon coast; from my birthplace, St. Paul, Minnesota to Colorado; then from Colorado to Washington state.

We loved the American West the best, and we still do. And we’ll always remember the music too.

One song guides me back to the places, the western landscapes, bleak and lush. I want you to listen and see what I saw.

I’m going to Colorado

to unload my head…

Flatirons Vista, Colorado

This truckers atlas roads the ways,

The freeways and highways don’t know

Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

The buzz from the bird on my dash,

Road locomotive phone

Badlands National Park, South Dakota

I don’t feel and I feel great I sold my atlas by the freight stairs

Colorado River, Colorado

I do lines and I crossed roads I crossed the lines of all the great state roads

Moab, Utah

I’m going up, going over to Montana

Three Forks, Montana

You got yourself a trucker’s atlas

You knew you were all hot

Arches National Park, Utah

Well, maybe you’ll go and blow a gasket

You start at the Northwest corner

Haystack Rock, Canon Beach, Oregon

Go down through California

Northern California

Beeline, you might drive three days

Three nights to the tip of Florida.

All images were taken by me.

The Mysterious Lana Del Rey

Who is Lana Del Rey?

On the surface, she appears to be an American indie artist who sings about drugs, fast cars, and despicable men. Yet, dig deeper into her lyrics, melodies, and music videos, and you’ll discover the layers of complex qualities that shroud her artistic persona and foreground her mystery.

Before Lana Del Rey was created, there was Elizabeth Grant, the daughter of an upper-middle-class family in New York. At age fourteen, Del Rey was sent to boarding school to deal with an alcohol dependency problem. In college, however, she began studying metaphysics philosophy and singing in sultry New York bars under the pseudonym May Jailer. After striking her first deal with a record label, Del Rey released a three-song EP under the name Lizzy Grant. When the EP underperformed, she became aware that her contract was doing little for her career and in 2010, broke it off and moved to London. 

An Image that Sells

In 2011, under the name Lana Del Rey, she released a homemade music video entitled Video Games. This new persona launched her career into stardom as her unique & intimate sound resonated immensely with the public. In the subsequent years, Del Rey faced criticism for this sudden change as followers felt it was manufactured and ingenuine. 

While Lizzie Grant and Lana Del Rey are/were marketed as different people with different sounds, they boil down to one individual who sings about the same or at least similar subject matter. Lizzie Grant's song, “Kill Kill,” for example, talks about being in love with a dying man, while Del Rey's songs center around themes of mortality and wishing for things she cannot have.

In my opinion, this rebranding surged from a need to survive in the music industry and to resonate with the public, which pressured her to present herself in a new way. 

Lana Del Rey’s current image marries fashionable 60s and 70s aesthetics. Her hair is darker and higher, and she wears a signature heavy black eyeliner— this vintage look is used as a portal to old Hollywood glamor that her songs romanticize. Many have also compared her outer image and music’s subject matter to the life of Priscilla Presley. The song, “National Anthem,” for instance, feels like it took a page straight from Pricilla's life. At only fourteen, Priscilla met twenty-four-year-old Elvis, whom she married at twenty-one. After, she was quickly swept up in the life of the rock star and made a princess to The King. Having later moved into Elvis' Graceland estate, she became trapped with no life of her own (more in her book Elvis and Me or the movie Pricilla).


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Her Music

Through her Americana reimagining in ballads or trip-hop, Del Rey explores dark aspects of relationships and a yearning for the mundane. Her lyricism explores what it feels like to get swept up in chaos (listen to “Summertime Sadness”) that often stems from toxic relationships & substance abuse (listen to “Dealer,” “Off to the Races,” “Lolita,” “Ultraviolence”). Through her writing and hauntingly beautiful acoustics, she unpacks the roller coaster of emotions that have left her broken (listen to “Black Bathing Suit,” “Get Free,” “Norman Fucking Rockwell”).

Once having dug herself into this feeling of melancholy, Del Rey pines for simpler times. These times are often associated with small-town white American life (listen to “Tulsa Jesus Freak “or “Yosemite”) and partaking in ordinary tasks like playing video games or going to the market (listen to “Video Games “or “Chemtrails over the Country Club”).

My friend Abbie once said she wouldn't be surprised if Lana sang about a Waffle House in Alabama, given that she’s sung about meeting her boyfriend by a taco truck (listen to “Taco Truck x VB”). I agree.

Ultimately, the image of Lana Del Rey is that of a woman scorned by life’s chaos but learns to rise above the madness and make her way within it. In the end, Del Rey is addicted to danger and madness and will return to them time and time again (listen to “West Coast”, “Wild At Heart,” “Fuck It Love You”).

Her Controversies

This wouldn't be a full Lana Del Rey analysis if I didn't mention the controversies her persona has encountered. On top of her rebranding criticisms, Del Rey has been criticized for romanticizing a white America that never existed and appropriating Latino and Native American culture. Her album Norman Fucking Rockwell alludes to the 60's painter Norman Rockwell, who significantly contributed to the creation of an “ideal” white small-town America through image. Additionally, in her music video for “Ride,” Del Rey wore a feathered headdress, and in the song “West Coast,” she explicitly claims to be Cuban when in reality she's of Scottish descent. 

Lana Del Rey has attempted to be many things, leaving her persona bound by some level of mystery. This may accentuate the appeal of her music for some, yet for others, it might only fuel confusion and distaste.

Mama I wanna be a Rockstar

My mom likes to tell me that she took me to Lollapalooza when I was in the womb. Unfortunately, I don’t believe her because according to the Internet, there was no Lollapalooza in 2002. However, it’s confirmed that she took me to see Lenny Kravitz when I was an infant.

Lenny Kravitz on tour, 2002. Image via Flickr.

I don’t think I realized that I was surrounded by the influence of rock legends as I was growing up. I don’t even remember my parents ever playing music in front of me. But I remember talk of names I didn’t recognize when I was a child, Prince, Freddie Mercury, Slash, Eddie Vedder…

Even if they didn’t play music, in the grocery store, a restaurant, or a coffee shop, my mom would burst out singing when she heard Guns N’ Roses or ACDC, throwing her hands in the air and dancing just enough to make me embarrassed and beg her to stop.

But I can already feel myself becoming that way. And now I love it when she does that. So when I do think about it, maybe rock music was there for me before I even realized it.

Entering elementary school, I thought that music my mom would sing and dance to was too loud. A little angry for my six-year-old taste. All I wanted to do was sit in the backseat of my babysitter’s gray Mazda and listen to Y100, the local pop and top hits radio station. I would run my fingers back and forth on the cloth that lined the car, let the feeling of the car baking in the sun all day warm my skin, and I would secretly kick my feet to the beat and memorize the lyrics in my head. That’s when I began to know I loved music.

The iPod in question. Image via eBay.

Then I happened upon a precious object that fueled the love that was born through the car radio. An iPod. An iPod nano second generation to be exact. An electric blue color. My older sister’s passed down to me. This is where the ear damage began, playing Britney Spears’s Blackout and Rihanna’s Good Girl Gone Bad at full volume through my pink earbuds. I downloaded my own additions (High School Musical Soundtrack) using my iTunes giftcard.

However, there were a few songs of my sister’s on the iPod that unnerved me and I always skipped them on shuffle. They were …different than what I was used to. I had a distaste for the bass riffs of the Plain White T’s and the grimy vocals of the Arctic Monkeys Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not. But something began to make me stop and listen. Perhaps it was Avril Lavigne’s “Sk8er Boi” that was the turning point.

Heart’s Little Queen album. Image via Wikipedia.

I got older. About 9. I was still on my pop music wave, though I liked to watch my sister play on Guitar Hero on the weekends. Like my mom’s music, it hurt my hears sometimes. As she hit every note on expert mode, I began to be hypnotized by the shreds of a genre of songs I had ignored until that point. Even when she put down the Wii remote and stopped playing, Hit Me With Your Best Shot by Pat Benatar and Barracuda by Heart rang in my head, and I sang along (the guitar solos too).

Today, I turned out the way you would imagine the child of an 80’s hard rock mom would turn out. I wear all black (and often leather) just like her. I wear tall shoes just like her. I scream to my favorite songs just like her. I play electric guitar like she probably wanted to.

And I always feel proud when one of her favorite songs comes on and I sing all the lyrics and she remarks “how do you know this?? I loved this song when I was your age.” And then we’ll dance to No More Tears together.

Featured image via Vogue.

