Jamie is well known here to be one of my favorite Korean soloists and her new single, Pity Party, allowed her to guest on her long hosted show, After School Club. The great part about that is they brought back one of her older co-hosts to fill in which led to so much banter and hijinks. A big part of my love for Jamie was derived from her personality and that's on full display with the people she's close to along with fan interactions which was truly a gift served well! The staff even made it a special event for her, so you can't help but feel the joy in the room. Give it a watch!
Favorite Live Performance
Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Eminem, & Kendrick Lamar - Super Bowl Halftime
This undeniable performance was the talk of the town for weeks and for good reason! The stage production, the collection of songs, a surprise 50 Cent and Anderson .Paak sighting all lead to many moments to recall and relish. I got to witness this live at a Wing Bar with many sports fans filling the building, so seeing everyone reliving their childhoods and jamming in unison was an experience. Yet even upon rewatching, getting the chance to see hip hop on display and being celebrated was phenomenal. Quite a highlight of the year as a whole so far.
Favorite Podcast Interview
Kenny Beats on OtherTone
Kenny Beats just continues to find himself in conversations/interviews that I just get so much out of. In this you learn a bit more about his journey in the industry, many thoughts on the industry currently, and bits of life advice sprinkled in between. Hearing the questions asked between the creatives, being Kenny, Pharrell, & Fam-Lay, is just fascinating, especially when comparing their similar and differing thought processes on the art. Truly a fine listen for those interested in that kind of thing.
Favorite Comeback
Young-Luv.com - STAYC
Even though the title track didn't have the classic slogan, as soon as I heard the opening of the song I knew it was STAYC girls, and it was going down. The direction that Black Eyed Pilseung has given these ladies has been immaculate since conception and this was further proof of that. My first listen had me like it and as I moved on to other comebacks, my mind drifted its memory to the melodies of Run2U over and over. Though, I can't only give praise to the lead single because every b-side holds an even greater hold on my eardrums. They continue to expand STAYC's sound while still maintaining a signature feeling that's all their own. I find that the most admirable quality of their development. You got to listen to believe!
The cool thing about the B-Boys of Kinjaz and those affiliated with them is that they love to display the artistry of breakdancing in ways most people wouldn't think of. They combine the style along with a more traditional-like Japanese piece in the most beautiful way. The skill and musicality is fully displayed throughout and I HAD to share it with the audience here to enjoy!
I'm so happy to see that you, our lovely Cult followers, have been enjoying this new addition to Muddy Cult! We shall be continuing with our monthly favorites and this time we have our February favorites. Feel free to leave your comments below about our picks and share some of your favorites with us from last month!
BlipMasta5's Favorites
Anime Recommendation:
Interviews with Monster Girls
I'm watching quite a bit of shows on Funimation this season like Tanya the Evil, Acca, Fuuka, Mob Psycho 100, & more. Yet, I wanted to share this show strictly due to this dub's fantastic scripting. In my opinion, it's last season's Keijo when it comes to writing & acting. The performances are so believable and incredibly hilarious when it needs to be. Otherwise, it's a very heartwarming story about being able to accept the differences everyone has and still being able to find your place in society, especially in the quintessential time of your life when that discovery truly manifests itself: high school. Even in its original sub form this point is well executed, but as discussed in the Sub VS Dub article it's nice to see that it can be enjoyed in both formats that way the work never suffers. I'm looking forward to continuing this with more laughs and smiles expected to come. Maybe you could, too!
My Guilty Pleasure Recommendation:
All things Poppy related
If you haven't heard about Poppy yet, I'm sorry I may have just allowed you to be entranced by this enigmatic figure in the weird side of YouTube. Her channel and music is almost like the social experiment that works all too well, while satirizing what makes pop figures and pop culture so influential in the first place. The music isn't that bad in that it truly is "Poppy", but the content surrounding the popstar itself is disturbing and infectious at the same time. It truly gets you to question how the industry machine affects the stars and who they influence or just leads you deeper into the dark black hole of "what is this and why can't I stop watching?"
Favorite Music Performance (Non-Hip Hop):
Spicy Boyfriend - Shawn Wasabi
I know, I listen to more than Hip Hop and R&B! Haha. I caught wind of Shawn Wasabi through a Facebook video a while back and decided to subscribe to his occasional uploads to YouTube. This video is a great display of why I made this choice. He makes really great happy electronic tunes that make you want to bounce along to! Plus, being able to see him do all the work live makes it the skill more apparent than from a stage where it seems likes a simple button push on a laptop. Yet, that's a whole other conversation about the EDM craft itself. Hope you can enjoy the video, though!