Concert Review: Out of Order

To round out my concert-going escapade of fall quarter 2022, the Saturday after finals week, I saw Dominic Fike’s Out of Order tour live at Radius. Whether you know him from his role of Elliot on HBO’s Euphoria or have been listening to him since his SoundCloud days, Fike’s music is an indie-pop lover’s gold mine, falling under the same genre and general vibe as Brockhampton’s Kevin Abstract (explaining their past collaborations) - a combination of soft rock and hip hop resulting in catchy, memorable melodies. One of his most famous songs is 3 Nights, which charted top 10 in multiple countries upon its release. My personal favorites of his are Acai Bowl, which has a very special place in my early high school self’s heart, and Wurli.

I want to preface this entire article by making it clear that this was not a typical concert-bound outing of mine: both the plan and the execution of the aforementioned plan were very chaotic and disorganized, and we ended up missing the entire opener while we were in the merch line. This is not to mention that the lighting at the venue altered the appearance of colors of said merch, and I didn’t realize my black hoodie was actually green until I left. Nevertheless, the venue, which I hadn’t heard of until this show, was actually really cool – it was all standing room, the entire space spanning across one level. It was broken up into a bar, a food area, a merch table, and the stage by tall dividing walls. The whole thing was blackboxed, with lighting coming from pink and orange LEDs on the ceilings. Based on the “coming soon” advertisements and the general feel of the area, this venue is typically home of electronic music/hyperpop and metal, the perfect set up for gigantic mosh pits. 

From what we heard of the opener, they were a hard rock/metal band that were successful in hyping up the crowd (we heard much screaming, presumably of enjoyment, from the merch line). Unfortunately I have no idea who they were. To be honest, we didn’t even know there was going to be an opener until we got there. There is nothing on the Internet about an opener, and I can’t seem to find any information on them (there is a possibility I am just bad at the Internet), but they were good. The genre wasn’t exactly my cup of tea, but I enjoyed listening from afar nonetheless.

Fike appeared on stage not so long after. The setlist is as follows:

Setlist:

1. Westcoast Collective 10. Come Here

2. Double Negative 11. She Wants My Money

3. The Kiss of Venus 12. Superstar Sh*t

4. Joe Blazey 13. Florida

5. 3 Nights 14. (Unreleased Song)

6. Rollerblades 15. Wurli

7. Acai Bowl 16. Vampire

8. Politics & Violence 17. Babydoll

9. Batshit 18. Why

Encore:

19. Phone Numbers

Fike’s voice was much better than I anticipated live– aside from being a fabulous performer, both his guitar and vocal performances were clear, interesting, and entertaining. His chemistry with the band was impeccable, and he bantered with the audience quite a bit, cracking jokes and providing personal anecdotes when it fit the natural flow of response from the audience. 

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Fike sang variations for virtually all of his songs. This may be an unpopular opinion, but while I appreciate the artistry that goes into remakes and melodic variations, I do wish that he had kept a song or two the same as the recorded version; in my opinion, concerts are equally about an artist’s performance, as well as the audience’s ability to recognize and sing along (or simply enjoy) a song that they recognize and love. There were several songs I didn’t recognize until about halfway through because of these variations, which is fine if this was true for a handful of songs– but this was true for almost the entire setlist. Regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed Fike’s performance, and I would recommend it for anyone who likes his music, or simply enjoys live music in general. He is definitely one of those artists who can capture your attention regardless of your familiarity. 

Aside from the merch mishap and the poor time management on my own part, I would give my experience a 10/10.

Source: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/c...

Concert Review: Waiting to Spill

I think we all know, or have heard, the wonderfully perfect tune that is Kilby Girl by the Utah-originating band, the Backseat Lovers, whether it was from TikTok or from simply frequenting the indie/alternative rock genre. From their 2019 release When We Were Friends, this song is by far their most streamed, totaling in over 189 million streams to date. 

I hate to be that person, but I have been listening to the Backseat Lovers since before the release of this album, and Kilby Girl (among others, of course) quickly became one of my most played in 2019 once the album dropped. So, when my friend told me they were playing the Riviera, I immediately said yes. Similar to my experience when Noah Kahan the week before, I wasn’t quite familiar with their new music– I was mostly going for the encore songs, amongst which Pool House, Maple Syrup, and of course, Kilby Girl, were promised. Unlike Kahan, however, I was not super impressed with their latest release from October of this year, Waiting to Spill. The album does have some gems, like Close Your Eyes, Growing/Dying, and Slowing Down; however, it struck me as one of those releases where all the songs kind of blend together, which starkly contrasts my impressions of their previous releases. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it made it hard for me to really get to know the songs individually by just shuffling the album.

The opener of the concert was the band Bendigo Fletcher. I had never heard of them prior, but I was pleasantly surprised both with how much I enjoyed their set (although we did only catch the last couple of songs), and their personalities; they put on a good show, that’s for sure. My favorite from their set was definitely Wonderfully Bizarre, and I will say they have successfully convinced me to give them more of a listen in the future.

The headliner setlist consisted of a full performance of Waiting to Spill in order (which is unique for a concert of this size, but a structure that I really enjoyed), followed by some of their more popular songs from both When We Were Friends and previous works.

SETLIST:

1. Silhouette 2. Close Your Eyes

3. Morning in the Aves 4. Growing/Dying

5. Words I Used 6. Snowbank Blues

7. Follow the Sound 8. Slowing Down

9. Know Your Name 10. Viciously Lonely

The Hits:

11. Pool House 12. Kilby Girl

13. Maple Syrup 14. Still A Friend

Encore:

15. Out of Tune 16. Sinking Ship

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One thing that struck immediately was the set– it was extremely simple, the use of lighting the primary method to implement variety throughout the set. During the opening number, Silhouette, there were large floral decals decorating the stage, its delicacy contrasted by harsh red and orange lighting. Throughout the set, the lighting varied from warm reds to cool blues, depending on the song that was being played; between songs they went dark, which really heightened the dramatics of the lighting. 

Aside from the set design, the performers themselves, in their long, shaggy-haired glory, were also excellent. Whenever I go to a concert without knowing the setlist beginning to end, I am so much more aware of a performer’s ability to capture me in their performance. There was something about not being able to understand anything that they said (we were quite far from the stage, and also they had thick-ish accents and tended to mumble) and the way that they engaged with us and each other throughout the performance was very endearing.

This was the first concert of this genre that I have been to– I typically frequent indie or pop concerts, despite listening to other genres on my own just as frequently. One thing that I learned was that alternative rock concerts have the most fashion-forward attendees. I was giving out so many fit compliments, and looking around to see all of the fabulous styling just made the concert that much more enjoyable. I highly recommend.

Overall, I do not regret attending this concert– I went with some of my favorite people, so that definitely contributed to the enjoyment, but the performers and overall atmosphere were also excellent. If you like any sort of rock music, I highly recommend the Backseat Lovers (and Bendigo Fletcher for that matter, although their sound is softer)– and definitely worth the ticket the next time they come into town.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48V-VygCeL...

Concert Review: STICK SEASON

I originally went to this concert because my friend wanted company, and she was only going because Stephen Sanchez was supposed to be opening (spoiler alert: he did not end up opening). I had heard of Noah Kahan vaguely from TikTok– think the indie folk equivalent of Leith Ross, David Kushner, JVKE, etc. I hadn’t given much thought to him before, but it was cheap, an excuse for live music, and a way to get off campus on a Thursday, so I figured I would go with her. And I am SO glad that I did.

Noah Kahan’s debut album Stick Season was released on October 14th, 2022; less than a month before I was set to attend his concert. I’m the type of person to listen to an artists’ entire discography so I can confidently scream the lyrics right back at them, so this release date stressed me out– especially because I hadn’t realized he had released an entire album until about a week before I was going to see him live. Nevertheless, I persevered, allowing Kahan’s voice to unrelentingly blast through my headphones 24/7 for a week straight.

Upon first listen, I was floored. It appeared as though I had found the Lumineers equivalent I had searched so long and hard for– his lyrics are fantastic, and the amount of acoustic guitar (the entire album) is perfect. I was officially pumped for this concert.

The concert was at the Riviera Theater on the north side of Chicago. Kahan’s opener was Adam Melchor (if you recognize the name, it’s probably from his most popular 2018 release Real Estate). Melchor was fantastic, and I think the perfect opener for Kahan; they both love their riffs of all sorts, both acoustic and vocal. His set consisted of many tracks from his newest album, and concluded with a cover of Sufjan Stevens’ iconic Chicago. He was silly for that one.

Although Kahan’s entrance following this set was met by a slight disappointment by my friend (as he was most definitely not Stephen Sanchez), her sadness was quickly replaced by awe as Kahan jumped into his set.

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SETLIST

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SETLIST -

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Stick Season is based on life in a small town in Vermont; not quite relatable to us as students in Chicago, but it does inspire the nostalgia and coziness that fall brings to us anyways. As someone from the southern California coast, the vibrant colors of the fall leaves are enough for me to imagine I’m walking through a rustic town in New England, rather than one of the most urban regions of the Midwest. Kahan’s set did exactly this; he brought the audience with him as he sang about the unfortunate combination of longing and excitement and sadness that comes with leaving where you’re from.

Kahan also opened up to the audience about his mental health struggles, talking about the difficulties that come with reaching out for help: in his song Growing Sideways, he talks about experiencing therapy for the first time since childhood, attending with the intent of actually working on himself for the first time with the lyrics:

“But I ignore things, and I move sideways

‘Til I forget what I felt in the first place”

Kahan’s band also had some recognizable names, most notably Noah in the Open, who was on acoustic guitar. Something I really appreciated about this concert was Kahan’s introductions of the band at the beginning of the set; I always hated how the drummer was just a drummer until the end of the show. You could tell that the band really loved what they were doing, and their interactions with one another were at times more entertaining than Kahan himself. 

I love indie-folk concerts because the fans are always respectful, enthusiastic, and filled with so much love for the artist. Never, in all of my concert-going endeavors, have I ever heard an audience sing so loud through the entire set that the artist was almost not needed at all; and I have been to the likes of Taylor Swift, The Lumineers, and many more much more prominent artists. There is something really special about “smaller” (Kahan now has 8 million monthly listeners on Spotify, but this can still be considered small in the grand scheme of things) artists and their fanbases. It truly is a community, and seeing the genuine love the audience members had for this artist was truly inspiring.

Ultimately, although I don’t know Kahan’s music like the back of my hand quite yet, I thoroughly enjoyed this concert experience. If you enjoy indie-folk music and have the time, I highly encourage you to give Stick Season a try.

Album Review: <COPING MECHANISM>

Since the iconic era that was her 2010 release of ‘Whip My Hair’, Willow Smith, now musically known as WILLOW, has been making massive waves in the music industry. From her first formal album release of ARDIPITHECUS, to the release of the popular hit ‘Meet me at Our Spot’ in collaboration with artist Tyler Cole, Willow never seems to miss.

Her most recent project, <COPING MECHANISM>, was released on October 7, 2022, and I have listened to it approximately (or not so approximately) 21 times. If you are looking for an alternative-rock-punk-slightly-indie-lyrically-beautiful-innovative-upbeat-but-still-chill-subtly-emotional-rollercoaster-y album, this is the one for you. Willow’s notoriety for genre-mixing is apparent in this release, and her execution is exceptional.

The album begins with the banger that is “<maybe> it’s my fault” (racking up the most streams on the album by 3 million); ruminating over a bitter, romantic falling out, Willow contemplates whether or not she played an active role in its demise. Something we can all relate to, I think– overthinking to the point where we can’t recall whether we’re placing the blame in the right place. This song gives the listener a winding-up for the rest of the album, and rightfully so, with “Falling Endlessly” and “curious/furious” in succession as the second and third tracks. These two carry the angst of the beginning of the album beautifully, further illustrating what it feels like  to be young and lost and feeling angry that you feel that way (looking at you, fellow Undeclared’s).

The next tracks, “WHY?” and “<Coping Mechanism>”, move us forward in our story past melancholy self-rumination and into a brief, apprehensive, angry revenge era before swiftly switching to a regretful wallowing with “Split”. This is easily one of my favorite songs on the album - not only is it catchy, but it brings us back into the window of self-pity, which unironically happens to be one of my favorite musical subjects.

“hover like a GODDESS”, the next track, is definitely high up there for me lyrically. Opening up with a  potential reference to the song “Meet Me in the Bathroom” by the Strokes (another one of my favorites!), the song continues:

You're like the ocean, comin' and goin'

I wanna surf your waves to the shore

And find what lies real deep inside

I'll be the moon to your high tide

You're addictive, so indicative of my inhibitions

So clear, you couldn't miss them

“<ur> a stranger” and “Perfectly Not Close to Me” featuring Yves Tumor are the perfect examples of Willow’s affinity for genre experimentation; with a mix of heavy bass and producer Chris Greatti’s underscoring riffs, both songs give insight to what I hope the future of music looks like– unrestrained, the artist free from the confines of traditional expectations dictating what genre-specific songs should sound like. We see this a lot with artists that have genre-hopped, such as Taylor Swift and Fleetwood Mac, where criticism from an early fanbase can inhibit the endeavors of artists looking to branch out; of course, these examples don’t exemplify failure in any sense, but I don’t think that the animosity that they met when they were first experimenting is justified or motivating either. That’s part of the reason I love Willow - she has been unapologetically experimental from the beginning.

The album closes out with the pensive “No Control” and the, well, batshit “BATSHIT!”, touching on substance dependency as a coping mechanism (*cough* *cough*).

This album receives a solid, and slightly reluctant 4.5 / 5 stars; although I am more than tempted to bestow a perfect score on this masterpiece, I do think that some of the tracks are repetitive to the extent that upon first listen they can blend together. I don’t find this unpleasant, but it is the one and only criticism I have, so out of objectivity I feel as though it’s fair to include it.

Although I haven’t been listening to Willow for all that long, she has quickly become one of my favorite artists: dynamic, trailblazing, and with a talent for catchy beats and lyrics, I think everyone should give her work a chance. Go listen to <COPING MECHANISM>!!!

Source: https://indigomusic.com/pop-cultures/willo...

Album Review: Jubilee

To describe Jubilee, I would tell you to imagine standing by the ocean at dusk, the tug of the falling tide drawing you toward a far-off lover, and at the same time dancing madly in a parade of energetic refrigerators, electric guitars, and bugle-blasting frogs, moving through city blocks and alleyways under a never-ending downpour of confetti. I first came upon this album this past April after randomly hearing one of its songs during the Coachella live stream, and since, I haven’t stopped listening. It’s one of my go-to albums to recommend and was an emotional support album during a turbulent summer.

Jubilee, the third studio album of the grammy-nominated alternative pop band Japanese Breakfast (released June 4, 2021,) explores the necessary relationship between past and present. How reflection on a low or sometimes nostalgic point in our past can serve to bring us forward, to reach Jubilee. Headed by the dreamy vocals of Michelle Zauner, New York Times Bestselling author of Crying in H Mart, this third album is an exclamation of joy, diverse in its musical style and lyrics. Each song is a stylistic individual. No song underbaked. Nothing left as filler. It’s an immaculate feat of experimental dream-pop I couldn’t wake up from. Zauner stated in an interview that “an artist’s third album should be a statement,” and I think that Jubilee has done that in a parade of well-written, satisfying, and emotional music.

Before I begin, I must preface that this review will cover some of the album's highlights as this album, I believe, shouldn’t be explained too heavily. I don’t want to ruin the fun.

The album opens with “Paprika,” inspired by the ending parade of Satoshi Kon’s 2006 film Paprika. The song slowly opens, the first line, “Lucidity came slowly,” matching the musical progression. The song builds toward this moment with dreamlike lyrics that unravel into the chorus, where Zauner crashes down and opens the floodgates, marveling at her ability to “linger in tones and words” as an artist. She cries out, exclaiming, “it’s a rush,” before an extended trumpet interlude. This song is the thesis of the album, covering the lucidity, sadness, and importantly, joy that come with artistry.

Next, I want to highlight the duo of “Posing in Bondage” and “Posing for Cars.” Positioned in the middle and at the end of the album, this pair tells a larger story of intimacy gained and lost. “Posing for Bondage” is a short, wistful song about bondage and closeness. Whereas “Posing for Cars” is about loss and being left behind. These songs pair nicely together given their tonal similarities, as “Posing for Bondage” is a more dynamic version of the vocally driven “Posing for Cars.” These songs unpack the different forms of longing that comes with seeking out intimacy.

Finally, I want to highlight one of my favorite songs on the album, “Tactics.” The second-to-last song of the album, it reaches the greatest accord between lyric and music. This song is about choosing to separate, to make the distance between oneself and someone else. And the music encapsulates that feeling with Zauner’s voice lilting in the chorus as her voice holds each word length as if separating herself from us. I think this song highlights the balance Japanese Breakfast accomplishes in Jubilee, able to manage melancholic and nostalgic themes without letting one assert its dominance. The album shifts constantly, never staying too low or high so the listener doesn’t get too comfortable with one particular feeling.

I would say if you have wanted to listen to Japanese Breakfast, start with Jubilee. This album merits the praise of both me and the media for its vigor and ambition in exploring such polarizing emotions. And I would recommend, for those who might want to know more, reading Michelle Zauner’s memoir Crying in H-Mart as it illuminates much of Zauner’s personal experiences that translate directly into the writing of Jubilee.