Favorite Dance Video:
Love on the Brain - Galen Hooks Choreo
I have loved Galen Hooks (choreography) for a very long time...even before her days working with Ne-Yo, or the Legion of Extraordinary Dancers (LXD), or her cameo in La La Land. I believe it was Janet Jackson's Rock With U that I first remember noticing her. Anyway, anytime I can see something new from her passionate and versatile choreography, I jump at the chance to watch it. This here is a perfect example of how she can take simple movements and still express so much. Check her own channel out for more and I promise you won't be disappointed!
Favorite Live Performance (Hip Hop):
D.R.A.M. (Tiny Desk Concert Series)
D.R.A.M. is one of the many rap singers of this generation of hip hop. Yet there is something that sets him apart from them: his genuine positivity. That energy he brings to his music permeates your soul and just makes you jam along with him. You can tell that he's just like your friend from church singing with a smile on his face. He just now became your friend who makes music you can jam in the car and club too. That's how you get hits like "Broccoli" & "Cash Machine" and their live renditions are just as fun along with his other selections. Hit play and vibe out!!
Favorite Music Discussion The Needle Drop: Rap's Punk Phase
Anthony Fantano of The Needle Drop occasionally does think pieces on music and this one had me thinking. As a big fan of hip hop music and a person raised during the golden era of the genre, a lot of the "mumble rap" has irked me. Yet Anthony's perspective, by way of parallels to rock music, had me second guess if it's really just the growing pains of a genre. I, along with a few of my friends, know that Lil' Yachty gets the brunt of the "mumble rap" hate since he's the most outspoken, but with the game being as flooded with similar artists, it is concerning. But I guess I may be like a rock purist who will have to see if my mentality can outlast a trend or join the new norm.
I know this may be an odd category, but I just couldn't pass up talking a little about this song. Also, I'm sorry YouTube wouldn't let me embed the video here. Now, this song comes from Big Sean's new album, I Decided, that I chose to skip reviewing in depth since it boils down to him still being a mediocre rapper that leans on the corny side. I admit that he's still improving, but he's still has a lot of room for improvement. Despite that, he still managed to get a technically vicious verse from one the best to ever rap: Eminem. I do have to agree with Andre of Lyricology 101, though, in that Em did not fit the song well and Big Sean didn't really slouch on his end. Ultimately, when it comes to the craft of wordplay, Eminem is winning there.
Favorite Release of the Month:
Christ Crunken Commentary - Brail
Brail is my favorite artist of all time. Yeah, I'm not afraid to say it without hesitation. It's just been hard to promote him lately, though since he has released a new full length project in a few years. Therefore, the announcement of his new EP Christ Crunken Commentary was had me ecstatic! That does mean I will give this a Fair Shake Review soon, meaning an unbiased opinion first with bias coming second. Its release is just around the corner as I write this, but should be available by the time you see this post. So I'm going to leave my main thoughts on this artist to that review and leave you with a single from the CCC project to whet your appetite. Be warned: once you go Brail...something that rhymes with that!
Buonaventura's Favorites
Now that I’m up-to-date with the No Sleep Podcast, I find myself looking for other spooky podcasts to fill my time at night before bed. One in particular is The Black Tapes Podcast. I’m hesitant to share it with you for a variety of reasons; it’s kind of a mixed bag.
The Black Tapes is a serial-like mockudrama podcast of a journalist researching a collection of “unproven” paranormal documents owned by a professional skeptic who is offering a million dollar reward to someone who can show irrefutable proof of ghosts. Think of the X-files but if Scully was the optimistic aliens-are-totes-real newb and Mulder was the cynical one. I found that aspect to be really appealing and is the main reason why I’m sharing this with you.
I didn’t like that it was so similar to Serial. I LOVED Serial; it’s what started my foray into Podcasts. For some reason, I just didn’t like the style here. It seemed too…manufactured and Alex came across as kind of a dick. She is patronizing to the people she interviews and is a bit unethical. Meanwhile, I found myself constantly siding with Dr. Strand, though the show goes out of its way to try to cast him as unhelpful and dodgy. Alex doesn’t trust his constant skepticism and is frustrated that he has a rational explanation for everything (the horror!) while her dupey self takes everything at face value. The last thing that made me think twice about sharing is that it is currently on hiatus, until the group finalizes a new podcast they are working on. Boo.
But don’t let that detract you from checking it out. The story is intriguing and creepy and it’s fun to see how everything starts to fit together. The other cast members are believable enough to where you get the itch to google some of the oddities mentioned to make sure they’re completely fictional (like the unsound). Overall, I give it a B.