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A Cocolicious Song for Your Winter Playlist

For those who haven’t strolled out into the Chicago air lately, might I tell you one thing: It is cold. Not just any sort of cold weather. This is an aggressive cold. A cold with an unwavering vengeance on anyone who dares to stand in its charted path. To step out into the wind is to feel as if you are being attacked by a barrage of knives.

Which is to say that winter is upon us, frigid and depressing and — might I add once again — cold. Life feels so dim. The sunlight is out for as long as it takes to get your rapid Covid test results, and the nights are never-ending. Sad music playlists are in, and the world of vibrant pop music has fallen into hibernation while we await the glorious summer sun to return with some fun summer anthems. Yet, despite all the snowy gloom and being stuck in our rooms, the hyper-pop music of Kim Petras has descended through the dark clouds of winter to banish our blues with a bright taste of summer fun.

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For those unaware of pop artist Kim Petras, here is a quick introduction.

Born in and raised in Germany, Kim Petras is a singer and songwriter of pop, EDM, dance-pop, and other pop-adjacent genres. Having risen to popularity in the last five years, working with artists such as Charlie XCX and Kygo, Petras signed with Republic Records in 2021 and plans to release her first album in 2022. Recognized as a trailblazer for the transgender community, having transitioned publicly in 2008 at 16. Kim Petras represents a part of LGBTQ+ community underrepresented in mainstream music and makes music for her people— her music having gained extreme popularity in the queer night scene especially.

Her newest single, “Coconuts” released two months earlier, to the shock of her fans, on December 3rd, 2021, following the release of “Future Starts Now” a few months prior. “Coconuts” is a provocative and bubbly pop anthem that celebrates the body, sexuality, and summer.

But before I continue this article, I feel I must affirm what you may be thinking: Yes. This song is a tribute to Kim Petra’s breasts and breasts in general. You may feel jarred by this, but you will come to love it.

“Coconuts” is inarguably a memorable song. With a bouncy melody with whimsical summer-themed lyrics underscored by a deep bassline. While the song follows the well-constructed pop formula—a formula that we are all well acquainted with—the song is fresh and ripe among other pop songs. There isn’t a song closely comparable to “Coconuts” adding to the song’s exciting authenticity. That is to say, the song has created a league of its own. Which in part are thanks to its unabashedly creative and fruity sexual euphemisms, implanted in every sentence and the cherry on top. 

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The euphemisms are addictive. Paired alongside the melody, they stay with you. They are bubbly and encompass many points of reference. A great example is in the first pre-chorus: “So juicy and so ripe / You wouldn’t believe (believe) / I give em’ different names / Mary-Kate and Ashley”.

In this single pre-chorus alone, Petras draws from many places. From comparison to fresh fruit to a reference to notable twins Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, there is an array of summer and pop culture references is throughout. Nearly every line in the song is a euphemism, and even the song title itself “Coconuts” has its own sexual connotation. While the song’s euphemisms are on the nose, the song isn’t always direct about it. Instead, Petras opts to masquerade her song as a bubbly radio-friendly anthem that with each listen becomes a colorfully energetic homage to breasts.

The song has exploded online because of how it blurs the line between blatant sexuality and summer anthem. Everyone on Twitter has taken a taste and clearly adores this carbonated summer anthem of sexual confidence that Kim Petras.

Besides the song itself, what is so brilliant about “Coconuts” is its release. The timing is perfect. What makes “Coconuts” the perfect release is that it aims to subvert what we expect of the winter music market and does so by flawlessly opposing the status quo. Following the mass release of somber and contemplative music, such as Adele’s 30, the release of “Coconuts” is the fantastical summer sun among the slippery ice. It is surprising, bright, and opposes winter so avidly. Also, followed by the release of a lyric video and dance video, reminiscent of 2010’s music videos (i.e., California Girls by Katy Perry). By giving us a winter pop anthem, Petras makes the song stand out in our minds and in the eye of the media. She has held our attention with her coconuts.

But Petras knows this. Framing the publicity for the single around this idea of a winter anthem as seen in this Paper Magazine shoot.

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Kim Petras clearly understands her audience, what they want, and how to best deliver it. She is irreverent and unabashed and has defined her career in her choice to do what she pleases. Petras isn’t afraid of pushing bounds, having performed “Coconuts” at the EMA’s in Hungary despite intense laws regarding “vulgar content,” risking an arrest. “Coconuts” is a prime example of Kim Petras and her understanding of what her career needs while best releasing this song so it can be best appreciated. “Coconuts” is the perfect winter anthem. That is what is so brilliant, as it pushes past our expectations. We don’t expect pop during this time of year, yet I can’t imagine a winter without “Coconuts” bringing the sun we need. It encapsulates escapism, giving the world three minutes to live Kim Petras’s coconut-filled world of summer and sex when the world outside can’t be that.

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What (Taylor's Version) Can Mean For the Future of Pop Music

By now, the whole world has caught on to Taylor Swift’s plan to re-record her masters. Announced in August 2019, the plan to re-record her first six albums after their sale to Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings (and their consequent re-sale to Shamrock Holdings) is now in full swing, with Ms. Swift having successfully released two of her six stolen masters—April 2021’s Fearless (Taylor’s Version) and November’s Red (Taylor’s Version). These albums have topped the charts, starkly contradicting claims that re-recorded albums were doomed to flop and delighting people everywhere in the process. The remaining four albums are consistently being teased across social media platforms, and are widely anticipated. In short—re-recording her albums has worked. 

But more than being a brilliant and gutsy retaliation to a dirty legal move, the re-recording of Swift’s well-known old songs also represents a fundamental shift in pop music and modern mass-produced media as a whole. It’s no surprise to anyone that the modern music industry as well as modern media in general has become incredibly product-oriented— most dialogue centers around what will be released and when, and fans have become eager for “content” above anything else. This is not necessarily bad in and of itself, but it is incredibly interesting to see what Swift’s re-recorded music has begun to do. 

It’s given pop music permission to grow.  

Even the casual listener will notice that while many tracks on the re-recorded albums remain faithful to their counterparts on the original albums, many others don’t. There are “from the vault” tracks, which were previously unreleased songs from the time period of the original album, as well as remakes of old fan favorites. Fitting into both categories is perhaps the most famous example—the legendary ten-minute version of the cult favorite “All Too Well”. Originally a four-minute wistful track about lost love, the ten-minute version of “All Too Well” retains every word of the 2012 version, fitted neatly into a complicated, varied, tumultuous narrative of a relationship that grew and twisted and failed. The ten-minute version retains the wistful core of the original, but the darker elements that were subtly hinted at originally are fully fleshed out in the newer version, in long paragraph-like lyrical phrases like the ones explored in her folklore and evermore albums. It’s markedly different from Red’s original polished 2012 country-pop release. And, of course, it’s sung in Swift’s current voice. 

Most importantly, though, the whole world loves it. There were SNL performances, a full short film starring two very well-known actors with an in-person premiere, acoustic performances and Long Pond remixes. This is striking because, before the re-records began, no one expected that they would achieve more than a tiny fraction of the original records’ popularity, and yet people adore this. Some of this can be attributed to Taylor Swift’s star power, and more to clever marketing. But underlying all of that is a willingness by the audience to revisit previous creations and fully appreciate the changes that have been made, and that’s striking. 

Because in a fast-paced economic system that makes art for consumption, we often think of art as a final product and of artists as “content creators”. This isn’t evil in itself, of course, but a lot is lost when art is thought of as more of a product and less of a process. To an extent, thinking of creative arts as a linear process ending in a polished product is counterintuitive; anyone who has ever tried to create something knows that art is never truly finished. 

Swift’s success in re-recording her albums has shown that it’s entirely possible for both to be true. The commercial success of albums does not have to mean that they are never revisited; some of her best creations have come nearly a decade after their original release, and if she had stopped with the “final” version of RED in 2012, these startlingly masterful songs would not exist. Allowing her art to evolve has given a sharper and deeper meaning to what the songs originally were, and now that the public has received the re-recordings so well, perhaps it can signal a shift to this mindset in modern media as a whole. Hopefully, this will remind everyone of the magic that can happen when art is allowed to develop authentically, even after it’s passed its original deadline.

As I hit play on Red (Taylor’s Version) once again this weekend, I know it’s reminding me.

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Gucci 100: A Centennial Collection and the History of Gucci & the Music Industry

It’s 1921 in Florence, Italy. On Via Vigna Nuova, Guccio Gucci has opened the first store of his eponymous fashion house, Gucci. Having been inspired by the lavish luggage he carried as a bellboy at Savoy Hotel in London, Gucci intended to found a brand of immaculate Italian quality with a focus on aristocratic-like luxury. (WWD.com)

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Fast forward to 2021 and the house of Gucci is valued at $22.6 billion (Forbes). In celebration of 100 years of business (and of their enormous success as a luxury fashion house), Gucci released a special capsule collection in October 2021, titled Gucci 100. Though, curiously, Gucci did not center their centennial collection around the aristocratic inspiration that drove Guccio Gucci to found the brand. Rather, to honor its heritage, Gucci 100 hones in on the brand’s influence on pop culture, more specifically music (Gucci). Furthermore, Gucci opened five pop-up shops in October specifically for the capsule collection.

Image via Elle.

Upon hearing about the theme of the collection, I wondered why pop culture, and why music specifically? Before musicians like Harry Styles and Lana Del Rey became faces of Gucci (or even Lady Gaga portraying Patrizia Gucci in House of Gucci), what was the historical relationship between the brand and the music industry? Before we dive in, here is a brief look into themes of the Gucci 100 collection.

Upon researching the tradition of Gucci collaborations with musicians, not much comes up about music and Gucci before the 1990s and 2000s. Though, the fashion icons who donned Gucci in the 20th century are numerous: Grace Kelly, Jack Kennedy, Sophia Loren, and Princess Diana, to name a few).

Perhaps it’s more effective to start backwards, with the clues that Gucci itself has provided in promoting its centennial collection. To accompany Gucci 100, the brand created a series of playlists (available on Apple Music and Spotify) that appear to contain every song that mentions the word “Gucci”. From disco songs like Sister Sledge’s “He’s the Greatest Dancer”, to rock anthems like “Combination” by Aerosmith, to rap tracks like “Green Gucci Suit” by Rick Ross and Future, Gucci name-dropping has spanned many eras and genres of music.

However, the musical celebration of Gucci may not seem like news to us today. In a poll from 2015, mentions of Gucci in rap music far outnumbered any other brand. (Hypebeast) The Gucci label has become a staple reference that is synonymous with wealth and style. Like Bhad Bhabie’s “Gucci Flip-Flops”, sporting the double G logo could be considered a principle marker of success in the rap industry. Although Gucci-mania in rap seems solely characteristic of 2015-present, the influence of the brand can be traced back to a single fashion individual, Harlem fashion icon Dapper Dan.

Dapper Dan’s clothing (designs that reincorporated logos of fashion houses like Fendi, Louis Vuitton, and of course, Gucci) was sported by rap musicians throughout the 80’s and 90’s. But in 1992, Fendi won a lawsuit against Dapper Dan for the use of its logo, prompting the closure of his Harlem boutique (NYT). Yet, his influence on rap musicians lives on. Searching for “rappers in Gucci” yields endless results, as Gucci logo-mania has persisted for over 30 years. Today, Gucci itself even dresses big names in the industry, like A$AP Rocky and Snoop Dogg. Despite Dapper Dan’s lasting legacy in fashion and music, the legacy of controversy with luxury brands lived on as well.

In 2018, Gucci was criticized for copying a Dapper Dan Louis Vuitton logo design from 1988. Though advocates for Gucci allege that the brand was merely taking inspiration from him, a history of designers and other large clothing brands stealing from Black designers and artists seems to undermine that claim. The coats exhibit striking visual similarities with puffed leather logo sleeves and a fur body, the only difference being the exchange of the LV logo for Gucci’s double G.

Yet, before the advent of Gucci’s popularity in the rap scene in the late 80’s to 90’s, the Gucci brand itself did not seem to engage frequently with musicians or the music industry, making their choice for the music-themed Gucci 100 all the more puzzling. In the 21st century, on the other hand, Gucci and music have been inextricably intertwined through the choices of muses by Gucci’s current Creative Director, Alessandro Michele. The most notable is, perhaps, pop prince Harry Styles. Both featured in campaigns and dressed by the label for public appearances, Styles has become the indisputably face of Gucci for our generation.

The current ethereal yet flamboyant yet preppy aesthetic of Michele’s designs has also been conveyed through other musical muses. Lead singer of Florence + the Machine, Florence Welch, has been the face of both Gucci jewelry and fragrance campaigns. Similarly, moody-pop icon Lana Del Rey was the face of the Gucci Guilty fragrance campaign in 2019, accompanied by actor Jared Leto. The previous year, Del Rey and Leto accompanied Michele to the 2018 “Heavenly Bodies” Met Gala. With a musical-star-studded group dressed in and promoting Gucci, Alessandro Michele has further sunk Gucci’s glamorous talons into the music industry.

The savvy business strategy of penetrating the world of music has positioned Gucci as an integral part of the cultural zeitgeist. Whereas many designers limit their influence within the world of fashion, the expansion of Gucci into the music industry demonstrates to me that the brand is evolving with popular culture to appeal to younger generations (the next generation of Gucci customers). As a long time fan of Lana Del Rey and Harry Styles, Gucci’s connection to these contemporary pop artists connects me to the label by way of listening to and witnessing the public appearances of said artists who are now Michele muses. In recruiting popular musicians for campaigns and red carpets, Gucci targets the millions of fans that observe and emulate their style. Though this may not necessarily push fans such as myself to purchase Gucci (as it is a luxury brand), awareness and discussion of Gucci on the Internet skyrocket regardless. Furthermore, in listening to rap music, I find myself repeating the iconic lines referencing Gucci, inadvertently advertising the brand through the endorsements by rap artists. When my favorite artists are the faces of Gucci and some of the most popular music of the day drops constant references to it, members of Gen Z like myself cannot escape the grasp of Gucci-mania.

So, we return to our question: why is Gucci 100 based on music themes? The choice does not seem to align with the history of Gucci or its muses before the 21st century. Gucci has even stolen designs from Dapper Dan, who is credited with connecting Gucci and the rap industry. The foundation of the Gucci brand was based on crafting an aristocratic aesthetic, a legacy that can still be distinguished in Gucci’s current designs. Therefore, it seems that the choice for Gucci 100’s music collection is targeted to the standing of the fashion house in pop culture today. Contemporary music and youth culture is adamantly Gucci-crazed: it’s in their songs, in their feeds, on (some) of their bodies, and it’s in their minds. This year, Gucci was the most popular luxury brand online (Luxe Digital). While Gucci may have extrapolated their influence on the music industry beyond pop and rap to other genres to create a visually diverse and interesting capsule collection for their centennial, it is still undeniable that Gucci has the strongest hold of any designer on today’s music and cultural consciousness.

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Preparation Playlist: Preparing for Adele's 30

With the release of “Easy on Me” the first single for Adele’s newest studio album 30, the magnificently somber bells ring in the commencement of a new musical era for Adele. Following her previous studio album 25, released November 20th, 2015, her newest album is set to release nearly six years after the previous release (November 19th, 2021). The longest hiatus between album releases in Adele’s discography to date.

As a longtime fan of Adele and an outspoken appreciator of her almost unearthly ability to emotionally obliterate the masses with her vocal prowess, the promise of fresh music following the single — a nostalgic and somber piano ballad written for her son and ex-husband Simon Konecki following their divorce in 2019— leaves me on edge in anticipation for what Adele will present us next. So, to commemorate the long-awaited release and subsequent emotional distress, I was inspired to take a musical ride through Adele’s discography to reexperience the emotional highs and lows, and prepare for the release by creating a short preparation playlist that attempts to highlight a few of the many magnificent songs from each respective album starting from the beginning.

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Released: January 28th, 2008

1. Chasing Pavements

Her first ever single released; “Chasing Pavements” should be regarded as a classic, as it is exemplary of what would become a key feature of Adele’s signature musical style. The song employs an earnest mix of pop and soul elements that compose a ballad with drastic shifts in intensity between each chorus and verse, but doesn’t lose its footing tonally. I find the lyrics in the heart of the chorus: “Or would it be a waste/ even if I knew my place?” especially resonant of this idea of “chasing pavements”. This idea of endlessly tiring over someone or something despite understanding your inability to succeed. Of knowing your place, but still questioning the value of continuing onward anyway.

2. Cold Shoulder

With its twinkly bounce, Cold Shoulder is an underrated gem that glimmers in its distinct optimistic sound countered with intense lyrics. “Cold Shoulder” is arguably different than what we expect from Adele, leaning into the experimental sounds and dipping into her lower register. Sound-wise, the song leans on tinkling bells and violin sounds. But similarly, uses slow, near lethargic musical breaks to punctuate the song. Throughout, Adele doesn’t flaunt her vocal power, but focuses on the smoothness of her voice. The song is simple in the best possible way.