Various Artists - Suicide Squad: The Album (2016, USA) Rating: 3/5 Favorite Tracks: Heathens, Standing in the Rain, Gangsta, Slippin' Into Darkness
After seeing Suicide Squad, a movie I've surprisingly haven't reviewed yet but will, I had to hear this awesome soundtrack everyone was talking about. It's not very often that I hear positive commentary about more mainstream movie soundtracks. It also helps that a certain little song I had been repeating a lot was on it and I wanted to own it. So, here we are with a soundtrack review for a movie I look forward to sharing my thoughts on...after I see that extended cut.
The first track on the album, "Purple Lamborghini" by Skrillex and Rick Ross, was a song I first heard on a Rap Critic review. Not being a big fan of either of them, I was curious what he had to say about the song, especially with a title like that. I also thought it was an interesting mash-up of talent, so that added to my curiosity. For an opening track, it definitely presents some good build up and energy to get you into the feel for the movie and the album. For the most part, I agree with Rap Critic's opinion on the content of this song. Rick Ross's lyrical content kinda doesn't understand its subject matter, but Skrillex's beat backs up Ross's cocky delivery with an intense fusion of hip-hop and almost grungy dubstep elements, especially when the beat drops and the chorus kicks in. Yeah, I totally understand that feeling of wanting to headbang to that; it's practically the best part of the song. I think without Skrillex's addicting beat, this song would've fell flat and simply be another brag rap with no connections to the movie. Of course, if you watch the music video, it does pull you into the moment of Joker in the club and being a boss for sure.
"Sucker for Pain" by Lil' Wayne, Wiz Khalifa, Imagine Dragons, Logic, Ty Dolla $ign, and X Ambassadors is the next track on the album. Most of these artists I'm not that thrilled about, meaning I don't care for their music much. There are a couple I'm not familiar with, meanwhile one of them disappointed me quite a bit when I went to explore their sound beyond what was airing on the radio. Much like the first track, I was curious how all these different artists would sound like together. The song has a surprisingly smooth rock sound that doesn't overpower the rap verses from each rapper, but emphasizes the chorus sung by Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds. The melody softens just enough during the verses, except a bit of the bass, but doesn't distract from the content. Paying attention a little more as I watch the music video for this review, some of the transitions in the later half of the song seem kinda off to my ears. After Lil' Wayne's verse, it goes to Wiz and it just sounds kinda off to me like something was cut to make the song shorter, then there's that last part that leads to the fade which seemed a bit random to me.
Now for the reason I really wanted to check out this album: Twenty One Pilots' "Heathens". Honestly, I think this is the first song I heard from the soundtrack and it made me really curious what this hot new-ish band had to offer and why they were so damn popular last year. All bias aside, I think this song represents a perfect balance of darkness and melancholy that the movie offers for certain characters. There's something about this song that just really knows what's appropriate for a movie. Even looking at the music video, it just matches it so perfectly. Not only is this song earwormy as hell like their other hit songs "Ride" and "Stressed Out", but for me being a new listener to the duo, it just seems like a slightly different side for them. I love the soft, uncertain vocal delivery and the nice balance between all the instruments. Clearly, a very solid song that you just can't get enough of.
Next up is "Standing in the Rain" by Action Bronson, Mark Ronson, and Dan Auerbach. I've heard of Action Bronson through best of lists by Rap Critic and commercials on Viceland, but never searched out his music, while Mark Ronson is someone who most people, including myself, have only heard of because of his collaboration with Bruno Mars. I've also haven't heard much from Dan Auerbach's group The Black Keys, but the little I've heard was alright. I must say the tone of this song kinda matches the feeling of the movie, like "Heathens". Action Bronson has a pretty confident and enjoyable flow to his words and I like the retro sound and perfectly balanced sample from Oran "Juice" Jones' "The Rain" I'm sure Ronson provided. I also enjoy the hard hitting sound of the verse transitioning to this Pulp Fiction-esque vibes I get from the vocals. It's really chill and I should probably listen to this song more often.
A surprising gem I've quickly grown to love quite easily was Kehlani's "Gangsta". Taking the role of Harley Quinn in the music video, I feel like this song is very appropriate for that point of view. I really love this music video and how it interlaces Kehlani's relationship with her mysterious gangsta with Harley and Joker. I feel like the tone of the song doesn't completely glorify this kind of relationship; it's almost like a dangerous addiction that she probably needs to get away from, but can't because it feels so right. I love the contrast of her confident vocals with the hard hitting trap beat during the verses and then it softens to this vulnerable, dream-like singing in the chorus. It's quite a treat that's definitely too short. Every time I listen to it, I keep wondering where's the rest of the song! The good thing about this song is that it made me check out more of Kehlani's work and I learned a little something about her from BlipMasta5 as well.