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Released: January 24th, 2011

3. Set Fire to the Rain

Despite only peaking at number 11 on the U.S Billboard Charts, “Set Fire to the Rain” is raw, unfurling with unadulterated vigor through impressive vocal bravado from Adele, and represents one of the best instances of Adele’s vocal talent. Loud and veracious, the song crescendos in an impassioned chorus that has become recognizable and draws listeners in with its unclenching power. Listening to this song, the rise from somber to empowered is captivating, and the song understands this, as it grows with each chorus. And on a personal note: the perfectly belt-able breakup song.

4. Rolling in the Deep:

One of Adele’s most recognizable songs, “Rolling in the Deep” deserves a spot on this playlist for the sheer impact alone. Being the catalyst for Adele’s commercial breakthrough and emergence into international spotlight, “Rolling in the Deep” shot Adele further into “stardom” following the success of her previous album 19. The song is an entrancing mix of blues, pop, and soul. A delicate, yet undeniably powerful thanks to Adele’s vocal range. Musically, it’s power lies in the expanding intensity through the songs many bridges to culminate in a final chorus that everyone has sang along to at some point. Additionally, the music video for “Rolling in the Deep” is spectacular. Combining artistic set, cinematography, and interpretive dance in a visual that compliments the song.

4. Turning Tables

One of Adele’s lower charting songs (peaking at 68 in the U.S.). “Turning Tables” is an enchanting ballad that relies on its strong piano track. A song about gaining power, this piano track is a striking underscore to Adele’s increasing intensity and is the highlight of the song. Starting slow and growing with the lyrics, the development of the piano track parallels the vocals, weaving seamlessly. I recommend this song simply for its musical construction, the piano track, and Adele, a cunning siren that you can’t help but move towards.

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Released: November 20th 2015

5. Water Under the Bridge

Leaning into the pop elements of Adele’s music, the song opts to use drumbeats over piano. Unlike other songs, the use of multiple musical elements is a prominent feature—such as multiple layered tracks and drums— and a unique quality of the song. This isn’t to say the song lacks soulful quality, but pairs it with upbeat, pop adjacent sound to create a bouncier song. “Water Under the Bridge” is a good song to listen to casually. It fits itself into many playlists because of its musical versatility and ability to establish itself in the middle ground of soul and pop.

6. All I Ask

To start, “All I Ask” has a special place in my heart. I always cite it as my favorite Adele song, and I believe for good reason. This ballad encompasses the magic qualities essential to Adele and her music. Though provoking lyrics exploring the complexity of romantic relationships; unmatched vocal command; and a simple but rich piano track to score. The song culminates in an intimate song that is emotionally rich and musically beautiful, and exemplifies the power of Adele. Adele thrives in the simple and emotional, unchained by a necessity for intense musical production. There is no need for intense musical accompaniment, when Adele can prove the point through unfiltered emotion and otherworldly vocal technique.

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Why Everyone Should Have an “I am the Main Character” Playlist

If you’re a sane human being, you probably have different music playlists for different moods. If you’re a little more insane, you probably have different playlists for specific activities or situations you’re in. And if you’re psycho, you have no playlists at all and just shuffle through your liked songs. Chaotic neutral energy. 

I’d say I’m a healthy insane.

I’m not too specific with my playlists, but the one that does have a very intense, specified vibe for myself is my “I am the main character” playlist.

It’s what you would expect from the title. Do you ever get that sudden feeling where you realize your life could be a melodramatic coming-of-age movie? This playlist is the soundtrack for the scene at the climax of the movie, where your character is realizing the nostalgia of their youth and the potential of their future. You can picture it: a scene of you running along a river on a bright spring day; you biking through your childhood neighborhood and letting the wind hit your face as you smile; or maybe the realization is a bit sadder than that, and you’re on the train or in an Uber staring out the window, watching the rain droplets slide down the glass.

Whatever it is, your playlist will only make sense to you. Every song is chosen because it means something to you – whether you resonate with the lyrics and it aligns with your life, or it was a song you used to listen to when you were younger, or it just somehow fits – it isn’t meant to be for anyone else. It’s yours, it’s unique, it’s meant to make you feel a certain way – a way that I can’t really describe other than it’s the climax scene of your coming-of-age movie!

Because of the quality of exceptionality associated with this kind of playlist, it wouldn’t really make sense to share mine. Instead, I’ll share some songs and explain the reasoning behind why I chose them so that you may create your own!

Green Light by Lorde

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This music video basically represents the exact scene I would see in a movie of myself. She sticks her head out the window of an Uber as it drives through the night, past stoplights as her hair flies and whips from scene to scene. In another shot, she dances like a maniac down the sidewalk and in the bathroom of a club. You can tell that Lorde has just lost herself in the music, something this playlist should make you do. TBH, I don’t think I would dance on top of my Uber while the poor driver takes a smoke break, but the rest of it fits. The song itself is just such a bop even though it’s literally about a breakup. I mean, the album is called Melodrama. You can’t expect me to not put this on this playlist.

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Young Man’s Blues by Parker McCollum

This is a sadder number about nostalgia for one’s youth. I can picture myself in a movie walking through the nearby farm fields and hiking trails of my town. I used to bike through many of the neighborhoods, so I see this song playing through the background of that as well. This song’s lyrics also speak more to me than Green Light – it’s a classic country song about missing your hometown and the relationships you used to have with people there. Some of my favorite lines are, “Growing up ain’t all it’s cracked up to be,” and “Sometimes I wonder if they even still remember my name.” Again, not everyone will relate to this, but it for sure hits home for me.

Things Won’t Go My Way by Peach Tree Rascals

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So, I’ve given you examples of happy and sad songs for your playlist. But what about that classic teenage emotion, angst? It wouldn’t be a coming-of-age movie without an angsty scene with an angsty tune. For me, that song is Things Won’t Go My Way by Peach Tree Rascals. The consistent melody of the guitar in the background along with the line, “I’m running I can’t keep running” begs the picture of my character running down the streets, hopping over obstacles, trying to get away from whatever anxiety is chasing her. The rap verse gives more movement to this song as well, the fast beat mimicking the heightened sense of anxiety of life not going your way. One of my favorite lines is at the end of the rap verse, “No control of this life we live, No control in this life we own, If we did then we'd still be kids, Riding round on our bicycles.” It echoes that same nostalgia as Young Man’s Blues, a longing for a life of simplicity when we were children, free of any worries of the world.

We should all have an “I am the main character” playlist. It reminds us of where we came from and where we’re going. It’s easy to get lost in the world we live in, particularly as college students (at UChicago, nonetheless) in a global pandemic. We become caught up in school work, social life, job searches, and staying physically healthy. Often, we forget to take quality time to ourselves. Having a playlist of music that strikes a chord within you is crucial to grounding. While we may sometimes lose ourselves, this kind of playlist can help us find it.

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"Songs for the Ladies" are Rappers' Secret Weapons at Verzuz

If you’re a hip-hop head or simply fascinated with the Verzuz phenomenon of reintroducing legacy catalogs to a global, mainstream stage, you probably watched the legendary battle between rap groups Dipset and The Lox. Verzuz has proven time and time again to be a game of strategy, not hits, and the organization of one’s setlist can make or break your chances of “winning” (as judged by social media, essentially, and by Twitter in particular). In Dipset’s case, their chances didn't break so much as shatter, while The Lox emerged victorious due to their meticulous curation, practice, and the vibes they gave off that said they all still genuinely like each other as human beings. 

A high point in the battle was when Dipset’s Juelz Santana, riding high after playing chipmunk-soul laden hit “Oh Boy,” challenged The Lox with taunts about how they only had gruff street tracks, that they didn’t have songs for the ladies. The Lox, flexing their Bad Boy Records-taught A&R finesse, were more than ready to strike back and launched into a medley of their “lady songs,” like “Ryde or Die, B****” featuring Eve, Mariah Carey’s “Honey” remix, Jennifer Lopez’s “Jenny From the Block,” and Jadakiss’ slinky, Neptunes-produced hot girl anthem “Knock Yourself Out.” 

A song for the ladies—simply as defined in these battles, not that all rap songs aren’t for ladies!—can be characterized as either a collab with an R&B chanteuse or simply a rap ode to sexiness: a song to grind to, if we want to be frank. Of course, the sociology major in me wants to spend years unpacking the layers of sexuality, race, gender, and culture all tied in up in these standards, but today I’d like to just dig into the subgenre itself. 

Today, the singing rapper is a common phenomenon, New York is no longer the nucleus of rap, and so-called street rap has taken an extreme backseat in the music landscape. Today, nearly every rapper has romance in their catalog. But once upon a time, ODB declaring that he and Mariah “go back like babies and pacifiers” wasn't necessarily an obvious fit. And as legacy rappers take the Verzuz stage, a trend seems to be emerging and displaying how we re-evaluate music and shape music history in real time. 