"You Don't Own Me" by Grace featuring G-Eazy is another sampled track featured on this album. I think the first time I listened to this song, I passively listened to it simply thinking it was a cover and really...it kinda is. It has a few modern musical tweaks to it, adding more bass and vocal reverberations...oh yeah and unremarkable rapping by G-Eazy. Now I know what Todd in the Shadows meant in his Worst of list for last year. The video isn't anything special, just the two of them performing in a sound studio. Listening to this song for the second time and looking up to see that this video exists on YouTube made me understand why a no rap version exists. Grace's voice is quite pleasing to the to the ears. Her vocal styling is very similar to the original singer Lesley Gore, but she does manage to try to put a little of her own personality in it as well. In short, pretty good cover sans G-Eazy.
By using Grace's cover as a gateway or divider for new and old material, the album presents an Eminem gem from 2002. "Without Me" is a good song for chaotic superheroism, if you go back to the music video. It remains an enjoyable and amusing song from Eminem and gives me flashbacks of TRL and the days when MTV played music videos in the day time. I guess this could represent the fun vibes of the movie and the video does parody comics. I'm sure not many young people will understand some of the references in the lyrics or even the pop culture mockery in the video, but for people around my age will still find amusement and even a bit of nostalgia from listening to this off beat track from our favorite white rapper Eminem.
Next up is Skylar Grey's "Wreak Havoc" with a hard hitting electro-pop track. It definitely fits the chaotic and aggressive tone of the movie and kinda goes well with our first track. I've heard of Skylar, but I don't think I've explored her music very much. Judging by this one song, her voice is quite nice during the lead up to the instrumental chorus. I kinda like the chasing feeling she has to her voice in the verses. At times she kinda reminds me of Natalia Kills. The song has a very predatory feel to it and it makes me want to start a battle or something, which I think is appropriate for the soundtrack. Another female artist I'm somewhat familiar with, Grimes follows up with "Medieval Warfare". Unlike Skylar Grey, I have listened to her music beyond her contributions to this soundtrack album. I honestly should listen to more of her stuff beyond the few music videos I've watched on YouTube. Anyway, this song is a heart pounding electronic track with some very angelic and subtly haunting vocals from Grimes. I love the hurried feeling of the instrumental, the taunting guitar sounds, and the slight bump of bass. The song kinda gently pumps you up with the contrast of soft vocals and aggressive beat. I kinda wish I could hear more of her voice on top of this hard sound, but overall it's quite an enjoyable track.
I want to say that the cover of "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Panic! At the Disco was used in some of the movie's promotional material, but it's possible that the original by Queen could've been used instead. I must say that this was very good cover to the iconic Queen track. Yes, cover, children! Panic! At the Disco did not write this song. Anyway, they did a very good job keep the integrity of the original while subtly making it their own, especially in the vocal department. Good job, guys!
Since this album wants to bring the old with the new, we have War's "Slippin' into Darkness". This was an almost surprising track to reminiscence on while listening to this album, but I could see this fitting with Deadshot or Killer Croc's characters to some extent. Of course, this song is a classic and I remember hearing this track as a kid. The funk soul beat never fails to make me feel like a badass from the 70's while walking down the street like Jackie Brown. Another oldie, but a goodie comes from Creedence Clearwater Revival with "Fortunate Son". This classic rock track always makes me think of dusty roads, motorcycles, and bar fights. I guess I could see this as a song for our squad to band together, getting ready for their fight, or Rick Flag gathering the squad together and shouting out orders. This short track is appropriately placed toward the end with the psychedelic funk that War has given us previously.
Lastly, the soundtrack closes out with "I Started a Joke" by ConfidentialMX featuring Becky Hanson, which I think is a cover from the Bee Gees. It's definitely a softer and more orchestral oriented version with Becky's vocals softly echoing throughout the song. Her voice is almost drowned out by the gentle swelling of the music, which is kinda unfortunate because her voice is quite nice. It doesn't quite mesh too well with the previous tracks sound wise, but as far as old songs and covers go, it does belong in this section of the album.
Suicide Squad: The Album is a pretty enjoyable soundtrack. I like that they divided the new from the old and gave people familiar with the older tracks some relief if they didn't enjoy some of the newer stuff. The collaborations featured on this album were very interesting and I can't see them working together outside of anything like this, in my opinion. They did manage to produce some quality tracks that I could mostly confidently recommend to my friends and family, but I know that there are some tracks I know I won't be returning to for a while. On the negative end of the spectrum, the rappers I'm familiar with musically that I don't care for produced the quality what I expected, but their collaborators made up for their flaws. Also, the couple tracks that I enjoyed musically, I wished didn't drain out their singers (i.e. Grimes and Skylar Grey). Nonetheless, I think the album fits the tone and attitude that is Suicide Squad.