Songs for the ladies are often the silver bullet to winning a rap Verzuz battle—take Bow Wow, whose collaborations with Ciara and Omarion respectively on “Like You” and “Let Me Hold You” gave him the edge over Soulja Boy’s viral hits. There is a certain demographic—kids and teens in the early 2000s, but particularly Black girls—that can nail Ciara’s tongue twister of a chorus from “Like You” flawlessly, as if a million dollars was on the line. During the battle, Bow Wow cut the vocals and held out the mic and the ladies did just that (2:20):

I know I just said I wasn’t going to go all sociology major, but the skyrocketing of the nostalgia cache that “songs for the ladies” possess today says a lot about the last decade’s shift from gritty, regionally-specific rap to pop-focused styles and sentiments, and how gendered this shift is. This phenomenon is most clearly crystalized in Ja Rule—clowned for years over his corniness and “pandering” with his poppy, lady-heavy tracks, and his massive takedowns at the hands of 50 Cent and G-Unit hammered home this perception of him as soft and unworthy to be considered a titan of rap.

But today (Fyre Festival aside) he’s seeing a sort of Ja Ruleaissance, being reconsidered through the lens of today’s music standards that are poppier in nature and a direct legacy of his brief but massive run at the top of the rap game. He slaughtered Fat Joe at Verzuz, and the centerpiece of the entire battle was when both men flexed their fan-favorite Ashanti features. But Ja Rule continued with the knockouts via collabs like Mary J. Blige’s “Rainy Dayz,” “Between Me and You” featuring Christina Milian, and “Put it On Me” featuring Vita and Lil’ Mo, concluding with the killing blow of J.Lo’s “I’m Real (Remix).”

Why have songs for the ladies become sniper shots for rappers when they were once maligned for “selling out” into pop? Is it a symptom of our heightened cultural awareness of toxic masculinity? Is it a facet of the poptimist ideology currently dominating music consumerism and scholarship? Is it due to the current prevalence of women in hip-hop, and has this prevalence made hip-hop a slightly more open space for women fans, who are now finally able to have a voice in retroactively shaping the narrative of legacy artists? I’m inclined to choose d) all of the above. But this is more of a fun social phenomenon reflecting the cultural tide than a sign of true social progress in music, as Verzuz has a long way to go before it can be called a champion of women.

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Artists You Need To See Live, Post-Pandemic

What I miss most about pre-Covid era is being able to support my favorite bands in person and connect with other fans who share my passion for music. Inspired by artists scheduling upcoming shows, I have compiled a list of my favorite bands to see live!

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Thirty Seconds to Mars

Thirty Seconds to Mars is the perfect show for every type of concertgoer. Whether you’re a diehard fan of the band or just want something to do on a Friday night, you’re bound to have an amazing experience at a 30STM show!

30STM is truly genre-bending in every sense of the word. They combine their most recent pop singles such as “Rescue Me” and “City of Angels” with their older punk hits like “The Kill” in a way that doesn’t feel forced. Meanwhile, Jared and Shannon Leto represent opposite spectrums in the fashion world: you’ll often see Shannon donning a Harley Davidson muscle tank while Jared is literally decked out from head to toe in Gucci apparel.

Most importantly, Thirty Seconds to Mars puts on a theatrical performance without sacrificing musicianship.

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Muse

Muse concerts certainly have the best production value I’ve seen, whether it be high concept shows or more casual venues. Their latest tour for their album Simulation Theory immersed the audience in what felt like an AI dream. Somehow Matt Bellamy is shockingly able to maintain his insane vocal range and play guitar too (see “Knights of Cydonia”).

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Don Broco

If you’re looking for a high-energy, no frills, small venue rock show, Don Broco is a must see. Their music is what I’d call “hype rock.” With bops like “T-Shirt Song” and “Everybody,” you’re sure to be dancing.

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ONE OK ROCK!

If you’re looking to support an international band, I would definitely recommend ONE OK ROCK! They perform their English songs that you can sing along to but also their fast, heavier Japanese songs for a change of pace. It was also great to meet their diehard fans; I still remember someone screaming “takaaaa I love youuuu” after each song ended.

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Mike Shinoda

Mike Shinoda’s show is great for concertgoers who are interested in or curious about lower profile rappers. Mike Shinoda was a member of Fort Minor (yes, as in “Remember the Name”). His new music, however, is focused on working through grief and his emotions following the passing of Chester Bennington, his bandmate in Linkin Park. Mike Shinoda provides a new and interesting perspective to rap which is definitely a must see.

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Trivium

Trivium shows are not for the faint of heart. Be warned, if you’re in General Admission you will most certainly be squished by a sweaty crowd and forced to support body surfers making their way to the stage.

If this hasn’t scared you away yet, Trivium performances are truly a wild and exciting experience. Though I don’t love every song they play, I’m usually too caught up in the energy and adrenaline of the crowd to notice. If you want the full ~heavy metal~ experience, attend a Trivium concert at your local venue.

All images via Kaya Lee

Lil Yachty "Breathes Deeper" in Tame Impala Remix

one of the most unexpected collabs we’ve ever gotten,  

 this gives me waking up at 3am in 2007 [to watch] Adult Swim vibes,

and

I couldn’t stop laughing at first but it’s actually kinda fire

…are just a few of the top comments beneath the music video for Tame Impala’s latest release. While traversing hallucinogenic landscapes, frontman Kevin Parker and feature artist Lil Yachty rework “Breathe Deeper,” a sleeper hit from Parker’s fourth studio album The Slow Rush. Decked out in his finest Sun Ra threads, Yachty grooves to a technicolor bass line, carving out new dimensions in the subsphere of psychedelic rap.

It’s an odd pairing – Yachty’s “bubblegum trap” layered over Parker’s shoegaze synth riffs. But an alt-rocker and a rap legend find common ground in the disco stylings of Breathe Deeper’s production: ascendant piano chords that conjure Sunday mornings and 70s nostalgia.   

In both sound and form, the duo embraces old-school tradition. Parker’s vocals are all but absent from the track, relegated to pre-chorus echoes as Yachty freestyles for three verses. Over buoyant melodies, he mines city skylines for psychedelic visuals; “Lookin' in her eyes, see the meadow // Lookin' at her lips, pillow kiss, it's the wet throat…She say she never been to the ghetto// Put her on the tab, turn thе hood to a disco.”

A haze of SoundCloud funk reverberates through “rooftop parties” and fleeting moments of vulnerability. “I hope when you said you love me, that you mean it,” Yachty intones as the outro swallows the last micrograms of his acid tab.

_

Lil Yachty’s “Breathe Deeper” remix is the lead track from The Slow Rush B-Sides, dropping in 2022. The tracklist features remixes from Blood Orange, Maurice Fulton, and Four Tet - along with new tracks “No Choice” and “Boat I Row.”

Video Game Tracks to Score Your Finals Week

I often imagine that music takes the shape of a liquid. It’s the little tunes that get stuck in my head most often–– the cheap, sugar-sweet tune that pours over hot summer air, proceeding the slow crawl of the ice cream truck. The soft jingle of the television as a company attempts to sell insurance, or a foot-long sub. The sudden emptiness of the room when the AC shuts off, the held note evaporating into thin air as the machine gasps for breath. 

It seeps. Every moment of our lives is scored. 

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It’s in these sounds that I’m reminded most of my childhood. Last weekend, I took the liberty of digging up my old Nintendo DS in all its sparkly pink and sticker adorned glory. The little bell at the end of a heart-shaped keychain looped to the side jingled as I grabbed it, and I half-expected a window to appear before my eyes, signaling the discovery of a new item. Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team was still loaded in the cartridge slot. 

What I remember most vividly about these games, beyond the beautiful graphics and otherworldly characters, is the music. Not a single inch of narrative went unexplored by kid-Emily–– I would speak to each NPC multiple times, exhausting all conversation options until I was certain I’d amassed near-encyclopedic knowledge of the in-game world. The map, too, was a treasured tool; I’d pull my avatar around the region until I knew each space like the back of my hand. And with every line of dialogue, every new city, music was there.

The towns have an undeniably ethereal, larger-than-life presence. A different track scores each area. As you, explorer, venture through each individually scored area, the transitions between tracks creates the visage of traveling across worlds. 

Real life is not so naturally romanticized. There is no such celestial track scoring periods of growth, nor epic battle music blaring as you clock in for your shift in retail. 

And yet, my memories of summer are drenched in sound. I think back to swim meets and am met with that sugar-sweet tune, the decrescendo until on your mark… *BEEP* and the immediate ffff cacophony of teammates and family cheering. I remember the songbirds outside my window as I rose for morning practice, and the rush of crisp air across my eardrums, flooding my lungs as I sprinted against the clock.

There is no battle theme scoring the entrance of the away team. No matter. You can hear the music all the same.

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I’m taken back to those moments in my family’s living room, the soft carpet beneath my body, where I would let the score play unburdened from my DS as I counted the stars in the sky (lightbulbs on the ceiling, but alas). 

Close your eyes. 

Carpets can be grassy fields. Lightbulbs can be stars. The tune of the ice cream truck can signal an optional side-quest.

The world is exciting. It awaits you.

The following tracks contain some of my favorite atmospheres–– pieces from film, free skate programs, video game towns. See end for extended playlist.

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Later, Gator

song + art by Louie Zong

♫
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The Golden Hour

song + art by Louie Zong

♫
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Azalea Town & Blackthorn City

pkmn / art by Louie Zong

♫
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Pewter City

pkmn / art by Louie Zong

♫
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2:00 AM

animal crossing

♫
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Solaceon Town

pkmn / art by Louie Zong

♫
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National Park

pkmn / art by Loupii

♫
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Again

your lie in april

♫
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YURI ON ICE

yuri! on ice / art by Louie Zong

♫

Header art by Louie Zong.

On Taylor Swift's Longstanding Cultural Impact

Fans of Taylor Swift’s music have been eagerly anticipating her rereleased music ever since she announced her intentions to rerecord her first six albums (Taylor Swift, Fearless, Speak Now, Red, 1989, and Reputation) in order to gain ownership of her own music, and today the rerecorded version of her 2008 classic Fearless dropped.

The album cover for Taylor Swift’s upcoming rerecording of Fearless. Image via.

The album cover for Taylor Swift’s upcoming rerecording of Fearless. Image via.

Despite the original version of popular Fearless single “Love Story” having been released almost 13 years ago, the release of “Love Story (Taylor’s Version)” was incredibly well-received, with the song garnering nearly 6 million streams within its first day of release on February 12. The lasting popularity of “Love Story” is a testament to Swift’s longstanding cultural impact: from the release of her album in 2006, she has maintained extensive popularity as one of the world’s most successful female artists. Today, she is the second most-streamed female artist of all time on Spotify, only after Ariana Grande. Following the release of her eighth studio album, folklore, she became the female artist to have released the most songs (128) to chart on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, surpassing Nicki Minaj.

To have maintained this level of popularity and success over a period of 15 years is a feat achieved by few artists. So how has Taylor Swift maintained such long-lasting relevance in the music industry?

It would be difficult to write about Taylor Swift’s impact without mentioning her reputation in the media. Her public life has received a great deal of attention from the media, with a particular interest in her relationships and her former and current friendships with other high-profile celebrities such as Selena Gomez, Karlie Kloss, and Ryan Reynolds. Swift has received a great deal of criticism from those who believe that she has dated too many man or written too many songs about her ex-boyfriends. She is also known for her feuds, most notably with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian. While Swift is often portrayed in an unfavorable manner by the media, this portrayal has shaped her into a feminist icon among her fans, who rebuke the criticism given by the media to her personal life. These portrays have also, in part, inspired Swift’s recent political activism.

Taylor Swift and Kanye West have had a complicated relationship over the years, beginning with West interrupting Swift at the 2009 VMAs. Image via.

Taylor Swift and Kanye West have had a complicated relationship over the years, beginning with West interrupting Swift at the 2009 VMAs. Image via.

While Swift has received a great deal of attention due to her controversial media portrayal, the media is certainly not the primary factor behind her popularity. Few can deny her talent at singing and songwriting: even if her music doesn’t fit your personal taste, everybody’s jammed (or cried) to at least one of her songs before. Particularly impressive is the ease with which her musical style has transitioned from country to pop to now alternative/indie. While Swift’s most well-known songs are generally her most radio-friendly, upbeat songs (think “You Belong With Me,” “Shake It Off,” and “22”), she has received the most critical acclaim for her sadder, more personal songs. In particular, songs like “Dear John,” “All Too Well,” and “Cardigan” have received great praise for their lyricism and storytelling. Swift has also received commendation for how personal songs such as “Marjorie” and “Soon You’ll Get Better” about her family are.

Taylor Swift’s success may also be, in part, due to the level of intimacy she maintains with her fans. Most well-known are her “Secret Sessions,” in which she invites groups of her most active fans from social media to her home and plays her albums for them before they’re released to the public. Swift has also been known to send personalized gifts to fans and invite her most eager fans backstage after her concerts to meet her. She’s also interacted with her fans by leaving intricate easter eggs and puzzles in her music videos, album memos, and social media posts, often using such clues to hint at upcoming music releases. As a result of these interactions, Swift has been able to maintain a unique and incredibly personal relationship with her fanbase over the years.

An image from one of Swift’s Secret Sessions. Image via.

An image from one of Swift’s Secret Sessions. Image via.

Another factor in Swift’s success has been how she has rebranded herself with each album release through different “eras” and aesthetics correlating to her albums. For instance, 2017’s Reputation was accompanied by a primarily black wardrobe with snake motifs. By contrast, her following album, 2019’s Lover, brought about an incredibly colorful pastel theme with heart and butterfly motifs. Swift has effectively incorporated aesthetics into her brand as a musician, heightening public interest in each album by accompanying relevant color schemes and motifs into her outfits, concerts, and music videos for each era.

A design from Taylor Swift’s merch highlighting the different aesthetics of her first eight eras, from her first, self-titled album to folklore (2020). Image via.

A design from Taylor Swift’s merch highlighting the different aesthetics of her first eight eras, from her first, self-titled album to folklore (2020). Image via.

Throughout her 15-year-long career, Swift has released a prolific amount of music, including nine studio albums and nearly 200 songs. She has also contributed to the soundtracks for a number of films, including Hannah Montana: The Movie, The Hunger Games, Fifty Shades Darker, and the ever-controversial Cats. In the past year and a half alone, she’s released three albums, including two surprise albums that were released within months of each other, with Fearless (Taylor’s Version) set to release soon. She’s also released two documentaries accompanying her albums Lover and folklore. The amount of music Swift has released is a testament to the incredibly hard work she’s put into her music career, hard work that has certainly paid off, given the lasting impact her music will have on the industry for years to come.

Cover image via.

Bring Concerts to You

Digital media has been winking at us from the doorway of the future for quite some time. We are getting absorbed into our mediatic worlds, screens, and, in a way, moving into our artificial embodiments, day by day. The popular notion of the “future” was just a matter of innovation, yet, with quarantine lingering and dragging everything behind, we happened to become social animals with a silly pun on the word social. Just when I said OK, I got used to these online classes, online clubs, online shopping, online, online, online...things, I witnessed friends having online therapies, online relationships, and more online things that once, supposedly and ideally, would have occurred face to face. I am not in a position to blame or glorify what we are witnessing now. However, I can talk about how I am, well, taking advantage of the situation.

Music is a must in my life. When one listens to music as much as I do, we inevitably begin to delve into its multifaceted world, slowly drifting away from the popular tracks and the good, old classics. Language barriers disappear. And this search for the unknown, a search that satiates the hunger for more, starts. Yet, when your playlists consist of music from more than a hundred countries, you obviously miss out on the concerts that happen all over the world. And, unfortunately, when you live in a place where none of the popular artists stop by in their tours (I am not even talking about that local indie group we all admired once), you start to look for solutions. Now, the very same solutions for the live shows conundrum apply to today’s quarantine situation.

For all my beloved friends that long for concert halls and any artistic medium of music, here are two of my alternative choices of music sharing platforms. Enjoy!

ONSTAGE K

ONSTAGE K is a Korean music-sharing platform that attracted me first because of its cubic aesthetic, which encapsulates the artists it presents. While Korean pop is dominating the music industry with its singers, dancers, and performers, ONSTAGE showcases contemporary artists that are as talented but less famous than mainstream K-pop bands. If you are looking for authentic, indie/R&B/Rock, chill, and energetic music performed by amazing artists with a live band in the background, creating this artsy and carefree atmosphere, I suggest you check ONSTAGE videos.

TINY DESK

The Tiny Desk Concerts idea came when a music editor was so frustrated after a concert that he couldn’t hear anything because the crowd was cheering all the time. Later, he jokingly suggested to Bob Boilen, the now host of the Tiny Desk, that he should invite artists to perform at his own desk (read the story). Well, history happened. Now, behind a “tiny desk,” in front of a silent crowd, world-wide musicians perform their tracks in the most instrumental way possible. Having more genre and language options than ONSTAGE, Tiny Desk is definitely a must-listen.

Hope you had a nice time!

Thumbnail image via